Gusto [ Restaurant Profile ] Hula’s Is Exploring January 2007

by Dan Shafer
Images by R. Byrne

After more than eight years of bringing the spirit of Aloha to New Monterey, Hula’s Island Grill & Tiki Room is exploding into Carmel and Santa Cruz. And they’re just getting started.

Monterey Peninsula old-timers who’ve discovered Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room on Lighthouse Avenue in New Monterey are used to talking about it simply as “Hula’s.” From now on they will have to be more specific. Hula’s, a staple among knowledgeable locals for the past nearly nine years, has recently opened a Hula Hut at the Crossroads in Carmel plus they are opening a larger version of the original restaurant in Santa Cruz where it promises to become a Mecca for the surfing crowd.

Hula’s Hawaiian-themed restaurant offers a crowd composed of 90% locals (with a few regular out-of-towners thrown in for good measure) a menu built around seafood, barbecued pork, plus an intriguing array of dishes that can be served either in a bowl or wrapped in a flavored tortilla.

Night after night, Hula’s is one of the busiest restaurants in the area, which is quite an accomplishment given that it is located on a busy thoroughfare with poor parking and very few related businesses in the neighborhood. Don’t bother to call for reservations; it’s first-come, first-served at this delightful establishment except for parties of six or more.

Hula’s two dining rooms include the original main room and the Tiki Room, added about four years ago to serve the needs of a growing clientele. Both rooms feature Hawaiian and surfer themes that were hand-selected and designed by Chris Delaney, who along with his brother, Craig, owns the burgeoning mini-chain.

These days, with Chris and Craig off busily expanding the Hula’s themed restaurants, General Manager, Rita Price, holds down the fort on Lighthouse Avenue. A fixture at the original location for more than six years, Rita is one of those folks who knows almost everyone who comes into the restaurant, including some of the tourists who come back regularly for anniversaries and other special events.

The menu at Hula’s is built around seafood. Diners can select any of four kinds of fish, each of which can be prepared any of six ways. The seafood is always fresh and consists of Ahi Tuna, Hawaiian Ono, Mahi-Mahi, and a tasty and seldom-seen Hawaiian sea bass called Hapu. You can order these dishes prepared pan-fired with wok-seared Shiitake mushrooms and a miso-soy glaze, coconut-encrusted, lemongrass-encrusted, macadamia nut-encrusted, or Wasabi style (which is $2 extra).

“Our most popular dish seems to be the Wasabi-style Ahi Tuna,” says Price, “although our Duke’s Luau Pork Plate would probably run a really close second.

Exotic sauces and flavors insinuate themselves into nicely selected seafood and chicken throughout the menu. Some locals — Price included — eat at the restaurant several times each week and, thanks to the variety; never get bored with the fare.

If you’re inclined to include an appetizer with your meal, Hula’s offers an intriguing selection. Two of my favorites are the Grade-A sashimi, which is not only fresh and delicious but a real bargain compared to what you’d pay for the dish at a sushi bar, and Island-style Poke, a mix of small pieces of fish sautéed in a savory sauce. The crispy coconut shrimp rolls are also delightful, and many people rave over the sweet potato fries.

All of the main seafood dishes come with Hula’s consistently sticky rice and highly unusual coleslaw whose taste secret is in the ginger. The wasabi mashed potatoes are also wonderful, and you can always order them as an option if you’re not a sticky-rice kind of person.

I have several friends who have at one time or another lived in San Diego and who are big fans of fish tacos, which they inevitably declare cannot be found in suitable form outside their home town.

They say that until I bring them to Hula’s, that is. Both the South Seas Fish Tacos and the Tiger Shrimp Tacos are authentic and mouth-watering. And if you’re a salad person, Hula’s offers one of the tastiest around, its Chopped Chicken Mango treatment of the traditional Caesar.

The portions at Hula’s are generous enough that even I, a “life-is-uncertain-so-eat-dessert-first” sort of person, can only rarely enjoy a sweet ending to my meal. Hula’s tries to make it easy for diners by offering only three desserts, but they’re all so delicious and different that choosing is still a problem.

Their Chocolate Lava Cake is borderline sinful and my wife says their Key Lime Pie is among the best she’s had — and she was raised in Florida where Key Limes are plentiful. But the definite pièce de résistance is the Hula Pie, an unbelievable Macadamia nut gelato served in an Oreo Cookie and Graham Cracker crust and topped with hot fudge and whipped cream.

Since the more intimate Tiki Room opened four years ago, Hula’s has also had a full bar where it formerly offered only beer and wine. The mixmasters behind the bar can put together some of the most beautiful and delightful island-influenced cocktails you’ll encounter outside the limits of the State of Hawaii.

Whether you visit the original Hula’s, their new Hula Hut in Carmel, or the newest location in Santa Cruz, you can be certain that you’ll have an Aloha kind of time. And that you’ll walk out full. °