ULU — Restaurant in Hawaii

I brought my wife to ULU for her 33rd birthday. We just moved to the island a few months ago and was looking forward to having some great food hence coming from the Bay Area and expecting excellence. To start off the night, we requested beforehand when I made the reservation a nice intimate space with ocean views if possible, upon arrival the host said that she only had two tables available that were both four tops in the very back of the restaurant and that there would be a long wait for anything else. She expressed that a large group had come in that night and had taken the seat that we were hoping for. Our reservation was at 8pm made a week in advance. In my experience 8:00pm is typically when restaurants start to slow down for the evening so it shouldn’t have been too long until we were sat at the requested seat, as a server I would have maybe suggested enjoying a drink at the bar until something came available. After we sat, not even five minutes, we watched several couples escorted to Oceanside seats.

Even with this we wanted to give the benefit of the doubt because it was a special occasion for us so we stayed hopeful the night would turn around. Our server Lee was a kind lady but could tell we were not of her most important tables. She took our order almost 20mins after we sat down, our drinks came out 20 to 25mins after that or should I say one drink came out 20 mins and then had to ask her for my wife’s drink 10 mins after that which was also the person who we were celebrating. To give some perspective, we sat with all our appetizers on the table without any drinks. When my old fashioned came, my wife’s glass of Rose was still a no show. This in my opinion is server 101 drinks come out first. We ordered the salmon sashimi, hamachi carpaccio and the oysters first. Both fish were mediocre and didn’t taste fresh. The oysters were what my wife ordered and with each oyster she found shell, she built a small pile of shell off to the side of her plate and mentioned this to Lee but nothing was really done. I would like to note that if you are paying this amount of money for food it should at least be fresh and without shells. The corn chowder was our favorite dish of the night, we also ordered the mashed potatoes which were very dry but if eaten with a meat dish I could see this working fine, but since we did not order a meat entree they were too dry for us. The bok choy was very nice but did not indicate that it had some sort of pork crumbles on top, which we felt should be pointed out in the menu, especially on a side dish which is usually assumed if a veggie. With all of that said, We were not the most typical of guest that you may see in a establishment of this caliber. We were both people of color, a part of the lgbtq+ community maybe not dressed the most fancy but I would hate to assume this was the reason we didn’t receive...

We are extremely surprised how highly rated ULU restaurant is. We were resort guests at the Four Seasons where this restaurant is located, and we dined her twice since it was the restaurant closest to our premium ocean front view room. We had overall negative experiences and would NOT recommend it. This is taken from our review of the Four Seasons property and specifically in regards to this restaurant: *we had very poor experiences at their ULU restaurant, which seems to be highly overrated. It’s mediocre at best. The toro is great, and that's really it. The servers are generous with their sake pours which is terrific as well, and that's really the only other positive about the restaurant. We had generous saki tasting pours with our waitress Regina and also another waitress Alicia since we ate here for two nights. The negatives: the rice in all of our dishes had too much rice wine vinegar or something and the rice texture was not ideal so the nigiri is ruined and the rice bowls are not good. Regarding terrible service: on one of our dinners where Crisha and Courtney were working, both ladies failed to give us seats to the restaurant as resort guests and only comped us an appetizer and dessert AFTER we complained. After the front desk senior staff had to speak to these two ladies to help us get a dinner seat, and only after mentioning we knew the senior executives at Four Seasons, is when both Crisha and Courtney apologized. The problem is, what are they actually sorry for?? Think about it: what did they do wrong. Apparently they should not have done anything wrong if they were turning us away due to a full reservation that night (by the way, there were empty tables and once we got seated after all the issues were settled, there still never was a full house at the restaurant at any given point that night). It was only after we complained to front desk and that Crisha and Courtney said a table just happened to become available: if that was the whole truth, what are they sorry for? Are they only apologizing because we know Senior executives at the Four Seasons and they realize how rudely (especially Crisha) they treated us. It is unacceptable at this level to treated like that at a resort restaurant especially for the premium room guest as we were staying at the Four Seasons. Resort guests should always have seating for their resort guests because there are no other restaurants nearby: guests should always have preferential treatment when it comes to seating compared to out-of-Resort guests *The breakfast is terrible for $45 USD a person. Also during breakfast the restaurant does this weird cheap "Costco" like thing where a man is promoting Kona Coffee and offering coffee tasting outside ULU restaurant. The whole approach is coming across very cheasy and at a place like Four Seasons it is...

Oh boy, where do I even start with the most epic fail of a "fancy" dinner ever? Picture this: February 15, 2024, my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to a dinner that ended up costing us a cool $500 - and that was us being cheap! Apparently, to actually enjoy yourself, you're supposed to drop at least a grand. Yeah, right!

So, we're trying to keep our spirits high despite the food being meh, when the server brings us these sad-looking glasses for the least expensive bottle of Chardonnay they had - a mere $120 Stags Leap. We asked for a swap, only to get glasses that looked like they'd been through a dishwasher disaster. We were this close to bailing.

As if that wasn't enough, they tell us we can't sit inside and plonk us outside with a storm brewing like it's the end of the world. Next thing you know, a bottle of tequila makes a break for it off the bar and smashes - yup, the wind was auditioning for a disaster movie.

Finally, they let us inside. And then, the star of the show, a ginormous cockroach, decides to make an entrance, heading straight for our table. I nearly jumped out of my skin, and it reroutes to the next table. Crawling on the leg of unsuspecting guest. The guest casually flicks it back onto the floor, and a waiter crushes it underfoot as if it's just another day at the office. And yep, this wasn't a cute little bug; it was a sewer-special. Saw a few more of his buddies as we made our great escape to the car.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any crazier, here's a kicker: I'm at a place fancy enough to wipe out my wallet, and I'm thinking, "Surely, they've got real wasabi." Nope. I take one bite and it's horseradish. I ask the waiter, and get this, she swears up and down it's the real deal. I couldn't help but laugh out loud!

Then, to top off this comedy show, we pass on the soufflé, and suddenly, our waitress treats us like we're invisible. There I am, pouring my own wine, feeling like I'm in some sort of self-service bistro. What a night, huh?

And the punchline? Not a single "sorry" or a free dessert to smooth things over. Just a "thanks, now scram." All this at a high-end Four Seasons Hotel, can you believe it? They must think we're all a bunch of clowns! Honestly, in a weird way, it was kind of hilarious. I've got to say, I do get a kick out of these...