Moana — Restaurant in Hawaii

Incredible dining experience! My wife and I came here for dinner on a Thursday night and our entire evening was wonderful. Our reservation was right after sunset and our table was right next to the beach. It was the most perfect atmosphere you could ask for! The entire layout and decor of the restaurant was incredible - really paying tribute to the pacific rim. Our server was excellent and took very good care of us throughout dinner. We started with an order of the Sticky Pork Ribs, which were absolutely devine! The flavor was incredible and the meat fell right off the bone. For our entrees, my wife ordered the Maitake Mushroom Risotto encircled with Parmesan foam and I ordered the Huli Huli Kurobuta Porcj Chop that was served with pork jus & meaux mustard, red wine braised cabbage & pineapple, and fondant potato. Everything was prepared perfectly and the flavor was out of this world! The pairings that came with the pork chop all complemented each other and my wife really enjoyed her risotto. We saved room for dessert for we ended up sharing the Pineapple Upside Down Cake made with toffee pudding cake, pineapple salsa, candied macnut powder, and vanilla ice cream. Needless to say, it was fantastic as well and all the flavors together were a perfect combination! Overall, this was an exceptional dining experience! We both cannot wait to...

We’ve visited Moana for both dinner and breakfast, and overall the experience was very good, though not without its drawbacks.

For dinner, my wife and I had the Caesar salad, mushroom risotto, and chicken. For breakfast, we tried the burrito and the three-egg omelette. The food was consistently fresh, clean, and flavorful. That said, everything felt quite heavy for being a beachside restaurant where you’d expect lighter fare.

The prices are also on the high side—even for a resort restaurant. For example, a mini can of Coke was $8, which feels excessive considering the overall spend at the hotel, and a tall, skinny glass of cold brew was $12. While I understand the “captive audience” aspect, these felt over the top.

Service was just okay. Our dinner waiter was polite and professional but often disappeared, and our food took longer than expected. Breakfast service was quick to seat us, but again the food took a while to arrive.

Overall, Moana offers delicious food in a beautiful setting, but with heavy dishes, very high prices, and service that doesn’t always match the fine-dining price point, it’s a solid 4...

PROS: The property The views at the property The live music

CONS: Mostly everything else.

We so wanted to love Moana. Even as a (very) forgiving individual, the restaurant was just….subpar.

Service was painfully slow, wrong dishes were delivered, flavors were odd/ambitious (i.e. scallops with a unique bbq-type aftertaste) but nowhere near the level that warrants the prices.

The couple behind us were complaining loudly when we arrived about the experience being “totally unacceptable.” We chalked that up to their being bratty & privileged, but in the end, they weren’t wrong.

The servers were all perfectly nice and lovely — it’s not their fault. This is more a Rosewood issue. Even aspects like the restroom — towels on the floor, a sink not draining, etc. Very surprising.

Dinner at the down-to-earth Jackie Rey’s in Kona was approximately 17,000x more impressive, across the board. Also surprising.

Moana is still finding its footing. It’s got a...