Here’s a fair warning. We did not have a good experience at Aloha Steak House. I didn’t even get all the pictures of the food because they seated us at this small little square table and we have to order everything ala carte (like a real steakhouse) but it couldn’t even fit on our table (huh??). I’ll try to break things down in digestable chunks.

Parking: They offer free validated parking at Hyatt Centric. The parking lot is located about two blocks away. Validation is for 2 hours – stay within the two hours! It is $4.00 for every half hour after that. Our service was so slow that we made it out with less than a handful of minutes to spare.

Service: Oh boy, where do I start? Our waitress was both the host and waitress for the entire restaurant. Why? I don’t know. There were about 4 other workers who only ran food out? HUH? Why? It led to huge backlogs in seating and ordering. She had a young man following her all night but he was not allowed to do anything. She forgot our waters and totally forgot one of our desserts.

She certainly turned on her charm for certain tables. And the restaurant was so small that we could hear it all. She was giving out free watermelon ice cream to the other tables. Dumb ole me actually went to this restaurant wanting to try the ice cream so obviously we didn’t get the free sample. In the end, as we were trying to pay out our check, she was too busy cutting up tomahawk steaks at the other tables. Once again, I saw other food runners doing it too so why did she as the only host/waitress do it?

Here’s the best part, we finally flagged down another person to swipe our credit card. A food runner came by to do it and she storms up and tells him not to and that he should not listen to whoever told him to do it and muttered to herself that no one should be running her checks (well, maybe don’t take 30 mins to run a credit card but okay). The only good part of service was that she gave us (and all kamaaina) 10% off our total check.

The menu is a bit confusing, it says there are two ways to have your steak on a bed of rice or salad. But the steak doesn’t come with that! You have to order those things ala carte, a bit misleading if you ask me. So yes, when you order steak – this is what you get. The meat you order and some corn.

This was my dish. I enjoyed it! Good steak, great shrimp and good corn too. Ha.

SIDES:

Garlic Fries ($6.00): Meh. Cold fries served with some golden fried minced garlic. Not great, would not order it again.

Creamed Spinach ($6.00): Are you serious? I have never had such bad creamed spinach in my life. It tasted like they boiled up some frozen spinach, added a teaspoon of cream and no seasoning. Awful.

Mashed Potato ($6.00): Finally a side done right. Was it instant? I don’t think so? I guess the consistency and texture could be mistaken for instant but the taste was good! If you are looking for a mash with some good lumps, this ain’t it.

The infamous ice cream! Okay, I was super excited to try this and was a bit disappointed. It wasn’t the ice cream’s fault, I guess I was wanting more of a sorbet but it was definitely a vanilla ice cream with a light hint of watermelon. If you know me, I don’t like plain vanilla ice cream so it was a bit of a downer for me. Cute idea though!

Birthday celebrations must take place in a steakhouse, it’s a must. Okay, it’s not a must – it’s a luxury. But what a treat! I’ve been wanting to try Signature Prime Steak & Seafood since they’ve opened and finally got the chance about 2 weeks ago. The restaurant offers an incredible view for an incredible price. I happened to dine there during Restaurant Week (totally unplanned) so I lucked out! Let’s get to the pictures!

Gorgeous

Bread. Meh – nothing special.

Signature Chopped Salad – delicious!

Lobster Mac and Cheese – $20
Not worth it in my opinion, sorry. Glad I tried it but won’t get it again.

Rustic Truffle Mashed Potatoes – Part of the Restaurant Week Menu! Delish.

Creamed Corn – Part of the Restaurant Week Menu!
So simple yet so delicious. The corn was so fresh and crisp – ahhhh so good.

12 oz. Filet Mignon – $52.95
Birthday treat for the birthday boy! He seemed to enjoy it!

Prime Rib Eye – Part of the Restaurant Week Menu!

Medium Rare. Funny story, my friend always goes for medium well and I go for medium rare. We’ve been noticing that my meat has been cooked more well than his. What’s up with that? Nah, but my meat was still pink so I’m fine with it.

Dragonfruit Sorbet – Part of the Restaurant Week Menu!

The restaurant week menu was the best deal ever. It comes with a salad, two full sides, a meat of your choice AND dessert – all for $55! How do you beat that price? I think I would definitely return here for restaurant week! This dessert? I wouldn’t get it again. You see all the black seeds in there, I spent all night having to spit them out. Sorry. Am I supposed to swallow those seeds??

Complimentary Birthday Cake

For all the shy folks out there, there was no singing involved. When I got my check, they accidentally tacked on the charge for this cake. I was not amused. I was also not amused that I had to call them out on it. I couldn’t find my waitress so I called over the manager and he apologized profusely so all was well in the end. Look at the size of that slice!

I have been wanting to try BLT Steak for a long while now.  The reviews on Yelp are glowing so I booked us a table on Christmas Eve.  How was the experience?  Well much like the quality of my pictures, terrible.  It’s really such a shame.  Let me share with you through pictures.

Ribeye Steak – Medium Rare ($46).  Overcooked, tough and expensive.  The first bite was good and it was all downhill from there.  My friend asked for medium well and received like medium rare.  Great right? Continue reading →