The Temple Kitchen + Bar Hilo — Restaurant in Hawaii

Terrible & painfully overpriced. So disappointed as I was really looking forward to eating here since the dishes looked innovative & delicious.

The ahi carpaccio was so overly salty, it felt like I got punched in the face with salt. One of the oysters from the oyster sampler was clearly bad and I had to spit it out. It took me a while to get the rotten taste out my mouth— had to actually drink the overtly salty carpaccio dressing to do so. The oysters were also swimming in so much sauce, I couldn’t taste the oyster… up until the very bad one I got, and then I got punched in the mouth with the rotting corpse of gooey oyster. Fresh raw seafood should not have to be overly seasoned, unless they’re trying to hide the taste of unfreshness.

Oh forgot to mention, every oyster I ate had pieces of shell in it.

The pumpkin salad was mediocre and definitely not worth the insane $22. It was tiny, underdressed and painfully bland.

Interesting that the things that are supposed to be subtle (raw seafood) were overly seasoned/salty while the thing that’s supposed to have a lot of flavor was overtly bland (salad)

The best thing was their beef carpaccio. It was a good size and came with arugula, so it felt like a salad. The seasoning was just right— not too bland, not too salty.

The cocktail we got was decent. A solid B minus. It was called the tropical gin phil.

$100ish dollars later & I’m left feeling...

Not good. The most concerning thing is that our server, during COVID, removed his face mask while he was in the kitchen and came out with it down, then wiped his nose with his hand before putting his mask back on, then proceeded to use the same hand to grab glasses to pour water. As a former server myself, if you touch your face you MUST wash your hands, Covid or not.

Some other issues: the ceviche, while good, was very difficult to eat from a beer goblet, especially with bottom-of-the-bag crushed tortilla chips - there's a reason ceviche is served with or on a tostada.

We ordered the tacos (3 to an order), and were told that we could not mix and match the meats - annoying, since the meats are almost certainly prepared and kept warm in a steam tray.

However, this being a tapas style Restaurant with dishes clearly oriented towards sharing, the order of tacos comes 3 to an order which isn't good if you have 2 or 4 people in your party. We inquired about adding an extra taco but were told that wed have to order an entire extra order - for just the 2 of us. They're 3 for $10, we'd have gladly paid $4 for an extra taco. We ended up just cutting the 3rd taco which was frustrating and unsatisfying, not to mention they denied themselves an opportunity to increase our tab.

The food was good, but the lack of hygiene and unwillingness to accommodate reasonable menu requests made this an overall...

So, I know this technically a bar, but I come here for the food. I've been dining here since they first opened & have always favored this menu above all other restaurants in Hilo. With that said, It's been really sad to notice the prices rising, but the quality getting lower & lower. The past few times I've come in, the "fried" kalo was undercooked and slimy. The tomatoes in my salad had mold on the top near the stem area, and the sourdough bites had micro-hairs attached to them, which is definitely a mystery to me because it was not human hair but some kind of fiber??? Most devastating of all, the ahi carpaccio is just not the same anymore. It is way oversalted and just not what it usually is. The taste was so off that I almost didn't want to finish it, and usually, I am licking the plate clean! I am most definitely attention to detail when it comes to a meal that costs me close to $100. Front staff is usually always very kind & attentive. I hope chef can tighten up the kitchen crew so I can continue to enjoy...