Eating House 1849 Koloa — Restaurant in Kauai

I’ve visited Hawaii a few times over the years since my first visit in 2002 but never had a chance to visit any of Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurants; I made it a point to check his restaurants during my most recent visit this past Dec/Jan and now understand why there is so much hype associated with his restaurants. I enjoyed the food at Roy’s during my visit to Waikiki so much that I had to pay a visit to Eating House 1849 in Kauai. I didn’t have a car on me so I utilized the hotel shuttle to get to and from the restaurant, which is located in The Shops at Kukui’ula. I have been to many fine dining establishments around the world but have to say that my meal at Eating House is one of the best meals I have ever had!

As a solo traveler in Kauai who spent every day of my trip on the island on long sightseeing tours, I wanted to relax over a hearty meal at Eating House. I grabbed myself a seat at the bar and ordered the “Homegrown” cocktail as per the bartender’s recommendation. I was indecisive between the short ribs and ribeye but opted for the short ribs because I was in the mood for Potatoes Au Gratin. I am not a huge fan of short ribs in general but this dish has set the bar high and the few times I have eaten short ribs since then, I have compared them all to Eating House (all other short ribs pale in comparison!).

I ended up having a rather long and interesting conversation with an older couple who sat next to me at the bar, who were visiting from LA; they were shocked I was in Kauai by myself and were being super protective and babying me the whole time, which I thought was rather sweet of them. They shared the pork and shrimp potstickers that they had ordered (which were also amazing) and bought me another Homegrown cocktail. The couple and I discussed our previous travels to Hawaii and various parts of Europe over the years and we both agreed to disagree on which Hawaiian island is the best (my current favorite is Oahu and theirs is Kauai!).

After paying my bill, I called the hotel concierge to pick me up from the restaurant. While I was quite full at the end of the meal, I made it a point to walk over to Lappert’s (which was close by) hoping to grab myself a cup of their amazing ice cream; having been to Lappert’s in Oahu before, I was looking forward to trying their ice cream in Kauai as it is made in small batches nearby in Hanapepe. The hotel shuttle ended up arriving earlier than anticipated so I didn’t end up getting my ice...

I dined at Eating House 1849 in Koloa last night. It is one of Roy Yamaguchi’s (Roy’s) restaurants. The service, food, and price points for the food were all 5 stars. Our party of 12 would be a challenge to serve at any restaurant, but especially so at a busy one like Eating House. “Poli” Sagucio, the general manager, and Macie Achuara our server made us feel like honored guests.

When we were seated, chilled classes for the prosecco and wine glasses and ice buckets for the white wines arrived immediately. We ordered BBQ Baby Back Ribs (a Roy’s signature dish), Garlic Kauai Shrimp, and the Blue Crab and Sweet Corn Fritter appetizers for the table. The food came out of the kitchen really quickly brought by 3 servers so all the dishes arrived at the same time. All the while Poli was making sure wine glasses were being filled, that our entire order had come out and to see if there was anything else we needed. Something I really appreciated was that Macie gave us clean silverware after each course. None of this dirty silverware on the table stuff at Eating House. Service - 5 stars

I heard a lot of “Mmmmm!” and “oh this is so delicious” from around the table. Everyone was happy. Everyone said the food was excellent. The entree’s were equally amazing. The taste and quality of the ingredients was top notch. We had the Honey Mustard Glazed Beef Short Ribs, Black Angus Ribeye Steak, The Hapa Burger, Misoyaki Butterfish, the Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut, and a Caesar Salad. According to my friends, all tasted excellent and seemed to be made of fresh, good quality ingredients. I had the Butterfish presented on a bed of rice, greens and mushrooms. Delicious. It reminded me of Japanese black cod. Executive Vance Matsumoto did a masterful job preparing our dishes. Thanks Chef. Food quality - 5 stars.

I am from the Bay Area in Northern California. I think people expect Hawaii to be much more expensive that on the mainland. And that is probably true for many parts of the country. However, the prices were in line with Bay Area restaurants for high quality, creative dishes with excellent service. If the service and food was mediocre, I would rate the restaurant lower on value. However excellent food with excellent service and normal price points makes the dining a good value to me.

I highly recommend Eating House 1849 if you...

My wife and I chose 1849 Eating House for the second evening meal of our honeymoon. After looking through their menu online and all of their reviews we decided they were one of our best options. We ordered their calamari for our appetizer and it was delicious. My wife ordered the Kamameshi with chicken, and was pretty satisfied with it. I ordered the “*Open Fire Grilled Black Angus Kalbi Ribeye Steak with Spicy Cherry Tomato Sambal, Sweet Peas & Bacon Fried Rice, Demi-Glace, Butter Sauce” Their most expensive dish. Valued at $50. I originally ordered it ‘medium well’ but caught the waitress before she submitted the order and changed it to ‘medium’ and I wish I wouldn’t have. The waitress politely addressed the order but it must not have made it back to the Executive or Sous chef. The ribeye looked delicious when it arrived, properly and evenly blackened with delicious sauce. The first few bites were properly cooked at medium, but it continued to get more medium rare with every bite. It got to a point where it was so unevenly cooked I stopped eating it. When the waitress came back to package our leftovers (which is very nice) I addressed that the steak was undercooked and she politely took it back to the kitchen. However, between the kitchen and management, there wasn’t much accommodation for a dissatisfied customer. They did take the calamari off of our ticket ($16) but still charged full price for the steak which is the highest priced item on the menu and what would most would assume to be a dish that they are proud of. The calamari wasn’t even a 1/3 of the price. Neither a chef nor manager addressed an undercooked $50 steak. Heavily disappointed with the way they handled our situation. There is bound to be plenty of restaurants here on Kauai that can match the calamari, and have better options for meals. Would be 2 stars if the waiters and waitresses weren’t so polite. No...