Completed: 11/18/2015
Set menu appetizer and mango smoothie
I try to be as budget-conscious with my spending as possible to save money for long-term goals like buying a house (which in Hawaii seems like an impossible dream) or raising children with a comfortable financial cushion. But because bucket lists allow for room to get out of my norm, this item was created under the motivation to do something I would otherwise never do, which is to indulge myself with very expensive things. Of all fancy things to treat myself to, I chose a meal because who doesn't like to eat food?
Salad, goat cheese wontons, fish roll
My original idea to accomplish this goal was to use this as a prize for a competition between my mother and me to see who could be the first to go without complaining for a straight 21 days. Turns out that realizing that goal would take more discipline than either my mom and I had expected, so that has been on a (long) hiatus. Instead, another opportunity presented itself, courtesy of Honolulu Magazine. They just so happened to have a month-long giveaway in October 2015 with daily prizes that totaled about $500. I was the lucky winner of day one's package, which included a $200 gift certificate to Chef Chai's Restaurant.
Vegetarian entree
Excited by this perfect prospect, I decided to make a reservation for my husband and me to visit the restaurant during Restaurant Week, a special time of the year (typically in November) when participating restaurants across the state would offer special menu items at a promotional rate. Lucky for me, Chef Chai was willing to modify the menu to allow for some vegetarian options so that my fancy meal experience would be extra special. For $50, each of us got a sate starter (mine's was tofu), an appetizer sampler (which included 4-5 items, but since they could only modify one thing, I just got a mushroom taco. This, by the way, was my favorite menu item of the night). A salad with tangerine vinaigrette followed, and then the main entree. I chose a vegetable terrine with green curry sauce. I do not know what terrine means, but it turns out the dish would look like a steak made out of vegetables, which was an amusing surprise. Finally, the set menu concluded with a dessert (I chose the white chocolate truffle gelato with raspberry sauce).
One of our desserts from the set menu
(Please excuse the bitten piece, I got excited before remembering to take a photo)
Since we had an extra $100 to spend, other items we ordered to supplement our meal included a virgin lava flow (my favorite!) and a mango smoothie for our drinks. We also had goat cheese wontons with a pineapple chutney. I would have loved to eat more because I enjoyed the marriage of the savory cheese flavor with the sweet chutney, but the cheese was a bit rich for a meal that was already quite filling. Jack also ordered some kind of salad and a fish roll. I enjoyed the vegetable parts of the salad, which had a pickled and spicy flavor (the spice was kind of a bit much for me though). By this point, we were super full (and this was before we received our entree). But since I wanted to be greedy and spend the gift certificates in one go, we decided to spend the remainder on desserts. We got to try pineapple with a honey cream and side sorbet, and a white cake with Tahitian vanilla creme anglaise.
Other dessert from the set menu (I personally liked this one more)
Here's my take on the experience. On the positive side, I think we got to try all the things we wanted off the menu. I felt like the Restaurant Week menu was an awesome deal for the amount and taste of food received. I also appreciated their accommodations for my diet very much, since not all places would be vegetarian-friendly. We also got a lot more food than I expected for $200. On top of that, we got to bring some desserts back to our families so they could try it too. On the flip side, it seems like you're supposed to enjoy your meal over a stretch of time, but three hours for our meal was kind of a long time for us. Granted, there was another huge party at the time we were there, but the pace of service was the same in the hour we arrived earlier than the large group and then when they arrived. Also, the desserts were pretty overpriced ($8-9 a pop, vs $50 for a 5-course meal). All in all, it was nice to be able to experience this at just the cost of tip. But it was definitely much harder than I thought it would be to spend $100 on a meal. The spending is not hard, but to enjoy the meal on top of that (we were stuffed beyond belief by the end) is also something to keep in mind. My choice of restaurant may not have been the most ideal for this bucket list goal, but I think I can accurately say that Jack and I are not used to eating at higher-end dining, so you won't be seeing much of us in type of dining scene. Regardless, we go to experience something we normally wouldn't think to do, and it was a memorable experience nonetheless.
