Where to Take Mom for Mother’s Day in Honolulu

There’s still time left to book a table at one of these restaurants.

May 5, 2016

Catherine Toth Fox,

At BLT Steak, you can order à la carte—smoked salmon carpaccio, charred octopus, beef Wellington, roasted cornish hen, honey-rosemary buttercake—or get three courses for $85.

Photo: Courtesy of Esquared Hospitality/Mikey Pozarik

Show your appreciation for Mom and everything she does—yes, even forcing you to tidy your room and reminding you to wear clean undies—with a meal she doesn’t have to cook. Here are some ideas for where to go on Sunday.

Alan Wong’s Honolulu

It will be hard to choose between dishes on the flexible prix fixe menu at Alan Wong’s flagship restaurant on King Street. Small appetizers include Hawaiian kampachi lumpia, Kualoa Ranch grilled shrimp and smoked salmon toast. For entrées, you can choose the pan-seared onaga, North Shore Farm-raised tilapia, red-wine-braised short ribs or Filipino-inspired prime New York strip medallions. Dessert is a vacherin (a kind of cow’s milk cheese) with a citrus meringue, lychee, compressed melon and raspberry sponge.

$95 per person or $145 with wine pairings. Dinner service starts at 5 p.m., 949-2526, alanwongs.com

BLT Steak

This restaurant in the Trump International Hotel Waikīkī Beach Walk is offering a special blackboard menu for Mother’s Day. You can order à la carte—smoked salmon carpaccio, charred octopus, beef Wellington, roasted cornish hen, honey-rosemary buttercake—or get three courses for $85. Parking is validated.

$85 for three courses, $119 with wine pairings, 683-7440, bltrestaurants.com

Chef George “Mavro” Mavrothalassitis will be serving his mom’s pistou soup as a complimentary course on Sunday.

Photo: Courtesy of Chef Mavro

Chef Mavro

Chef George “Mavro” Mavrothalassitis will be serving his mom’s “legendary” pistou soup, a Provencal comfort food, as a complimentary course on Sunday. “My mom was an angel,” he says. “[Her soup] was the best in the whole world.” The soup is made with spring beans, ham hocks, tomatoes, salted pork belly, basil and Parmesan cheese. “And love,” Mavrothalassitis adds. “Always the best ingredient.” The restaurant’s spring menu features its popular Keāhole “lobster à la française” with split English peas; the North Shore-raised, free-range chicken roasted on the bones with Périgord truffle and fork-crushed Yukon potatoes; and the brie de meaux mousse with a cranberry preserve and pickled red beets.

$105 for four courses ($172 with wine pairings), $148 for six ($217 with wine pairings) . Dinner seating starts at 6 p.m., 944-4714, chefmavro.com

Hōkū’s

The signature restaurant at the posh Kāhala Hotel & Resort is offering both a Mother’s Day brunch and dinner on Sunday. Brunch features a decadent range of sweet and savory items, from chilled seafood to a waffle bar to a wide selection of sushi and sashimi. Main courses include butter-poached king crab legs, miso-glazed butterfish, roasted Peking duck and a rib roast with a red-wine reduction and horseradish cream. The prix fixe dinner menu includes snapper carpaccio, fresh truffle and pumpkin risotto, roasted Kona abalone and scallops, sautéed beef tenderloin and calamansi namelaka (a creamy dessert) with white chocolate mousse.

Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., $85 for adults, $42.50 for children (6 to 12 years old) ; dinner, 5:30 to 10 p.m., $110 per person, $45 more per person for wine pairings; 739-8760, kahalaresort.com

JJ’s Bistro & French Pastry

This charming Kaimukī bistro is offering a simple prix fixe menu on Sunday. The first course is either a soup or salad and the second is a chef’s special appetizer sampler. The third course is a choice of entrées: baked salmon, ‘opakakaka or fisherman pot pie; poached lobster tail; lamb Wellington; or New York steak Wellington. But the best part? Your fourth course is dessert, and you can choose any of JJ’s beautifully crafted pastries or desserts in the showcase, including the popular chocolate pyramid.

$39.95 per person, 739-0993, jjfrenchbistro.com

MW Restaurant

This restaurant offers a unique mix of family-style dishes and small plates for both lunch and dinner on Sunday. Among the large plates are ‘ahi poke, pork adobo bao, crab-crusted monchong, chili-pesto Kaua‘i shrimp, braised miso short ribs and banana cream pie. The small plates, which cost an additional $10 each, include Kona cold garlic abalone, mochi-crusted ‘opakapaka and the restaurant’s signature doughnuts. There’s even a children’s menu (choice of $20) that features hamburgers, quesadilla, grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken pasta.

$45 for lunch, $65 for dinner, 955-6505, mwrestaurant.com

The Pig & The Lady

Treat Mom to a brunch like no other. The Pig & The Lady is offering a special brunch on Sunday, with small plates of griddled cornbread, hash browns with shrimp and burrata, and a shot of cereal milk. That’s followed up by a choice of entrées: prime New York steak and eggs, Mama Le’s hai nam-style chicken, smoked meat carbonara pasta, kale salad with One-Eyed Willie toast or the P&L breakfast banh mi with a fish sauce fried omelet and a Portuguese sausage burger. For desserts, you can choose between a pandan Belgian waffle or a beignet-and-banana milkshake. There are only later times and bar seating available.

$49 for adults, $25 for children under 8. Brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 585-8255, thepigandthelady.com

The Pineapple Room

The ever-popular brunch—conveniently located in Macy’s at the Ala Moana Center, in case you want to shop first—features a carving station, made-to-order waffles, an omelet and egg station, a full continental breakfast spread and a chilled buffet with tako kim chee poke and Sweet Land Farm goat cheese spreads. Entrées includes Makaweli Ranch meatloaf, Ni‘ihau lamb chili and beans, steamed monchong with lup cheong and ginger, New Zealand salmon ochazuke and shoyu pork. Save room for dessert; the station has halo halo, strawberry tiramisu, guava cheesecake, Waialua chocolate pudding and more.

$55 per person, $25 for children 5 to 12 years old. Brunch runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 945-6573, alanwongs.com

Roy’s Hawai‘i Kai

Roy’s is offering a two-course brunch for Mother’s Day that starts with house-made brioche sticky buns topped with a honey glaze. You choose an appetizer—fresh seasonal fruit plate, lemongrass chicken chop salad, cream crab corn chowder or crispy miso lobster and shrimp dim sum—and pick an entrée, which ranges in price from $35.95 for French toast or macadamia nut pancakes to $42.95 for steak and eggs with a short rib hash. We’d opt for the Roy’s Benedict ($39.95), with your choice of filet mignon or crab cakes on a cheddar-bacon biscuit and shiso-béarnaise. It even offers a children’s menu for $12.95.

Starting at $35.95 per person. Seating starts at 10 a.m., 396-7697, royshawaii.com

Stage Restaurant

The brunch buffet menu for Mother’s Day at Stage is a bit overwhelming—but that’s a good thing. It offers a healthy assortment of salads; a poke bar; a carving station; an omelet station; made-to-order sushi hand rolls; a hot line with the usual brunch suspects; and a plated menu that features waffles, tempura shrimp and veggies, a lūʻau Benedict, buttermilk chicken and cheddar-bacon biscuits, and misoyaki salmon. For dessert, indulge in a slice of chocolate decadence, maple blondies, toffee bars or the build-your-own-sundae bar with house-made ice cream.

$59 for adults, $25 for children 12 and under. Brunch runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 237-5429, stagerestauranthawaii.com

Tiki’s Grill & Bar

If your Mom loves crab legs, consider the Mother’s Day buffet at Tiki’s Grill & Bar. Not only does it boast all-you-can-eat snow crab legs—with drawn butter, of course—but you can order a crab eggs Benedict, too. But there’s more than just crab here. The restaurant will have an omelet station; hand-carved, salt-crusted prime rib, a pancake and French toast bar and assorted desserts. Hot items include togarashi-seared salmon, macadamia nut-crusted mahimahi, brined pork loin with a Kula onion marmalade and more. There’s even a build-your-own bloody mary bar. Three hours free valet parking.

$48 for adults, $19 for children 5 to 12 years old. Brunch runs from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 923-8454, tikisgrill.com

Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar

The prix fixe menu at Vino offers five courses with seared cumin-scented jumbo prawns atop a niçoise chopped salad, lobster uovo (which means it comes with an egg), roasted heirloom beet poke, a surf-and-turf entrée featuring pan-seared Bristol Bay scallops and a sous vide strip loin, and a strawberry-and-pineapple tart for dessert.

$47 per person, $63.95 with wine pairings by Chuck Furuya, 524-8466, vinohawaii.com