The Contemporary Museum Cafe

The Contemporary Museum is the only museum in Hawaii committed solely to contemporary art since 1940. It’s educational, entertaining, affordable, interactive and a perfect way to spend the afternoon. I came here with a group of friends. It cost $5.00 each to get in and parking was free. When we arrived the cafe was full and had a 45 minute wait so we decided to put our name on the waiting list and go through the gallery first. I was impressed with all the interactive art that was offered. After what seemed to be one hour we headed to the cafe for some grub. I was mentally prepared to spend a little more since I was at a museum but pleasantly surprised to find that lunch here was quite affordable.

There is seating both inside and outside

We started off with two Spinach & Artichoke Dips, $7.00 each. It came with slices of warm pita bread. I loved it, thought it was really tasty and wished everyone had their own bowl, or at least I wished I had my own bowl. Shane is the one who is crazy about spinach & artichoke dip, especially the one from California Pizza Kitchen. Every time we go there he orders one thing and one thing only, spinach and artichoke dip. He said this one doesn’t compare. I beg to differ but, he has more experience in this dish than I do.

We also got Hummus & Pita, $6.00. It was served with warm pita bread, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, feta cheese & kalamata olives. I have nothing bad to say about this dish. It’s pretty hard to fuck up hummus and fresh vegetables. Not that I really know how to make hummus. I guess the real work comes in presentation and to me it looked yummy and that it was. Everything tasted fresh and the bread was warm to the touch.

Sara ordered the Portabella Mushroom Burger, $10.50, baked portabella mushroom on a kaiser bun dressed with sun dried tomato pesto, basil pesto, lettuce, tomato, & gorgonzola cheese. It was accompanied with some more hummus and chips. This dish was delicious. The mushroom was cooked to perfection and seasoned just right.

Huumm, I wonder who ordered a sandwich? Could it be Ray the whore of most sandwiches. Yes Ray ordered this sandwich, the Cuban Style Ham & Turkey Sandwich, $11.00. It came with fresh turkey, black forest ham, pickles, mayo, lettuce and tomato all on a soft baguette. Ray said the bread was much too hard, so hard that he started eating the insides and left the bread for dead. He also said that it was a petite sandwich that didn’t serve his hunger justice.

This dish too came with chips and hummus.

And here is my dish. I was quite content with my pick, Shrimp Roasted Shallot & Tarragon Salad, $12.00. The tarragon dressing was lite, slightly sweet and oh so good. The sauteed onions were a little over done but the shrimp was grilled to perfection.

When we got to the cafe we were one of the last 3 tables. It took about 45 minutes to get our food after we had already ordered it. This sucked because we had already waited 45 minutes just to get sat. My friend, Ona actually cancelled her Turkey Avocado Wrap because she was tired of waiting and irritated that all of us had gotten our food already. The service wasn’t bad, it was the waiting when it wasn’t busy that annoyed the hell out of us. By the time we got our food we were the only ones there. It just didn’t make any sense. But I do want to say that we were the last table and they were probably just getting ready to close down lunch. After we ate we went for a walk around the garden. Here are some pictures I took.