RumFire Poipu Beach — Restaurant in Kauai

Reposting from my yelp review, why, cuz google shows up first :-)

While visiting Kauai, the wife and I tend to lean towards eating at local places and avoid large hotels or chains. This isn't a weird rule or anything, just something we do, and I am glad we don't adhere to it 100% of t time, because every now and then you need a proper sit-down meal. We were in the mood for something nicer and took the recommendation of a trusted friend who happens to be in the culinary industry and ended up dinning at RumFire.

Our experience at RumFire was just that, an experience. Sometimes going out to eat is just that, eating, nothing more, but at Rumfire, I felt the blend of customer service, good food, ambiance and location/view came together and provided that special something, an experience. We called ahead for reservations, which I would recommend, the restaurant is within the ground of the Sheraton; therefore, you have a good number of people within walking distance to the restaurant, also I just prefer having one, it makes life easier. In regards to food, see below, clearly I copy and pasted from their menu for the ingredients, would hate to misrepresent what I ate.

Starter - Popcorn, nuts and pretzels. These are free and arrive while you're being seated, low cost but highly effective to start your system off with something slightly salty and after spending a day in the sun sweating, a bit of salt is certainly required,

Appetizer - Fried Brussels Sprouts - Portuguese sausage, spiced macadamia nuts, miso vinaigrette. Very well prepared, arrived on a cast iron plate, lots of flavour, a bit of sweet and a bit of savory.

Appetizer - Hawaiian Flatbread - portuguese sausage, pineapple, mozzarella, tomato sauce. I wish we could call these rectangular pizzas, but the culinary world has adopted the term "flatbread." Regardless of the naming, the taste was spot-on, fresh pineapple, pork and cooked perfectly.

Main - Braised Beef Short Ribs & Crab Crusted Catch of the Day. The wife order this dish, I heavily sampled it, the short ribs were packed with flavour, moist and fell apart. I don't recall which fish was crab crusted that day but it was good nonetheless.

Main - Butterfish - rice wine chili glazed, veggie fried rice, sizzling herboil. A fun dish, not as heavy/filling as a steak or salmon, but just the right amount of food and well balanced.

Drinks - There was a MaiTai competition being held that pits local bartenders against one another. I think it was something like $12 for an order that includes two MaiTais and a score card that allows you to cast a vote. These weren't mini/sampler sized drinks either, at least 8 or 10oz each, quite the deal if you ask me. I had two rounds as did the wife, the drinks were tasty and super interesting, you could tell the bartenders were using unique ingredients but still adhering to the flavour profile of a traditional MaiTai.

Dessert - Scotch for the lady, Gin and Tonic for me, we're not dessert eaters.

Service was excellent, attentive, but not overly so. The timing of our main courses was perfect, the wife went to the use the powder room and upon her return, there they were, two delicious mains.

Would I come again? Certainly.

There is only one problem with RumFire, it is in Kauai and I...

Stayed at the Sheraton, Kauai for our 50th wedding anniversary in May, 2015. Hotel was nice, clean and airy and the ocean-front rooms were everything advertised and more. We made reservations at Rum Fire in January when we made our hotel reservations. I tried to confirm through the concierge upon arrival, but alas, no reservations were on file. I walked over to the restaurant and made the reservations in person (five days in advance) for a party of nine for dinner and specifically requested the semi-private table with the window view of the coast. The hostess showed me that it was available and confirmed with me that I had reserved it. When we arrived for our dinner, not only was the table unavailable -- it already was given to another party -- but fifteen minutes after we were seated, the table vacated and dirty dishes remained to mar the view of the oceanfront. After a half hour of trying to find the "complimentary bottle of champagne" offered by the hotel, the waiter finally arrived to take our orders. Another forty-five minutes lapsed before we saw our salads and by that time the two children with us were so hungry, we divided them up so that they would have SOMETHING to eat while waiting for the entrees to arrive. Salads were consumed but the plates were never removed. The children's plates were served an hour and a half after we sat down and the adult entrees never did arrive. After two hours of patiently (and I mean, patiently) waiting for dinner, I made an executive decision to leave, which we did. Discussed the reasons why with the manager upon our exit who gave us no excuses -- but no apologies either. We ended up eating a delightful meal at Keoki's. Not exactly what I had in mind to commemorate our 50th wedding anniversary -- but two hours waiting for food under the worst of circumstances is just simply unacceptable. Customer service was sorely lacking. Wait service was an embarrassment. I wish I could say I enjoyed the food, but I...

We had a middling experience at RumFire. They don’t take reservations except for parties of 4 or more. We turned up and got told it would be an hour. Turned out to be less, so great. Seated quickly in what appeared to be a nice area.

The food was a solid four star experience. The problem was RumFire’s atmosphere is upscale and they show it (soup is poured in your bowl at the table like a fine restaurant would, but having the motions of a fine restaurant does not make you a fine restaurant). We soon lost our waitress. We had water refilled and drinks poured once. At a fine restaurant that should be constant.

It turns out you should avoid the booths that face the Sheraton’s beach area like the plague. The restaurant temperature was fine but the A/C is unbalanced so you end up with sub 68 degree air blown on you (the restaurant was 72-68 but our area was much colder than that). Our entire party was cold. I don’t usually move this but the last half of my prime rib was cold and the last 3rd just wasn’t nice (the fat started to set again).

Get to desert and my chocolate tort was served in a moat of molten sorbet because it was either the wrong temperature from the kitchen or it has been left somewhere waiting for service.

I noticed the head chef had time to greet other guests but clearly not the time to pay attention to the wait service provided his kitchen or his restaurants atmosphere spoiling the experience of his food.

We finally after wait a long while had our waitress return with the bill. I am used to asking for the bill not being asked if this would be Room charge, cash or card at a fine restaurant. I presume this was because she thought it had taken too long but she also thought it was a good idea to joke about the presentation of desert. At this point I had given up on RumFire.

Save yourselves from being let down. Go to Lava’s at the Sheraton when they are open. The food is standard there but at least the staff is friendly and the...