Sigh, these are the moments I dread...Like being set up on a date with a "great guy" that everyone thinks is the bomb. You hear all kinds of great things about him so you look forward to the date with giddy anticipation. Wow, could this be "The One"??! Then wanting to fake a headache to leave the date early because the "great guy" doesn't live up to the hype. That describes my 1st & most likely, only visit to Bevy. The 2nd star is generous & because I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for being a new place. Full disclosure: we left to go somewhere else to end our dinner on a high - after spending $50 for drinks & pupus. Only the 3rd time I've ever done such a thing.
Service: With 4 peeps behind the bar, only 1 guy was friendly & relayed our order to the bartender because after waiting 15 minutes, we finally asked him who we may order from. Otherwise we were generally ignored & the place was not hopping with biz. The gal who brought our food must have been a mute or had too much botox because she didn't speak or smile. She also didn't provide napkins, share plates or utensils. The vibe - our business was not wanted or needed.
Drinks: When I saw them steeping ginger for their ginger beer, I had to try it. Meh, the drink was weak, barely tasted like ginger & lacked lime to brighten the flavor. Wang Chung's has stellar ginger beer. www.yelp.com/biz/wang-chungs-honolulu Heck, I can mix a great ginger elixir with Pacifikool Hawaiian Ginger Syrup. www.pacifikool.com/index.html
Friend thought Moscow Mule was weak & exchanged it for bubbles.
Food:
$8 chicken "liver and onion" mousse - The presentation was absolutely disgusting - see picture. When the speechless, smileless gal set it down, I stared at it with disbelief because it looked like leftovers that were cleared from someone else's table. I would never serve guests in my home something that looked like that. Remember, the place wasn't packed & even if it were, nothing should leave the kitchen looking so gross. After our visit, I saw 3 photos posted on yelp which looked nothing like what we were served. No, the flavor did not compensate for the ugly presentation & small portion.
$1 happy hour oysters with papaya salsa & creamy (mayo?) dill sauce (full price: $5 for 2) - Of course this was the draw to trying Bevy. Generally I'm an oyster whore & slurp down 12-18 easy. When I found out the oysters were gulf oysters I ordered 6. In retrospect, I wish I ordered 3 because gulf oysters are quite cheap, from far away & usually fried. Being a purist, I got my oysters naked. Big mistake because the sauces are needed to cover up the oyster. I may be spoiled with my trips to SF where oysters are super fresh from farms 1 hour drive away & it would be blasphemy to serve with anything more than mignonette. California & Washington oyster farms are closer than the Gulf of Mexico but cost more for better quality. Also, it was the 1st time I had oysters served on a wet paper towel instead of crushed ice or rock salt.
$12 oil poached ahi with olive salad and shrimp chips - I get that bars/lounges that want to be upscale charge upscale prices for small portions, but the food quality should be high to match the price. The serving was about 3 oz of mostly olives & bell peppers with a few cubes of ahi. (I had to dig up a cube of ahi so it would show in the photo). The olives & bell peppers overwhelmed the ahi. I wonder if that is to mask the ahi isn't fresh? Would have been happier with poke from any shop on Oahu. The description should be olive salad with oil poached ahi. The shrimp chips were good but that's no compensation. read more