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Restaurant Insider with Anne Lee: Café Morey

Restaurant Insider

October 11, 2020

Story By: Anne Lee | Photos by: REID SHIMABUKURO

Café Morey’s Ambassadors of Aloha Sara Yoshioka and Chiharu Tataka share a meal with Anne Lee.

ANNE LEE speaks with Café Morey’s CHEF MOREY

Ultimate Eggs Benedict. Famous “Mix Fruits” Pancakes. The “Best Ever Poke Bowls.” Acai Bowls. Classic Bloody Marys. These are a few of the popular items you can find at Café Morey’s neighborhood restaurant.

The standard of quality is consistent in everything the eatery offers from the freshest fish to the locally sourced ingredients. When you look at the ahi in your poke bowl, each piece is consistent, all weighing in at 12 grams with no signs of sinew. Why 12 grams? This is the scientific average per piece that makes each bite taste good. Chef Morey hand cuts each piece to produce the highest-quality poke bowls to his customers.

Famous “Mix Fruits” Pancakes ($15)

Ready to order some takeout? Call it in and park in the private lot or find street parking. In addition, Café Morey’s is extending a 20 percent discount on all takeout orders for October. Dine-in service resumed Oct. 8, too!

AL: When did the Café Morey’s open its doors?

CM: June 2017. Before we took over, the interior was dark. When we remodeled, we created windows to open up and create an outdoor dining setting, and brighten up the area.

BBQ Kalbi ($17)

AL: What does Café Morey’s bring to the Hawaii food scene?

CM: We wanted a neighborhood restaurant, a local kitchen that was inviting for everyone. This is a place where older clientele can feel comfortable dining by themselves, as well as families, and groups of friends that have brunch with mimosas and our famous Bloody Mary. With open-air dining, many guests feel at ease dining in during COVID.

AL: What is the restaurant’s mission?

CM: To bring a fresh perspective on breakfast and lunch options. Each item is meticulously prepared; it is like art.

AL: What is the most popular breakfast dish?

CM: Morey’s Fried Rice ($10) with vegetables, homemade anchovy garlic butter, a dash of dried vegetable powder from Japan and garlic shoyu topped with two eggs. Or Famous “Mix Fruits” Pancakes ($15): two fluffy pancakes, caramelized bananas, strawberries, kiwi, papaya, blackberries and blueberries, topped with mascarpone whipped cream. Our Morey’s Blend coffee is our special blend.

Maki Special ($16)

This bestseller includes Maki Konikson’s favorites: Morey’s Fried Rice, a fried egg, three pieces garlic shrimp, ahi tataki ginger poke and a Caesar salad.

AL: What about for lunch?

CM: Our version of the plate lunch is called Chef’s Special Plates. Grilled Ahi Belly w/ Garlic Butter Sauce ($16) is new. The BBQ Kalbi ($17) is also very popular. All of our Chef’s Special Plates come with salad, your choice of rice, baguette or mini pancake.

AL: Let’s talk about the poke bowls.

CM:You can customize your bowl. Choose your size, either mini ($9.98 one choice) or regular ($12.98 two choices), and finally your base. In addition to sushi or brown rice, we offer mixed greens for our carb-conscious customers. Then, pick your poke and sauce. Poke options are ahi, ahi tataki (seared), shrimp, salmon, salmon tataki (seared), tako, and mix (ahi, salmon, hamachi). Sauce options are original shoyu, ginger, garlic shoyu, spicy shoyu, lemon garlic salt, creamy spicy mayo or creamy wasabi mayo.

AL: What do you recommend to drink?

CM: Our signature drinks were created by our mixologist from LA — the Morey’s Blue Hawaii is very popular.

Honolulu, HI 96815

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