Ono Bar & Grill Indian cuisine — Restaurant in Hawaii

Served raw seafood!!! And the server/owner was completely unapologetic about it!

Detailed Review: We were a large group and got a table in under 15 mins. Most of the food we ordered was decent. The chai, chili chicken and lamb pepper fry were good. But all other chicken dishes were pretty dry and tasted average with chicken Tikka being especially bad.

I would have typically finished the review here and given this place a 3.5 star rating. But what happened with our order of Shrimp Tikka, is the reason I decided to leave the remainder of my review.

One of our orders was for the shrimp Tikka, and one of the shrimp was uncooked. Not under cooked, but COMPLETELY RAW. Since it was covered in spices, we didn't notice this right away and consumed over half the portion. When we came across the raw shrimp and alerted the server/owner she took it inside and told us that chef made a mistake and added the raw shrimp as they looked the same. And didn't even apologize for this mistake. This was a pretty crazy excuse in my opinion. And worse she dismissed it as if it was not a big deal. Two of the Ladies in our group are pregnant and we have been very careful we order only completely cooked food, so this was understandably a reason for outrage for all of us.

After receiving the bill, we expressed our discontent and told the server/owner that this was extremely poor service on their part to not even apologize for raw food. On top of it, when we asked her that we wouldn't want to pay for this dish (which was just $20 from our $450 bill), we had to hear that "this was typical Indian mentality" to eat the majority of the portion and then complain. She questioned our intent and blamed us that we wanted to get $20 off from our bill (which as I mentioned earlier was over $450 in total). It was pretty sad and disappointing to hear such painful words.

Finally, when one of our pregnant friend got involved in this conversation trying to explain it to the server/owner, how dangerous it could be for her to consume raw meat, she told her that people consume raw shrimps all the time and it was not a big deal. After this we realized there was no point arguing with an ignorant and insensitive person and decided to...

The only good thing about this experience was how fast we were seated because we were one of 3 or 4 groups there. Everything else was downhill from there. To start, we opened the bottle of water on our table to a cap full of black mold, which was replaced upon request with a different type of bottle. Service was extremely slow despite the restaurant emptying while we waited. Waiting to place our order took over 15-20 minutes, which was also the first time being acknowledged after being seated. The first drink (chai) came out pretty quickly, but the second drink (mango lassi) took another 15 minutes to come out. Our food finally came out a bit after the lassi did. Both chicken tikka masala bowls were beyond bland, obviously missing key spices that create the flavor masala sauce is known for. The basmati rice was on the softer side as well. The only good part of the meal was the naan and the lassi. After reading other reviews regarding similar experiences, we noticed the owner likes to respond to these similar reviews with "threats" to pull up footage of the experiences described in said reviews. We would encourage the company to pull the footage up of our visit and watch with the audio (a ring camera was directly next to our table) and they will hear that after our first bite of food we had not one single good thing to say about it the entire time we were there. During our meal, we were not attended to one time while eating to make any complaints or request something be changed. No one stepped foot into our side of the restaurant except to seat someone else on the opposite side of the room. To finish off, we did not want to be left sitting for another 15 minutes, so instead of waiting for a check, we walked to the counter to pay our bill. The woman we spoke to was nice, but every interaction was too brief to make up for everything else. For the low quality you receive here, it...

OMGOODNESS.. the mexindian tacos tho!!!

A couple months back, I had the privilege of being the very first customer to dine at ONO. I happened to be in the area and suddenly had a craving for delicious Indian cuisine. After researching nearby options, I came across Namaste food truck and Ono. Checking their ratings, I noticed Namaste had numerous positive reviews, while Ono had none at that time (wondering why that was, and unaware that Ono hadn't opened yet).

To help me make a decision, I decided to call each establishment. My first call was to Namaste, and unfortunately, the person who answered was incredibly rude and abrupt. Despite my inquiries about the menu, he responded aggressively and ended the call without even saying goodbye. Needless to say, it left a sour taste in my mouth.

However, my experience took a complete turn when I contacted Ono. The woman who answered the phone was a breath of fresh air, incredibly sweet + lighthearted. She informed me that it was their grand opening day, with dinner service about to begin in a few minutes. Enthused by the news, I immediately headed over and was warmly greeted by both the owner (whom I had spoken to on the phone) and a few of the chefs working that evening.

The woman explained that they were awaiting their bar license, so the bar wasn't available at that time but would be opened later. Undeterred, I decided to try their Mexican-Indian fish tacos and was blown away by their deliciousness. Hands down, thee best fish tacos I've ever experienced!!

I continue to sing praises about those mouthwatering and unique tacos to this day. Now that I'm back from visiting my family on the mainland, my partner and friends are eagerly looking forward to indulging in more of what Ono has to offer.

The suspense is literally making my taste buds...