Arancino on Beachwalk — Restaurant in Honolulu

I don’t even know where to begin. We had a reservation, showed up 15min early, were waiting for a hostess to acknowledge us. Some woman literally stepped up in front of us to talk to the hostess about HER reservation. Turned out she did not have one, the staff told her that she probably booked a table at a different location, but they will see what they can do about. She kept arguing with them, but stepped aside to wait. When they finally acknowledged us, they told us that people who are currently occupying our table are eating their dessert and we will be seated by 8pm. We did not mind, since we were early anyway. In the meantime, I overheard them talking and trying to accomodate the rude woman and her party of 3, which they did in about 5min from when she talked to them. 25min after we showed up (which would be around 8:10) I asked what is going on with our table and the hostess said they are getting their check now and the table should be available soon. Accomodating a rude woman without reservation and making people who actually had one is wild. But that’s not where the bad experience ends. They gave us some pathetic corner table which did not even have enough space for all the dishes, but luckily we skipped appetizers. Asked for water without ice, got it with ice. Drinks were brought at different times, which was annoying but not a huge deal. However, they also brought our pastas more than 5min apart. How does that even make sense? We had 2 options: to wait for first dish to get cold while waiting for the other one to be served or one of us could ear their food while the other one watched. And speaking of pasta - it looked and tasted like $1 microwave meal. Their pizza might be better, but I’ll never know. The waiter was nice and actually apologized about our food coming at different times, but it is because other people kept running food and drinks for his table and ruining the dining experience. Skip this place, there are much better...

The establishment offers delectable culinary options with exceptional flavor profiles. However, I must note that the tiramisu lacked complexity and consistency, preventing me from awarding the food a perfect score. The two main courses we savored were exceptionally rich in flavor. I opted for a variation with scallops instead of shrimp, and the accompanying sauce was simply exquisite, demonstrating a remarkable balance of flavors. The spaghetti alla carbonara was equally delightful, although there were instances when the saltiness was slightly pronounced. This could potentially be attributed to the type of bacon used in the preparation. The service provided was exceptionally satisfactory from the beginning to the end, and Jennifer demonstrated remarkable attentiveness throughout the entire dining experience. As we were celebrating our anniversary, the restaurant graciously offered us a complimentary dessert, which was a thoughtful gesture. Additionally, Jennifer provided excellent recommendations that we greatly appreciated.

However, I did find the pricing to be slightly elevated in comparison to the overall experience, particularly with regard to the soups and salads.

The ambiance of the restaurant was average and did not possess any particularly noteworthy features. The establishment itself is not particularly spacious and may feel somewhat cramped, although it does accommodate a variety of tables. I would recommend making a reservation in advance, especially if planning to dine during the weekend.

Lastly, the coffee martini was exceptionally delicious and exhibited an excellent balance of flavors.

Would we go back? 🤔 We wouldn't go out of our way to go back or make it a priority, but if by chance we go again, I'd definitely try other plates! #FoodieAdventures...

Hawaii's restaurant scene is top-notch and only continues to get better but why oh why is it so hard to find a great restaurant with great food and reasonable prices open on Sunday night? And, especially one that is friendly to both vegetarians and meat lovers..? Sigh.

My vegetarian friends were visiting from the mainland and we decided Arancino would be the right place for us. I like this area of Waikiki because the restaurant is on a short side street and you don't have to drive deep in the mix. The restaurant offers validated parking in the Bank of Hawaii lot which is perfect since i drive a tank and the lot has wide-enough stalls.

The restaurant doesn't take reservations and I knew there would be a wait so our party agreed on meeting early - we got there at about 5:45 and were seated by 6:30. We could've maybe grabbed a quick drink at Yardhouse but instead, we decided to kill time with a leisurely walk around the block and popped into a couple stores on Lewers St. When we made it back, we waited only about 10 minutes and our party was ready to be seated. My BF and I split the spaghetti con tobiko e calamari and pizza peperoni e salsiccia.Both were fantastic! I loved the crunch the tobiko added to the dish, and the pizza crust was beautifully crispy.

Our table finished by sharing the panna cotta which was the happy ending to a perfect meal with friends. Vegetarians and Meat Lovers were...