Hukilau Lanai — Restaurant in Kauai

I’m giving 2 stars which is generous if I’m honest. My girlfriend and I walked in and if I should have left there and then really. Front of house had an extremely unwelcoming face when we came in, maybe they were stressed or having a bad day so thought nothing of it.

We then were seated quite far away from anyonelse which was great, so plus marks there. Almost felt like it was just us with the closest table being maybe 15 ft away.

We decided to order a few starters rather than a main given a sizeable lunch we had earlier, this is when things started to do down hill. The ribs tasted very cheap like the ones you get from a Chinese takeaway. I love baby back and short ribs but these tasted substandard is the only way I can describe it. I would have fed this back to the waitress had she asked how the food was, she did not.

We also had the nachos which were to our liking at all with the won tons. They tasted charred, and unappetising. The calamari was lovely however so we do recommend this and this alone from the starters if you do visit.

We also had the Lobster and goat cheese ravioli which was okay, but you will struggle to see any lobster inside the pockets. Once again not good enough for the prices being charged here.

Lastly our waitress took a considerable amount of time to ask for our dessert which wasn’t ideal considering the chocolate lava cake takes 20 minutes to prepare, which we were aware of as this is stated on the menu which was good as expectations were set on the turnaround time anyway. The chocolate lava cake is modest in size and lava also, but did taste nice and satisfy overall I guess.

I must say how this establishment had a 4.7 I find very surprising, given our experience in conjunction with the fact that it was our fast bad meal in Hawai.

My tips for improvement in the future would be the following

Front of house make the first impression to the customer experience, if they can greet customers with a smile and warm welcome it goes a long way.

Waitress needs to be friendly and warm rather than so cold.

Food execution needs to be addressed as a matter of priority. Better of charging an additional $10 on premium dishes, e.g lobster and providing more rather than modest potions where people are let down. The ribs are prime example of this, better of charging more rather than serving sub quality meat where customers leave them...

Hukilau Lanai is known here on the island for great food, great service, great live music and a great value. Every meal that I have had here has been absolutely delicious. The service is always friendly and attentive. The knowledgeable wait staff will gladly give you menu and wine recommendations. The restaurant overlooks the resort's garden and pool with the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Both locals and tourists come here for dinner. I've never met a local that does not highly recommend this place (which means a lot on this island). The portions are generous. Compared to the other fine dining restaurants on Kauai, when you order an entree here, it includes a mixed green salad as part of the meal. The prices are not as expensive as other Kauai resort area restaurant prices for what is being served.

Hukilau tries to use as much fresh local Kauai ingredients as possible. You cannot go wrong with any of these signature Hukilau choices: Starters - Poke Nachos, Sweet Potato Ravioli, Wally Salad, Lobster Curry Bisque, or BBQ ribs, Entrees - Fresh Fish of the day (a nice, thick filet), Prime Rib (the locals love this!), or Hukilau Mixed Grill (fresh catch of the day and prawns). The one and only dessert that I have had here is the delicious "to die for" Mac Nut (buttery) tart with house made cinnamon ice cream.

3/3/2018 Update: Tried the Early Bird 5 Course Tasting Menu (between 5:00 pm - 5:45 pm only) Well worth the price- $32 (w/o alcohol). Favorite was the Black Sesame Spaghetti with Crispy Taro Ball. It came with a very creamy gingery sauce. The Island Gazpacho surprisingly had heat. You can taste the peppers going down. As always, Hukilau Lanai knows how how to grill fish (we had Mahi Mahi) to perfection. Moist, not dry.

Two negatives - On the Kid’s Menu, the grilled fish item was small in terms of fish size (skinny and half of my palm), tiny scoop of garlic mashed potatoes, and a way too spicy fresh corn hash that kids would not eat at all for pricey $14.

And service between courses and at the end of the meal was lacking. We were left alone. Waitress didn’t come back after our order of 5 adults and two kids were taken. Had to flag a busboy for water. Sat 30 mins longer than needed for a leisurely meal to begin with.

Never experienced service like this at place in our previous 2 dining...

This is a great spot if you are wanting to kick it up a notch or 3. Strongly recommend reservations in advance. Food was all delicious and presented beautifully. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable. We were seated next to an open window of the garden area and my wife loved it. Do not fill up before dessert. Typically you wouldn’t at a more upscale place but this place gives a pretty fair portion so watch yourself. I was surprised to see meatloaf on the menu and normally at this type of place I would order steak expecting it to be done correctly but growing up in the Midwest I was curious about their take on the mushroom meatloaf. This has a strong beef flavor to it with a rich beef sauce. Not the tomato type sauce more common in other areas. Perfect with the red mashed potatoes. We also had the chicken and mushroom which was very tender and flavorful. I don’t want to leave out the calamari starter. Perfectly done with that crunchy planko style breading. My wife typically not a calamari fan actually enjoyed the taste and texture quite a bit. Which was too bad for me since she took half😕😂. She upgraded her soup option to the lobster bisque curry. I am not a fan of curry but I tried a bite and the soup had such a rich and creamy flavor that if I was going to eat a curry soup I would prefer this over any others I have tried. I had the Caesar salad and it was fresh and crisp with classic flavor of what you would expect. Finally the dessert. Crème brûlée was done perfectly. Creamy custard flavor with that wonderful caramelized sugar on top. The Hawaiian chocolate factory hot cake is just as advertised and the cocoa % is up there based on the taste so it pairs nicely with the cool vanilla ice cream and whipped cream it comes with. Lastly and I know this may not be your thing but the homemade lemonade is one of the best I...