MW Restaurant — Restaurant in Honolulu

It was a early friday afternoon and had wanted to get pho but then at the last minute decided on MW since we were right next door. We have been curious to go back and give it another chance after previous mediocre experiences. I also knew that they had the happy hour special and we had arrived well before the 5pm end time. Since we did not have reservations, I asked at the podium if they could seat us and the hostess acknowledged then asked us to stand to the side. Note that the entire restaurant had two other tables of patrons and two at the bar. After a few minutes, a couple arrived and the gentleman told the hostess that he had a reservation and then they were asked to wait on the side. The hostess then escorted the couple who arrived after us to a table. I understand that we didn't have reservations but we arrived first and was still made to wait even as they had virtually the entire place to seat us? We then perused the friday menu and decided on ordering appetizers from the happy hour menu to share instead of the typical entrees. We double ordered on about 4 to 5 items since I knew the servings are very "petite". The first to arrive was the kim chee pork lettuce wraps. This was a nice opening as the fresh lettuce was refreshing and light but in the back of my mind, the pork was just a hint too salty for my liking. Second appetizer was the unagi butterish arrancino which looked exactly like takoyaki served with the bonito flakes waving at the top. This was good with a nice crispy texture but I couldnt make out any butterfish texture. This was probably the best appetizer we ordered. Then came the kalua pork tacos and after a initial bite into the taco, the flavor of the pork and the extreme saltiness was apparent. I sort of waved it off not wanting to make a big deal of it but others in my group expressed the same comment and the next few bites made it even more difficult to consume the entire taco. We ordered the seafood bisque which I was told are each made to order. It came in the typical huge hubcap dish with just a small circular center for the soup. A few spoonfuls into this also revealed that it was heavy on the salt. Since the soups were ordered off the regular menu, I decided to make it known to our server who apologized and told us he would have a new batch prepared. I then also mentioned the salty tacos and his response was that kalua pork typically has a salt brine and towards the saltier side. I was all along thinking in my mind that as a local boy having eaten Kalua pork all my life never had kalua pork as salty as they were serving. Another appetizer was the scallop tempura which really are the tiny broken pieces of scallop breaded and fried. You really dont get much in this dish and although it has the taste of scallops, it is more fried breading than anything. The server then returned with the soups and it had a seafood taste with two or three tiny pieces of the scallop and two very particles of shrimp. For $9.00 each, this was not worth the price. Our server then came by and told us that they would remove the tacos from our tab since they did realize it was too salty. Note that there was another diner there that ordered the same thing and noted in her Yelp review about the saltiness. Perhaps the chef decided to take a sampling of it? The last note and one thing any restaurant should pay attention to is the patrons drinks. There was two male bus boys and my glass of water remained empty a good portion of the time were there. One of the bus person was walking throughout the tables and looking at each table but I cannot see how they missed all the empty water glasses? Sadly, this return experience was no better than my previous and will not be returning to this place anytime soon. My personal opinion is that this place is more hype than substance and there are other options in Honolulu which provide better quality and value. I am giving MW 2 stars vs 1 star since the wait service was good and the atmosphere comfortable. Sadly the food...

The world food travelers made a return visit to MW in the Symphony. This was our fifth visit to the new location and the experience has improved steadily over time. We dined early as we had tickets to see Bonnie Raitt at the Concert Hall.

We started with a 2019 Last Chapter from what used to be Chapter 24 Vineyards, now Old Bridge Cellars. From the Willamette Valley, this Pinot Noir is full of fruit, especially raisins, and very smooth. A 100% markup is acceptable.

We shared the Beef Tartare and the Chinese Roast Duck Salad. The tartare was moist and luscious, made even more so by the beautiful egg crowning it. We mixed the dollops of , the egg and the beef thoroughly. Served with four pieces of toast, this was one of the best tartare we had in recent memory. The salad was a visual delight, pieces of duck, Shiitake, green beans atop micro greens with peanuts and a tangy dressing.

We opted for the Duck Confit and the Truffle Braised Short rib as our mains. The latter featured a piece of Foie Gras … Alas, all it needed was shaved truffle. That used to be an option; I didn’t see it on the menu and Tyler, our server, didn’t mention it. The duck was served with gnocchi, the reason my fellow foodie ordered it. A rich sauce was the base for a beautiful presentation of vegetables crowned by the duck. My short rib was served with quarters of slightly underdone yellow potatoes, mushrooms and choi sum, with a rich sauce underneath.

We topped off our meal by sharing the Mud Pie … we keep ordering this. It’s more a Chocolate bombe than mud pie; a mix of two very delicious ice creams covered in chocolate. I had a French Press with Ka’u Estate Coffee, my favorite.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at MW, then sauntered over to the Concert Hall to waft in the music of Bonnie Raitt. MW is getting better and better … highly recommended. 4.75 due to...

We ate here on a Friday evening at 7:30 pm (we had reservations). The restraurant is located inside a building that has a lot a luxury cars (Ferrari, Maserati, etc). We had no issue with parking on the street right out front (allowed after 6:30 pm). You enter on the ground floor through Artizen by MW and take the elevator to the 2nd floor. We were seated very quickly. The staff was very friendly and our waiter Gio was great. He explained the menu items really well and offered recommendations. We started with an amuse bouche which was chawanmushi. It was a small bite and tasted great. My husband ordered 4 appetizers for dinner: duck quesadilla, unagi butter fish arancini, fried chicken, and seafood chowder. His favorites were the arancini and seafood chowder. We also shared the Kona lobster salad which I was highly recommend. The greens were fresh and lightly dressed and it paired really well with the Kona lobster salad (it's served chilled probably with a little mayo or something like that). I had the mochi crusted kanpachi for dinner, which Gio said was one of their most popular dishes. I can totally understand why! The fish had an amazing crunchy exterior but the fish itself was very tender and tasty. It was served with noodles underneath. I had the lilikoi creme brulee for dessert, which is Michelle's signature and it was outstanding!!! It is lilikoi creme brulee and underneath it had lilikoi sorbet, tropical fruit gummies, and haupia tapioca pudding. The whole thing was light and tasted amazing. I would highly recommend eating at MW restaurant and getting the mochi crusted kanpachi and lilikoi...