Onokai entered my consciousness as a great curiosity, a restaurant that promised Italian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese fusion, that could either be divine or go awry in heavy hands.

The restaurant in the Aston at the Executive Centre Hotel is, also surprisingly, run by the owners of the former 88 Pal Pal Supermarket, a Korean grocery store that was forced to close when a block on Keeaumoku Street was razed for new residences.

The restaurant is an opening volley before their opening of 88 Mart in the former Longs Drugs space fronting Hotel Street.

Onokai was originally envisioned as an Italian restaurant and they recruited chef David Jung from Seoul’s Lotte Hotel to head the kitchen.

There’s little to suggest what to expect when you walk into the cavernous dining room with a vaguely Hawaiian aesthetic that includes dated Magnum, P.I.-style floral print tablecloths to go with a 1980s music soundtrack. It didn’t feel promising.

But my perception changed with my first bite into chef Jung’s house-baked ciabatta, toasted to a pleasant and weightless crisp, served with olive oil and a smiley face formed of balsamic vinegar, a true Korean touch.

There are actually only a handful of Italian-Asian fusion dishes on the menu, which is the same for lunch and dinner. There is also a roster of Korean-Chinese specialties to perhaps address the appetite of international travelers on property.

Pastas are the star of the menu and with the excitement they generated, we passed over appetizers such as a caprese salad ($17) and blackened chicken Caesar salad ($19). Besides, we had ordered one of the steaks, which came with a small salad with orange dressing and a delicious bowl of creamy, bisque-like carrot soup that made satisfying starters.

Unlike the delicate style of upscale Japanese-Italian restaurants around town, pastas here are hearty and full-flavored. Among the most popular are the creamy carbonara ($20) and spaghetti with ragu sauce (Bolognese, $22), described to us as having a nebulous “strong” sauce. I don’t know whether this was a reference to its beefiness or the many garlic cloves that punctuated the dish that also came with four medallions of steak.

There are four selections deemed spicy. The spaghetti with charcoal-grilled pork belly ($22) was recommended to us, but more tempting was the pollack roe with shrimp oil ($28), a simple spaghetti aglio e olio. We were told it wasn’t very spicy, but consider the source, a Korean ajumma. Even though it was very delicious, I couldn’t eat more than three mouthfuls because it was so fiery.

My favorite of the pastas turned out to be the spaghetti with shrimp, crab meat and rose sauce ($27), not the flower but a reference to the soft color combination of tomato and cream sauce.

Then our steak arrived, two medallions of beef tenderloin ($40) in a light marsala sauce that did not detract from the beauty of the beef.

Other beef options are a grilled prime rib-eye ($40) and prime bone-in rib-eye tomahawk ($110).

Korean-Chinese fusion dishes you’ll find here include the homey black bean-sauced noodles jajangmyeon ($12) and mild sweet sour pork tangsuyuk ($18).

After such a carb-heavy meal dessert would have been nice, but those are expected to be added later.

Onokai

Aston at the Executive Centre Hotel
1088 Bishop St., Honolulu
Food: ***
Service: ****
Ambiance: ***
Value: ***½
Call: 808-200-1362
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and dinner 5-9 p.m. mondays to saturdays prices: about $70-$100 for two

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).