Hualani's - Lihue

We had a family dinner where we shared several dishes to experience the variety of fish on the menu, and we ended our meal with the A5 Wagyu steak. The chef definitely excels at cooking both fish and steak to perfection. We'll be coming back with friends next week. Our favorite was the Arctic sea bass—it was buttery, moist, and flaky. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the fish.

I took off a star (and honestly considered taking off another) because of the loud, poor-quality music playing in the background. Why is it necessary to have such noise when the restaurant is already busy, has a beautiful view, and serves reasonably good food? Many people find music distracting. When I'm trying to enjoy a meal, I prefer to have a conversation in a calm atmosphere, not be bombarded by loud noise. If I want music, I'll go to a concert; when I eat, I just want a pleasant conversation. It's cheesy and totally unnecessary.

The most incredible restaurant in Kauai! Chef Alex consistently impresses with his farm-to-table approach.

This place is AMAZING for dinner. We were in Hawaii for 5 nights and after having dinner here on our 2nd night, we quickly made a reservation for the last night. Highly recommend making a reservation before sunset as the views are stunning. It is not a cheap meal but if you have one sludge dinner, this is definitely the spot to try. The quality of the ingredients sets it apart from other restaurants we tried. We got the dumplings both times we came. They are an absolute must. We also got the ribs both times. All the meat was tender and flavorful. The honey appetizer was also delicious. I am not usually a big fan of goat cheese but it is not too powerful in flavor. We got the cheesecake for dessert the first time and it is light, flavorful, and absolutely delicious. We got the banana lumpia the second time. It was good but we preferred the cheesecake.

We have been to this restaurant a few times now while we are in Lihue and we have had a favorable experience. Unfortunately this time around started a bit off. We had a reservation at 5 pm and arrived 10 minutes early. The bar was full so we sat in front of the bar on a couch. The server took about ten minutes to take our drink request, only after my husband asked the bartender what was the delay and said they were really busy. Shortly after that he brought us menus. The drinks were finally ordered and then we begin to see other patrons being seated, My husband had to get up and remind the hostess, they both came by just at the same time our drinks were being served and of course we were seated at the worst possible table! How does that happen when you show up before everyone else did and early. Our server Matt was great and out dinner was as well! My issue was that it appeared to me that because we are not owners, they didn't seem too concerned about our dining experience. I say this because the manager Riley Gary visited other selected guests and ignored everyone else. I'm not sure why he was walking around, it seemed so odd. Unfortunately I'm giving 3 stars because the experience was so odd.