Cafe Julia opened at the Richards Street YWCA last summer for breakfast and lunch with the ambition of one day adding dinner service. That hasn’t happened, but the next best thing is their pau hana menu with all the heft of a dinner without the hassle of commitment. Stay for 20 minutes while waiting for rush-hour traffic to die down, or gather your associates and friends for a three-hour session. There’s no pressure.
Food isn’t the cheapest, but on a recent evening, that didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of four kids studying over a plateful of garlic fries ($10), nor a trio of businessmen ordering the works: escargot ($11), a roasted beet salad ($12), Singapore clams with lup cheong in a chili broth ($12), guava BBQ ribs ($16) and ahi sashimi (market price).
Grilled pizzas as a shared item seem like a bargain at $12.50, until you realize these rustic pizzas, with crackery crusts — one topped with Hawaii island smoked pork and onions, another with local tomatoes, Ma’o Farms organic arugula and anchovy sauce — measure a slim foot by four inches, with four slices. The anchovy and veggie pizza was so good, I could have easily eaten the whole thing myself in 10 minutes.
Another can’t-miss is chef Lance Kosaka’s chicken-fried pork chops ($18), so light, airy and crisp that you can devour each finger-thick strip like a french fry. Some willpower will come in handy here.
Wash it all down with wine or $6 Stella, Heineken, Corona or Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale, or such signature cocktails as a ginger mojito or chocolate martini.
Happy-hour service runs 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays to Fridays. One-hour parking validation is available at Ali’i Place. Call 533-3334.
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