Kissaten Truffle Mac & Cheese

A small gang of us got together with a $50 Living Social Deal in hand and empty bellies ready to be filled with ooey gooey mac and cheese.  Since the truffle mac and cheese was only $10.75 and none of us had been there before, we decided to explore the menu a bit as well.  We ordered a couple orders of the mac and cheese, some tomato bisque (of course with a grilled cheese to dip in it), a beet salad, and cheesecake.  Here's what we thought:

Autumn:  This is my first time visiting Kissaten.  Seems like a nice spot, well lit with not too loud music playing.  I was the last to get there, so the food came quickly.  Which was awesome as I was starving!  The mac and cheese was white cheddar, roast chicken, and bacon.  Amazing!  I really enjoyed it.  Almost seemed more like a pasta dish rather than mac and cheese.  We also had grilled cheese with tomato bisque soup.  Bacon in the sandwich was great too.  I like bacon.  And ooey gooey cheese!  I like that too.

James:  Pretty cheesy and gooey with good truffle flavor, strong but not too much.  Crispy bacon offsets the gooeyness.  Super huge, extra cheesy deliciousness, good quality for the price and size.  Good chicken and pasta ratio of stuff.  It was a little oily though.  Really (surprisingly) good salad.  Excellent tomato bisque but not enough sandwich.  Cheesecake looks pretty picturesque and is tasty too.

Shananigans:  You could really smell the truffle oil on the mac and cheese when it was brought to the table.  Nom nom nom nom nom.  And there was bacon crumbled on top!  Woo Woo!  It consisted of aged white cheddar, penne pasta, and smothered in sauce.  And large portions at that!  The grilled cheese was a little dry to me, but that was fixed by dipping it in the most delicious tomato bisque.  The beet salad was tasty with lots of beets.  

Kincaids Lobster Mac 'N' Cheese!

Ginger Face invited me out for pau hana at Kincaid’s.  They did not have nachos or mac ‘n’ cheese on the Happy Hour menu, but we did notice on the full dinner menu that mac ‘n’ cheese came with an entrée.  And so the macaroni and cheese blog begins…

Shananigans:
The view at Kincaid’s is awesome.  Located on the top floor, Makai side of the Ward Warehouse, the windows look out to the harbor and the long-forgotten Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant.  If you come at sunset, you will not be disappointed.

And you can get happy hour food/drinks anywhere in the lounge area, so there is plenty of seating.  I saw some sweet potato fries get delivered at the table next to us and they looked delicious, served with 2 dipping sauces.  I love dipping things in stuff. They brought us some bread (I guess cause we ordered the sides of mac ‘n’ cheese from the dinner menu?) that was delicious.  Warm with melted butter atop and strong flavor of rosemary.   

Since we ordered a side each, we opted to just share the French dip sliders which came out first anyway.  The meat was super juicy and when dipped in the au jus was heavenly drippy messy. 

And then came out our - what we thought were small - sides of mac ‘n’ cheese.  But no, they were large.  And we were already getting full.  And to our surprise topped with little bits of lobster bonus.  The cheese sauce was white and we could never remember to ask the waitress what kinds it was actually made of.  At first bite, I thought the dish needed some salt, but after a few bites realized my palette was just over salted by the au jus of the French dip.  It was perfectly seasoned and the traditional elbow macaroni was perfectly cooked.  They must have used gobs of real cheese because stringy deliciousness formed when you brought a bite from the plate to your mouth, but only for about an inch.  The noodles maintained a consistent coating of ooey gooey cheesy nom nom ness till the last bite.  Be prepared though…this lovely delight of a macaroni and cheese side dish does not run cheap.  $15.95 per bowl.

Ginger Face:
I am pretty familiar with Kincaid's happy hour.  With delicious, discounted pupus, $4-5 drinks and ample free parking, you should probably familiarize yourself with it, too.  This time I opted for the Basil Gimlet, which is the perfect blend of savory basil, gin and sweetness.  Goes down easy.  Too easy.  

The mac n cheese is not on the happy hour menu and not cheap - one bowl costs more that three happy hour drinks!  While a bit pricey, it's not for no reason.  This is not your childhood mac n cheese.  And I would consider it a dinner-sized portion.  It came out topped with lobster and parsley and then gets topped with fresh-ground pepper table side, a classy touch.  The lobster flavor is throughout the dish and gives it a sophisticated flare.  The cheese sauce was hot, stringy and rich in flavor, but pooled under the noodles - it was a stir and bite dish!  

It's so cheesy!

Kincaid's has definitely upped the mac n cheese ante.

Someone is too full and cannot finish!