As the co-owner of The Feral Pig: Pub and Diner and a former bar manager at Town Restaurant on Oahu, Dave Power knows his way around the kitchen and bar of his Harbor Mall Shopping Center restaurant in Nawiliwili. On
As the co-owner of The Feral Pig: Pub and Diner and a former bar manager at Town Restaurant on Oahu, Dave Power knows his way around the kitchen and bar of his Harbor Mall Shopping Center restaurant in Nawiliwili.
On some days, he can be found mixing drinks at the restaurant’s bar, taking customer orders on the floor and overseeing food preparation in the kitchen.
“We’re just trying to be a little Kauaian neighborhood restaurant by trying to keep the prices reasonable and sources local as much as we can,” said Power, who along with his friend and business partner, Scott Kessinger, opened the restaurant’s doors on Aug. 1, 2011.
Many of the restaurant’s breakfast, lunch and dinner options, he said, includes ingredients from local farms, such as the ground beef in their $11 Loco Moco, tomatoes from Kilauea in their $9 tuna melt, the mixed vegetables from Moloaa or Kiahuna Plantation in their $6 Kauai fresh farms side salad, or the Passion Bakery Cafe buns that complete all of the sandwiches on the menu.
All of the fish dishes on the menu, including the fish tacos ($10 for lunch and $13 for dinner), fish and chips ($11 for lunch and $14 for dinner) or seared ahi ($17 for dinner), are purchased from local fisheries that comply with standards set by the Monterey Aquarium in California Seafood Watch Program, Power said.
Even the condiments that accompany many sandwich entrees, including pickles and mustard, are made in-house.
“I definitely think our approach to try and use local ingredients makes a fresher, better product,” Power said. “There’s a lot of love and a lot of work that goes into the food that we’re making.”
For breakfast, Power recommends the $10 French toast dish made from local apple bananas and served with two eggs and a choice or bacon or sausage, or the kalua pork hash, a local twist on a pub favorite, that is made with in-house smoked pork shoulder, mixed with onions and peppers, seared with an apple banana and served with eggs and toast.
Another one of his favorites, the restaurant’s signature, off-the-menu $12 Feral Pig Burger, is made from 50 percent ground beef and 50 percent smoked shoulder that is ground together in-house and served with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese on a taro brioche bun, along with in-house cut French fries.
The Feral Pig: Pub and Diner, located on the first floor of 3501 Rice Street, is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, including a full menu and bar list, visit The Feral Pig: Pub and Diner website at www.theferalpigkauai.com or call 246-1100.
