Foodland entered the bar arena with the revamping of its Ala Moana Center store in 2016. Along with groceries and a generous-sized deli, Foodland Farms has a well-stocked wine bar.
Last year the supermarket chain opened Redfish in Kakaako, a poke shop, restaurant and bar; no groceries in sight. And later this month, it is scheduled to open Eleven, a free-standing bar adjoining the Ala Moana store.
But let us not forget Pearl City.
Foodland Farms opened in Central Oahu last year with a full bar, focused less on wine and more on local beers on draft and craft cocktails.
Corporate mixologist Matt Rosskopf, who has designed all Foodland’s drink menus, grew up in the neighborhood, graduating from Pearl City High School in 2003.
Rosskopf said each Foodland bar is designed to fit into the personality of its community. It was especially important to him to serve the people of Pearl City.
“I wanted it to speak to them,” he said. “I wanted it to play to a local palate.”
Happy hour specials have recently been added, offered from 4 to 6 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. daily.
THE EXPERIENCE
Foodland Farms is a supermarket, and it makes no attempt to screen off the shopping buzz. The bar, which surrounds the bartenders and all their wares, is surrounded itself by the market’s deli stations, produce, fresh meats and the ends of several dry-goods aisles.
Above the bar hangs a yellow-mesh cage of sorts that bears the bar’s name, Pau Hana — branding it, while simultaneously beckoning you toward a happy hour break.
TV screens hang from the cage, and on big-game days this place is packed.
It’s bright and bustling and I like it, especially the multitasking aspect: While waiting for your food, you can do your grocery shopping.
THE FOOD
Pau Hana offers six happy hour specials, designed by chef Rebekah DeCosta.
Garlic fries are $5.99. Pulehu short ribs are $7.99.
Four items are $9.99: clams; a Korean chicken sandwich; a burger and a happy-hour pizza that changes weekly.
These prices are $2 to $3 off the regular menu.
The Sambal Manila Clams are a real find, about a dozen juicy bivalves swimming in a delicious light sauce, slightly tart, slightly spicy and all-around yum. Ask for a spoon; you’ll want to drink down the sauce. I mixed some with the shredded cabbage that came under our order of short ribs and made myself a bit of sambal slaw.
Speaking of the short ribs, this dish comprises a kalbi-type thin strip of ribs, but instead of the Korean flavorings, the pulehu seasonings give it a smoky punch.
The Paniolo BBQ Burger is piled high with smoked meat and crisp onions on a brioche bun. It’s tasty, but you might want to specify a medium or medium-rare burger. Mine was fully cooked, and that did the texture no favors.
We also ordered the Happy Hour Pizza, which on our week was a mix of Portuguese and Italian sausages with spinach and a sunny- side egg. The thin crust had a good chew, and would make a fine base for whatever DeCosta has in mind on a given week. If you should be offered that sausage and egg mix, don’t even think about it — just put in your order.
One caution: If you’re used to eating at the Ala Moana Foodland Farms wine bar, the protocol is different here. At Ala Moana you can carry over food from the deli area to eat at the bar. At Pearl City’s bar, it’s food off the menu only.
THE DRINK
Beer, wine and cocktails are all 25% off at happy hour, which is a rare deal.
Twelve local beers are available on draft, $5.25 to $6 during happy hour (regularly $7 to $8). The selection sweeps from lager to IPA to brown or red ale to porter and saison. There’s even a guava cider.
The wine list is shorter (go to Ala Moana if that’s your passion), but covers the usual chardonnay, cabernet, rose and pinot noir — plus a Spanish grenache if you’d like to stretch a little. By the glass, these wines are $6.75 to $9 during happy hour.
Rosskopf’s cocktails are where the fun is found. He designed them, he said, to reflect Pearl City lore. Spot the connection in names like Monkey Bar ’54 (for the old Pearl City Tavern bar with its real monkeys). It’s a whisky drink with banana liqueur (because: monkeys) and walnut bitters. Or the Bumper to Bumper Bloody Maria — “You gotta fight that traffic,” Rosskopf said.
Pearl Harbor’s proximity is noted in the Mighty Mo, with rye, vermouth and Campari, and the Pearl Harbor Mule.
For the mule, Rosskopf brightened the classic vodka-ginger beer concoction with yuzu and — surprise — lychee boba, the chewy tapioca pearls covering the bottom of the glass so you can suck one up in every sip.
The Bloody Maria is a lively brew made with chipotle tequila and a “local-kine” bloody mary mix that Rosskopf said contains shoyu, chili pepper water, Chinese chili oil and Japanese togarashi pepper. It’s topped with a stick of pipikaula, kamaboko and kim chee cucumbers that’s a pupu in itself.
All the cocktails go for $13 each, so the discounted price is $9.75. Drink up.
THE VERDICT
The Pau Hana bar makes the chore of grocery shopping a treat.
As Rosskopf says, “A lot of people like a little distraction.”
PAU HANA BAR
Foodland Farms, Pearl City Gateway Center
453-1850, 808ne.ws/pearlpauhana
Happy hour: 2-4 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. daily
>> All drinks 25% off
>> Food specials $5.99 to $9.99
