Family Restaurant Review: Vein

Discover the unique flavors of MediterrAsia with your keiki.

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Editor's Note: Our series, "Family Restaurant Review," features local eateries that welcome kids. We hope these will enhance your family’s experiences around the food table, with food you don't have to cook, of course.

We will begin every review with our "Family-Friendly Checklist," six items parents want to know before deciding if the restaurant is a good fit for their little ones. 

FAMILY-FRIENDLY CHECKLIST:

  • Ambiance: Warm and inviting with an open-air, casual seating layout. Loved how the restaurant opens up into the courtyard at SALT at Kakaʻako, allowing for children to roam and play freely without disturbing other diners.
  • Parking: Lots of street-metered parking along Auahi Street or in the multi-level parking structure accessible on Keawe Street. First hour, free parking with or without validation from SALT vendors; second hour with validation, $1; third hour with validation, $3; fourth hour and over with validation, $3 per half hour (standard posted rates); parking without validation is $6 per hour.
  • Bathrooms: Public bathrooms are located outside of the restaurant, directly in front of the entrance. They are well-maintained and clean. Baby-changing stations are available.
  • High Chairs/Stroller-Friendly: Aisles are large enough for strollers. High chairs are available.
  • Keiki Menu/Takeout Option: There is no keiki menu. However, the chef will gladly prepare something for your child upon request. Our server recommended a burnt buttered pasta or spaghetti dish for the kids, but they passed on the suggestions as other items on the main menu sounded more enticing. Takeout is available, but there is no delivery at this time.
  • What to Know: The menu at Vein is seasonal with a new fall menu that launched in October. The dinner menu looked a lot more interesting, so I would recommend dinner if you’re looking for an intimate night out. Prices are reasonable for portions served. Reservations can be made online via their website through Open Table.

Our little foodies:

  • Leah, 10, loves all things from the sea. The adventurous foodie’s favorites include grape leaves, kibbeh (Lebanese raw meat with spices) and sushi.
  • Jaffer, 8, loves fruit and vegetables. His favorite place to eat is Down to Earth; he has a weakness for sweets, and his favorite foods are spam musubi, chocolate chip pancakes, pears and mussels.

Vein at Kakaʻako, located at SALT, is the latest eatery to open in Honolulu’s trendy art district. Both kids and I were hungry after a long day at the beach. We wanted to eat somewhere that had a healthy menu, and was nearby with easy-to-access parking. We remembered walking past Vein earlier that week and decided to head there for a late lunch.

Located inside the center court, this new open-kitchen, open-air dining concept gives the restaurant a sophisticated, casual, yet family-friendly feel. Using reclaimed wood to its advantage, the restaurant’s coffee-colored dark wood interior gave it a classy, comfortable vibe, making it pleasant for families with young children.

My kids loved the decor (actually, they liked the surfboard that hung on the wall) and gave it five stars just for its atmosphere. We asked to sit outdoors, but our server advised us that the sun would shine directly on us since it was mid-afternoon. He recommended we take a table inside.

We arrived shortly after 1 p.m. for lunch, joining a few other tables filled with women enjoying casual conversations over drinks. Lunch at Vein is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the menu had many options to suit our different cravings that day.

Family-style dining has always been our preferred way of eating out. It’s a great way for us to sample everything when we dine at a new restaurant. We asked our server to suggest some of the chef’s favorites since this was our first “Mediterranean-Asian Fusion” experience. By that, I mean Med-style cuisine with an Asian influence using local organic ingredients.

My daughter called it a “MediterrAsian” restaurant, which perhaps might be what they call it these days!

Both kids ordered a glass of guava juice ($4.50), and I opted for a glass of the Vein Plantation Tea ($5.50). Jaffer finally settled on the braised short rib burger served in a ciabatta with hasu, green leaf, and maple Japanese mayonnaise mustard ($17). Leah wanted to try the prawn and spinach “omurice” with Okinawan spinach, pilaf and béchamel sauce ($17). I went for the prosciutto and rocket grilled naan bread salad with XVO, pecorino romano and roasted tomato, egg yolk “confit” ($17).

Of course, no meal is complete without a side of parsley and parmigiano frittes ($6.50) as a starter. As we waited for our order, which wasn’t long, the kids played in the courtyard, allowing me 10 minutes of “mommy time” to make a few calls and relax with my cold drink.

Except for the part where my son found a bouncy ball outside and almost knocked over a few glasses in the restaurant. Thankfully, our server was quick to catch the glass before it fell. Whew!

That’s the good thing about this restaurant. The service is great, and the staff is accommodating and still very welcoming to my kids.

When our dishes arrived, we were pleasantly surprised with the presentation. The braised short rib burger was, by far, the best dish we had that day. The short ribs were tender, flavorful and all-around yummy.

My daughter wasn’t too fond with her omurice, but that’s because her expectations were that of the traditional dish from Japan. “Mediterr-Asian fusion isn’t my cup of tea,” she said. So we ended up packing it up to take home. While she munched on the parmigiano frittes (which were delicious) and helped her brother finish his burger, I scarfed down my prosciutto-and -rocket naan bread salad like a pro and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I wouldn’t recommend this particular naan for kids, because rocket (or arugula) is very peppery, and my children didn’t like it at all.

As the demand for fresh, healthy and flavorful food increases on the island, we’re glad to have found this little gem in our community – specially restaurants that produce seasonal menus, provide wonderful service and ask you to come back soon to try them for dinner.

We’ll be back soon Vein, very soon.

Vein at SALT in Kakaʻako is located at 685 Auahi St., Bldg. 2, ste. 121, Honolulu, 96813. It is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 5 to 10 p.m., daily. (808) 376-4800. veinatkakaako.com