A Family Favorite

At Uncle Bo’s Pupu Bar & Grill you’re one of the family

When people ask me what’s my favorite restaurant, I usually answer the question with another question: “Do you mean the places I dream about, or the ones where I spend most of my time and money?”

UNCLE BO’S PUPU BAR & GRILL 559 Kapahulu Avenue 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily 739-2426

At least twice a week — sometimes more — my wife, son and I dine at one of two of our favorite chain restaurants. They’re fast, they’re convenient, but, more importantly, they are sort of culinary DMZs for us, where we order our favorites, over and over and over.

We can now add a third restaurant into our rotation. Uncle Bo’s Pupu Bar & Grill is an eclectic eatery, with a nearly 40-item menu that defies classification. At first glance, the selections look pretty standard: steak, seafood, pasta, pizza and a boatload of pupus. But on closer examination many of the dishes have distinct American/Asian/Island touches, such as Thai Street-Style Grilled Chicken Wings ($8), Cajun Seared Ahi ($10) and a Meat Lover’s Pizza, featuring kalua pig ($15).

There is no real rhyme or reason to the collection, which suits Bo Pathammavong fine. The Laotian chef/owner says that his menu simply reflects the food that he and his friends like to eat. Sounds just like your favorite uncle, doesn’t he?

In addition to the friendly menu, our server explained to us that our dishes could be prepared and served any way we wanted: cut up and presented pupu-style, or as an entrée. Moreover, we could mix and match our starches and side dishes.

We started off our meal with some familiar favorites: Spinach Artichoke Dip ($7), Crab Cakes ($8) and Steamed Clams ($9). The dip featured spinach and artichoke hearts that had been chopped by hand instead or pureed in a food processor as at most places. The result was a nicely textured, flavorful dip, in which you could actually taste and feel the brininess and starch of the artichoke.

FLAVOR EXPLOSION: Like many dishes at Uncle Bo’s, the Shrimp Dynamite packs a spicy punch. photo: Jimmy Forrest

The crab cake was cooked to a deep, dark brown. It was saturated with a healthy squeeze of Thai chili sauce. As a result, the cake was sweet and spicy and soft and moist, but it still had a nice crunch to it. The clams were large and plump. Their broth, enhanced by diced onions, tomatoes, choi sum, white wine and another shot of chili sauce, was a terrific mixture of savory, sweet and oceany goodness. After finishing off the clams, I greedily spooned the soup in my mouth like a Dickensian orphan.

For our entrées, my wife ordered one of her favorites, Meat Lovers’ Pizza ($14), while my son went with his staple, Keiki Spaghetti ($5). The pizza featured a buttery, crispy crust, a mild tomato sauce and healthy helpings of pepperoni, diced ham and Italian sausage in addition to the aforementioned kalua pig. It was a substantial meal. So was the spaghetti, which featured a mountain of noodles and a massive meatball — subtly flavored and tender to the touch.

I ordered the Indo Lobster ($22), which is named after its place of origin (Indonesia) and not its preparation (mayo, seasoned breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese). For my starch, I chose cottage fries, which my son enjoyed. I also got a huge side of steamed green beans and carrots.

The dish was pretty. It was substantial. I’ve had better lobsters before, but, at that moment, it, along with just about everything else we had, was exactly what I wanted. It was my favorite.

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