Ready To Eat Some Incredibly Inventive Food? And Mystery Meat Too?
Sure you are!
I will share more details about the “mystery” dish shown above soon, but that plate of “culinary delight” is thanks to one of San Francisco’s most popular and delicious restaurants!
Smile!
Yes, if you go to Liholiho Yacht Club’s social media sites, you’ll find this terrific logo and photo – and it’s for a good reason, because the food is worth celebrating – thanks to Chef/Owner Ravi Kapur!
My wife Alex and I ate there at the beginning of the New Year, and what a culinary adventure it was – beginning with getting a reservation!
Here’s how it works: reservations are only available 30 days out, and begin at midnight, so on December 3 at 12:01a, I went online to get us our Jan. 3 reservation: but guess what?
Not available yet!
Then I realized: December has THIRTY-ONE DAYS…so, the next night at precisely midnight, I went online again and got my reservation – exactly 30 days prior…let the countdown begin!
It was gorgeous when we arrived in San Francisco, and after a day walking the city, we headed to the restaurant, located just a few blocks off of the very popular Union Square.
We were greeted by a bright blue neon sign:
As I said, this is Chef Ravi Kapur’s restaurant, and here’s what they say about the origin of their name:
“Back in Hawaii in the early 80’s the Kealoha uncles would race Hobie Cats, and throw “pop up” parties to pay for their supplies. They would go to the beach, fire up the grill, ice down the beer, and get a band to play. They charged a modest price with the intention of making enough money to allow them to keep doing what they loved. They realized they needed a name for their ‘organization’, and the brothers — who lived on Liholiho street — decided to name it Liholiho Yacht Club. This is how the modern day LYC was born. We loved the name and the idea: Throw a party to allow you to keep doing what you love.”
In keeping with that spirit, the space has a hip, functional quality: and let’s give them a huge “Bravo” right off the bat, because we were seated a few minutes early!
That never happens at a restaurant this popular!
The open kitchen allows you to watch the food being prepared, and it comes fast and furious – in a good way: the staff is professional and expert at bringing you dishes quickly.
Chef Owner Ravi Kapur mixes Californian technique with the flavors of his native Hawaii,…but enough talk, let’s eat!
The menu is divided into three areas: snacks and small dishes on the upper left, appetizers on the right, and main dishes down below…and we had all three, beginning with popcorn!
My wife Alex loved the popcorn with butter and togarashi – a japanese mix of seaweed, spices and sesame seed – delicious to snack on as we perused the menu and made some choices:
We wanted to try two other dishes from the upper left menu: first up was Yellowtail Sashimi with kiwi, black sesame, citrus kasha and crushed cucumbers…
Two observations: first, the Yellowtail was meaty, which I love – it wasn’t a thin sushi slice, so it could handle the rich kiwi and chunks of cucumbers…delicious and refreshing.
Next up: Tongue!
Beef Tongue Poppy Seed Steamed Buns To Be Exact!
Wow. These “beef tongue” steamed buns were phenomenal.
More precisely, they were braised slices of beef tongue served inside poppy seed steamed buns with kimchi and cucumber, another “showstopper” to be sure!
This was just the first appearance of “unique meat” – but before we got to the next one, we had to have a salad first!
This salad included Delicata Squash with aged Gouda, Sunflower Seed Pesto, Kohlrabi and herb salad with ranch dressing….light and refreshing, with the chunks of Squash giving it a nice texture and body.
Now time for some seafood:
Opah!
Yes, this incredible fish dish is Opah with a chili-honey rub, butter beans, broccoli di ciccio, mei qing choy and soy brown butter!
Very full of flavor, the fish is really meaty with lots of texture, and the butter beans have a smooth richness that has me starting to feel very satisfied – and full.
So that means it was time for:
The Mystery Meat!
Yes, Alex posted this shot of me pondering the next course: while I knew exactly what it was, it was fun to ponder – because it’s not on the menu!
This is SPAM!
I know, most of you have read my previous stories about Spam, but you must understand: it can be a delicious dish! Since Chef is from Hawaii, he no doubt has a family history of eating Spam, as it was a very important staple in the past…but “canned meat” doesn’t have to taste bad!
Of course, this meat NEVER saw the inside of a can: Chef creates a Spam dish from scratch that captures the look and texture of Spam, but with a bold taste that is so much more!
This Spam is seared and packed with flavor: slightly smoky with spices and a rich meaty bite to it – served over fried rice with pickled cucumber and a delicious aioli sauce…absolutely incredible – and a gorgeous presentation as well.
Such a delicious dish, and a fitting end to a spectacular night of food!
As usual, we were too full to try dessert – but based on what we had tonight, Lihiliho Yacht Club deserves all of its awards and rave reviews – the food was delicious and inventive, and the staff was amazingly friendly and professional…one of our new San Francisco favorites!
While the Spam was revelatory, those beef tongue buns weren’t far behind – bravo to Chef Kapur and his team for creating such memorable food…and speaking of that:
Remember this dish? It’s from Atelier Crenn, San Francisco’s 3-Michelin star restaurant from Chef Dominique Crenn, the FIRST female Chef in the US to receive that honor!
We ate with her last year, and it’s shocking that she is the first female to be awarded three stars in the US from Michelin – that said, she’s incredibly worthy and you can see our meal with her by clicking on my story here:
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Bravo to Liholiho Yacht Club for giving us a culinary delight!
Leave me a comment and tell me if you will have a bite of my Spam!
Categories: cookbooks, Food, food blog, Food Review, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
johnrieber 
Spam and tongue have come a long way. What an adventure! You and your wife, however, are a lot braver than me. Thanks for the share.
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Thanks for commenting…both dishes are delicious!
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Homemade spam – who’d a thought?
Looks like fun and tasty though.
I’d be willing to give all this a try.
Homemade or not, spam is going to suffer, or benefit, from it’s reputation.
Interesting that it was not on their menu by name.
Fun read John.
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Wow, I’ve never seen SPAM look that good! It all looked delish (OMG, the popcorn!) with the exception of the beef tongue – but to each their own.. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for commenting..the beef tongue was really good!
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A formidable array of possibilities, there. I can appreciate the Spam dish. I can’t eat it, anymore, but we almost always have a couple cans of it in the house. One of my husband’s go-to meals. 🙂 He enjoys the new varieties that have appeared over these many years. Looks like a comfortable restaurant to be in, one that I would like.
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Thank you for the comment! While the Spam served was housemate, it certainly did evoke what Spam is, and that’s not a bad thing!
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But what about dessert(s)? 🙂
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We were so full we didn’t order any!
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Wow…my kind of food…I hate to admit this as spam is one of my yuck foods but if this chef makes his own spam I would give it a go,,, it looks amazing as does that beef tongue…Awesome menu and love the decor 🙂 x
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Carol, it was made from scratch – and all Spam is at the end of the day is spiced meat in a can…take the can away and it’s a delicious ham product! Thanks as always for commenting!
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Terence would love this restaurant and so would my son, Michael. Greg and I are more circumspect (read that as suspicious) about unfamiliar food so wouldn’t be as keen.
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You would love it – it’s not circumspect at all! Just creative cuisine full of flavor!
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If I ever get there, John, I will see if I concur. I’m glad to see Kelly’s show doing so well. I see your posts on Instagram.
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Thank you for liking them, I appreciate the support!
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I’m in for all of it except for the tongue and spam. I know spam is huge in Hawaii and many of the Asian cultures, but I just can’t do it. Looks like a cool place and bang-up experience overall !
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Those are two of the best dishes! Really, it’s terrific and if you tried a bite you’d love it!
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Yikes!
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Looks wonderful! I’d love to stop by on my next trip to San Francisco but it sounds like it takes some very particular planning!
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I would skip the Tuna, but the beef tongue followed by ‘Special Spam’ has my name all over it!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, those two dishes were incredible!
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