Posted on: Friday, February 9, 2007
Range of delights in bread pudding
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Who knew bread pudding could be so different?
Some are served hot, others cold.
Some are packed with fruit, others with nuts.
We were (pleasantly) surprised that none of the bread puddings we sampled last week tasted similar.
Not even remotely.
Each had its own distinct texture and flavor.
And our tasters were really torn.
We tried bread pudding from 10 restaurants — all suggestions from readers.
Of course, we couldn't try them all.
We were inundated with suggestions ranging from O'ahu Country Club to the Hilton Kaua'i Beach Resort.
But we picked the ones that served the dish on a regular basis — and the ones we could pick up during our lunch break.
The results were mixed.
Some liked the traditional style of bread pudding, while others preferred the flavored versions.
And we realize these dishes would've probably tasted better at the restaurant, after a savory meal, hot and fresh, and miles away from our daily jobs.
Oh, well.
Here's our take on each dish:
Kaka'ako Kitchen (Ward Centre, 596-7488): This bread pudding ($3.50) was ranked the highest by most of our tasters. It was your classic bread pudding: sweet, moist and packed with flavor. Our resident foodie, Lesa Griffith, called this dessert "textbook," meeting all the requirements of a bread pudding as outlined by Webster's New World Culinary Arts. "It's classic," she said.
Honey's at Ko'olau Golf Club (45-550 Ki'ona'ole Road, 236-4653): Like Kaka'ako Kitchen, this dish ($6.99) ranked high with tasters who raved about its perfectly sweet flavor, chunky texture and good balance of ingredients. "Love, love, love the mac nuts!" said one taster. "Oddly, I didn't care that it lacked any visible fruit. Feel free to add more mac nuts to the recipe! No, really."
Indigo Eurasian Cuisine (1121 Nu'uanu Ave., 521-2900): It wasn't a hit with everyone, but most of the tasters enjoyed the rich coffee flavor of this dish ($6.50). "Love coffee, love the coffee flavor," said one taster. Another taster mentioned that this seemed the most like a pudding, in the English sense. "It's bread so well-soaked that it takes on another — softer — state," she said. Maybe too soft for some, but I liked it ... My instant winnah!"
Grand Café and Bakery (31 N. Pauahi St., 531-0001): Smack in the middle was this dessert ($4.75), by far the largest piece of bread pudding of the bunch. Some liked the strong cinnamon flavor and homemade feel. But others thought it lacked complexity and varied ingredients. One taster even likened it to the blandness of a ham sandwich. "As bland as an inconsequential episode of 'Ghost Whisperer,' " said one. Ouch!
OnJin's Café (401 Kamake'e St., 589-1666): A reader favorite, we were split on this version of bread pudding ($4). Some liked the liliko'i sauce and variety of ingredients. Others thought it was OK but not memorable. "It was a little mushy in texture," said one taster, "but the tropical flavors — coconut, liliko'i — were intriguing."
Palomino Restaurant (66 Queen St., 528-2400): (Due to the restaurant's closing, this dish is no longer available.) Some loved this bread pudding ($6.95), others didn't. In fact, most of the tasters ranked this dish, which barely fit on the plate, in the bottom three. "Love, love, love the chunks of fruit and plump raisins," raved one taster. "It was pretty, too." Another compared it to apple pie — and that's not a bad thing! "Love the apples and cinnamon," she said.
Zia's Caffe (45-620 Kamehameha Highway, 235-9427): Most of the tasters didn't care for the banana flavor in this bread pudding ($3.95), but we did appreciate the attempt to do something different with the dish. In fact, this restaurant has a different flavor every day! One taster put this bread pudding at the top of his list. "I heard complaints that this one was more like a really good banana bread than a bread pudding. I didn't care," he said. "I couldn't get enough of the thick slices of banana, which made this selection truly stand out and truly original. ... The most 'local' of the bunch."
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Aloha Tower Marketplace, 599-4877): Most of us have had this dessert ($6.50 for the dinner portion) at the restaurant. But when it arrived in our newsroom, it was a complete mess. Soggy, disorganized. Still, a few tasters ranked it fairly high. "It was my favorite because the toasted top and cinnamon flavor was different from the traditional mushy texture," said one.
Big City Diner (Ward Entertainment Complex, 591-8891): It was almost unfair to compare this bread pudding ($4.99) to the others, since it was the most un-pudding of them all. The retro eatery serves a chocolate-chip bread pudding drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips. While some didn't mind the chocolate flavor, others thought it was too cakelike and dry. "(It was an) anemic chocolate cake," said one taster. "Why not just make chocolate cake?"
Panya Bistro & Bakery (Ala Moana Center, 946-6388): This restaurant serves a Japanese-style bread pudding ($4.95) that didn't stand up to the competition. Tasters complained that it was more custard than pudding. "Way too eggy," said one. "Tastes more like a custard. And I hate custard when it's not brulee."
Wait, there's more!
Others that were strongly recommended by readers, but we didn't try:
Covenant Books & Coffee, 1142 12th Ave., 732-4600.
Sheraton Moana Surfrider's Beachside Café, 2365 Kalakaua Ave., 922-3111. "The consistency was perfectly like a pudding," raved one reader. "(It was) soft and light, not hard and lumpy like so many bread puddings can be."
The Kahala Hotel's Plumeria Beach Café, 739-8888. (Only served regularly during Sunday brunch.)
Kapiolani Bakery, 99-115 'Aiea Heights Drive, 488-1861.
Dreamers Homestyle Cooking, 1138 Fort Street Mall, 545-7105. "The price ($2.99) was right," said one reader, who called its dish "a delight."
Hawaii Prince Court, 956-1111.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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