Umami on the Prowl: Catania Ristorante Italiano

One would suppose, with such a grand name, that Catania Ristorante Italiano could be a fussy, pretentious eatery.  Fortunately for Umami, it's the diametric opposite.  Catania is a small, mostly take-out operation in the Remington College Building, the same place that houses Fooda Deli and Aloha Island Grill (among other restaurants).


They do a nice Italian food lunch for around $7-10.  It's not cheap, but it is competitive with other options in the area considering the quality of the food.


This, however, is the mini salad for $5.  Basically, there are always seven or so varying salad choices, like Tomato/Tofu, Couscous, Corn, Beets (Ms. D really likes the beets), Pasta, etc.  For $7.50 or so, you can get the large salad with any combination of the salads.  But $5 for the small is a good lunch.


In this case, Umami opted for the Chicken Curry Salad and the Pea Salad.  The Chicken Curry has a nice curry flavor without being overpowering, with diced chicken, carrots, and raisins (which give a shot of sweetness to the salad).  It would actually make a great sandwich, so an interesting lunch option might be to get an order of the salad, bring a loaf of bread, and just make sandwiches.  If you go Wednesday, they usually have a good tuna salad, so one could have a sandwich buffet!  But Umami digresses . . . 


A further digression . . . Umami doesn't really care for peas, so it says something that he opted for the Pea Salad over others (such as the Pasta Salad would make a pretty substantial lunch paired with the Chicken Curry Salad).  But Umami felt the need for some greens and the Pea Salad is nice and crunchy, not squishy, and, let's admit it . . . there's bacon in the salad!  Umami can forgive a lot of peas for the occasional bacon bit!


Overall, a good option if Umami wants to be good and eat a salad (but not too good!).


Catania Ristorante Italiano

1111 Bishop Street (Remington College Building Promenade)Honolulu, HI 96813-2875(808) 528-4588