Cafe Portofino - Lihue

I was really disappointed with my experience. We were a party of 6 with an 8pm reservation. The wall is full of awards that we read when we were waiting so we were thinking it was worth the wait. We were seated at 8.25pm as they were a little short staffed. Our appetizer came and we still didn't have cutlery to eat them for another 5 minutes. I ordered the fresh fish of the day on the waitresses recommendation. It was very bland and had little taste. When the waitresses asked my opinion I nicely told her and she said she would let the chef know but charged the full price which was double the other entrées. The vegetables were over cooked the potatoes were practically mush. Overall a very disappointing experience.

The view is fantastic but, that is the only thing good about the place in our very recent experience. We should have known better and canceled our reservation when the person greeting us and checking us in was so rude. It was totally unexpected and unwarranted. We had gone there because escargot was listed on the menu and that was the next disappointment. None. We ordered the calamari fritti which was greasy and tasted of over used oil. We were not very hungry so we ordered the spaghetti with meatballs to share. There were two (so they were not kidding, it was plural) but, they were very firm and dry, not the least bit interesting. The pasta was al dente. The marinara sauce was not even as good as Ragu. It tasted like they had used a can of crushed tomatoes and added a bit of garlic to it, essentially flavorless. Olive Garden is better. Our server must have been new since we had to ask for bread which was less than stellar. The balsamic vinegar was nice. We also had to ask for Parmesan cheese. Nothing was was offered spontaneously. I think the San Pellegrino sparking water was authentic but for all I know they may have made it on site, given all the other disappointments. All this is okay but, it was the single most expensive spaghetti and meatballs we have ever had, coming in at over $50. Sour taste. We gave the server the benefit of the doubt and gave her a 15% tip. All in all it was the worst meal on Kauai and our last as we boarded the plane after that. We both had indigestion to round out our flight. I would give them no stars were that possible.

My husband and I made reservations for our anniversary. We were seated right away but it was all downhill from there. We waited 25 minutes for a server to take any kind of order. We then waited an hour and a half for our dinner to be served. We had both ordered rare steaks, but what we were served were shoe leather. Although they removed the meals off of our bill and comp'd me a margarita, I think it would have been more appropriate for the restaurant to take care of our bill completely. Very disappointed and left very hungry.

Don't waste your time, or money. I have never spent so much for so little. Service was horrible, bar didn't know what a Southern Comfort Old Fashion was. Waiter brought out something not even close to an Old Fashion. We ordered Antipasto for an appetizer, we got a huge plate with two slices of tomatoes, two slices of cheese, some salami, one thin slice of prosciutto, and something we still don't know what it was, plus no plates to eat off of. Their website said that had a dress code, dress slacks and shirt. We showed up long dress slacks and Hawaiian silk shirt, wife had long dress and high heels....only to see half the people being seated had shorts on and tee shirts. Main entree came out ...Ravioli about 8 of them in cream sauce nothing exceptional, waiter asked if I wanted another drink, I just said no. The owners boyfriend was playing the harp so loud I couldn't hear my wife talking to me. He should have been playing in the back room instead of the main dining area. It was our anniversary and we wanted something special. Everyone in there was having the same problem, I've never seen so many people turning around to see were their waiter was. We will never be back. No stars

However, there were some drawbacks. The cocktails were quite weak; for example, the lemon drop tasted more like lemonade with just a hint of vodka, the dirty martini was predominantly olive juice, and the mai tai was overly watery. Additionally, when we ordered multiple dishes to be served together, they didn’t arrive at the same time. One of the more puzzling issues was the red wine being served chilled. We were informed that it was done to prevent it from being too warm, though the next glass was served at room temperature. Overall, while there were some positive aspects, there were also areas that could definitely be improved.