Hy’s is tough to review. A restaurant doesn’t survive much less prosper in Waikiki without being pretty good, and Hy’s appears to be prospering with a good batch of excellent reviews on TA. Yet our evening was disappointing. The classic Caesar salad prepared table side...was delicious, well flavored with lots of garlic and the anchovies properly muddled into the dressing. Perfect. Part of the disappointment resulted from me not knowing the menu well enough. I like beef filet and I like garlic, so I thought the garlic filet with mushrooms would be a great entree choice. I didn’t realize that the garlic mushroom sauce was fairly heavy, similar to what is often referred to as brown gravy. The sauce thoroughly masked the flavor of the filet. I should have ordered the plain filet and asked if garlic could be added during the final searing. If not, a liberal simple seasoning of salt and pepper would have been great. Admittedly, my choice without discussing details of the steak preparation with the server was part of the problem. I opted for a baked potato with all the fixings. The potato was served barely warm so the butter stayed hard and the sour cream rather than melting a bit simply added to the cold experience. A bit more disappointment. The room’s acoustics were terrible, made worse by a nearby table of about 12 people who all apparently had to speak loudly to be heard even among themselves. In any case, our party of four at a small table nearby had a lot of difficulty hearing the server or one another. I’ve had much better experiences at two other premium Honolulu steakhouses. That said, given their reputation, I may well give Hy’s another try, request a table in a quieter one of Hy’s several areas, and avoid asking for the garlic and mushroom brown sauce.More
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