This was my second visit to this establishment in Hilo. The first time I asked the bartender for a recommendation for a good draft. He said the local brews were too sweet and poured me a craft beer from California that I loved. He, nor that beer were there this visit so I tried a local from Hawaii Nui’ [Mehana brewery]. I tried the Southern Cross and I will review it separately.
The restaurant is quaint and pleasant with just the right volume and type of music for me. Our server, Carolyn was nice and very helpful with picking out a draft beer to get started. She kindly brought me a couple samples for me to test. I ended up with the local red, strong brew.
My wife made the food choice and we split it since I was filling up on beer. She ordered the swiss/mushroom burger with edamame [boiled soy beans]. That was an unusual choice with a burger and my wife being Japanese, just had to try it. Glad we did as it was delicious! A little more oily than most plain boiled edamame, but that’s because they add chopped garlic to make this a wonderful taste treat. We ordered home made fries as a side and they were awesome.
We always order hamburger fully cooked [sorry A. Bordain but we are not commies] for safety reasons, but in this place, it is probably ok to go med rare or however you prefer. So much commercial hamburger is mass produced and one burger may contain the meat of numerous cows. This place does their own so that’s not a problem. We were happy that a fully cooked burger came that was perfectly done, without any hint of charring on the outside.
The food, people, atmosphere and draft beer were all just what you want in a burger joint. I will be back and if you are in Hilo for a visit, you can’t go wrong stopping in here for the food and a cold one.
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