The Whole Ox - Honolulu

It's been quite a while since I updated.  I finished the 2 week gluten and dairy free diet as mandated by my doctor.  Took some blood tests and then Thanksgiving break started and I went to California for the holiday and resumed eating gluten and dairy to make life easier while traveling.  Plus I HAD to have In-n-Out.  Didn't feel much difference between eating and not eating gluten.   Once I got back from my trip though I have resumed eating gluten free since it is probably for the best.  Le sigh.  So now I will hopefully continue updating this thing.

Last night I went to see "Life of Pi" with my parents.  It was okay, I didn't think it was really worth all the rave reviews it got.  At least it wasn't as weird as the original book which I started, but didn't finish. Post movie we did the whole "oh where should we eat" go around.  My mom suggested we go to The Whole Ox which is located off of Nimitz Hwy, near Office Max.  It is a restaurant that focus on meat and using all parts of the animal.  She figured I could find something to eat since it is all meat.

Looks wise the restaurant is very casual, set up with large wooden picnic tables that take up a lot of room.  We had to wait a while for a table since they were all full.  I'm sure the tables are a statement and all but I bet they could fit more in if they went for something smaller.

When we were seated we took a look at the menus and debated what I could or could not eat.  We called the waitress over to ask a couple questions and she actually handed up a copy of the menu that had all the gluten free options starred.  Oops, should have asked about that right when we sat down.  Luckily most items on the menu were gluten free with the exception of the burger and anything that had fried potatoes.

My mom and I ordered the steak with a pomegranate sauce and gorgonzola butter and my dad ordered sausage.  I also ordered a creamy polenta with herbs and my parents ordered poutine (which I couldn't eat cause of the gravy).

The polenta came out first and it was pretty tasty!  It was loaded up with cheese and milk so it was about the creamiest polenta I had ever had.  Yummmm.

The polenta came out the same time as the poutine because the restaurant is made to order.  Then my dads sausage came out....then my mom and I waited another 10-15 minutes for our steak.  I get the whole made to order thing and I am glad they are not putting together frozen components to make my meal but I feel that made to order is fancy speak for "too lazy to time our cooking so the meal comes out appropriately".  Finally the steaks came and they were tasty.  The sauce was a little different than other steak sauces but I enjoyed it and of course cheesy butter makes anything good.   Voici the steak.

It was definitely a ton of food, especially since the polenta was so rich.  My dad's sausage was also very tasty and a lot of the other dishes looked really good too.  

So here's the rundown on The Whole Ox

The Good

Tons of gluten free options

Really good food

The Bad

Not a lot of tables

Made to order=food served randomly, might be better to do this place family style

Expensive:  my meal came out to $40 without tax or tip, we forgot to ask how much the steak special was, oops.  Thanks mom and dad!

Skanky waitresses:  Our waitress was dressed a bit skankily and I soon realized that all three were.  Short shorts and lace tops that showcased their brightly colored bras underneath.  Maybe they are doin that to appeal to male customers.  Blegh Have some self respect ladies. 

So there you have it, I would go there again but I would think twice because it is rather expensive.