Our picks for the year in happy hour dining:
BEVY
675 Auahi St.; bevyhawaii.com, 594-7445. Happy hour: 4-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Bevy revamped its happy hour in 2018, and it hits the bull’s eye, with a welcome attention to classic bar food — delicious, filling plates, suitable for sharing, that go really well with a tangy cocktail or cold beer.
There are many great choices here. Inside or out? Spiked or alcohol-free? Meaty or vegetarian? Bevy has you covered, with a truly satisfying range of choices.
Inside, the former dive bar is atmospheric and arty, and you are in a bohemian hideaway, with a choice of bar seating, high tops or a line of tables against one wall that also provide a good view of Bevy’s wall art and DJ station.
On the outside patio, in red chairs at the cafe tables, you are part of the new Kakaako, ready to see and be seen.
There are different ways you can go with this small-plates menu, each item discounted by $2 during happy hour.
A fried half-avocado in panko and served with chipotle sauce and Mexican slaw is a main attraction; $11 during pau hana.
Go for the meaty Lenguas Fries (made with beef tongue) if you crave bar snacks with deep taste; $7 during pau hana. Potato puffs are an option if you’d rather forgo meat, at a discounted $6; fresh hummus option is $8.
On Taco Tuesday, in addition to the daily menu, Bevy offers a taco for $4 and a three-taco sampler for $10 throughout the evening. Ingredients may vary, but on my visit they included tako (octopus) served with salsa rojo, pomegranate pico and lime; lengua (beef tongue) with salsa verde, onion and cilantro; and spicy battered shrimp with avocado, Korean hot sauce, Ho Farms tomatoes and fried shallots.
Co-owner Christian Self, a prize-winning cocktail specialist and longtime bartender in Honolulu, has made fine, artisan cocktails a centerpiece of the Bevy experience since it first opened in 2013. If you’re a connoisseur, ask him or any one of the Bevy bartenders to show you what they can do.
During the daily happy hour, the cocktail of the day is just $6, as are the “classic cocktails” on a revolving menu. These may include fab concoctions such as the Brown Derby (made with whiskey, grapefruit and honey), Mint Julep, Grasshopper or Sidecar, as well as a daquiri and gin and tonic. These drinks are offered at $9 or $10 later in the evening.
— Elizabeth Kieszkowski (Feb. 16)
HERRINGBONE WAIKIKI
International Market Place, Waikiki; herringboneeats.com, 797-2435. Happy hour: 4-6 p.m. and 9 p.m.-closing daily.
Seafood restaurants that aren’t all about sushi aren’t as plentiful in Honolulu as you might expect. So, while Herringbone isn’t as Hawaii-centric as many island-based establishments, it fills a welcome niche.
As befitting a restaurant serving coastal cuisine, Herringbone is bright and airy, with furniture in earthtones, hanging planters and a retractable ceiling, the better to see Waikiki’s blue skies.
The “Oyster Hour” happy hour is served at the bar and at the lounge seating — high tables nearby. Oysters are $2 and small plates run $6 to $15. Bar seating is pleasant: Herringbone’s bartenders are happy to answer questions, and you might strike up a conversation with others nearby.
The restaurant turns out fresh, good-looking plates that not only satisfy, but have you thinking of a return visit before you’ve even cleaned your plate.
The happy hour bargain is a Local Fish Taco. It’s filling and delicious, offered with grilled or battered fish and served in a soft flour taco stuffed with slaw, pico de gallo and a crema sauce. Light eaters could easily make a meal out of a couple of these and a beer.
For vegetarians, pungent, filling Brussels & Mac Nuts embellished with crispy Thai chilies are a satisfying choice.
Yellowtail crudo is a clear winner, with lots of flavor: big bites of hamachi topped with truffle yuzu, crispy garlic and green onion. It’s garnished with bright, edible flowers, chopped fruit and microgreens; if you like raw fish, it will make your day.
A short, serviceable list of happy-hour drinks does the job, and the price is right at $5 to $7 a glass, with draft beer on tap, wine offerings and a select specialty cocktail menu.
— Elizabeth Kieszkowski (June 15)
MINA’S FISH HOUSE
Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina; michaelmina.net, 679-0079. Happy hour: 3-5 p.m. and 9-11 p.m. daily.
You’d have to be extremely tightly wound not to be able to relax in this setting, practically on the sand of Ko Olina’s first lagoon, with a sweeping view out to the ocean.
The menu is set by Michael Mina, one of the original seafood-centric celebrity chefs. Now heading Mina Group, the chef runs more than 30 restaurants. At Fish House, Mina returns to his line-to-table roots.
It’s best to concentrate your calories on the lafas — Middle Eastern-style flatbreads that are a Mina specialty. At $11 they come topped with ahi carpaccio, coriander-crusted fish or fried chicken strips, providing substance without heaviness and a nice mix of crunch and chew.
The carpaccio is an elegant alternative to poke, spiked with fried bits of garlic and shallot, but not so much that you lose the fish. The coriander fish is better thought of as a salad with a single strip of fried fish to the side, well dusted in cracked coriander seeds that provide a satisfying herbal essence. The salad is key here, a spring mix tossed with cucumber, pickled onions, watermelon radish and shaved hearts of palm. For a higher protein ratio, go with the crispy chicken lafa with its sweet-spicy barbecue sauce.
The other menu items are higher-end bar food — smoked marlin dip with taro chips, crispy cauliflower, or a bowl of fried squid, shrimp and shishito peppers. French fries come fried in duck fat or dusted with the Middle Eastern spice zaatar. These “Shareable Snacks” are $9 each or three for $24.
Specialty cocktails, $9, are serious drinks. We tried the Zona Rosa (tequila, lilikoi, vanilla, prosecco) and the Lexington (rye, peach liqueur, bitters), both were satisfyingly spirited. Draft beers, wine and sangria are also served.
Fun, sun, sand between your toes. Icy drinks and crunchy pupu. It all spells “paradise.” What more do you need?
— Betty Shimabukuro (July 27)
Pau Hana Patrol appears weekly in TGIF. See an archive of full reviews at staradvertiser.com/tgif. Hours, menus and prices may change; call establishments for updated information.
