AMA Restaurant — Restaurant in Kauai

This is a tough one for me to decide because it is a close call between a 4-star and a 5-star and in the end I am going for a 4-star. So to start off, what did we like about the place: The views - clearly they are spectacular. My wife had taken a helicopter ride earlier in the day and she said that the view here was reminding her of the views from the helicopter ride. Service was also very good. Jennifer (?), our server, was attentive. I always like it when restaurants provide a pitcher so that we can refill our water ourselves and that was the case here. Price-points: While not cheap, it is very reasonable for the ambience and the product that they offer.

What takes away the ever-so-elusive fifth star: That unfortunately has to be the taste of the food itself. While good it was not exceptional and I feel that I am in a position to comment on it since we tried out an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert. For our appetizer, we went with their grilled fish skewer and for our entrees, we went with the ama ramen and the tantan ramen. Finally for our dessert, we had the donuts with ice cream and none of these dishes impressed me tremendously. The fish skewer felt unseasoned/ unsalted and I found the depth of flavors lacking in the ramen, particularly the tantan ramen. We had been on a trip to Japan in August 2017 and I suspect that I may have been implicitly comparing what we had here to what we had in Japan and the ramens here were definitely not in the same category as those in Japan. Also, the ama ramen comes with pork belly and I have had significantly better back home in Philly. The donuts with the ice cream were fine but not ones to blow our mind. So that is essentially what makes this a 4-star as opposed to a 5-star.

All in all, it is a great place to have a relaxing dinner in the Princeville area with exceptional views, good food, and...

Place seemed inviting and busy, lots of activity. Hopes high. Took roughly 10-15 minutes before someone came to the front and assisted us with taking names and info. Not off to a great start.

Informed about a 30 minute wait. No big deal, we can wander the shops in the same plaza. Server took our info (with confirmation to send text message when table is available).

Wandered around, received a text about 25 minutes. Walked from literally around the corner (shop front, about 40 steps) to the front. Server appeared, gave info to confirm, and his words, "Oh, well I just gave your table away."

So, within the 30 seconds of us receiving the text and walking, he gave our table away. Cool. The not off to a great start going downhill. Thankfully, a spot was cleared quickly, as the person quickly saw the error.

Sat down, about 10 minutes before our server, Mandy, would arrive. Took our drink and appetizer order. Over 20 minutes before she returned with only our drinks. Meanwhile, we saw the same sever chatting inside the kitchen area, walking to other guests sitting RIGHT BEHIND US and being very nice and friendly (to others, not to us).

The food would have to be worth it right? Not really. It was good, but not amazing. Local spots knock this place out of the park.

Service continued to suffer. Mandy never once came in to check in on us for drink updates / water refills. We constantly observed her either doing nothing in the kitchen area, or again, visiting tables placed DIRECTLY BEHIND or TO THE SIDE of us.

When she finally returned, we opted for the donuts, which, turned out pretty well.

Mandy would not return for another 15 or so minutes to give us the check.

All in all, food is about 3.5 / 5, service I'd give lower than a 1.

Don't waste your time and if Mandy is your server, ask for...

We showed up towards the end of the evening and we were offered a table near the firepit, which was really nice. When the server arrived she didn't even introduce herself, the only thing she was worried about was, explaining that the gratuity would be included, as we were a table of six. We agreed to this, thinking that the service was going to be decent and it was probably going to be 15-18% (It ended up being 20%). We asked the server about the beers, she didn't even know what they had. We ordered a round, and one of them was flat, you could easily tell it was the end of the keg or the tap had no pressure. When I told the server about it she responded "If you want the same beer, it will probably be the same quality, as it's the same keg". She didn't even took the time to go check at the bar or do a slight effort to find out if something waa wrong, instead she just treated our request like we were a bunch of annoying tourists. In terms of the food: The appetizers were decent, good flavors, tiny portions. The Ramen was way WAY below average. The service was terrible. She didn't try at all to be courteous or welcoming. She knew she would have a 35 dollar tip without even putting an effort, so I guess that explains it. The place and the firepit outside are nice but if I was you, I would definitely choose a different place to eat. Unless you like to be treated like they are doing you a favor and you enjoy very basic ramen noodles. Would not go back to this place, even if...