Kona Steak and Seafood — Restaurant in Monterey

OH MY GOD! I was in town for five days for a Realtor convention and I ate here for four meals and brought a large group of my fellow Realtors with me one of the nights. That's how amazing this place is. I only wish that I could rate this higher than 5 stars.

The food had incredible flavor, the desserts were out of this world and the shaved ice WITH ICE CREAM INSIDE was unbelievable! I cannot speak highly enough about this place.

On my final trip, the table next to me had an accident where one of the plates fell and the waitress impressed me with how professional and on top of it she was.

So where do I start. On the first visit I was there for lunch. The waitress was incredible. I had the fried rice plate with chicken. It was fantastic. My second visit was that night with a group of six. I must have updated that reservation ten times as people confirmed and schedules changed (including that day at lunch) and the staff was very understanding and happy to work with me. I had the fillet, easily one of the best I've EVER had... and I've been to some incredible steak houses across America and Europe. The Bernaise sauce had a special seasoning on it that really made it pop. Some of our group got seafood, others got the fried rice entree, all were very thankful that I invited them as they loved the food. One of our group got (and thankfully shared) the creme brulee in the pineapple for dessert which was amazing. The rest of us had shaved ices which were incredible. The kiddie size was enough for us and the $1 for adding the ice cream inside was more than worth it! One of our group needed gluten free vegetarian options and there were SO MANY OPTIONS for her to choose from, she was very happy.

My third trip was for another fillet. This time I started with the honey buns and had the Hula Pie for dessert. WOW! Just wow. You need to get this.

My fourth and final trip was on the way out of town for another shaved ice, this time with Macadamia Nut ice cream inside. If lightning had struck me after that, I would have died a VERY happy man!

They also have a...

Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead at a shopping mall, much less go there to eat, but I won a raffle prize of a gift card for a breast cancer charity. So, here we go: I got the macadamia nut encrusted halibut. Normally I prefer savory seasonings with my protein, but this is island style, meaning sugar. Mango salsa. It was well prepared and the presentation was good. The vegetables were al dente. I like that, but if you like your veggies more well done, this is not your place. The cocktails are creative and good. If you want to try something you've never had, you can probably find something here that you will like. The mixologist makes many of his ingredients by hand. The flavor combinations are unique. The prices are moderate to somewhat expensive. Overall, a decent value, but you can probably do better. The ambience is fine, but I wouldn't choose this for a hot date. Again, with a little effort, you could probably do better. UPDATE: I had less than $10 on my gift card, so I decided to simply cash it in, instead of having it kick around in my car indefinitely. The hostess told me it could only be redeemed for food or drinks. I politely informed her that CA state law required her to refund in cash the card value if it was less than $10. She got kind of huffy and didn't want to do it, but I remained calm and reiterated that it was state law. (Google ca gift card law). She reluctantly refunded my $9, but pointedly didn't give me the $0.28 balance. I didn't want to quibble. But it was mind-boggling how petty and passive-aggressive she was over a trivial amount of money. Needless to say, I won't...

We showed up for our reservation and were seated at a very large booth for just 2 people. It seemed a bit excessive and not well thought out for seating efficiently to fit more reservations as the booth was big enough for 5 people. Service was amazing right off the bat and for ordering and receiving food quickly. However, it seemed to be much slower toward the end of our meal when I was trying to wait for our server to bring the check and a box for our food. Finally, there is some confusion with their shaved ice stand and payment. We went up to stand and they had a card machine or accepted cash to pay for shaved ice separately which I did, but then when I got our dinner check they also had put it as a charge on the bill. I wonder how many parties got double charged 🤔 if they didn't look at itemized check before signing. They happily removed the charge, but still that shouldn't be something diners need to worry about. The food was amazing and good portions. The cornbread was the only item we ordered that my daughter and I were kind of disappointed about. It was a little dry and bland even with the spicy butter. Also, when our food was brought out I feel like the server should have pointed out what sauce was what on the popu platter that had 3 different sauces for the items. Otherwise, Bill Lee has once again opened a great new restaurant and as always has his signature dry ice dessert for special occasions like birthdays. My daughter wants to go back for...