Took my mom to dinner at Haleiwa Joe’s at Haiku Gardens for an early Mother’s Day dinner. I started with a Gordon Biersch Marzen draught – it arrived lukewarm. Mom had the $29 Filet which was properly cooked according to her request – on the rare side of medium rare. That looked like an A. I got the $20 salmon with a $3 starter house salad. The salad was 60% iceberg and 40% romaine with three tomato wedges, two thin slices of English cuke, a sprinkle of dessicated carot gratings, and 8mm-wide strips of nori laver. The salad was obviously premade, covered with plastic wrap, and stockpiled in the fridge. The miso-sesame vinaigrette was indistinct and flavorless, not unlike the mystery dressing at the Whistler Village Brewhouse Restaurant that made the salad wet, but didn’t make it taste good. Salad gets a D – skip this one. Salmon was served with seasoned mashed potatoes and cooked julienned carrot and zucchini. The salmon filet was covered with a macadamia nut pesto and fried potato strings. The flavor was good, but the salmon was overcooked and dry. I found a half-dozen pin bones, and the blood line wasn’t cleaned from the filet, leaving a bad tasting region adjacent to it. I’ve had good luck with the salmon before, but this time it gets a C+. Dessert was the “Paradise Pie” which was a giant wedge of Oreo-crusted coffee ice cream pie sprinkled with toasted almond slivers and drizzled with Belgian chocolate sauce. It was good, but the base ice cream quality was pedestrian. It still gets an A though. Desserts are all “share” size.
They don’t take reservations, so go early and expect to chill out for a bit. We waited about 15-20 minutes. It was fairly busy tonight, but it was a Friday. If you get there before 17:30, it is usually less crowded.
Total was $65 plus tip.
Service was very good
Three-and-a-half out of four grinning monkeys
Recommended
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