Table At Poipu — Restaurant in Kauai

I’m a faithful reviewer. I love to write positive reviews. I appreciate food that is well crafted and plated in an artful way. Tonight was unfortunate, but I think an honest review can help a restaurant correct its short comings.

We took a party of 4 to The Table to give it a try. Had heard some good things, so why not?

Our experience was both hit and miss.

The Table has filed for a liquor license, but has not received it yet. So, for now, it is strictly BYOB. We took champagne and wine, and our server cheerfully opened both bottles and brought appropriate stemware.

We had some appetizers, which were ok. Nothing spectacular. Two of us ordered the “Special” which was advertised as a “New York loin strip steak” with Kauai prawns. The steak was either cut too thin (less than 1” thick, which is weird), or the grill person had no clue. We ordered medium toward medium rare. We both got well done. Dried out, overly chewy, no flavor, awful. We would have sent it back but our server didn’t come back to check on us. Our 2 friends ordered the catch of the day (mahi) that she thought was great. Our 4th ordered a risotto with prawns, which was a very small portion, however it was tasty and seemed well made.

Following our dinner, a lady that described herself as an owner/manager came by our table and asked how our meal was. I asked her if she really wanted to know, and she said. “yes.” So we told her the risotto and catch of the day were great, but the steak was largely inedible. She apologized, but did not offer to take even one of the charges off the bill.

I would say the staff needs some training, and the kitchen needs to work some issues out. Give the place time to settle in a bit and try it again? Not really sure. The attention to detail is lacking in many ways. We won’t be going back...

This place survives nowhere but the islands and from the look of it probably not on Kauai- it was less than 50% capacity at 6:30.

There were no locals here and I am guessing nobody ever eats here twice.

Their webpage says the chef has won numerous awards, but that must be for being the tallest midget as their menu is simple and poorly executed.

Ambiance is OK for a strip mall.

Service is OK in that our server was nice but not knowing a tiny wine list is not acceptable- our server googled bottles of wine and showed us the online descriptions.

I got the braised beef, my wife got the pork chop, and my daughter got the chicken tenders and fries.

All of our dishes were poor. The pork chop was a thin, sad, overcooked chop served with overcooked green beans.

The braised beef was not horrible but was not good and needed to be seasoned.

The tenders did not past muster with a hungry 7 year-old- the fries were the standout of the meal as they were just OK.

We pretty much pushed our food around on our plates and asked for the check and left hungry.

Anyone can cook better than this and the customers and staff deserve better out of the chef- if you can't cook good food, learn how. If you don't want to...

AVOID. AVOID. Avoid this restaurant at all costs. The poorly cooked, awful food was so disappointing. What a waste of a vacation night in Hawaii.

All the entrées were a disappointment. It’s like they raided a retirement home’s leftovers, recooked (not reheated) and gave them a sad makeover by adding unnecessary extra ingredients.

The chicken “Marsala" was Parmesan-covered chicken with gravy made from a packet with a float of Marsala wine. The chicken was overcooked and rubbery, reminiscent of a McDonald’s nugget texture. The asparagus wasn’t trimmed and overcooked until it slumped into a u shaped when held upright.

The garlic-bomb lemon aioli with an overpriced, poorly cooked, really bad quality steak was equally bad. Ordered medium rare, served well done, no pink left.

While the setting is beautiful, the terrible food, inattentive (but very friendly) service and the gall to charge an undisclosed credit card fee (close to 20% on some items) make this place an absolute skip.

If you read these reviews Chef” Gordon, the food was bad enough, but the sneaky, undisclosed credit card fee is truly outrageous and embarrassing for your...