Welina Terrace — Restaurant in Kauai

*REVIEW UPDATE * Wow! Truly a WORLD CLASS meal & restaurant !! We travel quite a bit and meals like this can be rare.

We have been to Welina four times prior to this visit since opening and the evolution of this top food & beautiful location restaurant is impressive. They serve a Japanese style Tapas (small plates ) and sushi. Both menu and service continue to evolve and impress. Cudos to the Chef Masada & Thomas , Restaurant Managment on their achievement. The regular menu continues to grow, and specials change regularly. Each dish that we tried was exceptional . the sushi pieces were amazingly fresh, Ikura melted on your tongue, buttery Uni etc . The desserts menu had been updated since our previous visits and the choices evolved beautifully , a yummy black sesame tiramisu and an amazingly light and tasty Lemon cream roll . Our server this visit was Gage who was very friendly, knowledgeable about the dishes and sakes and communicative about the pace & timing of our dishes being served ! He made excellent recommendations without pressure and helped make our dinner everything one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber .

Our compliments to the restaurant team , their efforts and obvious successes as they continue to grow and excel!! We can’t wait too go back !!!

**Past Review Spectacular view, prices were as expected considering view , hotel and food of excellent quality . Only two things of negative note , the Edamame were super oily and had a bad taste of old oil. “Inedible” . We told our waiter (Dereck our server was really excellent) who responded appropriately. Also was Impressed that one of the assistant waiters that brought our dish’s to the table could not only take our sake order , but could share information about the various sake as well. There were a couple of instances ( at very beginning and very end) where wait staff wasn’t avail. and food didn’t come, but main meal the food came timely and service staff excellent . Our seats on terrace were more of a lounge experience ( than an expected dinner experience at a table ) with a very low terrace tables and wide deep side chairs, But we know to request a table next time . Food was excellent !! Very High quality and worthy of the price. Mixed drink ( spicy tequila ) a bit of a small drink for price . Sake was excellent , but a few more reasonably priced options would have been nice . Will...

Oh boy, where do I even start with Welina Terrace? Let me preface this by saying that if you enjoy sharing a microscopic portion of food with your family, then this place is the jackpot! They advertise themselves as "family-style, meant for sharing," but seriously, what are we supposed to share? A crumb of bread? A microscopic dollop of mashed potatoes? Remember those childhood games where you pretend to have a tea party and serve imaginary food? Well, that's pretty much what you get at Welina Terrace. Two scallops (see photo, that’s supposed to be meant for sharing) , three strands of asparagus, and a sprinkle of fairy dust does not constitute a "family-style" meal, my friends. I've seen bigger portions on a baby's spoon during their first solid food experience. And don't even get me started on the beef. I ordered the Kushiaki A5 beef, which apparently comes with a one-bite piece of beef that costs a whopping $28. Remember, this is a “family-style meal, meant for sharing”. Share what? Maybe the regret of choosing to have dinner at this establishment.

Welina Terrace is supposed to provide one with an exclusive Kauaii sunset experience yet nothing about this place is exclusive. Wellina Terrace should give you unparalleled service (see Four Seasons), exclusive ambiance and delicious food and drinks. The feel that it actually gives you: an expensive warehouse where 1Hotels is going to cram as many people willing to be taken advantage of as possible. So, my dear friends, if you're seeking an authentic, exclusive Kauai sunset experience, you might want to look beyond the facade of Welina Terrace. Explore the island, find your own slice of paradise, and enjoy a sunset that's not tainted by the feeling of being herded like cattle in a warehouse. Remember, true beauty and memorable experiences can be found far beyond the confines of a place that's more concerned with packing in as many people as possible than providing a genuinely exceptional experience. In conclusion, if you have money to burn, a magnifying glass fetish, and a penchant for pretending to eat with your family, then Welina Terrace is the place for you. Just make sure to bring a microscope, an extra credit card, and lower your expectations faster than a collapsing soufflé....

I’m bummed to say Welina Terrace was a terrible dining experience and a waste of money. I booked a reservation for our first night at the resort. We arrived for our 8:00 p.m. reservation five minutes early; the host told us to stand to the left of the bar and said she would be with us in 5 minutes. We ended up standing there for about 15 minutes; during this time the host sat several couples who appeared to be walk-ins. We were confused and frustrated as it seemed the host forgot about us. After watching for a while, we concluded a reservation just gets you a table with chairs vs. a lounge table and that’s why we were waiting while others were given a place sooner. Had the host communicated with us, it would have eliminated a lot of confusion. Once we were seated, the waiter took a while to come to our table. When he eventually came over, we ordered the scallops, short rib, and sushi. The waiter responded, “oh so you’re going to start with that, ok”. I was confused with what he meant. Once the food arrived, I clearly understood his meaning. The short rib arrived about 15 minutes later. It was literally one piece of meat about 1.5 inches long by 1 inch wide for $12. The next item to arrive was two scallops which were $27ish. The sushi didn’t arrive for almost 45 minutes. We were starving for obvious reasons so we ordered another piece of short rib and the Japanese river crab. The short rib didn’t show up until after we asked for our bill which was another 30-45 minutes later. The Japanese river crab ended up being these tiny micro crabs the size of a quarter to half dollar for $18. The only thing we enjoyed was the sushi. Everything else was a straight up scam and waste of money. The host did not communicate, the server was slow / did not communicate, the runners brought the wrong food to our table, the food came out late, and the food portions were so tiny I had to choose between starving or running up huge bill. Reading through the other reviews, it sounds like other people feel the same way. I’m from Nebraska, and in our part of the country… we don’t rip people off… even at the expensive restaurants. If I spend a lot of money, I at...