12th Avenue Grill
Back in the beginning of April, I did a post on The Mandarin Restaurant based on a recommendation from a couple of my readers. I wasn't too impressed with the place, so Ryan, who was one of the readers that recommended the Mandarin, asked when I was going to visit 12th Avenue Grill. He wanted to see if my "blah" attitude towards the Mandarin was mearly a fluke, or if our "tastes" in food were in actually in sync.

This place has actually been on my "to visit" list for a couple of months now, ever since another reader, Mr_Me, made mention of it in a comment on my post of Yama's Fish Market. Each
time that I had passed by, the restaurant was busy, with a line of customers waiting hungrily outside the front door. Well, I passed by again, this time hoping to snag a table for lunch. The restaurant was closed, so I don't think they are open for lunch anymore. I ended up coming back for dinner and thankfully, there was no line.

(I apologize in advance for the dark photos.)
When I got here with a friend, there was a bit of a crowd, but at least there were a few empty tables. After being seated, I was given the short menu and it was explained that the specials were listed on the chalkboard above the counter dining area/kitchen entrance. Daily specials include appetizers on the far left, meat and fish entrées in the middle, and desserts on the far right of the chalkboard. It's a good thing the table next to me was unoccupied. I had a clear view of the chalkboard and the kitchen.
After placing our order, we were given a basket of bread. There were actually two types of bread in the basket, with the larger slices being the more tasty of the two.
For dinner, I had the kim chee steak (US$17.95).

This was a skirt steak that had been marinated in a homemade kim chee sauce then char grilled to order. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the meat had
been sliced into smaller pieces and that it was so tender that I could
cut into it with my fork. The pieces steak were sitting on a bed of slightly sweet sautéed cabbage and onions. It was topped with some sliced peppers and onions and served with what the menu said was "lacquered rice cake". Simply put it was yaki onigiri (grilled rice ball).
The steak was delicious. It was slightly sweet, slightly tangy (my guess from vinegar) and slightly spicy. A perfect combination of flavors. This is definitely something that I could order again. The vegetables complimented the steak very well, with the only disappointment being the "lacquered rice cake". The outside was much too hard to be eaten.
This was the fish special of the day.

It was a grilled mahi on baby green salad with a sundried tomato-olive-garbanzo tapenade (US$19.95). The fish, while moist and perfectly prepared, was marred by the slighly sour taste of the tapenade. Maybe there were too many sundried tomatoes here.
Desserts here are prepared by Lisa Siu of 3660 on the Rise and Kaka'ako Kitchen. Since I just love her bread pudding with crème anglaise and vanilla bean sauce, I had to sample some of the desserts.
We started with the lemon mousse pie (US$5.95).

The mousse was light and fluffy -- it almost felt like I was eating air. The shortbread crust was crisp and flakey and surprisingly enough, there was a very strong, rich lemony flavor. This was actually very tart, just the way I like it. Excellent.
We also sampled the maple crème brûlée (US$5.95).

The custard was smooth, creamy, and just slightly firm, though, not as rich as I had hoped. The grade A maple syrup gave this dessert just a slightly different taste. Overall, though, I must say that I enjoyed the lemon mousse pie a lot more.
I must say that I throughly enjoyed the food here. Although there were a couple of low points with the food, overall it was quite good. The ambiance is relaxed and casual, although it can be a little noisy once the place starts to fill up. The wait staff was helpful and the service excellent. A visit to 12th Avenue Grill is wholeheartedly recommended.
12th Avenue Grill
1145C 12th Avenue
Telephone: (808)732-9469
12thAvenueGrillMenu
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