Hawaii :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Hawaii

Eating Hawaii – Macaroni Grill

Apr29

Restaurant: Macaroni Grill

Location: 201 Waikoloa Beach Dr #1010, Waikoloa Village, HI 96738. (808) 443-5515

Date: April 6, 2019

Cuisine: Italian American

Rating: Corporate

This write up is from our five day early April 2019 visit to the Big Island of Hawaii.

On our way back home we wanted a quick place, not in the hotel, and Italian, so this was about all we could find.

It’s in a mall near the Hilton, right next to where I rented my road bike a couple days before.

Very corporate style interior — like many mid market chains, but not typical of the type of restaurant I go to in LA (at all).

The menu is generic Italian American, a bit like Olive Garden.

Rosa’s Signature Caesar. Romaine, romano, creamy caesar dressing, rustic croutons. Looks pretty generic.

Bibb + Bleu. Bibb leaves, gorgonzola, walnuts, crispy prosciutto, crispy onions, pickled red onions, buttermilk ranch. This was okay though. I would have preferred bleu cheese dressing, but it was still decent.

Spicy Ricotta Meatballs. House-made beef, veal, pork + ricotta meatballs. Caramelized onions, red chili, arrabbiata. Exactly what you’d expect looking at them — but tasty enough.

Grilled Salmon. Grilled salmon filet, Calabrian honey pepper glaze, spinach sun-dried tomato orzo. Sauce was on the side but it looks a tad boring.

Osso Bucco. Tender braised beef, Italian brown onion gravy. This really was gravy. Not by any means my favorite osso bucco.

Vanilla Ice Cream. Extremely freezer burned. Had clearly melted completely and been refrozen and then half melted again. If I had gelato like this I would have tossed it in the garbage.

Macaroni was about what I expected. It’s not really too bad for this sort of Olive Garden – esque kind of place. Probably even a little up market. It’s not good Italian though.

For more Hawaii dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Big Island, Hawaii, Italian cuisine, Macaroni Grill

Eating Hawaii – Orchid Court

Apr26

Restaurant: The Orchid Court

Location: 1 N Kaniku Dr, Waimea, HI 96743. (808) 887-7368

Date: April 4, 2019

Cuisine: Vaguely Japanese

Rating: Uninspired

This write up is from our five day early April 2019 visit to the Big Island of Hawaii.

Night 3 brings us to another restaurant at our hotel, Orchid Court. It’s typical for resort hotels to have a bunch of restaurants at different levels and this is the “second tier”.

The menu. This one is vaguely Japanese and is very small. Mostly a bunch of basic basic sushi/sashimi and and rolls. Then a grill section (with sides) like a tiny steakhouse.

Mai Tai. Good.

Wasabi bread.

Kaiso Salad. Seaweed, tomato, maui onion, babu arare, citrus.

As I’ve been low carb, ordered pretty much all the sashimi. Very expensive per piece. This was like $30 of sashimi and is very dull, only the most basic types. No “treatment” like at most LA places. Just a chunk of fish. Quality was solid though.

Kurobuta Pork Chop and Hamakua Mushrooms in scallion butter. This is also expensive, at $35 + $8. The mushrooms were good. The pork chop just fine.

Some chocolate ice cream.

The atmosphere at Orchid Court (which is the breakfast restaurant) is okay, but the menu is way to limited, and just “fine.” They really could use something much more creative.

For more Hawaii dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Big Island, Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii, Japanese cuisine, Orchid Court, Sashimi

Eating Hawaii – KPC

Apr24

Restaurant: Kamuela Provision Company

Location: 69-425 Waikoloa Beach Dr, Waikoloa Village, HI 96738. (808) 886-1234

Date: April 3, 2019

Cuisine: Hawaiian American

Rating: Solid, great view

Our third night in Hawaii we headed over to the Hilton to check out KPC (Kamuela Provision Company).

This place is huge!

So huge, they even have a train on the grounds!

Following it along.

We get to the crazy pool complex and the floating oceanside restaurant of…

KPC (aka Kamuela Provision Company).

The menu.

This is one big and ugly fish!

Terrible view, too! And our son had wanted to sit inside!

Bread.

Mai Tai.

Frozen strawberry drink — no sugar here.

Caesar salad with avocado. hirabara farms baby romaine, garlic patis aioli, taro sticks, hamakua medley tomato, avocado, grana padana.

Seafood tower for 2 — all for me! Pretty typical (except for poke) and pretty good. I always like good raw bar. Keahole Lobster, Tiger Prawns, Ahi Poke, Pacific Oysters, King Crab.

Plain cheesy pasta for the boy.

Miso Marinated Seabass. waimea sweet corn, ali’i oyster mushrooms, yuzu carrot puree, broccolini.

Ginger Monchong. cilantro, carrot, green onion, kabayaki, peanut oil, sushi rice cake.

A giant serving of cookies and cream ice cream.

This place was solid for a Hawaiian resort hotel restaurant. I’m never that impressed by food in Hawaii. Service was good. Location was great. Prices were hotel prices. Execution was good but not great. So good for what it was, but not exactly break through cuisine or really on point.

For more Hawaii dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Big Island, Hawaii, Hilton, Kona, KPC, Seafood, Tropical Drinks

Eating Hawaii – Brown’s Beach House

Apr22

Restaurant: Brown’s Beach House Restaurant

Location: 1 N Kaniku Dr, Waimea, HI 96743. (808) 887-7368

Date: April 2 & 5, 2019

Cuisine: International American

Rating: Good hotel food

This write up is from our five day early April 2019 visit to the Big Island of Hawaii.

Brown’s Beach House is the “top” restaurant at the Fairmont Orchid. “Top” in the sense that they have a bunch of more casual places and the 1-2 more serious ones.

It’s located down by the beach, with outside dining and a great view of the water and sunset.

The menu.

Breads I couldn’t eat (doing low carb).

Mai Tai (breaking the low carb). Very nice classic Mai Tai though.

Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho. Pickled Waimea strawberry, cucumber, garden basil.

Miso Sake Clams. Clams, pork belly, miso sake broth, shimeji mushroom, green onion. Very nice appetizer of clams and “bacon”. Good slightly Thai, slightly Japanese flavors (lemongrass, maybe?).

Ahi Caesar Salad. organic gem lettuce, parmesan reggiano, bubu arare. My wife didn’t like the salad so deconstructed like this.

Kekela Farms Beet Salad. Goat cheese fritter, candied mac nuts, citrus herb vinaigrette.

Plain pasta for the boy.

Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Prawns. Maui onion, Waimea tomatoes, crostini (asked to leave it off). Shrimp were nice gambas pil pil style shrimp, just not that many of them.

King Crab crusted Kampachi. Hamakua mushroom, asparagus, sweet potato, poha berry sauce. A touch dry, but not bad.

Big Island Ka’u Coffee Venison. Carrot puree, honey mac nut tuile, tamarind sauce. Rich deep meat, but properly rare.

Chocolate chip cookie chocolate ice cream “sandwich.”

Shortbread cookies.

Matcha shortbread cookies.

The atmosphere at Brown’s is great, although it certainly screams hotel (as does everything on the Big Island’s resorty west coast). Service was good. I give them some credit for using local and Hawaiian ingredients in the food. And the menu design is good. Execution is good but not amazing or anything. Not bad or sloppy, but doesn’t feel like a perfectly on point kitchen either.

For more Hawaii dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Big Island, Brown's Beach House, Hawaii, Vacation

Hawaiian Noodle Bar

Jan30

Restaurant: Hamura Saimin

Location: 2956 Kress St. Lihue, HI 96766. (808) 245-3271

Date: January 20, 2013

Cuisine: Hawaiian Noodles

Rating: Tasty Noodles

Saimin is a noodle soup dish unique to Hawaii. Inspired by Japanese udon, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit, saimin was developed during Hawaii’s plantation era. It is a soup dish of soft wheat egg noodles served in hot dashi garnished with green onions. Kamaboko, char siu, sliced Spam, linguiça, and nori may be added, among other additions.

Hamura Saimin is a true hole-in-the-wall joint, but that’s traditional of Asian noodle restaurants.

The menu is focused. They basically make one thing (Saimin) with a few sides.

There was an enormous line out the door and customers pack into the greasy counters for a quick slurp.

Here’s my bowl, the “wonton Saimin” which appeared to be fairly “deluxe.” We have wontons, ham, pork, scallions, and of course, noodles and broth. It was pretty darn tasty, more related to Ramen (as served in Japan) than to udon with it’s thicker noodles. Excellent noodle bowl though. I certainly enjoyed it.