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Plantation Gardens Review

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Plantation Gardens

Reservations by

Address: Kiahuna Plantation, 2253 Poipu Rd., Koloa, HI | Map It
Phone: 808/742-2121 | Reserve Online

Price range: $$-$$$
Cuisine: Italian
Location: The South Shore and The West Side

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 2.7/5

Fodor's Review:

A historic plantation manager's home has been converted to a restaurant that serves seafood and kiawe-grilled meats with a Pacific Rim and Italian influence. You'll walk through a tropical setting of torchlighted orchid gardens and lotus-studded koi ponds to a cozy, European-style dining room with cherrywood floors and a veranda. The menu is based on fresh, local foods: fish right off the boat, herbs and produce picked from the plantation's gardens, fruit delivered by neighborhood farmers. The result is Italian cuisine with an island flair—seafood laulau (seafood wrapped in ti leaves and steamed) served with mango chutney—served alongside traditional classics such as rosemary-skewered pork tenderloin and pan-roasted scallops with sticky-rice cakes. Definitely save room for dessert: the warm pineapple upside-down cake is a dream. In short, the food is excellent and the setting charming.

Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Closed: No lunch

Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by kbob88 from San Francisco on 4/24/09
We enjoyed a first rate dinner at Plantation Gardens. The setting is great: an old plantation house (or a copy of one, but not very new copy), with plenty of space, minimalist island/asian decor, and beautiful gardens. Many of the tables are on the lanai. The service was very good; probably better or as good as any we've had in the islands (an admittedly low bar), but not pretentious or snobby. The food (which, contrary to the Fodors' summary, is not Italian at all, but I would call Pacific Rim) is excellent and fresh. Entrees were $21 to $30, expensive, but not outrageous for top-tier Hawaii or mainland big-city restaurants. We had an all-around great experience, and will definitely be going back.

Member Rating: 4.4
Ratings details: Food: 5.0 Atmosphere: 4.0 Service: 4.0 Value: 4.0

Reviewed by ploughman from San Francisco, CA on 1/23/07
On January 15th, 2007, I made an Open Table reservation at Plantation Gardens for that evening at 5.30PM for 4 people. I received the usual email confirmation. A little later that day, I modified the reservation to increase it to 7 people, and received a revised confirmation email.
I then called the restaurant to check that they would have 2 high chairs available. The reservations agent advised me that I did not have a "valid" reservation, and that they would not be able to accommodate my group. She offered no apology. I asked to speak to the manager, who advised me that they had just received a large group booking and would, therefore, not be honoring my reservation. He also did not apologize and, in fact, was downright rude, accusing me of having "snuck in last minute online".
Later that day, I received a cancellation email.
As you can imagine, this was a surprising and unpleasant experience, and one that I felt you should be aware of. Beware!