A Spicy Tale

When you mention Asahi Grill to the many local folks familiar with the popular restaurant, you can almost guarantee that the first thing to pop out of their mouth will be “oxtail soup.” Long renowned for the local staple, Asahi Grill serves up bowl after bowl of its signature dish to its loyal customers — and tourists, too.

But that story is the only kind of tale vegetarians are interested in, since non-meat eaters would rather save the ox than savor it.

So, if vegetarians will have nothing to do with dining on the tail or any other part of an ox, why not eat like one? (Yes, oxen are vegetarian and feed on grasses and other herbaceous material.)

Asahi Grill serves up an eclectic mix of ethnic and island faves for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which includes local-style Japanese-Chinese- and Korean-influenced dishes. And speaking of Korean, the friendly Kakaako neighborhood eatery offers Korean Salad ($8.50), a cool, light dish that will spice up anyone’s life, and if you don’t eat meat or fish, it’s just right for a light meal with its generous portion of crisp romaine lettuce topped with sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, onions, scallions and Asahi Grill’s homemade kim chee sauce.

Simple, yes, but so full of spicy kim chee flavor, your taste buds will say kamsahamnida! And so will the ox.

Asahi Grill

515 Ward Ave., Honolulu
593.2800
Sunday-Thursday, 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m.