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Against all odds, a handful of buffets have survived the pandemic, though with revamped formats that now require servers to dish out food to guests to avoid contamination and logistics of providing fresh utensils to each guest every time they return for another round.
At SHOR at Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, reinvention has meant the breakfast buffet is back with a new format, but the extravagant dinner buffet is gone, replaced by a full-service concept. I will miss the luxury of all-you-can-eat crab legs, but I think it was understood last year that for many restaurants, there would not be a return to business as usual.
I would guess that it’s mostly locals who will feel a sense of change and loss; we do love a good buffet. From what I could see at packed restaurants at dinner the last few weeks, the visitors flocking to Waikiki are none the wiser to what was and are enamored by a menu that, though compact, manages to strike a balance between casual and upscale offerings, as well as fill demands for diverse cravings.
In the morning, an all-you-can-eat served buffet at SHOR runs $29 per person, with children ages 5 to 12 paying the equivalent of their age in dollars. You could choose from a rotating selection of eggs Benedicts like smoked salmon or bacon, truffle and arugula, and get those accompanied by pecan wood-cured bacon, breakfast sausages including chicken links, buttermilk pancakes or hash browns. There’s also a selection of fresh fruit, yogurt parfaits, artisanal cheeses, charcuterie items and baked goods.
The lunch menu presents a short list of 13-inch Neapolitan pizzas for $20-$26, plus poke bowls ($16-$24), chicken wings ($19) and a kalua pork panini ($20).
It’s during the full-service dinners that chef de cuisine Jae Lee gets to show his chops in a way that’s not particularly evident with a buffet lineup. He started his career working for Four Seasons Hotel Boston, and eventually arrived to work for the company on Lanai, which was not the perfect setting for his wife, who was more accustomed to city life. That’s how, after a year, he arrived at the Hyatt in 2018.
There’s elegance in starters of steamed Manila clams ($22) with cannellini beans and fennel, lemon, garlic, rosemary and parsley, served with charred bread, as well as ahi crudo ($28) splashed with smoked soy sauce and vanilla bean-infused olive oil, and topped with pickled pohole fern and pickled pineapple, shaved radishes and micro cilantro, finished with black volcanic Hawaiian sea salt.
There’s a lot of thought that goes into a salad of Hawaii Island hearts of palm with arugula and kale ($18) as well. It hits all the right notes with a sprinkling of pistachios, blue cheese and a candied touch of house-dried papaya and pineapple, tossed with a light honey-lemon and oregano vinaigrette.
For those who prefer more casual grinds, there are chicken wings ($19) with a choice of Buffalo, garlic or teriyaki sauces, as well sweet coconut shrimp and chips ($23) accompanied by lemon-thyme aioli and Sriracha-shichimi togarashi aioli.
The Off The Wall beach burger ($24) comprises a juicy Kunoa Cattle grass-fed beef patty with layers of truffle aioli, Genoa salami, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, arugula and mozzarella on a brioche bun.
As for Pier 38 poke bowls, I prefer the juicier Sriracha mayo- and sesame oil-dressed spicy poke or shoyu poke ($24 each), respectively, over the drier Pualeilani Hawaiian-style poke ($26) with limu, inamona, alaea and onions, because I’m not a big rice fan and need the flavorings to seep into the rice.
A trio of Surf Breaks pizzas from the lunch menu return at night. There’s the pepperoni Populars ($23), Margherita-style Queens ($20) and North Shore-inspired Sunset ($26) with garlic shrimp and arugula brightened by a garlic-lemon sauce.
Many diners gravitate toward main dishes that happen to be the most popular on the menu. These include the Pier 38 catch of the day, beautifully presented over a bed of greens including local choy sum and heirloom carrots. The fish, recently shutome, is topped with a lemon-caper cream sauce and lemon zest. Though swordfish tends to be dry, that was not the case here.
Other favorites are the seafood bucatini aglio e olio ($34) with shrimp, Manila clams and black mussels; and pulehu steak frites ($48), a flame-broiled 10-ounce prime New York strip steak finished with kiawe-smoked sea salt, garlic and herb compound butter, accompanied by truffled Parmigiano-Reggiano herb fries. You can add a 5-ounce lobster tail to any of these entrées for $21.
Desserts help to support local companies with the offering of Il Gelato’s artisanal gelato ($10), a house tiramisu ($12) incorporating Manoa Chocolate’s Alii Kula Farms lavender chocolate, and the offering of Hawaiian Pie Co.’s Pineapple Whip pie ($12).
SHOR
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa
2424 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu
Third floor
Food: ***½
Service: ****
Ambiance: ****
Value: ***½
Call: 808-237-6395
Daily hours: breakfast 6-11 a.m., lunch 12-3 p.m., happy hour 3-5 p.m., dinner 5-9 p.m.
Prices: about $80-$100 for dinner for two without drinks
Nadine Kam’s restaurant visits are unannounced and paid for by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Follow Nadine on Instagram (@nadinekam) or on YouTube (youtube.com/nadinekam).
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