Located in the former space of Nami Kaze, Thirty Eight restaurant opened for dinner at Pier 38 a few weeks ago.
The eatery just launched its new lunch menu, and the restaurant is now open from Monday to Saturday.
According to chef de cuisine Daysen Masuda, the lunch menu is inspired by familiar flavors and plate lunch fare.
“I wanted to do something different from your normal plate lunch,” he says. “I feel like this menu is familiar to everyone — misoyaki butterfish, ‘ahi belly, Korean fried chicken and loco moco are staples here in Hawaiʻi — but we’re putting our own spin on it here. Here at Thirty Eight, how could we make it a little more elevated?”
Appetizers include popular selections from the eatery’s dinner menu, including maguro cabbage ($21), poke crackers ($12), calamari katsu ($17) and cabbage Caesar ($16).
The mix plate ($26) is not only aesthetically pleasing, but equally tasty. It includes a daily catch — in our case, guava chili ‘ahi — short ribs, spicy ‘ahi, watercress salad, potato salad and Spam fried rice.
“When you go out and eat a plate lunch, you want to have a little bit of everything,” Masuda says. “Especially here at Thirty Eight, we’re using really good seafood and fresh ‘ahi, so we wanted to highlight it. It’s just a mixture of flavors.
“The Spam fried rice is actually my mom’s Spam rice,” he adds. “(When I was) growing up, she made that for potlucks. I’m also a big fan of potato salad, so you gotta have potato salad. The potato salad is dusted with chermoula (a blend of spices); that’s paying homage to chef Mourad and (previously) working with him.”
The black cod ($28) is served with shredded cabbage, potato salad and white rice. Meanwhile, the Korean fried chicken plate ($20) features a generous portion of chicken.
“We’re using the chicken quarter at dinner for the huli huli chicken, so I wanted to cross utilize that as well, but who doesn’t want a nice, big portion of chicken for lunch?” says Masuda, who notes this is one of his favorite dishes.
“It’s kind of inspired by my mom’s Korean fried chicken, but we do add a little bit of guava jelly in there,” he says. “It’s a little sweet and a little spicy.”
The eatery’s loco moco ($24) is expected to be a local favorite. The beef patty is topped with two sunny side up eggs, brown gravy and Hamakua mushrooms, and is served with rice.
“Everything starts with good quality,” Masuda says. “We’re using Prime ground beef topped with local eggs; we make grown gravy from scratch.”
The ‘ahi belly plate ($22) features local big-eye ‘ahi with ponzu butter, potato salad, watercress and white rice.
For dessert, diners can enjoy scoops ($9 each) from ice cream business Please Come Again, located in Kailua. Choose from shiso mint chip — topped with freeze-dried strawberries — and Vietnamese iced coffee, which is topped with condensed milk and cocoa nibs. Masuda notes that the restaurant is currently working on a dessert program.
“I’m excited (for this menu); for lunch down here at the pier, there’s a lot of guys that work around here, but a lot of tourists and locals. as well,” he says. “Lunch is always a little more casual; this is what I think people will like.
“That’s the cool thing about this project — we have a blank slate,” he adds. “Hawaiʻi is such a big melting pot of diverse cultures, so that’s why you’ll get some Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese flavors here, but it all works because that’s Hawaiʻi for you.”
CONTACT
Thirty Eight
1135 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu
Instagram: @thirtyeighthi
Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Mondays to Saturdays
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
