Post #306237 by Sneakytiki on Mon, May 14, 2007 11:14 AM

I was going to post an update to this thread since the new chef took over and some changes have been made. I think someone also took notice of my Jimmy Buffet complaints... ahhhhhhh.
However, I'll just post a copy paste of the Statesman review above, as it is better written than what I'd come up with (except for as bigbro points out "leafy foliage" WHO does restaraunt/bar reviews and doesn't know what a mint sprig looks like?). Thanks for posting the review link!
ST

Dining Review: Tiki exotica at the Reef
Krick and Bopp retool the menu
By James Patrick Kelly - Special to the Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 04/20/07

Dave Krick is a man obsessed with Tiki culture.
Just one look around the Reef speaks in volume to his bent for all things Polynesian.

A large collection of campy Tiki mugs lines one wall, next to the leaf-thatched bar. Dark rattan furniture sits below an eclectic array of South Seas poster art and framed album covers. Tropical-influenced cocktails are served in stone-faced vessels, garnished with leafy foliage and edible flowers.

Diners also can watch "Gilligan's Island" reruns on overhead flatscreen televisions while they munch on ornately presented pupu platters delivered by friendly servers.

Everything about the Reef screams Tiki.

Tropicana has always been the design idea at this Downtown restaurant and bar, yet the cuisine has suffered an identity crisis since opening in 2004. The original menu was Nuevo Latino, meaning snapper ceviche and Brazilian meat skewers were menu mainstays. After that culinary concept was scrapped, the menu seemed to drift at sea for nearly two years until Krick teamed up with chef Andrae Bopp.

Krick, who also co-owns Red Feather Lounge, Bittercreek Alehouse and The Front Door Pizzeria, recently formed Flavor Inc. with Bopp, who now oversees the kitchens at the aforementioned places, including Bopp's namesake restaurant, Andrae's.

Fun Polynesian/Pan-Asian fare (think Trader Vic's) comprises most of the new menu.

A few of the former Latin standouts made the cut. Bopp calls the food tropical fusion. "Then the cuisine has no boundaries, as long as there are palm trees involved," he says with a guffaw.

The interior design was overhauled, as well. New Tiki-inspired light fixtures hang from the ceiling. Booths have replaced banquettes. A new velvet curtain drapes the stage.

Chef de cuisine Nathan Whitley, former Franco Latino sous chef and California Culinary Academy alumnus, recently was hired to help the kitchen find its sea legs.

The new-and-improved appetizer selection showcases South Seas-inspired offerings, such as Tahitian drumsticks ($7.25) and a pupu platter ($12.75/regular), a rustic wood tray filled with crunchy wonton purses (stuffed with creamed crab), coconut-crusted shrimp and saucy chicken skewers placed on a tiny hibachi-style grill.

Tahitian drumsticks (no chicken legs involved) are essentially fried spring rolls packed with herbaceous gulf shrimp and scallops, served with a vinegar-kicked red pepper dipping sauce. Other appetizers include a delicious crab cheesecake ($9) and Asiago-dusted calamari ($8); toothsome medallions of pan-seared Pacific squid steak coated with pungent golden cheese and topped with citrus beurre blanc and capers. This is a good dish in that fried cheese kind of way, but the profusion of salty ingredients nearly wipes out the oceanic flavor of the squid.

Ordering savory cheesecake gets you a creamy puck of red pepper-flecked Dungeness crabmeat (on a bed of field greens), crowned with oven-roasted tomatoes and sided with crunchy herbed crostini.

Reef makes one of the best seafood chowders ($4/cup) in town, mostly because it's buttery, not too thick, and pocked with discernable pieces of ahi, mahi mahi, salmon and red potatoes.

The dinner menu really shines with entrees like miso-glazed Alaskan sea bass ($17) and jerk chicken ($18), a holdout from the previous menu, and a tribute to late Boise restaurateur Phil Neville, who invented this version of the classic Jamaican dish.

Reef's jerk rendition — a half chicken brined and grilled, served with wasabi-accented mashed spuds — is tasty but lacks the expected fire of Scotch bonnet peppers, not to mention a crunchy exterior.

A fillet of black sea bass gets pan-seared and glazed with earthy miso (until the skin becomes crispy), then it's perched on a mound of garlicky fried black rice.

Watch for the nightly specials, and you might find one staring back, as was the case when we ordered tiger fish ($22/freshwater species from New Zealand).

Out came an entire fish — blistered in peanut oil — next to a tangle of julienne red onion, cilantro and bean sprouts and dark ponzu sauce. Crisp Bibb leaves also were there for wrapping the pulled white fish.

I was surprised by the lack of pork dishes on the dinner menu. Hawaiian-style Kahlua pork sure would be nice.

James Patrick Kelly is the Idaho Statesman's restaurant critic. E-mail him at [email protected].