Eating is believing: Basalt’s $29 prime rib dinner
12 ounces plus Yukon gold mashed and veggies — with free parking in Waikiki
Editor’s note: Basalt in late summer updated its menu: The $29 prime rib dinner is no more. Instead, that 12-ounce prime rib is now an entree choice in a $43 three-course Sunset Special dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. daily.
What: 12 ounces of prime rib plus Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and veggies
Where: Basalt Waikiki, 2255 Kuhio Ave. inside Dukes Lane Market & Eatery
When: Daily 5-10 p.m.
Price: $29
Compare: How many upscale places serve full prime rib entrees? $50 for 10 ounces at Hy’s Steakhouse
Fullness factor: 10 out of 10
The deets
I was shattered when I heard Basalt Waikiki, ABC Stores’ casual-upscale restaurant inside Dukes Lane, had replaced its 12-ounce rib eye with a 12-ounce prime rib. Until I heard the price.
For $29 you get prime rib for days, slow-roasted in a low oven after an initial searing blast to seal in the flavors of the garlic-peppercorn-herb-salt crust. The one you see here is rare, the way I like it. It comes with horseradish and au jus, mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. I like beef but could only finish a third; others polish off the whole plate.
Also to like about Basalt: the patio seating along shady Dukes Lane, where passing tourists will ooh at your plate. And the menu is changing as the chefs try out new formulas, but right now there’s also a $47 three-course dinner where your entree choice is between a lobster tail and tenderloin surf and turf or a luscious miso black cod, and this is a $10 discount from regular dinner prices. And happy hour is a deal.
Parking
Here’s the clincher: Basalt gives three hours’ free validation when you self-park in the Hyatt Centric, which is the last driveway on the Diamond Head side of Seaside Avenue just before it meets Kuhio.
Check out the rest of our Eating is believing series:
Stripsteak’s $40 Sunset Supper
Arancino’s 50 percent kamaaina lunch deal
MW Restaurant’s $11 lunches to go
50 percent happy hour at Sansei Waikiki
