Last Wednesday I had lunch at Longhi's with several of my coworkers. I had been there twice before, once for my birthday a REALLY long time ago shortly after it first opened, and about three years ago for a holiday dinner with a couple of friends. This was my first time having lunch there.
If you've never been to Longhi's before, the first thing you should be warned about is that they don't have rice. At all. For me, it's not that big a deal. I'm not the type that needs to have rice with every meal. But if you are that type, you may have some issues with Longhi's. But get over it, because it's worth going there even if they don't have rice.
First of all, the atmosphere is somewhat casual. You don't need to be super-dressed up to eat here. At lunch, a number of people were wearing shorts. Some, like us, appeared to be taking a break from work. I like this because the food is upscale, but the atmosphere and service are down to earth. Also, you can't beat the view. It was a gorgeous day...
On to the food...two of us shared a half-portion Longhi Longhi salad, which is essentially a Caesar salad. The croutons on this salad were amazing! They appeared to have herbs in them and were freshly prepared. They also served us some very yummy bread, kind of like bread sticks -- one had a marinara-like sauce on it, the other jalapenos, and both were covered with cheese.
Making a decision on an entree was difficult because of the many tempting choices. Our waiter immediately tried to sell us on the fish, a house special. Although his description of the fish was tempting, the veal scallopini caught my eye since I rarely get to eat veal. There are four different preparations available: picatta, marsala, parmesan, and Mediterranean. I immediately had my heart set on the picatta. My other friend also had her eye on the picatta, but she was
curious about the Mediterranean preparation. Our other two dining mates both wanted the fish. When our waiter described the fish, he said it was served over a piece of garlic toast. However, it was unclear whether the veal was served with pasta or some other kind of starch. We asked, and he explained that "they" (the powers that be -- he actually seemed quite apologetic and not really understanding of the logic behind this) believe the veal should be served alone, but that he could have some pasta served on the side. He said we could get any type of pasta that they had available, and that one side order should suffice for two people. My fellow veal-eater and I ordered a side of cappelini (angel hair) to share.
We all enjoyed our meals immensely. We each tasted each others dishes and everyt
hing was equally delicious. The fish was cooked to perfection, and the garlic toast, seemingly a strange partner for the fish, was quite good -- although it was clearly a heart attack-inducing piece of goodness. Both of the veal dishes were excellent. I loved the picatta, and I piled a mound of the pasta on my dish to absorb the sauce. My friend did the same with her Mediterranean veal. The Mediterranean had a bit of a kick to it, but it was quite tasty and not overpowering.
I feel that the portions served here are "right-sized." I really believe that too many restaurants serve portions that are way too huge, unless you plan to share one dish between two people. That creates a lot of waste, not to mention obesity, but that's a topic for another soap box. Anyway, for me the portion is just right.
Although the portion was "just right" and I was pretty full after the entree, dessert was irresistible. I think any restaurant who wants to sell desserts needs to use a dessert tray, rather than a menu. I can tell you that I am far more likely to order a dessert that's sitting in front of my face, than one that is only described through words on a menu. Longhi's goes one step further by letting you take the dessert that's on the tray, so there's no waiting. We ended up sharing three desserts: a carrot cake, a berry glace, and a banana creme pie. All were extremely yummy! The carrot cake was the largest carrot cake I've ever seen in my life. I selected the berry glace because I remember ordering it on my last visit and I enjoyed it a lot. The banana creme pie was full of banana flavor and was probably the favorite of the table. We must've eaten it very quickly because I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it. We ended up taking most of the carrot cake back to the office to eat the next day. It was terrific, but we decided that was the one that would hold best for o
ne more day.
All in all, an excellent meal. The service was pretty good, although we seemed to have lost the attention of our waiter toward the end of the meal. But when he was there, he was great. Our waiter was very good about bringing us things we asked for and providing descriptions of items we asked about. The next time you're in the mood to splurge on a nice leisurely lunch, consider Longhi's at Ala Moana.
If you've never been to Longhi's before, the first thing you should be warned about is that they don't have rice. At all. For me, it's not that big a deal. I'm not the type that needs to have rice with every meal. But if you are that type, you may have some issues with Longhi's. But get over it, because it's worth going there even if they don't have rice.
First of all, the atmosphere is somewhat casual. You don't need to be super-dressed up to eat here. At lunch, a number of people were wearing shorts. Some, like us, appeared to be taking a break from work. I like this because the food is upscale, but the atmosphere and service are down to earth. Also, you can't beat the view. It was a gorgeous day...
On to the food...two of us shared a half-portion Longhi Longhi salad, which is essentially a Caesar salad. The croutons on this salad were amazing! They appeared to have herbs in them and were freshly prepared. They also served us some very yummy bread, kind of like bread sticks -- one had a marinara-like sauce on it, the other jalapenos, and both were covered with cheese.
Making a decision on an entree was difficult because of the many tempting choices. Our waiter immediately tried to sell us on the fish, a house special. Although his description of the fish was tempting, the veal scallopini caught my eye since I rarely get to eat veal. There are four different preparations available: picatta, marsala, parmesan, and Mediterranean. I immediately had my heart set on the picatta. My other friend also had her eye on the picatta, but she was
curious about the Mediterranean preparation. Our other two dining mates both wanted the fish. When our waiter described the fish, he said it was served over a piece of garlic toast. However, it was unclear whether the veal was served with pasta or some other kind of starch. We asked, and he explained that "they" (the powers that be -- he actually seemed quite apologetic and not really understanding of the logic behind this) believe the veal should be served alone, but that he could have some pasta served on the side. He said we could get any type of pasta that they had available, and that one side order should suffice for two people. My fellow veal-eater and I ordered a side of cappelini (angel hair) to share.
We all enjoyed our meals immensely. We each tasted each others dishes and everyt
hing was equally delicious. The fish was cooked to perfection, and the garlic toast, seemingly a strange partner for the fish, was quite good -- although it was clearly a heart attack-inducing piece of goodness. Both of the veal dishes were excellent. I loved the picatta, and I piled a mound of the pasta on my dish to absorb the sauce. My friend did the same with her Mediterranean veal. The Mediterranean had a bit of a kick to it, but it was quite tasty and not overpowering.I feel that the portions served here are "right-sized." I really believe that too many restaurants serve portions that are way too huge, unless you plan to share one dish between two people. That creates a lot of waste, not to mention obesity, but that's a topic for another soap box. Anyway, for me the portion is just right.
Although the portion was "just right" and I was pretty full after the entree, dessert was irresistible. I think any restaurant who wants to sell desserts needs to use a dessert tray, rather than a menu. I can tell you that I am far more likely to order a dessert that's sitting in front of my face, than one that is only described through words on a menu. Longhi's goes one step further by letting you take the dessert that's on the tray, so there's no waiting. We ended up sharing three desserts: a carrot cake, a berry glace, and a banana creme pie. All were extremely yummy! The carrot cake was the largest carrot cake I've ever seen in my life. I selected the berry glace because I remember ordering it on my last visit and I enjoyed it a lot. The banana creme pie was full of banana flavor and was probably the favorite of the table. We must've eaten it very quickly because I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it. We ended up taking most of the carrot cake back to the office to eat the next day. It was terrific, but we decided that was the one that would hold best for o
ne more day.
All in all, an excellent meal. The service was pretty good, although we seemed to have lost the attention of our waiter toward the end of the meal. But when he was there, he was great. Our waiter was very good about bringing us things we asked for and providing descriptions of items we asked about. The next time you're in the mood to splurge on a nice leisurely lunch, consider Longhi's at Ala Moana.
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