Leonardo's (Kahuku, HI)

For our final night in Hawaii, we stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort at the north tip of Oahu. The resort had endless activities to do, including surfing, snorkeling, and golfing, among others. It also had a number of dining options that looked good; in particular, the fine dining restaurant of the resort, 21 Degrees North. However, after a long day of snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and driving around the island of Oahu, we were a bit worn out and wanted a more casual dinner. We decided on Leonardo's, serving Italian cuisine.

I had an Italian red (don't recall the type) to drink with the meal, which began with bread and caponata, sans-eggplant. I rather enjoyed the caponata, served cool, and containing large slices of not-too-strong raw garlic. It had a sweet and sour flavor profile that I found somewhat addicting.

For appetizers, we got an order of Polenta Fries and a Romaine Heart salad. The polenta was served with a red bell pepper salsa, and was fried well, relatively grease-less and molten in the middle. Unfortunately, the salad came overdressed, and the honey-lemon Caesar dressing was far too sweet. The croutons accompanying the salad was cold and dry. Surprisingly, the white anchovies were of high quality, and acted to temper some of the dressing that still clung to the lettuce after we scraped most of it off.

For the entrees, Kristen ordered Chicken Parmesan, served with gnocchi and a vegetable medley. The chicken parmesan was moist and crisp, but the star was the gnocchi. Light and delicate, this was my favorite part of the dish.

I ordered the Osso Buco Milanese, which turned out to be a disaster. The pork shank could have used another couple hours to cook, and required a steak knife to get any meat off the bone. Once it came off the bone, it was like eating pork flavored rubber. I'm not sure how anyone in the kitchen could have possibly thought that this was edible. Most people who know me know that it takes quite a bit to render food inedible for me. This was that bad. The polenta underneath the shank was passable when eaten with the sauce. I only had one bite of the pork before turning my sights onto Kristen's entree.

When our waiter came by to check on us, I mentioned that the pork was far too tough, which he seemed to already know. I wonder if other tables got the shank in the same condition that I did. Fortunately, the pork was taken off the bill when it came, but it was too little, too late for Leonardo's. This was a disappointing last meal in Hawaii for us, and I can't find too many reasons to recommend Leonardo's to anyone.