Assaggio Hawaii Kai - Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Honolulu

I had one of the most bizarre dining experiences of my life here. Before I get into the details, let me briefly state the positives of this restaurant: The staff aren’t at all polished but they are polite and cheery; The views of the marina are pretty despite the interior of the restaurant being shabby and run down; and, when they get the food right, it’s actually pretty good. Now let me tell you what happened: I was dining with some friends and I ordered my meal and asked for it to come with fettuccini Alfredo as my side; The (very sweet) server clearly repeated “fettuccini Alfredo”. When my plate arrived it was fettuccini with no Alfredo. I asked the server and she said she didn’t understand if I wanted Alfredo sauce. Huh? How does one have “fettuccini Alfredo” without Alfredo sauce? So while all of my dining companions happy ate their meals I sat their waiting for my fettuccini Alfredo. Then - decades later - instead of an actual fettuccini Alfredo, I was presented with just a tiny cup of Alfredo sauce to pour over my cold, coagulated fettuccini. The server was very apologetic, to the point of tears, so I didn’t want to push it, but I was totally perplexed by how one could have fettuccini Alfredo without Alfredo. The real insult came with the bill: I was charged for the Alfredo sauce. And I was charged for a soda refill. What sick place charges for soda refills in 2023? What kind of game are they trying to run? Anyway, I won’t ever be back and you should never come...

Christmas Eve dinner was a comedy of errors with our dinners coming out at widely varying times and one not at all, two dinners were delivered to the wrong table and another one could not be consumed by the person ordering it due to a food allergy (it was eaten by the person who did not get his dinner). But the restaurant immediately admitted error and apologized profusely, sent free Prosecco and a dessert, and boxed the forgotten dinner free of charge for us to take home along with a loaf of bread. We started to be irritated but hey, it was Christmas Eve and we chose to relax and enjoy what turned out to be a rather long dinner for the seven of us. The more important issue was that one of the dinners, unlike the others, did NOT list garlic as an ingredient and the person ordering it believed that it would not have garlic in it. It turns out everything that has a tomato sauce has LOTS of garlic in it. Aside from this issue, the food is good, the Caesar Salad and Tiramisu are spectacular, the restaurant is well priced for Hawaii, and a good time...

Absolutely fantastic restaurant great food and service. The restaurant is typical upscale Italian, nicely appointed and clean inside but nothing to talk about. The service was great without being to much. All the staff said hello and thank you when entering and leaving with some nice small talk as well. You do get table bread with a small bowl of butter. The bread was good soft interior and crispy crust. I had the lasagna that arrived fairly quickly, and was fantastic. Every part was perfect it arrived still boiling hot in its ceramic bowl. The presentation matched its taste the cheese, meat, noodles and sauce were all in perfect proportions. I can't say enough about this lasagna, its refreshing to get exactly what you expect.. The prices are on par for this level in Hawaii which was $38 without tip. Overall a great experience a must when looking for great dining...