Considering that more people have fewer dollars to dine out, I’m surprised that the number of new restaurants has been higher this year than any other year in my 23 years of reviewing restaurants. But I suppose that a scarcity of jobs makes it essential to create one’s own opportunities.

At times in the past, I struggled to introduce a worthwhile restaurant a week. Not so this year, when each week brings five or six credible candidates, and the difficulty is deciding which to tackle first. I try to keep them in order while trying to vary the cuisines and styles of restaurants — a sort of balanced diet, so to speak — but every once in a while there’ll be a menu so tempting that it cuts in line, pushing another restaurant further and further to the back.

That’s what happened in the case of Aloha Lanai, which started lunch service about two months ago at the Aloha Tower Marketplace, where Don Ho’s restaurant once stood. With such a generic name, which suggests more of the same been-there-done-that local cuisine, it was less tempting than the likes of the more evocative Plancha, Jawaiian Irie Jerk and Kiss My Grits.

It wasn’t until Aloha Lanai introduced a monthly Supper Club event, shooting over a tempting menu, that I was lured back on track.

It turns out that Aloha Lanai is something of an accidental restaurant. Executive chef Kanani Lincoln, of Hale ‘Aina Catering, was working on Hawaii island as well as jetting off to Maui to serve clients such as Steve Case and celebrities including Adam Sandler, Rihanna and Dave Matthews. Then Lincoln moved to Oahu for family reasons.

He moved into his Aloha Tower waterfront site just to have a commercial kitchen for catering but thought it a shame to let the large dining room go to waste. This prompted weekday lunch service for downtowners with some time to spare as well as the monthly Friday night Supper Club as a way to unwind at week’s end. These present opportunities to showcase his skills for potential catering clientele.

The next Supper Club event will take place Nov. 12. Look for menu updates online by following TheLanaiAtAlohaTower on Facebook or TheAlohaLanai on Twitter.

The prix fixe Supper Club dinner is a B.Y.O.B. affair, and the most recent, for $55, featured an amazing quintet of dishes, starting with crispy ahi nigiri with coconut curry sauce and a salad of Waimanalo baby greens sprinkled with macadamia nuts and goat cheese, tossed in a light red wine vinaigrette, with slices of cinnamon-baked pears.

The third course featured thin slices of five-spice and honey-soy marinated duck breast accompanied by mango chutney and celeriac purée enjoyed even by a couple of those at the table who claimed to dislike the flavor of celery. And though this would have been fine as the only entree, it was followed by black sesame-crusted monchong and coconut risotto with truffle oil and lobster cream.

You know how most people — whether out of superstition or wishing to avoid looking like a pig — will leave a few scraps of food on their plates? Not so here. That night, all four in my group cleared their plates, with not so much as a drop of sauce left. I’ve never seen such a phenomenon.

The same thing happened when I followed up with a couple of lunch visits — except when there were two scoops of white rice. You know me, not a fan of the empty calories. But now that I read the menu’s fine print, I see that it’s lemongrass-ginger rice that may have been worth sampling.

For those who do drop by, the former Don Ho decor remains in place, save for the memorabilia. If you’re a stickler for formal restaurant protocol, this is probably not the ideal place for you because it’s a bare-bones operation with either the chef himself or his able sous-chef, Noah Blair, attending to guests. This might be a problem if you’re pressed for time, but you could just tell them you’re in a rush.

It does take a little longer here than most places because Lincoln insists on food made from scratch. And what food. He considers them plate lunches, but they’re gourmet lunches that would easily command double the price elsewhere. And his insistence on freshness is part of his DNA, having grown up in the biz through his family’s Maui-based Fresh Island Fish Co.

On paper there’s not much noteworthy about grilled garlic-thyme chicken breast ($11.95), but the menu won’t tell you the chicken has been brined so it’s extremely tender and shot through with flavor. It’s the same with tender pork loin ($10.95) with a cracked pepper-garlic crust. For a little more wow factor, the chicken is accompanied by apple-onion relish and soy butter. The pork is served with ginger-mango chutney. Most of the entrees also include an Asian-style red cabbage slaw.

Sautéed garlic shrimp ($11.95) would also seem to be a straightforward dish, but here it’s made less garlicky by a touch of citrus, and sautéed instead with a mix of tomato, onions and fennel.

Meat eaters could opt for the Lanai half-pound burger ($11.95) or such recent chef’s specials as a tri-tip sandwich, both served with house-made mango ketchup and caramelized onion fennel relish on sea-salt buns with house-cut fries.

The chef’s specials are subject to change, depending on Lincoln’s inspirations and availability of meat and produce. A recent experiment with purple sweet potato gnocchi in brown butter sauce was one such treat, as was the likes of a pulled pork sandwich with passion fruit glaze ($11.95).

The specials tend to be higher priced, topping out with a pan-seared porcini duck breast with portobello mascarpone pasta, at $16.95.

Of course there are daily desserts that range from mango-macadamia spring rolls with lilikoi cream and Tahitian vanilla ice cream, lilikoi cheesecake, or haupia chocolate ice cream pie, but having always nearly licked my plate clean, dessert is something I’m saving for next time.

———
Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.