NICKS FISHMARKET — Restaurant in Maui

The food is pretty good, the location is a beautiful resort with a ground level view. The service is fake - it's the most misguided corporate, experience you could possibly train. It's like you asked AI how to create a good customer experience at a restaurant, except ChatGPT or Claude would do a better job of understanding how a human would want to be treated.

We were given a table in the back of the restaurant that we didn't love. We asked to move and they let us slide over to a table on the patio. This was great!

The hosts don't give you a menu. They walk you to your table and you sit with a glass of water in front of you but no menu. This is different, but not necessarily bad... Unless your server doesn't come over for 10 minutes. I love my wife, she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I want to have a great conversation with her at dinner, but that won't happen when we're confused why we don't have menus.

The server finally appeared & gave us menus & an iPad that was the cocktail/wine list. We spend our work day on screens. The last thing I want to do is to look at a screen when I'm trying to have a nice meal out. There's no way to quickly glance at all the selections and then make a choice. You have to tap through the different pages to be able to make an educated decision and the experience is awful.

So, after 10 minutes of confusion, we were trying navigate an iPad where the wines and cocktails and beers were on different pages. My wife wanted wine, I wanted a cocktail. We spent more time trying to figure out our drinks because of the terrible UI on the iPad than we would have if we had printed menus.

We placed our drink and appetizer order and the server took our menus and put them at our feet. We were confused because we hadn't ordered dinner, so we asked for them back. He apologized and said he wanted room for appetizers. I've never had a server take my menu before I finished ordering. This didn't make sense.

My wife ordered the Brut Rose. It was flat. Our server was awesome about getting a new glass. This happens - sometimes the sparkling is out a bit long. Not a big deal - they were great about this!

Every person that approached our table addressed my wife and I as "We" and "us". How are "we" doing tonight? Is there anything I can get for "us"? It makes NO sense. The server isn't sitting at the table eating with my wife and I. I'm not waiting on other guests.

This is not an attack on our actual server - he was kind and he was working hard. It's just clear that the entire staff has been trained to talk to humans like they're robots.

You can't make any experience better by faking intimacy. A sales person can't get me to buy something by using my name 4x in a call. Have you ever walked into a party and said "HOW ARE WE TONIGHT?!" No, you greet your friends by taking a genuine interest in how they are and reading the room.

The entire experience was so obviously unnatural and so fake that it felt offensive. The fact that this restaurant is in the Fairmont Kea Lani, which has been the most authentic/genuine hospitality experience we've ever had, blows my mind. Nick's is a third party, if I was Fairmont I wouldn't renew the lease. It's THAT bad.

The food was good. The Kahlua Pork in the potstickers was great! The sauce was too sweet, but it says caramelized on the menu, so that's on me. Should've read closely.

Caesar salad = awesome! Well dressed, loved the roasted garlic clove to rub on the salad. This was our favorite dish!

My wife's fish was good.

I appreciated that they let me change the sides on the Filet Mignon. The steak was cooked as I ordered and had great flavor.

We finished our meal & the server told us "The chef will be happy about your full bellies". I'm sorry, there are at least 40 tables here, the chef doesn't care.

We asked the server for a recommendation for a place to go out after and he suggested a spot owned by the same restaurant group. 99% sure he's been trained to do so.

The corporate overlords seem to have forgotten that their guests are people....

Unfortunately nicks was not a pleasant dining experience at all. It took 12 minutes for a server to come at our table after being seated to offer us menus to order. Things kept going downhill, once our server came back we ordered a nice bottle of wine and before we had a chance to order appetizer our server literally ran away. When a bus boy came around to give us water I asked for bottled water amd wa told they ran out ? We flagged imiur server down and were able to place am appetizers order . Those came after 15mins , on a Catt on wheels which felt very cheap and not 5 star dining experience at all.playes were put on the table without even describing what each plate was and our server ran away again before we could place order for maik course. Apps were tasty so that's a positive. 10mins later our server came around and we were able to place main course order also. Those arrived again on a plastic roll our cart on wheels and just placed on our table from some young kids working there but not our server , nor describing what each dish was or had on it. When our final check came we noticed a $6 kitchen surcharge. When I asked our server he told us that was 'a small amount they charge that they pass on to the kitchen cooks to keep them motivated when place is busy'. First time I see that ever in a restaurant in Hawaii or anywhere else for that matter and we had dinner at 4 seasons last 3 nights btw. At $65 a plate I would assume cooks should be able to be paid enough so as not to charge customers a surcharge. Our bill was $420 so a $6 charge is nothing , but it's more the principle and also the level of service provided. I would highly recommend the hotel , we spent 5 days at a 2 bedroom villa and everything was amazing, but dining at this restaurant for sure left us with a sour taste and I would not recommend for dinner. Food was not bad , but it wasnt memorable either. .go to Ferraros next door at 4 seasons , way better!!! Food we had oysters. Very good 4.5 stars. tuna sashimi . Fresh , excellent , good portion. 5 stars octopus. Needed to be cooked more so it would be less chewy amd grilled more sonits crispy on outside .. sauce and gnocchi, tomatoes thst it came with were very good ..3.5 stars Mahi macadamia. Very good 4 stars monchoog plate . Good , could have been cooked a tad less so not be as dry. 4 stars kids grilled chicken plate. Good portion , cooked correctly, crispy...

Nick’s Fishmarket used to be one of my faves, but…

ATMOSPHERE: It looks pretty much the same since we’ve first dined here. Still open-air with covered lanai seating overlooking the pool.

MENU: I wish they change that horrible font they use on the menu. It’s very cheap-looking and contradicts the menu’s delightful selections - a stronghold of American dishes but now with less of a Hawaiian aspect.

FOOD: Seafood Chowder Served warm but not searing hot, the white chowder was creamy and seasoned well, with a fair amount of protein and topped with a mini crab cake.

Fresh Island Catch Picatta The fish was monchong, cooked nicely but with disproportionate seasoning as parts of the filet had no flavor. What looked like risotto was actually farrotto, a wheat that looks and tastes similar to the former, but wasn’t seasoned at all, akin to eating plain rice. The capers and sauce gave the dish some life but it was very disappointing and bland for $69.

DESSERT: New York Style Cheesecake Drizzled with strawberry sauce and topped with fresh strawberries, the medium-density cake was good but a tad overly sweet for me.

SERVICE: Host service was good.

Entrees came out while we were still finishing up the appetizers which drives me crazy. Where’s the timing?

The male server was very shy with no personality and seemed either inexperienced or anxious to leave work. When he presented himself, he just stood at the table’s side without any verbal communication. Peppering our dishes got maybe 3/4 of a twist from the grinder, not till we said “when”. He checked on us just once near the end of our entrees, not soon after they were presented. Bill drop off was accompanied by him muttering “check”? No “thank you” or even “have a pleasant evening”. Nothing. It felt like pay and get the hell out.

OVERALL: A fall from grace. Substandard service with a downward...