Good Now But Better Later

The late, lamented Hung Won (Yelp)

Due to the real estate boom good, cheap Honolulu eateries are being displaced by high-priced diners. One such example was the defunct Hung Won Restaurant, where $40 of takeout easily fed 10 people. It was one of my Dad's go-to places; the owner knew him, the food would be ready in 15 minutes, and Hung Won was only a mile away.

Scallops

Last week we had dinner with some friends at Hung Won's replacement, XO Restaurant. Having opened in May, XO's cuisine is small-plate Asian-fusion; it has gotten rave reviews. We phoned in a reservation, so there was no waiting when we arrived at 6. However, the dining room filled quickly because XO was understaffed. The two waitresses struggled valiantly to provide service commensurate with the menu, the wine list and the decor.

Duck

We ordered six small plates, plus two desserts. XO lived up to its reviews, each dish well-presented and redolent with flavor and texture. The dishes were spaced 8-10 minutes apart, which turned out to be our preference. (Frankly, I'm not sure that the staff were capable of bringing them out all at once if we had asked.)

Our meal took a good two hours, which was fine with us since we had a lot of catching up to do.

Pickled vegetables

I would come back again, but am not in a hurry to do so.

If I were going to spend $30-$50 per person (a meal for 10 at Hung Won, just saying) I'd wait a few months to give them a chance to work out the kinks in service.