Paradise Que falls short of Hawaiian barbecue menu's potential | Grub Scout

The Grub Scout
·4 min read

When I first read about Paradise Que, I assumed it would be a run-of-the-mill barbecue joint. But once I looked at their menu online, I was intrigued by what appeared to be a fusion of barbecue and Hawaiian cuisine. The elder Grub Sprout lives just a few miles from the restaurant, so I picked him up recently for a parent-son dinner out.

The menus we had in hand varied slightly from what I had seen on their website, but the emphasis was still the same. Appetizers include jalapeño cheese bites as well as street tacos made with pulled pork and Hawaiian slaw. We landed on the Hawaiian mini pizzas ($6), topped with diced SPAM (a beloved dish in Hawaii) and pineapple as well as tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Greens lovers might consider items like the Kakamora shrimp salad, the huli-huli chicken salad or the steak kabob salad.

Paradise Que is a North Knoxville restaurant that serves traditional barbecue dishes with a Hawaiian twist, such as the Hawaiian mini pizzas, topped with diced SPAM and pineapple as well as tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Paradise Que is a North Knoxville restaurant that serves traditional barbecue dishes with a Hawaiian twist, such as the Hawaiian mini pizzas, topped with diced SPAM and pineapple as well as tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

In the entrees section, I spotted dishes like the Kalua pork sandwich, a pulled-pork burrito, a meatloaf sandwich, a smoked salmon sandwich and The Slabogna — thick-cut bologna, pulled pork, grilled SPAM and Caribbean slaw served on a sweet, toasted bun. The Sprout ordered the huli-huli chicken sandwich ($12), which features marinated, grilled chicken that’s basted in Polynesian barbecue sauce.

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I gravitated toward their lineup of poke bowls. I’ve hardly met a poke bowl I didn’t like, so I considered Paradise Que’s five different varieties before settling on the Volcano Poke ($14). It’s a choice of raw tuna or salmon topped in Paradise Volcano sauce and served — along with sliced red onion, chopped mango and crunchy noodles — on either white rice, mixed greens or zoodles. I chose salmon as my fish and rice as my base.

While we waited for our food, I took note of the décor, which is notably Polynesian in its aesthetics. I thought it was reasonably well done — making a thematic statement without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.

Our appetizer came out in a reasonable amount of time. Although the menu described it as being served on two English muffins, our crust appeared to be store-bought flatbread, sliced into four pieces and topped with the aforementioned ingredients. Unfortunately, while this dish was intriguing on paper, it didn’t really grab me in the execution. It was a classic case of the whole failing to surpass the sum of its parts.

The wait for our entrees was substantially longer — way longer than I would have expected given that much of the dinner crowd was gone, and we were only one of two remaining tables. And just when I thought our food might be close to arriving, our server came out to tell us that the salmon I had requested was frozen and hadn’t had time to thaw yet. Would I be OK going with the tuna? In the interest of saving time, I agreed, although I wasn’t keen about the visual image of either fish having previously been frozen.

Paradise Que's Volcano Poke offers a choice of raw tuna or salmon topped in Paradise Volcano sauce and served — along with sliced red onion, chopped mango and crunchy noodles — on white rice, mixed greens or zoodles.
Paradise Que's Volcano Poke offers a choice of raw tuna or salmon topped in Paradise Volcano sauce and served — along with sliced red onion, chopped mango and crunchy noodles — on white rice, mixed greens or zoodles.

(My service score this week is based mostly on the kitchen response time, not on the service we received at the table, which was friendly and attentive.)

When our meals finally did arrive, I had mixed opinions. My poke was similar to the pizza: its description was tempting, but the execution fell short. The fish seemed excessively wet (presumably from thawing), and the rice wasn't very sticky. I also didn’t care for the flavor of the Volcano sauce.

I did, however, think much better of the huli-huli chicken sandwich. The meat was nicely grilled, and I the barbecue flavors were on the mark. The accompanying bun, lettuce and tomato were acceptable, but The Sprout and I were surprised at the arrival of standard frozen crinkle fries instead of the Hawaiian macaroni salad, as described by the menu.

From what I read on their website, the owners have a lot of previous experience in the barbecue-competition arena. And they, like our server, were personable and accommodating. Perhaps if I had sampled dishes that skewed more heavily toward traditional barbecue cuisine (which I presume is more within the owners’ wheelhouse) I might have had a more positive experience overall. I wonder if perhaps Hawaiian-style dishes and barbecue might not have been the best fit, but perhaps with a few more menu tweaks, Paradise Que might evolve into something I’d be willing to say “Aloha” (hello) to again in the future.

Paradise Que

Food: 3

Service: 3.5

Atmosphere: 3.5

Overall: 3.25

Address: 1336 E. Emory Rd.

Phone: 865-339-0011

Beer service only

Kids’ menu

Hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday

This North Knoxville eatery serves traditional barbecue dishes with a Hawaiian twist.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville restaurant review: Paradise Que Hawaiian barbecue in Halls