The Prime Rib Club isn’t a typical club that requires membership. The pop-up concept started last summer and launched at the former The Lei Stand location in Chinatown. The ticketed dining experience features a three-course meal complete with tableside presentations.
Around six months ago, The Prime Rib Club moved venues and now pops up at Hamada General Store in Kakaʻako. Dinners are once a month — before, it used to be twice a month — with two seating times at 5 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $149 per person, and the price includes tax and tip.
“We needed some new features and tried to improve some of the recipes,” says chef David Lukela, who operates The Prime Rib Club with chef Sean Walsh and Neale Asato from Asato Family Shop. “We needed a bigger venue; this is more open.”
Plus, there’s ample parking at Hamada General Store on Sundays, which is always a plus.
The meal begins with complimentary Parmesan garlic chips. It’s nearly impossible to just eat one of these thinly sliced, ultra-crispy chips that are loaded with Parmesan.
The Waipoli Greens salad is mixed and prepared tableside, giving the meal a fine dining air in a relaxed environment. The greens medley includes carrots and red cabbage, housemade croutons, bacon, eggs and a housemade shallot papaya seed dressing. Refreshing and bright, the salad is full of savory flavors and crunchy textures — I can’t get enough of those croutons.
Before the entrée comes out, the prime rib cart is wheeled to your table so you can get photos of the impressive display. The prime rib is cooked low and slow at 200 degrees for five to six hours, before being finished off at 500 degrees to get that nice crust. The salt-and-herb crust is delightful.
The accompanying sides are not to be overlooked. Feast on sautéed Small Kine Farm mushrooms with onions, creamed corn made from sweet Kahuku corn (from Nozawa Farms), and whipped potato puree. The creamed corn is prepared “hurricane style” — topped with furikake and bubu arare — and the meal comes with a housemade Shokupan roll. You’ll want to use the soft, buttery roll to mop up all the au jus and horseradish.
Dessert alternates between an offering from Slice by HB Baking on Kapahulu Avenue — owned by Lukela and his wife, Heather — and an option from Asato Family’s famous line of frozen desserts. This pop-up featured Slice by HB Baking’s version of cherries jubilee, which included Tahitian vanilla ice cream topped with a warm cherry sauce and the dessert shop’s signature cinnamon oat crumble. It was a tantalizing blend of indulgent and tart — the perfect amount of sweetness needed after a savory meal.
Reservations for The Prime Rib Club require some dedication — tickets are released online when the next dinners are announced.
CONTACT
The Prime Rib Club
Pop-up at Hamada General Store
885 Queen St. Unit C, Honolulu
Theprimeribclub.com
Instagram: @theprimeribclub
Two seatings at 5 and 7 p.m.; pop-ups are once a month on Sundays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
