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Washugyu pho and a French dip sandwich, with an optional caviar bump on either dish — a small, very Honolulu kind of excess.
For two weeks, twenty-eight Ward Village kitchens put something on the menu you cannot order the rest of the year. Here is every one of them — what to get, where it is, and how to find it.
Ward Village runs this twice a year, and the format rewards planning. The offers are genuinely limited — some are single dishes, some are full prix-fixe menus for two, and a few are simply a few dollars off a drink. The spread is wide enough that you could eat your way through the fortnight without repeating a room.
A word on strategy: the set menus are where the value concentrates. Cino's three courses and Off the Wall's menu for two are built as complete meals. The platters — Nori Bar's oishi deluxe above all — are the ones worth bringing someone to share.
Washugyu pho and a French dip sandwich, with an optional caviar bump on either dish — a small, very Honolulu kind of excess.
A three-course Italian menu. Antipasto: panzanella with seasonal fruit, Ho Farms tomato and stracciatella, or caprese with burrata and kalamata olives. Entrée: butternut squash agnolotti with Parmigiano Reggiano, macadamia nuts and brown butter sage, or rigatoni bolognese of veal, beef and pork. Dessert: mango-coconut panna cotta or tiramisu. Chef Arnold Corpuz says the kitchen is leaning on simplicity, freshness and seasonal ingredients.
Order the steamed dumplings and any drink is $3 — including the cloud mousse latte the shop is known for.
The park kiosk is running cinnamon rolls, pesto tomato focaccia and a scallion chili crisp focaccia.
A pastry case worth the detour: yame-matcha, white chocolate mousse with matcha brownie, ube coconut tart, Macedonia, whole Montblanc roll cake and whole green grape shortcake.
Special beverages from Laʻa Kea Wellness and Aloha Matcha Hawaiʻi, served in one of Kakaʻako's best-looking rooms.
Special pricing across the sushi rolls at this casual Japanese dine-in spot.
The yakiniku house goes big: A5 Miyazaki wagyu tsukimi yukhoe, Miyazaki wagyu sushi with sea urchin, and Nicolas Feuillatte Brut champagne.
Mango sago and the bubble waffle.
An ultimate sweet-and-savory gift set plus customizable boxes — the easiest way to take Hawaiʻi-made product home.
Mersin tantuni — wagyu, tomato, onion, mardin sumac, Kahuku parsley, Maui lemon and thin lavas bread — built from chef Ahu Hettema's childhood in Mersin.
Coffee-scented products from the fragrance shop — the one stop here that isn't edible.
An exclusive tsukemen from the beef-bone-broth specialists, newly moved into South Shore Market.
Falafel banh mi, a watermelon mint julep and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies at the hybrid café.
Al pastor skewers with rice and beans; a torta of grilled carne asada, melted cheese, avocado, chipotle mayo and lettuce; Jarritos and strawberry lemonade.
Mediterranean-inspired vegan treats, all coconut-based and gluten-free: a Mediterranean plate and a Hawaiian cookie crumble.
Lunch: miso salmon with banchan, garlic rice and a miso lemon vinaigrette. Dinner: the Taste of Ward surf-and-turf duo — Manhattan steak with garlic potatoes and local vegetables, alongside a shrimp pot pie.
Signature butter mochi in rotation: azuki strawberry, butter mochi biko and Cookie Butter.
“Heartbeet” juice of beets, orange, apple, pineapple and ginger, and a purple bliss smoothie with blueberries, banana, spinach, almond milk and acai.
The most ambitious plate of the fortnight: the Nori oishi deluxe platter — lomi ʻahi under uni and caviar, an oyster shooter, mini wagyu don with shoyu and chili oil, toro shiso hosomaki, ʻahi tataki nigiri, kanpachi with shichimi, garlic truffle salmon nigiri with ikura, seared spicy ʻahi with tobiko, and sashimi of maguro, king salmon and hamachi.
A lava flow chirashi don and a spicy salmon crème brûlée torched bowl, from a chef who buys at the Honolulu fish auction himself.
A set menu for two: field harvest salad with fresh fruit, greens and avocado in housemade yogurt dressing; steamed Manila clams with chorizo in white wine reduction with garlic ciabatta; a 10-ounce New York sirloin with garlic lemon fingerling potatoes and bordelaise; and Ecuadorian chocolate cake with hazelnut cream and crunch.
A specialty japchae from the tabletop-grill house.
Truffle & Pop popcorn and Please Come Again Ice Cream at the neighborhood lifestyle shop.
$3 off any fall pumpkin or horchata drink.
A tomato bisque with seafood, and fried pocho sausage, in the whiskey bar upstairs.
Specialty drinks built for fried pork: lilikoʻi and jeju mandarin orange, lime and jeju green citrus, honey grapefruit black tea, strawberry hibiscus.
A Cafe coco mocktail of coconut water, espresso cold foam, orange juice, maple syrup and dehydrated orange, and a Mānoa chocolate basque cheesecake with tropical compote and vanilla ice cream. Westman Group's Ryan Ko on the Mānoa partnership: quality, local, and “simple, approachable and familiar.”