Duke's Waikiki with Nacho Sister

Since the sister of Nacho Libra was visiting, we scheduled a special nacho night just for her.  And since it was on a Thursday, we had the added bonus of stopping by Arnold's and hearing the lovely Caroline play some music.  We chose Duke's Waikiki because of its lovely location right on the beach and got a table outside.  It was a perfect evening in Waiks with the glow of the sun slowly being replaced by the glow of tiki torch flames.  We ordered a couple orders of the Duke's Nachos ($12.95:  blackbeans, jalapenos, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and colby jack cheese...meat options extra).  When they brought out the food, sadly they had forgotten one of our orders of nachos.  The starving nacho connoisseurs were surprisingly calm sharing one small platter.  And by the time the first one was finished, the second platter had come out and was even better than the first.  I feel like the last time I saw the nachos here they were piled up high on a circular plate, not elongated on an oval plate. Tom said he wanted to pour all the ingredients into a blender and drink a nacho smoothie.  Interesting Tom.  I actually did this with pepperoni pizza when my tonsils were removed.  Could not eat for days and the roommies were chowing down on some pizza.  So I threw a little in a food processor and the result was not a smoothie at all, but more like mashed potatoes that tasted like pepperoni pizza.  Totally messes with the brain.  But back to the nachos...  Since they had forgotten one of our orders of nachos, they graciously brought out two complimentary orders of the Hula Pie.  Nom nom nom nom nom.  Thank you for the awesome customer service Duke's!

So cheesy!

Love this lady more than champagne!

Nacho Libra: (3.5, Some bites were perfect, but too many chips were lacking.  More toppings and they'd be a 5!) Seems smaller than expected…and can see empty chips from here…  RAD : NACHO SISTER in Hawaii.  Fresh cilantro! Real cheese, perfect when hot and melty!  Nice big scoops of salsa, sour cream and guac.  LAME : Not enough variety of toppings, meat would be good.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 3.5, too many empty chips, but when they had the toppings they were pretty darn good!  Love being right on the beach!  It is a beautiful night in Waikiki.  Also got the burger which was expensive but tasty!  

Nacho virgin with the traditional big ass bite pic

Lil Jalapeno: (4) Lots of toppings but wish it was evenly distributed.  RAD : Guacamole.  LAME : I wasn't hungry.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 3.  Oceanside is a nice touch.

Cheereefer: (5, tasty toppings are there, just need to be scooped.) Flat but great heaps of guac, sour, where is the chip pile?  Cheese is hidden by?  RAD : Whole FLAVORFUL beans or maybe it's just the nacho as a WHOLE that's flavorful.  Tasty chips that are warm and crispy.  LAME : Distribution of toppings super LAME.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 4, but layering defect.  Beans do not stick to nachos.  Round 2 nachos were warmer, cheesier and better. 

Mr. Bankz: (2) One word: SMALL.  RAD : Nice line of guac, cream and pico down da middle.  If you get a fork and scoop all the goodness on an empty chip it's not so bad, but really I hope it's all uphill from here.  LAME : Again SMALL and where's da cheese.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 2.  Nothing exceptional stood out!  It was kinda like a lazy effort at putting together a nacho platter.  The only thing I'll give them is da location.

The aftermath

Shananigans: (3.5) Generous portions of sour cream and guacamole, guacamole looks homemade and fresh.  RAD : Fresh cilantro, fresh guacamole, real cheese, black beans.  LOCATION is gorgeous, right on the beach.  LAME : No meat unless you upgrade, not enough jalapenos.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 3.5, distribution of the ratio is poor.  Giant globs of cheese on plate bottom and not on the chips.  If the beans were melted into the cheese, they would stay on and not fall off every time you picked up a chip.  The toppings should be all melty and cuddly with the cheese.  The chips were tasty, thin and perfectly salted.  The weather was perfect and luckily we did not have to wait too long since Heather came early to get us a table.

Nacho Friends

Katia: (3.5) Nachos make me happy.  A long hill, I would prefer a mountain!  Where's the cheese stay?!?!  RAD : I like all the tomatoes! Jalapenos!  Not enough though.  LAME : No meat!!  Black beans though, not enough black beans though.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 2.5, Toppings divided??  I don't like it.  I need more toppings!  Wonderful service.  Mahalo Malia!  

Nacho Sista: (2.5) Not super cheesey, lots of sour cream and guac.  RAD : Real cheese.  LAME : Lots of empty chips.  Too much cilantro.  Topping to Chip Ratio : 2.5, second plate of nachos better than the first.

Hula Pie as big as your face!

I find it humorous that for years Katia first complaint was always that vegetarian nachos never had any beans wherever we went and now that she started eating meat, her first complaint is always, "Where's the beef?"  Nacho vegetarian.