Eating in Hawaii
 

We are going to Hawaii in June and staying in Kona, Kauai-Lihue, and Maui-Kahului. Looking for restaurant recommendations. We LOVE fresh seafood. Looking for places we HAVE to try. Suggestions?

If you can, on the Big Island, drive up north to Hawi and eat at Bamboo. Very fun, kitschy, nice friendly staff, good food, including fish. Try it with their coconut sauce, which is delicious.

Fine dining is scarce. Try Holuakoa which is up on the mountain from Kona in Holualoa. But only for lunch. Dinners are horribly understaffed, and they tend to heavily over-sauce their entrees.

We like Kenichi Pacific, which is an upscale Japanese place. They have good sushi. Try their dynamite shrimp as an appetizer. Their tempura is good. But it's not a cheap place!!

Avoid Jameson's like the plague, if it has reopened.

Try huggo's on the Rocks for lunch or dinner. It's casual and good and medium priced. Do not go to the main Huggo's which is only open for dinner. It's overpriced and the food is indifferent and the service is lousy.

A second vote for Kenichi Pacific on the Kona side of the big Island. Also in Kona, we found Jackie Reys Ohana Grill to be delicious-
http://www.jackiereys.com/

R5

Hawaii is a fresh seafood lovers paradise, so there are many options. Are those the cities you are staying in? Kona, Kauai-Lihue, and Maui-Kahului? Or just the airports you are flying into?

This is just a general response.

You can sort the restaurants by location or cuisine.

http://hawaiidiner.com/directory/index.php?island=3

http://www.restauranteur.com/hi/bigisland/specsvcs.htm

Last response was for Island of Hawaii.

Maui:

http://www.hawaiidiner.com/directory/index.php?island=2

http://www.restauranteur.com/hi/maui/

http://www.mauihawaii.org/restaurants.htm

http://www.mauiinformationguide.com/restaurants.php

Kauai:

http://www.hawaiidiner.com/directory/index.php?island=4

http://www.restauranteur.com/hi/kauai/

http://www.kauaimenu.com/

I would second Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi on the Big Island.
Fun place with really good food.

If you want to splurge on the Big Island, we loved the fancier restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort.

On the Big Island, besides Bamboo in Hawi, we have enjoyed Sushi Rock--small place, exquisite and unusual sushi rolls and sashimi, fresh local wasabi! http://sushirockrestaurant.net/

In south Kona, Mi's Italian Bistro is great. http://www.misitalianbistro.com/ The location is less than inspiring but the food is wonderful. When we ate there in March, the chef/owner came out and told us about their specials and helped us choose wine.

Ke'ei Cafe also in south Kona is good for lunch or dinner--they usually have 2 locally caught fresh fish specials which can be prepared in several ways--plus steak, chicken, pork-etc. (They only take cash).

If you are driving down Napoopoo Road to Kealakekua Bay, Kalama's (just after you pass the coffee mill) has wonderful very fresh fish sandwiches and I love their kim chee burger.

On the Big Island...Four Seasons breakfast buffet, pricey but good and the setting is awesome. For a great lunch, burgers at Annie's south of Kona. Roy's has restaurants on all of the islands. Last January I had the Misoyaki Butterfish at Roy's Waikoloa and it was excellent. Roy's usually does fish very nicely but the restaurant can get extremely noisy. Merriman's in Waimea also prepares a number of seafood dishes that are quite good. Fish at Pau Pizza, also in Waimea, very nice, had it on top of a salad for lunch.

Maui:

Have to eat at Mama's Fish House. Great and they even put the name of the fisherman who caught the fish.

Great causal spot in Paia is Paia Fish Market.

Thank you all for your great suggestions. Frank S - We are staying at the Outtrigger on Kona, Grand Hyatt on kaui, and the Fairmount Kea Lani in Maui.

Just returned from a week in Kona. We dined out several times, but mostly cooked our own in the house we rented. But here are a few comments.
Jamison's is still closed.

Huggo's main restaurant is very nice, and I disagree a bit with charnees above. We found the service to be very attentive. The food, we thought, was very good. And the setting can't be beat, IMO. You are right on the water, with excellent sunset views. Yes, pricey compared to other seaside restaurants along the Kona water front, but also a step up in quality.

There are a number of restaurants along Ali'i Drive, south of King Kamehameha Hotel. Most are active, noisy, and crowded. they have dining on the second floor, looking out over Ali'i Drive to sunsets and the Kona harbor. Many are sports bar oriented, with several TV's going.
We ate at the following, and my comments are to be taken in relation to the group.
Splashers - just ok, not the best view.
Humpy's - Pretty good. wait staff good, but kitchen service is spotty. Food very good. Good views.
Rosa's Cantina - pretty good, not great, Mexican food, good variety. Good view, wait staff attentive.
Fish Hopper - had breakfast there - kitchen screwed up order, but when it finally came, was excellent eggs benedict. Ground floor, good view. Waitstaff sometimes hard to find.

We didn't seek out "fine dining," cause we wanted the views. Also, didn't want to go far. Yeah, just lazy. Hey, "hang loose." Remember where you are.

On Maui, I love Bistro Casanova:
http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/blogs...stro-casanova/

and Star Noodle:
http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/eating/starnoodle/

Here's a round up of eats from my last trip in January, with links to others from that trip:
http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/blogs...-up-maui-eats/

Yeah, I know, I eat a lot.

What a great wealth of information found on this topic. I can't wait to read all of the links. *bookmarking for our trip* :)

Yay for this information! We'll be in Kona this Friday and all I can think about is fresh pineapple and fish. I'm sure I'm going to need more than that eventually.
We'll definitely need one dinner out at a nicer restaurant but mostly we'll probably cook at the condo. Looking forward to the farmers markets and sushi joints.

How about a waterfront lunch spot?

martym: a kimchee burger? I think you need to describe that a bit more. I love kimchee!

They mix the chopped up kim chee into the ground beef. You really can't taste the kim chee but it makes the burger incredibly juicy. We uaually call ahead 808-328-2828 and order it to go since it takes about 25 minutes to make.

pdx, Huggo's on the Rocks is our favorite waterfront lunch spot. It is right on the water. The waves lap at the wall surrounding the outdoor space where it is located. The food is good, much better than those upstairs places mentioned by someone else. Not cheap, but just moderate pricing.

BTW, even the waiter we know from Huggo's on the Rocks thinks the evening meals at the main Huggo's are indifferent. Of course, he won't tell everyone that, but he's a friend of ours.

You are staying at the Outrigger, so if you drive south about half a mile to where Ali'i Drive ends, go up the hill and into the shopping center, your will find Kenichi Pacific. Avoid Drysdale's, even though it has big open windows and looks like fun. DH said the food there was miserable. No flavor at all.