I think my favorite area of Downtown Rochester is Alexander Street. My favorite hotspots have always included The Daily Refresher, The Old Toad, Havana Cabana, and Mex. Since Havana Cabana and Mex have closed, my friends and I speculated what would move into those buildings, as they are in a great location for weekend business. A couple of months ago, we noticed a sign being put up on the building that said "Lanai", and instantly I thought it would be a Polynesian restaurant. I was partially right; Lanai is actually a Hawaiian, specifically a 60's era Hawaiian, themed bar and restaurant.
After finding out that it had opened a few weeks ago on November 22nd - because my best friend had started seeing people come and go from the building - I couldn't wait to check it out. This past Wednesday, my best friend and I planned on making the trip to see what it was all about. Because it wasn't a weekend night, and Alexander Street wasn't at its prime level of busyness, we were one of the only people there - which is sometimes a great thing because the service is usually more relaxed and colloquial.
The menu at the bar, our usual area of sitting preference, only had a limited dining menu, so we were seated upstairs. I would love to try the bar menu at some point - there's nothing like eating and watching the bartenders put on a show! The theme, as I said, was a very Mad Men-era Hawaiian style with 60's type diner booths mixed with color blocked wall art of palms and iconic yet abstract island designs. The music, which may differ from weekday to weekend, ranged from Elvis to Bobby Darin, and completely fit the atmosphere. It seemed as though they adopted some of Mex's decor, including a donkey statue that, I was told, they "planned to put a grass skirt on".
Our server was excellent and was happy to make informed and opinionated suggestions about the menu, which I loved. Though they had an excellent tiki-style cocktail menu, I decided to go with a beer because I saw they had a Wheat Ale variety of one of my favorite Hawaiian beer brands, Kona. After we ordered our drinks, we ordered an appetizer of spring rolls and I ordered the Loco Moco, a popular Hawaiian dish which I like to call the "garbage plate of Hawaii". I had never tried Loco Moco before, but I had watched this video about it and made it my mission to try it one day. I thought I would have to go to Hawaii for it eventually! My best friend ordered the Chicken Bulgogi because he was intrigued by the inclusion of baby bok choy.
The menu overall seemed to have an Asian fusion feel to it, which was missing from the East End since East/West Kitchen had closed in early 2016. Other menu items that intrigued me were the Ahi Poke, Kimchi Noodle Salad, and the Banh Mi Sliders, all described as delectable fusion takes on some Asian favorites I hadn't tried before - except the kimchi, because your girl loves her kimchi. Our food came pretty quickly since we were there on such a slow night, and the visual appeal was extraordinary. The plates that the food came on were plain white, but were different geometric shapes and breadth which seemed to highlight the food in a fully gastronomic way.
PHOTO BY MATTHEW DEAN STEWART
The spring rolls were very similar in style to the Wegmans Summer Rolls, a take on the Vietnamese spring roll, with thin rice paper wrapped around veggies served with a peanut flavored hoisin-based sauce. The vegetables tasted fresher than Wegmans' - probably because they weren't sitting in a display case and were freshly served. The rice paper wrap was very similar and very delicious, but the real show-stopper was the peanut sauce, which we had coveted from the server to use with our entree meals as well. It was creamy instead of the usual watery-type peanut sauce, and it had more of a rustic, nutty flavor than a sickly-sweet taste as some sauces I had tried in the past.
Very soon after our appetizer, our food was brought out, and the Loco Moco looked stunning. The server also brought three different sauces to try the food with, and highly suggested that I mix mine with the Sriracha sauce. When I ordered, I had a choice between a pork or a quinoa patty, and while I love quinoa, I wanted to try it authentically first with the pork. It also appeared as though many of their menu items could easily be made vegan or vegetarian in a similar way. The Loco Moco was a medium-cooked pork burger on a bed of home fried potatoes and soft, warm white rice and topped with a fried egg. I put a little of each sauce on different corners of the dish just to try them all, including the cherished peanut sauce. Both dishes we tried were cooked perfectly and were absolutely full of new and tasty flavors!
Currently their hours are Tuesday through Thursday evenings until 10pm and Friday and Saturday evenings until 11pm. They are located at 295 Alexander Street near East Avenue in Rochester, NY. You can follow Lanai on their Facebook page. If you want a little taste of Hawaii or the Pacific Islands in Upstate New York, I give Lanai a great recommendation, and I can't wait to come back to try their frozen cocktails in the warmer weather! Thank you for reading my restaurant review, keep an eye out for more articles like this by following my Twitter or my Instagram for post updates!
I enjoyed reading your post thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for checking it out, Martin! I'm so glad you liked it.
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