Fodor's Expert Review Hoku's

Everything about this room speaks of quality and sophistication: the wall of windows with their beach views, the avant-garde cutlery and dinnerware, the solicitous staff, and the carefully constructed Euro-Pacific cuisine. The menu constantly changes, but you can count on chef Wayne Hirabayashi to use fresh, local ingredients (including herbs from the hotel's on-site herb garden) in his innovative dishes that include braised short-rib tempura, salt-crusted rack of lamb with basil pesto, and butter-poached lobster with passion-fruit jus. It's an excellent and popular choice for special occasions or for Sunday brunch. The dress code is collared shirts and slacks for men, elegant aloha for women (i.e., no beachwear).