Rooftop venue SKY Waikīkī is known for its nightlife and scenic views of the Waikīkī skyline. The eatery just launched a new dinner menu that’s centered on steak and seafood.
Customers will still find raw bar favorites like seafood platters ($120) — which are designed to serve three to four people — sashimi ($43-$68), Japanese-style oysters ($8 each), smoked ‘ahi dip ($18) and spicy ‘ahi poke ($19). The crab meat cocktail ($39.95), which features jumbo lump crab and housemade cocktail sauce, is one of our favorite selections from the raw bar. The raw bar selection hasn’t changed, according to restaurant general manager Manny Cournede.
The menu has expanded to offer specialty sushi rolls — including the Kilauea lava shrimp roll ($26) and hell-fire spicy scallop hand roll ($32) — new appetizers, signature side dishes and a butcher’s cut section.
The hell-fire spicy scallop hand roll features a DIY format; customers can create their own hand rolls using Hokkaido scallops, tobiko, spicy aioli, green onions, pickled soy jalapenos and hell-fire soy sauce.
“It’s like an interactive option,” explains Cournede. “It comes with nori, rice and six scallops with the sauces, so you make it yourself.
“The Toyosu market (in Japan) is where we source all of our fish from,” he adds.
New appetizers include Diamond Head ‘ahi rice cakes ($16) and the heirloom tomato and burrata cheese salad ($18). If the ‘ahi rice cakes — crispy sushi rice cakes topped with ‘ahi tuna tartare and zesty wasabi tobiko — look familiar, it’s because SKY Waikīkī’s new raw bar chef came from now-closed Robata Jinya.
Some of the dishes from the eatery’s previous menu — including the Caesar salad and lobster bisque — are still on the new menu, but feature a different presentation.
The steaks feature Black Angus beef premium choice from Nebraska, according to Cournede. He explains that they’re cooked in the restaurant’s Montague state-of-the-art broiler.
“Our steak quality is really high,” he says. “It’s dry-aged for 28 days. I brought in broilers from Chicago, the same ones they use at Peter Luger’s (Steak House).
“It allows us to cook them at the perfect temperature and still get the char,” he says.
The selection includes the steak for two, which is a 32-ounce Porterhouse ($130), 22-ounce bone-in New York strip ($85), 22-ounce premium choice bone-in rib-eye ($90), and 8-ounce center cut filet ($55). Steak sauce, Calabrian chile compound butter and wasabi soy sauce and truffle butter (additional $5) are also available.
“It’s tough to get people to go out and eat now; everyone’s watching their wallet,” Cournede says. “I think value is a big thing. Large quantities for an affordable price, shared style, that’s kind of what SKY is aiming for.”
Choose from signature side dishes like Parmesan truffle fries ($18), brussels sprouts ($15), creamed corn ($16), garlic whipped red potatoes ($12), marsala cremini mushrooms ($15), creamed spinach ($17) and SKY mac and cheese ($16).
The potatoes — which are whipped in rich garlic butter — and buttery creamed spinach are crowd favorites so far.
We’re partial to the SKY mac and cheese ($16), which features a gooey concoction of elbow macaroni baked in a velvety blend of white cheddar, fontina, gruyere and aged Parmesan.
Want something other than steak? Opt for seafood entrees like Big Glory Bay king salmon misoyaki ($38) and potato and mac nut crusted chutoro ($32). The latter is a new dish that features rich ‘ahi belly finished with a delicate potato-mac nut crust. It’s served over creamy lobster whipped potatoes and sauteed spinach.
Meanwhile, the salmon is glazed in a sweet-and-savory misoyaki sauce, and is served with choy sum, shiitake mushrooms and Japanese pickled vegetables.
SKY Waikīkī offers validated parking for three hours at the Waikīkī Shopping Plaza.
CONTACT
SKY Waikīkī
Waikīkī Business Plaza
2270 Kalākaua Ave., Honolulu
skywaikiki.com/
Instagram: @skywaikiki
Open nightly for dinner, 4 to 10 p.m.
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
