The Regal Seagull

Review #86

You might be asking why I am reviewing The Regal Seagull when I was supposed to be reviewing The Lanai.  The first time we tried to go to Lanai was a few weeks ago on a Sunday night.   We had done a drive-by the Sunday before and they were open, but this time they had closed at 3pm.   I guess it’s the Hawaiian way to just be open when you want, and closed when you don’t.  So we had to blog ahead to Live Culture.  It felt weird blogging ahead and I didn’t like going out of order.   We are doing this blog systematically.  We go to every food establishment in order before going to the next place.  But we had no choice so we pressed forward this one time and went ahead before going back to try The Lanai again.  I checked the website and saw that they are open Tuesday-Saturday 11pm-9pm. This week we chose to meet on a Saturday at 6:30pm.

When we arrived they were open, yay!  I walked up to the guy working in the “kitchen” (more like a food truck) and told him we had a big group coming in tonight and were doing a blog on them.  I was expecting a gracious smile, an air of excitement, something other than the look of fear on his face.

“Umm, we don’t have much food left, we were slammed today,” he said apologetically.

“Bummer.  What are you out of?” I asked.

“We are out of poki, tempura, meats and rice,” he said.

“Well, what do you have?” I asked.

“Nothing.  Actually, we are done for the day.” And he started closing shop.

As we were leaving, I saw the sign on the front.  But this sign is only hanging up when they are open!  So when they were closed last Sunday, we didn’t see this.  And again, it isn’t posted on their website.

So we are 0 for 2 for The Lanai and still need a place to eat.  The next spot after Live Culture on the 101 is A Little Moore Cafe, closed for dinner and then La Papagayo which was way too packed on a Saturday night to accommodate our group.  That means the next accessible dinner spot was The Regal Seagull, four places down the road.  We are soooo off track now, but what can one do but roll with the punches?

The Regal Seagull is a hip, happening, small bar/restaurant with a great patio for outdoor seating.  The stars were finally aligned for us tonight because even though they were crowded,  our large group got an entire long table right on the patio!  We just had to share it with the two people already there, Veronika and Matthew.  But meeting some regulars and sharing a table (and their fries) here is just the kind of place Regal Seagull is.  Everyone is friendly and having a good time.  Put away your phones and meet some of your neighbors.

Hubby, BP and I just got back into town on a week long trip to Park City Utah.  We did tons of hiking and I tried really hard to see a moose.  I dragged my family to all the moose sightings I saw people posted on the internet.  I even woke Hubby up at the crack of dawn on more than one morning swearing that moose liked to be out just as the sun comes up.  I had this moose feeling. Unfortunately my moose sense was off.   Another morning I just knew that the moose were down by the river. I woke Hubby up at 5am and made him shlepp the 20 minute drive down to the river.   I was wrong.  We never did find one and I have crossed Moose Whisperer off of my list of things I want to be when I grow up.  But when I walked into Regal Seagull and saw the #11 beer on the board, I had to order it no matter what!

We grabbed a menu, lined up, and ordered food at the counter.  Regal Seagull is an ale house and sausage grill with lots of fried, creamy and heavy food.  They do have salad.  Singular.  BP and I ordered our first ever Philly Cheesesteaks, but we both subbed chicken for beef.  Since it was white meat chicken, should they call it a Philly Cheesebreast?  Hubby got a Chicken Sandwich.  I also ordered a Giant Pretzel con Queso because I saw one go by, and if you saw one go by, you would order one too.

They didn’t ask our group for our names, instead, they gave us our names.  And they were hilarious.  We got Maggie Green.  I recognized most of the other names given, they were from 80’s sitcoms.  But I never heard of Maggie Green.  I assumed she was from some cheesy 90’s sitcom like Full House or The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Those were past my day.   I just looked up Maggie Green and I could not be more wrong.  In fact, if you don’t recognize the name either, I will let looking her up be a little surprise for you.

My Moose Drool was absolutely delicious!  I ordered it on name alone, but honestly it’s one of the best micro brews I’ve ever tried.  Certainly the best drool or moose-anything I’ve ever tried.

Jen and Greg’s wings came out right away.  They have quite a few styles to choose from and take up almost the whole back side of the menu.

They also ordered Mac-N-Cheese bites.

Mary got a real Philly Cheesesteak (with steak) and a side of homemade chips that were really good.  Like really good.

Julie enjoyed her salad.  She’s so good that Julie.  Ordering The Salad with a menu full of doughy and cheesy-things to tempt even the most dedicated healthy eaters.

 “Papa Smurf” your sausages are ready!  “Diane Chambers, your order is up!”.  But no “Maggie Green”.  Finally, after everyone from our group was just about finished with both their appetizers and meals, we got called.

The Pretzel con Queso is not something I would typically order.  I don’t like fake cheese.  I typically choose snooty organic and raw cheese to have at home.  Never Velveeta, American or Cheese-Wiz stuff, not me!  But let me tell you, this warm, doughy, perfect specimen of pretzel dipped into the tub of processed orange cheese goo… it tasted amazing!

And so were our Philly Cheesebreasts!  Best (only) Philly Cheesebreast I have ever had!

BP’s Chicken Philly Cheesebreast with Tater Tots

After eating all that heavy, carb and cheese loaded food we said no to the “Beagle Balls” dessert (cinnamon donut holes).  I wasn’t feeling so great.  Beer, pretzels, cheese, fries…I was leaving here feeling like this:

I took out my phone and signed up for a 7am Orangetheory class for the next morning. Although it was delicious, guilt was settling in.  I enjoyed my cheater meal at The Regal Seagull very much, but it’s not a place I will be frequenting.

Bottom Line:

The Regal Seagull is a super cute, funky, funny local hangout.  They offer awesome happy hour specials that we would have gladly taken advantage of had we known The Lanai was going to run out of food.  But whatever.  Mondays they have $.25 mini corn dogs, Wednesdays they have specials on wings, and my favorite, Full Price Fridays starting at 6pm!  Oh you wacky Regal Seagull folk!  Check out their website for all of their happy hour deals http://www.regalseagull.com/

While everyone else in our party got their food within a reasonable time, Maggie Green’s order took forever.   But we brought a little of The Lanai’s philosophy over with us.  As the Hawaiian’s say, hoʻomaha aʻoluʻolu paha which translates to:  “Just chill the f–k out and eat some of your neighbor’s fries.  Your food will get here when it wants to.”  Or something like that.

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Join us this Saturday for Third-Time’s-A-Charm for lunch on Saturday, July  27 at 11:30am at

The Lanai

http://www.thelanaileucadia.com/

Where there is a 50/50 chance we will get food, but if not we will be heading down the 101 out of order again!