Café Pesto - Hilo, Hawaii
Arriving back in Hilo after a long day climbing mountains (or should I say volcanos), I was hungry, but the question remained, where to eat? Hilo doesn't say up late, at least in my experience, and as soon as I took the exit from Highway 19 onto Kamehameha Avenue, I found my answer.
Located in downtown Hilo's historic S. Hata Building, Café Pesto has a reputation for serving contemporary Italian cuisine with a Pacific Rim twist. It was my first time here, and it was still crowded when I arrived at about 8:00 pm.
(Don't be fooled, this was taken as I was leaving.)
To start, I had the wild greens salad (US$4.95).
On the menu, it said "an eclectic blend of organic baby lettuces, cucumbers and organic vine-ripened tomatoes." When it arrived, it looked like a plate of nothing special. I could have gotten a bag of these organic greens at the Hilo Farmer's Market for half the price! Hey, by the way, where are my tomatoes?
Next, was the pizza luau (9" US$10.95; 12" US$17.95).
Topped with kalua pork, sweet onions and pineapple, this was a twist on the classic "Hawaiian" pizza. Aww come on, you all know what a Hawaiian pizza is, right? A Hawaiian pizza is garnished with ham (or Canadian bacon) and pineapple, and sometimes includes onions and green bell peppers. Here, the smokey-flavored kalua pork perfectly balanced the sweet, but tart flavor of the pineapple and the crust was light, crisp and crunchy.
And finally, the coriander grilled tenderloin and blackened shrimp, garlic goat cheese mashed potatoes, honey buttered Manuka spinach, and Hamakua mushroom jus (US$28.95).
What looked like a great concept on the menu, was actually a mish mash of flavors when eaten. The beef was expertly cooked and the coriander sauce gave a sort of Middle Eastern flair to this part of the dish. The blackened shrimp were just that -- blackened and charred with very little flavor. The honey buttered Manuka spinach was overly sweet while the mashed potatoes and the mushroom jus were just buried under all the other flavors.
On this particular visit to Café Pesto, the service was quite awful. After setting the plates down on the table, my waiter was nowhere to be found. My water glass was not refilled until I received the check and no one stopped by to ask how things were. Given the prices for the food, I'm not really sure if I'll be back. If I do come back, it might be to have a pizza for lunch after picking up some organic salad greens at the nearby Hilo Farmer's Market.
Café Pesto
S Hata Building
308 Kamehameha Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii
Telephone: 808.969.6640
It's like magic. Presto! Hungry panda.
Posted by: Chubbypanda | February 11, 2007 at 08:34 AM
Hi Reid - Been to Cafe Pesto twice and though service has always been nice, I thought the food wasn't that great. I'm hoping you had a better experience.
Posted by: Kirk | February 11, 2007 at 06:47 PM
That Pizza Luau looks so 'ono! What was on it?
Posted by: Nate | February 12, 2007 at 12:56 PM
loved this place when I went for lunch (twice!)
Posted by: Kat | February 13, 2007 at 08:20 PM
Hey Reid, I just ate at cafe pesto tonight! What a coincidence... I love the pizza and salads. I'll be making a post on it soon too. Glad you got to eat here when you were in Hilo.
BTW, nice photos for night time, especially since their lighting is kind of dim.
Posted by: James | February 15, 2007 at 11:07 PM
I love Hawaiian pizza. Pineapple and pork products are perfect together I think.
Posted by: umami | February 28, 2007 at 01:19 AM
Pestos was the first place I found in Hilo, and back then I didn't have my own place, so I ate out every night.
I went to Pestos so often that I ended up on first name terms with almost everyone there.
I can still be found there from time to time propping up the bar. If you pick the right night, there are some good musicians to see performing there.
I highly recommend the Volcano Mist Salad, which is deceptivly simple, but oh so 'ono.
Posted by: Sam | March 01, 2007 at 04:08 PM
Well, bad service *can* occur anywhere---obviously. But, in the several times I've been there, service has been superb.
In fact, I worked for a place on the island where I met and talked with (literally) thousands of tourists. I routinely made recommendations and subsequently polled them (when opportunity arose) to get feedback if they went to some place I recommended.
Results? The overwhelming majority I spoke with *loved* Cafe Pesto.
Food . . . and service.
Like I said, bad service *can* occur *anywhere.*
Posted by: brian ansorge | June 23, 2007 at 07:35 PM