South Shore Grill - A Whole New Standard in Value Dining
Hawaii Diner Staff
August 2004

Saturday morning, caught between the usual times for breakfast and lunch, we cruised up Waialae, over to University, up the hill to Manoa and finally over to Monsarrat looking for a different place to eat that was open. It was early yet but on Monsarrat we spotted South Shore Grill (the same location most recently occupied by Teddy's Bigger Burgers...more on that aspect of the story later) and noted that it wouldn't open until 11am. We killed some more time and headed back to South Shore Grill and, may we say, "It was worth it!"

We learned that SSG opened the day before and we wouldn't have been surprised nor upset if there had been a few glitches, but the place was running like clockwork. SSG is the domain of Linda Gehring (that's her smiling face in the mural with the pink bikini top and platter of food), a private chef, whose most recent gig was cooking for a business mogul on an 18-month round-the-world cruise aboard a 112' private yacht. As chef/proprietor of South Shore Grill she runs a tight ship (pun intended!) serving up brilliantly flavored food at amazing prices. Now, on to the food.

We started with the Fish Taco Plate $6.75. All of the plates come with "Hapa Rice", Tuna Mac Salad and South Shore Slaw OR Fries and South Shore Slaw. Other plate options are Kalbi $6.75, which is one pound of really righteous looking ribs; BBQ Chicken $5.50, done Korean style; Fresh Island Fish $6.75 and the Mix Plate which includes Kalbi, BBQ Chicken and a Fish Taco for $7.95. We also ordered the Caprese Sandwich $3.75; South Shore Burger $5.50; Fresh Island Fish Sandwich $5.25; Garlic Butter Fries $2.50 sm/$3.50 lg and Apple Crumble $3.25.

Before discussing the individual dishes, it is important to note that the foundation of most of these creations rests on some excellent basics. First among these is the smoky, spicy Chipolte Aioli; this aioli has just the right amount of heat and the flavor is robust without being overpowering. Second, is the South Shore Slaw, which is a colorful melange of green cabbage and red & green bell peppers in a rice vinegar and garlic based dressing with just a touch of mayo for body. Third, is the house-made Ciabatta bread, which is used in all of the sandwiches...this is a wonderful bread.

First out was the Fish Taco Plate. The mahi in the tacos is not cubed but is a filet strip which has been lightly floured and fried before being loaded into doubled white corn tortillas and dressed with the aforementioned chipolte aioli, South Shore Slaw and fresh tomatoes. Absolutely excellent and you can get the mahi grilled if you prefer. The Tuna Mac was good, plus you get an additional serving of the slaw as well as "hapa rice" (a mix of white & brown rice) with the plate. The Fish Taco is also available ala carte for $2.95.

The Caprese was served and upped the ante. Made with fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, mac nut pesto, fresh basil and vine ripened tomatoes drizzled with extra virgin olive oil on the ciabatta, it was simply superb. The pesto had a wonderfully bright flavor which complemented the cheese and tomatoes perfectly. It's hard to imagine paying only $3.75 for this. My dining partner said "If I had been served this at (fill in the blank with name of famous expensive local restaurant) I wouldn't have blinked and willingly paid 4 or 5 times more."

The Caprese had major "wow factor" and we thought it might be difficult for the subsequent dish to stand out but the Fresh Island Fish Sandwich was very good. After all, it is made with grilled-to-order mahi served on that great ciabatta and topped with the same chipolte aioli and slaw. Fresh tomatoes added the finishing touch.

We felt it our duty to order the Garlic Butter Fries and were suitably rewarded with a glistening basket of fries sparked with garlic. You may have had garlic fries before but there is a difference at SSG. Rather than tossing the fries with butter and chopped raw garlic which can make for a bitter taste, Linda sautes the garlic gently with the butter thus taking the edge off the garlic. Yum, yum.

And, just when we were feeling full, the South Shore Grill Burger turned up. This is an awesome burger. Not only do you get the ciabatta layered with aioli, slaw and tomatoes, you get a deliciously seasoned hand-shaped burger topped with crispy shoestring onions. It was so good we couldn't resist it and it was abundantly clear that neither could the diners around us who were equally impressed.

If there is dessert on the menu, we will order it and happily for us the sign proclaimed "baked in house daily ask for selections". Choices for the day were Brownies or Apple Crumble and we picked the Apple Crumble. Given the quality of everything else we ate, it was no surprise that this was excellent too. We could only manage of couple of bites so we took it home to enjoy later with vanilla ice cream.

We were very impressed with the quality of the food. The upscale flavors belie the surfer-casual atmosphere and inexpensive prices. Linda is a bundle of energy and her passion for good food, which not only tastes great, but has real eye-appeal (think colorful), is evident. And, yes, for those of you who were wondering, Linda is the spouse of Ted, of Teddy's Bigger Burgers fame. He was there and his pride in Linda's culinary skills was evident. He said that he has enjoyed her excellent food for years now and felt that others should as well and we agree! We're glad South Shore Grill is open and encourage everyone who loves great food to check it out.

South Shore Grill
3114 Monsarrat Ave
Honolulu (Diamond Head area)
734-0229
Open daily 11am-8pm
Cash only