Pau Hana Patrol: Food surprises at Hula’s

Pau Hana Patrol: Food surprises at Hula’s

A sample platter of sliders at Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand in Waikiki includes the Tuscan BLT, Mini Reuben and Kalua Pork accompanied by a Basil Chi Chi specialty cocktail. –Krystle Marcellus / kmarcellus@staradvertiser.com

One could say that Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand is “on the edge” of Waikiki — or at least the main entertainment strip, since it’s on the second floor of the Waikiki Grand Hotel, overlooking Kapahulu Avenue and the entrance to the Honolulu Zoo.

“On the edge” might also describe the ethos of Hula’s, one of Waikiki’s most popular and well-known gay bars. Hula’s celebrates that image, hosting drag races, pride “Idol” contests and other gay-friendly events while welcoming patrons of all genres and genders.

Hula’s boasts the “loooongest happy hour,” which, according to its ad, was instituted “cuz size matters.” The happy hour is, in fact, really long, from opening time at 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, with Wednesday’s happy hour extended to the 2 a.m. closing time. That’s 60 hours of happy hour a week (as opposed to 52 nonhappy business hours), scheduled so that even the shiftiest of shift workers can find time to drop in.

During happy hour the ambience at Hula’s is laid-back. The pool table on the veranda is the first prominent thing visitors come across, and it’s enticing because it would be like playing outside. People crowd onto the bar’s veranda seats to get the fresh outside air and catch the view of the Queen’s Surf area of Waikiki Beach or the zoo.

Live music starts at 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and Hula’s schedules crowd-pleaser events on Mondays, such as a “retro” night where ’80s videos play on the dance-floor monitors.

Happy-hour drink specials range from $3 pints of Miller beer ($5 for pitchers) to $4 well drinks and $5 mai tais. I had a mojito made with dragon berry rum, which had a nice tanginess to it.

The food was a pleasant surprise. I had guessed that such a known party spot wouldn’t focus so much on food, but the dishes I tasted were all excellent.

The kalua pork sliders, for example, which were discounted to $8 for happy hour from the normal $10, were exceptional. Kalua pork dishes are sometimes too salty or too dry for my taste, but Hula’s kalua was sweet, with a raspberry chipotle sauce. The pork remained juicy, served on a taro bun.

A simple local speciality like macaroni and cheese also provided a nice surprise. Its full-bodied flavor was topped with farofa, a crumb topping popular in West African and Brazilian cuisine. You can expect such rewarding surprises from Hula’s, which is constantly experimenting with the dish. Depending on how long they’ve been serving a particular version, you might get a discount from the listed price of $9, as we did, to $5.

Another dish that satisfied was the Mezze Plate ($13, no discount for happy hour), a combination of hummus, pita, polenta cubes and parmesan. With “sushi cupcakes” — rice topped with spicy ahi — for $10 (also no discount) and two drinks, the tab was $46.

The service was excellent, with our server asking to pour my companion’s beer, because it required a particular technique to get all the ingredients mixed up correctly. Which sounds like a good recipe in general for having a good time at one of Waikiki’s most idiosyncratic bars.