Recently-Opened in Kaka`ako: Moku Kitchen

If you're a fan on Monkeypod Kitchen in Ko Olina like I am, you'll love Moku Kitchen, Peter Merriman's new restaurant, at SALT at Our Kaka`ako.

The Hawaii Mom Blog team finally met up to celebrate our blogiversary, and a last minute change of venue brought us to Moku Kitchen.  I was very familiar with the menu, since many items are featured at Monkeypod, where our family usually dines during Happy Hour, but I was eager to try new items (forgive the purple hues in the photos - the lighting emitted all sorts of funky colors).

Fried Chicken Sandwich

Inside the chicken sandwich

Fresh Fish Tacos

Kalua Pork Pizza

Roasted Squash Ravioli

Garlic Truffle Oil Fries

Chocolate Cream Pie

The Roasted Squash Ravioli - chevre, spinach, walnut sage pesto, and Garlic Truffle Oil Fries - topped with Parmesan cheese and served with a whole grain mustard aoli and housemade ketchup, are two of my favorite items at Monkeypod Kitchen to order during Happy Hour, and these items were just as yummy at Moku Kitchen. Nat loved the fries, and thought the ravioli was great as a shared appetizer.

I liked the Kalua Pork Pizza, which also included roasted pineapple, mac nut pesto, and jalapenos. I usually eat chicken with pesto on pizza, so the kalua pork was a nice change. Nat, however, thought the pizza was too greasy.

I really liked the Fried Chicken Sandwich, which was topped with basil, tomato, house-made quick pickle, and an avocado aioli. I was pleasantly surprised with how juicy and flavorful the chicken was.

The Fresh Fish Tacos consisted of mahi, tomatillo salsa, avocado, tomato, cilantro, and cabbage. I thought the fish was seasoned perfectly, and the taco was tasty, but would have preferred if the taco shell was crunchy instead of soft. Nat thought there should have been two tortillas per taco, making it less messy.

We couldn't leave Moku Kitchen without eating a pie. Everyone loved the pie (Nat even claimed it one of the best Chocolate Cream Pies she's ever had).

Nadia said she liked everything, and her favorite dish was the pie!

The open space and design is really nice - fresh and inviting.

For a restaurant that had just opened the day before, service was pretty good, despite not getting seated for a while.

We were the first ones at the restaurant, arriving on-the-dot for our reservation at 11:00am, but the staff was still prepping for the day. Ten minutes later we were finally seated. Our server was very friendly, and thankfully the food got to our table promptly.

Happy Hour is 3pm-5:30pm daily - they offer the same Happy Hour deals as Monkeypod Kitchen (50% appetizers and $9 pizzas, with a few exclusions) - so I can imagine Moku Kitchen will definitely be a hot spot for Happy Hour, just as the Ko Olina location is.

Moku Kitchen
660 Ala Moana Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 591-6658