The Fish And The Hog — Restaurant in Hawaii

I've heard about this place for years and simply hadn't made the trip. I'm a bit ashamed of that now.

This place is situated near a sort of crossroads in Waimea where people commuting from Honokaa, Saddle road (aka Daniel k inouye highway), and Kohala all more or less meet up. If you find yourself traveling between any of these places you will almost certainly pass the fish and hog.

This part of Waimea is quite a scenic area with wide pasture lands, Cherry trees, and picturesque roads lined with cypress. Most of the roads run along the crests of mountains with commanding views of the ocean. While you won't be enjoying these sights from within the restaurant, they will certainly be a memorable part of your trip.

The staff are friendly and attentive. I came away feeling like I had been welcomed and entertained by good friends. Our waiter was bright eyed, wore a genuine smile, and while he didn't really have time to talk stories as they say, he did take what time he could to share some of his anecdotal experiences at the restaurant as well as his personal preferences regarding the food. Drinks flowed at the wave of a hand as of by magic, and food followed ordering in a matter of minutes. Gordon Ramsey couldn't run a smoother kitchen I'm certain of it.

The food itself was first rate. We went with small plates so that we could sample a variety. We tried the baby back ribs, blackened ahi sashimi, and garlic shrimp.

The sashimi was seared in spices just enough to impart some flavor. It was served with shoyu, wasabi, a small seaweed salad and some form of large freshly fried chips. The balance was perfect, everything paired beautifully and without being overwhelmed by the blackened seasonings (which were not overly spicy).

The garlic shrimp by contrast had a very thin and simple breading over six of the plumpest pieces of meat you can imagine. This was seasoned with a garlic black pepper medley topping it that held a little spice, a lot of garlic flavor and all of it paired like fine wine with the each juicy bite of shrimp.

Saving the best for last, the ribs... There were only three of these on the plate, and they didn't look like any ribs I've ever seen before. Somehow they were encrusted in a juicy shell of seasoning hinting at what I would call Chinese or Korean spices. Whatever it was, it made every sliver of meat pulled from every side of the bone as soft and tender and as flavorful as of it came from the meatiest portion between the ribs. We scraped the bones clean, no gristle, no mess, nothing but a little juice on the fingers. I've had more than my share of ribs in this world and this was still a rapturous experience for me.

Would I recommend the fish and hog? No, I won't. Recommend is to weak an action for this place. I will drive you there myself and walk the path of existential gluttony with you and the reason I will is because of the blasted banana cream pie!

You thought I was done! I'm not! Try the banana cream pie. For once in my life, the chocolate cake and the ice cream have to take a back seat to something truly special. This dessert is made in-house with bananas from the chefs backyard, I know because I could not believe what I was putting in my mouth and had to have it explained to me. If you know the true value of a good custard, if you have been disappointed by cream pies your whole life, if your grandmother or great grandmother was the only person who could satisfy your sweet tooth without depending on too much sugar or chocolate you must try this banana cream pie. I'm not even overselling it. No exaggeration. The custard was dense and smooth, no hint of eggyness, layered between hand whipped cream and flaky graham cracker crumb crust and layers of fresh banana between each layer then drizzled with a very light caramel.

The food makes this a very special place. You will...

4.5 stars is about right. Just doesn't quite hit five stars for me though.

They don't do reservations, not sure about call-ahead seating, or getting on a list, but it was a 45 min wait for a table of four.

The dining area is relatively small, but still able to accommodate 15-20 tables. It makes for a pretty cozy dining experience. Photos show both dining areas.

A table in the same area as us was imbibing quite heavily, and were very boisterous. There were a few shouts from the table that were surprisingly loud. I would expect the decibel level in a sports bar, but not in a sit-down restaurant.

The staff were crazy friendly and courteous, but not as knowledgeable about food availability. She advised they were out of the reuben appetizer. I asked if they still had the reuben sandwich, and was advised they did.

After ordering the reuben, she came back a few minutes later to advise they didn't have that either. Later on, when providing dessert options, she advised they had chocolate cake, banana cake, and coconut cake. After ordering two chocolate slices, she came back and advised they didn't have that either. When asking about the bagged coffee they sell, the waitress didn't know if it was ground or whole bean. After getting a bag for inspection, we found it was whole bean. $35 for 10oz bag.

I ended up getting the poke appetizer, and the brisket sandwich. My wife ordered the brisket French dip. Our other family ordered a burger and the pork mac & cheese. Both women had leftovers.

The poke appetizer (spicy ahi) was very much on point. Not really spicy though. We cleared the plate. Even the non-sushi eaters liked it.

I hate ordering brisket at restaurants, because rarely do I find them as good as the brisket I make myself. And I'm usually paying ¼ of the price for a single portion as I would for a whole brisket, so it's really a love/hate thing for me. $18 for the brisket sandwich with sweet potato fries.

The brisket was actually done pretty well. Good flavor, tender, and juicy. Both bbq sauces complimented it well, but neither sauce had much of a kick. The coleslaw was okay, I guess. I like a little pepper or something to spice it up a bit, but my wife liked it.

Overall. The food was great, but maybe just a bit over priced, even for Hawaii. ($75 for two, with one appetizer and one dessert.) The atmosphere was cool for a BBQ joint, but way too loud. Staff was friendly, but needed to be just a bit more on top of...

Ever so often you run into an item and you exclaim, “that’s the best I’ve ever had...”

As we came into Waimea, my father-in-law found a local bbq and fish joint. The outside was very non-assuming and honestly I had no clue what I was in store for the moment I sat down. The place was flooded with locals (which is a really good sign in tourist areas). I asked the waitress what to get, and she told me, “get the sampler platter”. I thought to myself, “bbq joints are a dime a dozen where we live in Ky, we have bbq on the river after all.” But I took her advice and boy, am I glad that I did.

The sampler included brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and a homemade sausage. The sides I ordered were a green chile, cheddar cornbread and onion rings, which the waitress said, “were to die for”.

First of all let me say, I’m a brisket man. But this brisket changed my life. The sausage was literally the best I’ve ever had. The pulled pork and ribs were also amazing! But what made it all was the sauce (picture included). I’ve eaten a LOT of bbq sauces, this was hands down the best bbq sauce I’ve eaten, EVER. Their “Paniolo” sauce has undertones of a mild curry, it was subtle, but it was there. And their “Crackseed” sauce took me back to a much simpler time in Japan. It was accented with a plum sauce that set everything right with the world. If you ever come by one of these sauces, do yourself a favor, and buy all that they have. Then came the sides. The cornbread was hands-down the best I’ve ever had. I could not relinquish my plate until every morsel was accounted for in my mouth. If only the middle-eastern countries could sit down and share a piece of this together, peace would be imminent!

And lastly the onion rings were truly “to die for”. After consuming these, I can’t see what else in life could top these. I’m quite sure they were beer-battered, and they came with a homemade dipping ranch sauce that they make daily. Odd, yeah I know. But one bite and it all made sense. My heart and my stomach are both full, and I anxiously await my next visit to The Fish and The Hog! A thousand “thank you’s” for putting your heart into...