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Kona Grill launches new menuKona Grill launches new menu

Casual-dining chain introduces new sandwiches, entrées, sushi rolls and more

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

July 25, 2018

2 Min Read
Kona Grill launches new menu
Crispy Korean Chicken SandwichCourtesy of Kona Grill

Kona Grill, a casual-dining chain with nearly 50 locations, has reworked its menu with new appetizers, sushi rolls and entrées. The chain based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has long featured globally inspired American food and sushi, and that has continued with the new menu, which draws on influences from throughout the Pacific Rim as well as the Caribbean.

The new appetizers are:

KG Deviled Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs stuffed with egg yolks and habanero aïoli topped with soy & sake marinated tuna and crispy ginger, $8
Caribbean Festival Queso: Habanero-spiked queso served with Caribbean Cornbread — slightly sweet fried bread made with flour and cornmeal spiced with a little jerk seasoning, $8
Hamachi Nachi: Diced yellowtail, yuzu ponzu, poke sauce, pear, pickled onion and macadamia nuts layered with taro chips, $11
Kona Coffee Glazed Ribs: Spare ribs roasted with coffee glaze and served with macadamia nuts and green onions, $11
The ribs also are available as an entrée with spicy citrus slaw and taro fries for $22.

Kona_Grill_Hamachi_Nachi_copy_0.gif

Hamachi Nachi

One other entrée has been added to the menu: Hawaiian Pomfret features the fish grilled and served with lemon, macadamia nut romesco sauce, garlic broccoli, spätzle and an herb garnish for $25.

The new sushi rolls are:

Crunchy Spicy Tuna: Spicy tuna, cucumber, tempura pieces, togarashi, spicy motoyaki sauce and eel sauce, $9.50
Kona Steakhouse: Filet marinated in soy and sake, charred mushrooms, green onion, Brussels sprouts, yamagobo (pickled burdock), steak sauce and fried shallot rings, $14.50
Tuna Habanero Crunch Roll: Tuna, habanero sauce, pickled red onion, mango, turmeric almonds, lime, cilantro and eel sauce, $14.50

Three new salads are available:

Crispy Calamari: Fried calamari over field greens cucumbers, red onions, carrots, grape tomatoes, onion-soy vinaigrette and wasabi aïoli drizzle, $14
Me Chong Steak: Marinated steak, Napa and red cabbage, carrots, cucumber, red pepper, cilantro, grape tomatoes, green onions and toasted ramen in honey lime dressing, $14
Grilled Salmon & Herb: Grilled salmon, arugula, bibb lettuce, grape tomatoes, ginger pickled. Cucumbers, chopped eggs, fresh mozzarella, almond praline, a blend of dill, basil, parsley, cilantro and mint, and lemon dressing, $16 

Three new sandwiches have been added to the menu, too:

Big BBQ Sliders: Two four-ounce beef sliders with barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, bacon, chipotle mayonnaise, tomato, pickles and onion on brioche buns, $14.50 with fries
Crispy Korean Chicken Sandwich: Garlic marinated, tempura fried chicken in a gochujang-based glaze with pickles on a ciabatta bun, $15 with taro fries
Miso Salmon Club:  Roasted salmon in miso-sake glaze with sweet sesame soy spread, spring greens, tomato and bacon on toasted ciabatta, $16.50 with taro fries 

Two desserts have been added to the menu:

Chocolate Butter Cake: Warm chocolate cake with Kahlúa glaze, hazelnut caramel, whipped cream and almond praline, $9
Yuzu Lemon Tart: Lemon curd in a shortbread crust with powdered sugar, yuzu whipped cream and raspberry sauce, $9

Prices may vary by location.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
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Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
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