bonniebroad

very highly recommended by many people, then look at each other and say, "What is all this fuss and money about??????" For us, it was *Hailemaile General Store* on Maui, in the upcountry. Not that it's bad, it's just okay.......... but not worth the prices you pay! And I don't mind at all paying for good food! Others may disagree with me on HGS, but that's my experience, also my sister's. Did you visit a famous restaurant in Hawaii that you didn't overwhelm you?

Oh, one more! The Golden Dragon at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. A by-marriage Chinese relative blows the GD away, in comparison. But the place is GORGEOUS!

fdecarlo

We had such an experience on our last trip to the BI, at the Kona Inn. We've been going there for the last 15 years and have never been disappointed in the food or service, but this last time we ordered ribs and they were utterly inedible -- all fat and bone with no trace of meat to be found. It was the first time in 15 years we ever complained to a restaurant manager and told him we had no intention of paying for the food that was served to us. He was very apologetic and explained their regular source for ribs was unavailable, so they had gone to Costco(!) to get their supply. He allowed us to reorder off the menu (he even reopened his kitchen to accomodate us) so in the end we left very satisfied. But still, you'd think a restaurant of Kona Inn's caliber would simply take an item off their menu if their regular source was unavailable, instead of charging customers $24 for Costco ribs.

bonniebroad

Fdecarlo, you know what is *funny* to me about your story? About a month ago, I bought ribs from Costco, here in central N.C., and when I started to cook them, they were *off.* I had to take them back to the store!!! Maybe Costco's source for ribs is just not a good one........ their filet mignons are out of this world though! I agree with you that you would think a restaurant of that caliber would just take the ribs off the menu!

Patty

I had much the same reaction as you did after having dinner at Haliimaile General Store. I thought it was the least impressive (in terms of food) of the places we tried. I also wasn't blown away by Mama's Fish House but did have a GREAT poke appetizer there.

logandog

My family had lunch at the Hailemaile Gen. Store last month and it was great. I had seen their sashimi napolean on Food Network and had to try it. Fantastic!

curiousgeo

For me it was Alan Wong's restaurant. After reading the glowing reviews and people telling us how fantastic it was, how we had to go, my wife and I were both underwhelmed.

The decor is fine and we knew about the location so that didn't bother us a bit. Service was competent as well.

The food was just ok with us considering the prices. The signature kalua pig appetizer didn't appeal to us, both my venison chops and my wifes crusted fish weren't bad, dessert was ok. We just thought, this is one of Hawaii's premier restaurants? Guess we didn't get it. But as the OP stated, others may disagree.