Orchids — Restaurant in Honolulu

Overall 7/10

Orchids delivered across most metrics, but fell short on a few.

Location: 9/10 Located in one of the most upscale hotels, Hale Kulani, Orchids is easily accessible in the heart of Waikiki, but at the same time feels isolated from the chaos.

Ambiance: 10/10 Orchids seating on their outdoor patio provides both a calming ocean-front experience, coupled with an elegant resort view. Additionally, the nightly live Hawaiian music from their other restaurant across the grass gave a perfect atmosphere.

Drinks: 4/10 My wife and I ordered a Bubble Bath Bellini and a Frizzante Melone. The later had either too much Campari or was infused with a fake/rotten strawberry because it had a very, very bad aftertaste. It made the drink undrinkable. The Bellini's balance was very heavy on Disaronno and suffered a bit as well. The peach foam was nice though.

Bread: 2/10 We were served two types of bread, both of which tasted of multi-day old pre-made bread. The focaccia was semi stale and hard with little flavor. The loaf bread was also semi-stale, hard to chew and lacked flavor. The butter wasn't anything special, rather just some house butter softened. Nothing extra.

Appetizers: 8.5/10 Since we ordered the Chef's tasting menu, our appetizer was Tartare. This was my first time eating it, as I try to avoid it. I was very surprised to enjoy it. The ahi had good flavor, but the texture isn't for me. The creme fresh was a homerun and when paired with the avocado puree, it completed the whole tartare experience.

The other appetizer was a seafood pasta. The fazzoletti pasta was cooked to perfection and the butter garlic sauce worked well. The scallop didn't have a sear, but tasted good. The scattered bits of lobster were tasty little treats to find. The shrimp in the shell wasn't cleaned well enough and had an off putting aftertaste, along with being semi overcooked. The avocados chunks didn't add anything to the dish, unfortunately. Overall though, it was a pretty decent effort.

Mains: 7.5/10 For our first main, we got Branzino with a balsamic vinegar reduction topped with a whole clove of garlic and artichoke heart. The fish was seasoned well, the skin was crispy and salty and the reduction was so-so. The artichoke heart was delicious, but the garlic clove had lost much of its flavor.

Our second main was steak, (I don't remember the cut) Foie Gras and Veal. The steak was cooked well, but was lacking a bit on sear and salt level. It was my first experience with Foie Gras, and while hesitant to try, it wasn't bad. It's a different flavor profile to become accustomed to, but I imagine it was a decent rendition of the dish. The same can be said for the veal. It wasn't bad, just different.

Dessert: 10/10 For dessert we were served a white chocolate sphere with a moist cake inside. It was topped with a fresh lilikoi foam and shavings. Dotted on the plate were delicious spots of pineapple puree. I normally hate white chocolate, but this dish blew me away. On its own, the white chocolate and cake were above average for what I enjoy. When mixed with the pineapple, it soared beyond expectations. I hate white chocolate, but I would go here just for this dessert.

Summary: For just under $500 for two, I felt Orchids fell a bit flat. Granted this establishment is in a high end hotel, but that shouldn't excuse the mistakes we experienced. Had this been closer to $300 total, I probably would bump the score...

The world food tour duo made a return visit to Orchids. It has been just over a year since our last visit and our expectation was that the management addressed the shortcomings we identified in Nov2021.

Yes, the wine book is back! It took me a while to select a wine … I was happy to see a wide variety of inexpensive to expensive wines. I selected a 2018 Vosne-Romanee from Bouchard Pere & Fils; not the best of Vosne-Romanee, but not priced like the best. It was slightly soft with the scent of red fruit.

We ordered the Bone-Marrow Onaga Crudo and the Asparagus Piedmontese for appetizers. I’m still puzzled by the “onaga” reference; it was very good marrow, served with thin slices of toasted garlic bread. My tablemate had hers on the focaccia from the bread basket. The Asparagus Piedmontese was fabulous … The 24mo aged Parmesan foam, shaved truffle and puff pastry was “to die for”. We savored every bit of the Parmesan / truffle foam using bread to wipe the dish clean.

We ordered Mushroom Risotto, Braised Beef Cheek and Veal Loin Scallopini for our main course. The risotto was complex; Porcini dust, a nice piece of foie gras, truffle oil, slices of mushroom and truffle oil made for an intoxicating aroma. The presentation of the Braised Beef Cheek was interesting; it was covered with potato foam so one had to dig into the dish to find the tender pieces of beef cheek, carrots and brussel sprouts. The Veal Loin Scallopini reminded me of liver; three slices of loin with pieces of roasted potato, and a garlic / wine jus.

It retrospect, we should have ordered chosen another dish … everything we ordered was delicious but all three dishes were varying shades of brown. As a result, our plates looked very one note. What you see and smell is almost as important as what you taste … perhaps we’ll select a fish dish next time.

We ended our meal by sharing the Tiramisu and I had two cups of coffee … No French Press but each cup was excellent. The Tiramisu was more a chocolate bombe than the traditional style; presentation was 10 but I missed the coffee soaked lady fingers, Mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

What did we think? Orchids is back to where it was prior to COVID … Hurrah! Now, if they would bring back the opakapaka; it...

We made a last minute decision on Sunday morning to have brunch at Orchids based on recommendations and reviews. We did not have a reservation and my voice to you is this: "If you don't have a reservation DO NOT GO HERE." We were treated VERY impolitely by the hostess staff.. casual cold is how I would best describe our reception. We were seated in a side room with about 10 tables across the lobby from the buffet. Away from the ocean view, away from the piano, away from the food. Basically put into the back yard. As I looked around we were dressed like most of the other guests and there were empty tables throughout our meal. So, we spent $138. for brunch for two people, $64. for four mimosas, a decent gratuity since the server was good enough and had nothing to do with our initial treatment. I mentioned our concern to the manager on duty with a fairly concise and detailed explanation of how we were treated and of our feelings. He spoke not one single word to me in response. All I got was a meaningless nod- equally as dismissive as the two hostesses. As far as food goes, it was just exactly like each and every other high end brunch I've ever had in a similar hotel environment. It was good, it had big variety, and would have been a pleasant experience under better circumstances. I realize we did not have reservations but some communication would have been welcomed about why we were seated in a completely different and remote area. Again, away from the ocean view, away from the food, away from the piano, and essentially not in any way a part of the brunch activities ... yet, at full price. If they didn't want to serve us for whatever reasons, then they could have just said they were booked. They did not. They took our money, stuck us in a back room, and took our money. In summary, we spent right at $260. for brunch and were denied the view and the overall experience that we had expected and hoped for. We just won't ever plan on doing this again and have a very negative feeling towards this hotel in general so it will be OFF the list of options of places to stay on...