The Plantation House by Gaylords — Restaurant in Kauai

The one restaurant that my 96 year old mother in-law wanted to go to on our trip to Kauai for my daughter’s wedding. She had been there years ago on a previous visit to the island and I had also visited while we videotaped a travel feature about Gaylord’s for the Travel Channel in the late 90’s. There is certainly a history of excellence associated with this restaurant and one would assume that they would be working hard to preserve that. Unfortunately it seems things have changed. Maybe a change in ownership or management is the culprit but the only thing that has remained constant is the physical location and presence of the historic plantation house. An incredibly beautiful place with ceilings lined with wood beams, hard wood floors and an amazing porch and gazebo looking out on the immaculately maintained landscape.Not to mention the main outdoor dining area surrounding the courtyard. Now to explain the 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ star review. The only reservation time that was available upon booking was at 7:30 PM. We arrived a little after 7 and notified the hostess that we were early. We were told that we wouldn’t be seated until the reservation time by the fairly aloof hostess. While I walked around the house I saw 2 other tables set for parties of 8. I had to assume that we’d be seated at one of them. Those tables were given to other large parties that may have had reservations but arrived after us. Cut to the chase…we weren’t seated until 7:50 PM at clearly the least desirable spot in the restaurant. A table cobbled together just adjacent to the waiting area. The staff still rushing to remake the table. Once seated our server Lilo who appeared to be the only server working that evening eventually made his presence known. He tried his best to make friends with us but most 96 year old people don’t have time to get jerked around. He took our drink orders and disappeared. Then without any notice an appetizer of fried Brie landed on our table. We were about to send it back because we hadn’t ordered it when the manager arrived explaining he sent the free appetizer because of the delay in seating us. They clearly knew we weren’t happy. Tasty treat regardless. By the time we were served our entrees at 8:40 pm a table of 4 that was seated at 7:30 had finished their meal and were leaving the restaurant. Making a 96 year old woman wait until 8:40 to eat her dinner was not what we had planned. Then to add insult to injury her Manchong was ridiculously over cooked. My short ribs were tasty and I heard the shrimp entree as well. I guess that the kitchen had issues timing out the different meals. We decided to end the meal after the entrees given the fact the rest of the restaurant was almost empty and we felt like the staff wanted to go home. The 2% up charge for using credit card was a little much. Hopefully the owner or management will take notice of some of these reviews I read including mine and potentially make a few changes to bring back the legacy of Gaylord’s to the level of excellence...

UPDATE: This is an update to our last trip which was Oct 2022. We just went again in May 2024 & it is still Always a 5 Star experience ... every single time. We love this place. Our favorite bartender, Bree, still works there and remembered us when we showed up. She ran over and gave us a big hug. Such ALOHA!! She is a beauty and we adore her. Plus, she makes the best MaiTai on the island. I promise. Also, another delicious dinner. Our server was a fun lady who lives on the east side of the island and she was great. She made our dinner wonderful. You must go here if you are in Kauai and want a true island experience.

We love this restaurant & make it a point to visit at least once on every Kauai vacation. As usual, it did not disappoint. We go for dinner (get reservations) but this trip we hit their Happy Hour a few times. Fantastic. We made friends with the darling bartender, Bree. (ladies, be prepared ... she is a natural beauty but also really nice -- but your hubby may not be able to stop looking at her!!) By far, she makes the best Mai Tai we have ever had & my husband loved the fancy jalapeño Margarita. They make their simple syrup from the sugar cane & we watched them do that process. You taste the freshness. Plus, I'm sure they use the local Koala Rum & it is very good. We had the happy hour quesadilla & their burger. I would say both are good for lunch ... but, do yourself a favor ... have the drink there during Happy Hour then have dinner at the restaurant. Their dinners are fabulous. Plus, if you are there on the right night they will have someone do a hula dance & there is live Hawaiian music. The restaurant is inside an old but wonderful plantation house. Go....just go. I can't imagine you would be disappointed ! The food is really good. I had one of the fresh fish dishes and it was tasty, fresh -- fantastic. My hubby gets the filet and I had a bite ... so tender. The veggies with it were also so fresh. We ordered one of their salads & split it -- they use fresh lettuce from the island. Wow ... so good. Again, go ! Make a reservation and go! (P.S. there was also a nice girl who is a nurse, Anastasia, who works in the bar part-time ... she was really kind and served us a couple of times.). I hope the management reads this and recognizes Bree, Anastasia and Cyrus. Cyrus was in his first week -- what a sweet kid. Tell him to keep working & stay out of trouble...

We chose the "Manor House Experience" which consisted of pre-set menu served at the Plantation House, followed by being escorted to watch the Kalamaku Luau right next door. As many had raved about the food at the Plantation House, we had our hopes up for an evening of delicious cuisine...

Before dinner, we had some time to meander around the property and did some shopping upstairs in the house where there were multiple small artisans selling their crafts and artwork.

For the dinner, we were seated outside on the patio which hosted a nice, quiet ambience. For each course, we had two items to select from. I chose jumbo shrimp appetizer, island caprese salad, main entree of Island fresh catch fish with Kahlua, and profiteroles to finish. The main entree was rather disappointing; dry and over-salted fish served next to rather flavorless Kahlua pork (I had better pork at L&L which is saying a lot!!). The best course was the caprese salad, as ironic as that is as there is nothing "Hawaiian" about mozzarella or balsamic dressing.

After dinner, we were escorted to watch the Kalamaku Luau and were seated right in the front of the stage. The show itself was well done with a creative storyline and a great cast of talented singers, dancers, and firedancers. Our package also came with open bar.

I've lived in Hawaii for a short term, in addition to numerous vacation trips to all of their islands. We've been to variety of luaus ranging from small intimate ones with deliciously curated selection of food which were served table-side, to large touristy luaus where buses full of tourists were brought in to dine on lack luster food produced in massive quantities and served buffet style. I had high hopes for the luau dinner here at the Plantation House given its reputation, but unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps their regular restaurant serves far better food with better creativity, so we shall return to give that a chance. But, I would pass on the extra cost of paying for the "Manor House Experience" and just go enjoy the regular...