Sera — Restaurant in Honolulu

The Fat, the Dull, and the Pickled: A Night at...MARA? No, SERA!

There are nights you remember fondly—the ambiance, the laughter, the revelatory bite of food that makes you pause and consider what it means to be alive.

And then there are nights like my experience at MARA.. shoot, no - "SERA," a restaurant so painstakingly curated in aesthetic and so comically lacking in culinary execution, I half-suspected I had been enrolled in a live-action art installation titled "How Much Disappointment Can You Plate?"

Let’s start with what was sold to us as the pièce de résistance: the rack of lamb. We were enthusiastically told it was "family style" and “Mediterranean-inspired,” which conjured dreamy visions of roasted herb-crusted meat, fresh olives, glistening roasted vegetables, and maybe the faint sound of a lyre in the background. What arrived instead was a gelatinous slab of mostly fat, barely clinging to six defiant bites of lamb that were so elusive, we considered calling in a search team. What made the experience worse was the steak knives brought to help serve the mistake. Those “steak knives” might as well have been butter spreaders. Attempting to carve this fatty tragedy was akin to cutting through a tire with a spoon. The bed of unimaginative cubed root vegetables only added to the funeral procession of this dish. I genually hoped it was simply defrosted frozen bag of Birds Eye veggies otherwise I am terribly sorry to the sous chef that had to waste their life cutting those. The dish, joined by three lone potato croquettes that were so small and indifferent, they might have been shipped in by mistake. Not to be deterred, we tried our luck with the fried branzino. It arrived flanked by an enthusiastic array of tiny side dishes. Half were edible. The other half? They tasted like the failed experiments of someone testing a DIY pickling kit they got from a “quirky” Etsy shop. The fish itself was offered with a "sauce" that turned out to be a beurre monté; a butter sauce, technically an emulsion, emotionally a cry for help. Elegant? No. Memorable? Barely. A win? Only if we redefine what victory tastes like.

We also gave the Spanish octopus and tartar a shot. That’s all I have to say. We gave them a shot. And they gave nothing in return. The octopus was passable, the tartar uninspired. They were culinary wallflowers at best. They were "present," but profoundly unremarkable. The bar? We ordered two cocktails I won’t dignify by naming because, frankly, I’ve had canned beverages with more character.

Now, if you’ve stuck with me this far and are wondering if anything at MARA, shoot... SERA! (oh sorry, I keep writing MARA, slip of the trauma) was worth experiencing: yes. The trio of dips. A creamy tzatziki, a punchy beet hummus, and a standard but solid regular hummus. Together, they almost tricked us into believing we were about to have a good meal. Paired with the soft, pillowy, warm house bread, divine. Except… you don’t get nearly enough of it. Want more? You'll have to ask. Politely. They guard it like it’s a key to the Vatican archives.

We also splurged on a bottle of Clos La Coutale Cahors, a red that retails for about $17 and was generously sold to us for $48. Look, I understand restaurant markups. But the math hits different when you’re three courses deep into disappointment and realize your wine is the only thing preventing a group-wide existential crisis.

SERA (not MARA, despite the confusion) has all the makings of a restaurant that might eventually figure itself out. For now, it remains a monument to missed potential and menu copywriting that overpromises and under-delivers with astonishing consistency.

Still, I genuinely look forward to SERA’s inevitable future rebranding. Maybe as GIRA, a Korean-Japanese-Mediterranean fusion concept that will, hopefully, carry the one thing they miraculously got right: those dips. Just… keep the bread coming. Oh right, we also had dessert too! Easily forgettable and also nothing inspiring. A pavlova - snooze. And a ...reimagination of a baklava, except...

​Went to Sera for lunch on a friday. The restaurant is bigger than I expected it to be. The restaurant was stylish, upbeat, yet a very relaxing dining experience. It's a great place to hold business lunches or have family/group get-togethers. Casual to formal, the restaurant is adaptive to your function.

​The restaurant uses Mediterranean flavors to make modern, high-end meals. For our mezze, we got the "Spreads Tasting Trio," consisting of hummus, tzatziki, and burrata. Ngl, the three drips were very delicious. For my main, I got the chicken milanese burger with fries. The sweet yellow tomatoes and arugula work well with the fried chicken. The burger bun was soft and toasty. The fries were crunchy, hard to mess up. My guest had the burger and salad. It was good, but sadly they accidentally brought fries out and had to correct it. All-in-all, a good experience. A little pricey, but I would recommend this place to...

The food was truly exceptional, with each dish expertly prepared and presented. We shared a whipped burrata (with as many pitas as you like) before moving on to our main courses. The lamb tagine was cooked to perfection, and the linguine frutti Di mare was mouthwatering. Our son enjoyed the keiki chicken and pita, which came with fresh fruit.

Highlights:

Exceptional Service: Our server Paige K was knowledgeable and friendly, making excellent recommendations and ensuring we had everything needed. Delicious Food: Each dish was expertly prepared and presented, with bold and flavorful ingredients. Cozy Atmosphere: The decor and ambiance were perfect for a night...