Review: La Cucina Ristorante Italiano

My husband and I are always looking out for a good restaurant and although Honolulu is not exactly the mecca of Italian cuisine, a friend recommended that we try La Cucina Ristorante Italiano. This small restaurant is located in the Imperial Plaza building at the edge of downtown Honolulu. To manage the crowd, they only take reservations for parties of four or more. There are only a few tables for two as well as a few seats at the bar. People without reservations have been known to line up outside prior to the 5:30 dinner service.

Our friend made a reservation for our party of five and we were seated right away. The waitress took our drink orders and brought warm bread with a dipping sauce of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Everything is fresh and made to order so I was told to anticipate a wait between courses. Knowing this ahead of time, I didn't mind waiting and engaged in interesting conversations with my dinner mates.

We started off with the popular Crostini Al Porcini ($7) to share. The serving included four slices of toasted crostini covered with mushrooms sautéed in a garlicky sauce. The bonus was a small slice of mozzarella hiding beneath the mushrooms. It was a nice start to a hearty dinner. We also shared the Insalata di Casa ($6) which was large enough for the five of us. The house dressing is a vinaigrette with a unique tomato relish. It is one of the best salad dressings I have ever tasted! (It reminds me of the house dressing at the former Alfred's for those seasoned enough to remember that restaurant.) I plan to try the Insalata di Mare ($14) on my next visit because it comes with the same dressing. My mouth is watering as I type this - it was that good!

Our friend ordered the Cioppino di Pesce ($22) which included a variety of seafood in a wonderful, light broth and a side of garlic crostini. My daughter ordered the Risotto Funghi ($16) which was a delicious blend of risotto, mushrooms, truffle oil and parmesan cheese. This dish was so heavenly that I ate her leftovers the next day.

My husband ordered the Frutti de Mare ($17). He was given the option of several house-made pastas for the evening so he chose the fettuccini. I know that he enjoyed his dish because he didn't offer to share and kept his head down until he was done. I ordered the Trenette Norcina ($15) comprised of wide trenette noodles and a hearty sauce of house-made spicy sausage and two types of mushrooms. The sausage was a bit too spicy and salty for me, but it was too good to leave on the table so I took my leftovers home.

Finally, our other friend ordered the last serving of Osso Bucco ($25) comprised of two fat veal shanks in a light tomato sauce over mashed potatoes. We all tasted his dish and it was superb! Be warned, however, that osso bucco should be ordered in advance to reserve one of the few servings made each day. The servings were all generous, fairly priced, and nicely presented.

In addition, we asked the waitress to recommend a good wine and we were not disappointed with the bottle of Falesco Merlot 2009. The second bottle, a Sangio Vese, was a lighter red and also good. I don't know the prices of the wine, but it came to $70 for the two bottles.

For dessert, we ordered the highly recommended Tiramisu ($6) and Crème Brulee Cheesecake ($5) along with five forks. I'm not a big fan of desserts, but I was in absolute hog heaven with every bite! The tiramisu was light and not overly sweet. The Crème Brulee Cheesecake was superb with a thin layer of caramelized sugar over the top as one would find on crème brulee.

Although we were there for over two hours, the wait staff was attentive and friendly which I feel is an important component of a good dining experience. Three different staffers came by our table every so often to make sure we were okay. In addition, our table was cleared promptly between courses and our glasses were always full. We didn't feel rushed and the wait for our food didn't seem all that long to me.

Parking is available on Cooke Street (metered) or in the Imperial Plaza parking garage. Enter the garage from Kawaihao Street. The parking attendant was gone by the time we were done with dinner so we just dropped our ticket into the box and left. I couldn't find a website for La Cucina, but I did find them on Facebook.

La Cucina Ristorante Italiano
Imperial Plaza
725 Kapiolani Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone: (808) 593-2626

Lunch: Monday - Friday, 11:00 to 2:00
Dinner: Monday - Thursday, 5:30 to 9:30 and Friday - Saturday, 5:30 to 10:00

Complementary Bread and Dipping Sauce

Crostini Al Porcini

Insalata di Casa

Cioppino di Pesce

Risotto Fungi

Frutti de Mare

Trenette Norcina

Osso Bucco

Tiramisu

Crème Brulee Cheesecake