Du Vin Dishes Out Creative Burgers

Since opening its doors nearly seven years ago, Brasserie Du Vin has become known as a fun, rustic eatery offering French countryside-inspired cuisine and a great selection of wines. They also, however, make a great hamburger prepared with ground ribeye, which is made in-house.

So, last month, the restaurant started offering a burger of the week lunch special not found on its regular menu. This week’s burger ($16, available through Oct. 5) comes with lettuce, tomato, avocado, red beets, swiss cheese and a fried egg on a telera roll; and it’s served with a choice of pommes frites, house salad, bowl of soup or house-made chips.

“I’m really proud of our burger,” says executive chef Marco Elder. “Every week there’s going to be a new burger special. Some others we’ve done are a benedict burger with poached egg and hollandaise, or the Jimmy Burger with foie gras and a sunny-side-up egg.”

Also popular for lunch is the Croque Monsieur sandwich ($12), which is Brasserie Du Vin’s version of a grilled ham and cheese. There’s smoked ham with dijon mustard bechamel and melted gruyere on toasted sourdough bread, but what makes this sandwich extraordinary is that the gruyere (which is similar to Swiss cheese) also is melted on top of the bread with a blowtorch so you can still pick it up with your hands. It’s served with a choice of house-made soup, house salad, chips or pommes frites; and you can add a fried egg on the sandwich, making it the Croque Madame for $1 more.

The lunch menu also features a great selection of salads, such as the Grilled Shrimp Salad ($16) consisting of grilled tiger shrimp, mixed greens, avocado, poached pear, pecan wood-smoked bacon, Roquefort and a creamy grape vinaigrette; and served with complimentary warm French bread. It’s a light, well-balanced dish with most of the greens coming from local farmers. The prawns are from Kauai and are on the sweeter side, so they balance very nicely with the acidity in the grape vinaigrette.

For dinner, the Braised Lamb Shank will just melt in your mouth, and the Crispy Duck Confit is among the top customer favorites. There also is a brunch menu on Saturdays featuring a variety of traditional breakfast items, but with a Brasserie Du Vin twist such as the loco moco with braised short rib and mushroom risotto, and the French Toast “stuffed” with a sweet and tasty raspberry-chocolate cream cheese blend. And for Happy Hour, which runs from 4 to 6 p.m., enjoy select wines, cocktails and pupus at happy hour prices.

“We are a fun, casual place to come, kick back, drink a glass of wine and eat some good food,” notes Elder. “It’s great for happy hour and pau hana. And I think our ambiance makes us really special. When you walk through the doors, you really get transported to somewhere else than Downtown Honolulu. It’s like a French cafe with those nice little courtyards. You get that relaxing feel where you can sit here for an hour and just sit down and read a book.”

Brasserie Du Vin

1115 Bethel St., Honolulu
545-1115
Monday-Saturday, Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Dinner: 4-9 p.m.
Closed on Sundays
BrasserieDuVin.com