Our Kauai Restaurant Review
The picture you see is of us at Keoki’s Paradise — this is the kind of picture you get when you ask a waiter to take it. To be fair, my own camera skills aren’t much better, so I cannot say I could have done better.
While on the island this trip, we’ve had the opportunity to sample several restaurants. I wanted to give a quick review of those we’ve gone to in hopes that it might help others.
The Good
Bali Hai at the Hanalei Bay Resort in Princeville. We have had consistently good food and service here and the view is quite spectacular.
Keoki’s Paradise in Poipu. Historically, this restaurant isn’t rated as highly as others, but we have always liked it. We had a particularly good experience this time because our waiter, Tony Brun, was superb. He was great with helping us match the fish with appropriate preparation styles and sauces. We enjoyed his island stories and perspectives. If you have an opportunity to eat there, ask for his section.
Duke’s Barefoot Bar in Nawiliwili Harbor. The best burger and waffle fries combined with the best view. We usually get two lunches in here if we can.
Mediterranean at the Hanalei Colony Resort in Haena. This was a new one for us. Its not far off the beach and they play live Hawaiian music most nights. The food and service were great.
The Beach House in Poipu. We haven’t eaten here yet this trip, but this remains one of our favorites. If you time it right, you can see the sunset off of the grounds prior to dinner. Here the chocolate souffle dessert is awesome.
Dinner on the Beach with Heavenly Creations on Anini Beach. We have treated ourselves to a privately-catered dinner on the beach in our last three visits. These are typically a lot of fun because the host is always so interesting. While friendly, our host this time wasn’t quite as interesting as those we’ve had in the past. That said, the food was good and we were well-served.
The Bad
Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion in Poipu. We love the restaurant in Plano and we’re looking forward to the on-island Roy’s experience. However, it was dramatically below expectation. It started with the service being pretty slow. Over and above that, the wait staff were a bit scary-looking — if I hadn’t been at a nice restaurant, I would have been nervous to be among some of them. I know this is a strange observation, but I believe its very fair. We also found the food to be sub-par by comparison. Roy’s has been the most expensive meal we’ve had yet and yet has delivered the least satisfaction. I must also point out that the tableside view was of a pathway in a shopping center. Suffice it to say, we will never dine at the Poipu location again, though we look forward to our next visit to the Plano location.
Tips
If we could offer one tip, it would be to make reservations in advance. Consider even doing so in advance of your trip. We’ve seen some people wait as long as an hour and their frustration is unfortunate since a simple call could have prevented this.
This is Hawaii. Men need only wear a nice shirt and shorts. I brought slacks again, but haven’t needed them. Your choice, though, I have seen slacks, they just are not expected or required so far as I’ve seen.