'Āina's Hipster Hawaiian Brunch Menu Will Please You Greatly

Hawaiian brunch pop-up 'āina is ready to open its Dogpatch brick-and-mortar to the public this Wednesday, April 27, and it’s peeking its menu now to get people excited. And it’s working, because the menu is dripping with the kind of food that reads like a Hawaiian hipster’s free-association of what brunch can possibly be.

_lordshiva/Instagram

Chef/owner Jordan Keao created dishes like Portuguese-style doughnuts filled with guava custard and rolled in coconut sugar, beef short rib loco moco with smoked mushroom jus, sunny side up eggs, hearts of palm pico de gallo and pea tendrils and taro French toast with applewood smoked bacon, macadamia nut crumble, coconut caramel, compressed strawberries, vanilla whipped cream and chocolate mint. The food is also eminently Instagrammable, which actually counts for something these days — just look at the pork belly with poached eggs, short grain rice, kimchi, arugula purée and asparagus. You can see the menu in full below.

As for drinks, 'āina doesn’t have a full liquor license, so Jason Alonzo (La Folie) developed low-ABV cocktails for the restaurant like the coconut milk punch with sweet vermouth, amaro, coconut milk, dairy, hibiscus/rose petal powdered sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and annatto seed. 'Āina (which means "that which feeds us" in Hawaiian) will be open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

BRUNCH MENU

Malasadas 6
3 Portuguese-style doughnuts, coconut sugar, filled with guava custard

Crispy Breakfast Potatoes 7.5
Kennebec potatoes, aïoli, furikake, compound butter, japanese pickles

Spam Musubi "Ssam Style" 4
Stone Valley Farms whole-hog spam, Boston bibb lettuce, kimchi, short grain rice, egg yolk furikake

Punalu’u Bakery Taro French Toast 8 / 16.50
Taro Portuguese bread, applewood-smoked bacon, macadamia nut crumble, coconut caramel, compressed Tomatero Farms strawberries, vanilla whipped cream, chocolate mint

Kalbi Loco Moco 18
Creekstone beef short rib, smoked honshimeji mushroom jus, sunny side up eggs, hearts of palm pico de gallo, pea tendrils

Smoked Honshimeji & King Oyster Mushrooms 16
Smoked honshimeji & king oyster mushrooms, slow poached eggs, okinawan sweet potato purée, Portuguese sweet bread, lap cheong sausage

Chicken Katsu 15
Mary’s chicken, scrambled eggs, carrot purée, soba noodles, ponzu, hearts of palm

Portuguese Sausage Hash 16.5
Purity Portuguese sausage, brussels sprouts, potato, short grain rice, sunny side up eggs, green garlic salsa verde, micro cilantro

Kalua Pork Belly 17
Stone Valley Farm pork belly, slow poached eggs, short grain rice, kimchi, arugula purée, Zuckerman Farms asparagus

Kiawe Wood Smoked King Salmon 16.5
Steelhead salmon, whole baby greens, pistachio pesto, black quinoa, slow poached egg, pickled shallots

Kids Bento 7
Scrambled eggs, katsu chicken, seasonal fruit, short grain rice, nori, sweet bread