I met up with a friend for brunch at Nami Kaze Hawai‘i toward the end of December to celebrate the holidays. Our meal was a fortuitous one, as that’s when I learned the eatery’s brunch menu would be ending in a few days. We took the opportunity to order some of our faves — like the Japanese breakfast-style black cod teishoku and Small Kine Farms mushroom omelet with Mornay and Parmesan cheeses — for what felt like the last time.
Before you start mourning the loss of beloved dishes like liliko‘i crunch pancakes, custard french toast, honey walnut shrimp waffle and beer batter auction fish, chef Jason Peel says brunch dishes will be rotating on the eatery’s new lunch prix fixe menu, which costs $45 per person and will change every month.
“We’re doing the mushroom omelet all week this week,” he says. “As people hopefully understand how we adapt and grow as a restaurant, they can start putting in requests and we’ll run them. Last week, I asked the staff, ‘What do you guys miss from brunch?’ And they said, ‘We really like the waffles,’ so we put the honey walnut shrimp waffles on the menu last week. Next week, we’ll run something else and hopefully keep people happy.
“I want to do the entire thing local,” he adds. “I want each section to have something local.”
The lunch menu is available from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays. It features an amuse — which will also rotate monthly — choice of starter, choice of entrée and specialty cake of the day by pastry chef Beverly Luk.
When asked about the inspiration behind the transition from the brunch menu to the new lunch menu, Peel says it’s more about streamlining and getting back to the restaurant’s focus.
“We were trying to do a lot, and we kind of lost focus on the education of things,” he says. “I wanted to streamline things — making sure we’re sustainable as a business, of course, but to streamline things so we can get back into using local products properly and showcasing them and the farmers, ranchers and fishermen, as well as giving the team a chance to develop on their own and grow.”
Our amuse was a fried arancini filled with savory Small Kine Farm mushrooms and topped with crispy seaweed. The umami, risotto-like texture was to die for, and I was already begging Peel to bring this back sooner rather than later.
By the time you’re reading this, the featured amuse will be something different. During the time of our visit, Peel was testing a roasted cabbage dish with chili oil.
“I really want the team to start working more with the product,” he says. “I love creating, but I really want to grow people.”
The starter featured a choice of Small Kine Farm mushroom chawanmushi with pickled local radish and truffle ankake sauce; miso seafood chowder with sweet corn onion salsa and puffed rice; and Mrs. Cheng’s tofu and roasted Japanese eggplant with tempura crispies. The latter dish has bene the most popular, but on an overcast, chilly day, the chowder and chawanmmushi were comforting choices.
The seafood chowder was my favorite of the two, as it featured a chef’s choice of seafood (in this case, shrimp, smoked ‘ahi and salmon). The chawanmushi was slightly salty, but still boasted that signature silky custard texture.
The entrée selection featured a choice of mentaiko carbonara with zucchini noodles and lup cheong; People’s Choice — a combo of fried ginger chicken, grandma’s potato salad, zucchini namasu and fresh ‘ahi poke — teishoku of the day (black cod nitsuke, dashi braised vegetables and steamed white rice); garlic braised pork belly with Ho Farms tomatoes and Hau‘ula tomatoes; and mushroom omelet. Vegetarian and vegan options are available upon request.
The People’s Choice was one of the most popular dishes from the eatery’s brunch menu, and it tasted exactly as I remembered. The fried chicken is crispy on the outside and juicy inside. The entrée comes with your choice of poke — Hapa Boy (Hawaiian style), wasabi ginger scallion, spicy mayo, spicy black bean or avocado miso. Spicy mayo is my go-to, but the Hapa Boy is the most popular, as it features shoyu ‘ahi poke with sesame and inamona.
The omelets here are some of my favorites, due to their texture and presentation. The savory, Chinese-style steamed eggs are topped with fresh produce and local vegetables.
I love the eggs’ silky texture — it’s similar to that of the chawanmushi — and the generous mushroom topping added a chewy texture. If I get this dish, I always order it with extra cheese to boost the umami flavor.
The meal concludes with a specialty cake of the day by Nami Kaze’s pastry chef Bev Luk (who’s also Peel’s wife).
“For dessert, we really wanted to showcase Bev and her specialty cakes,” he says. “Her cakes are great; they’re super, super good. This one is a simple vanilla chiffon cake, but we’ll probably roll into different things later on, like local flavored-cakes with Meyer lemon or Tahitian limes.”
The vanilla chiffon cake was incredibly moist and airy. Even if you’re full, it’s so light that you’ll somehow make stomach space for it.
“I want to make sure I go back to my original vision and focus on Hawai‘i — whether it’s the people, the workers, the guests, to the people that make the food," Peel says. "I want to get back to that and be more purposeful this year.”
On that note, Peel also recently changed the eatery’s dinner menu — and we’ll be back soon to try it.
CONTACT
Nami Kaze Hawai‘i
1135 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu
808-888-6264
namikaze.com
Instagram: @namikazehawaii
Lunch: Open 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
