#1938Indochine #Hawaiirestaurants #mukbang
It’s been a long wait for the opening of Kevin Aoki’s 1938 Indochine, which was originally conceived to open way back in April 2018. After permitting delays, he was ready to open in April when the pandemic put another delay in the new project. But now, after a string of menu testings, he’s ready for the official opening on Aug. 12, 2020.
A third generation restaurateur, Aoki’s grandfather had about 20 restaurants in Japan, starting with a small coffee shop called Benihana. Just as his father paid tribute to his dad in the naming of Benihana of Tokyo, Aoki named his restaurant 1938 Indochine in reference to the year Rocky Aoki was born.
Early in his restaurant career, the elder Aoki sent Kevin to open Benihana restaurants in Southeast Asia, and a love for the region’s cuisine took hold, resulting on this restaurant’s focus on casual, contemporary French-Southeast Asian fare. He’s been able to come up with a menu in spite of another coronavirus-related snag, that is, the arrival of chef Khin Le Nghia from Paris, to collaborate on the menu. A few days ahead of his trip, a ban on European travel to the United States went into effect.
To deal with social distancing, there will be outdoor seating for a la carte dining on some of the specialties presented in this video, such as Colonial crab cakes, Imperial rolls, housemade chicken pate, Laotian chicken laap, a 1938 shooter trio featuring oyster, seared scallop and beef shooters, glass noodle shrimp and Thai beef brochettes with creamy peanut sauce.
Current prices are $8.50 to $11.95 per dish, though of course subject to change over time. Inside dining will be an approximately $50 per person tasting menu by reservation only. The menus will change every two weeks, but recent highlights included citronelle beef encased in lemongrass stalks and deep-fried seabass served with rice paper and greens for roll-your-own summer rolls. Delicious!
Video by Nadine Kam © 2020. Thank you so much for joining me for this long-awaited awaited opening. Please subscribe to my channel for more dining and cooking adventures in Hawaii. I’m also on Instagram @nadinekam.
Opening music credit: “Autumn Romantic Waltz” by 2BStudio.