Hula Grill (Hawaii, US)

Hula Grill

We couldn't decide what to have on our last night in Hawaii, so we decided to go with someplace familiar. We had gone to the Hula Grill in Kaanapali a few years back and we really enjoyed it, so we decided to try out the one at Waikiki for our last eat-out.

Lava Flows and Ice Kona Coffee

The restaurant is located in a hotel, so it wasn't surprising when we arrived that the wait would be close to an hour long. We were given the option of sitting in the lounge area where it was self-seating with the option of the full dinner menu instead of the bar menu. A couple of tables cleared out just as we went in, so we got a table without waiting at all.

Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Fish

We started off by ordering a couple of Lava Flows and an Iced Kona Coffee. The Lava Flows were excellent. They weren't too sweet and they remained chilled and well-blended throughout our dinner. My mom mentioned that the iced coffee didn't taste particularly different than regular iced coffee.

Tandoori Style Fresh Fish

My mom and I both ordered fresh fish, while J ordered a seafood chowder.

Coconut Seafood Chowder

Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Fish - lemon beurre blanc. I ordered this 4 years ago and I was just as happy this time around. I shared most of the rice and almost an entire piece of the fish with H. She really enjoyed it as well, but I think it was more because of the side of Steamed Broccoli that we ordered for her. My only criticism of the dish was that the fish was a little overcooked, probably because it came in 2 small pieces as opposed to a larger single piece.

Tandoori Style Fresh Fish - spicy roasted with cucumber yogurt raita. I had a bite of this and it was delicious. It had a bit of bite to it, and my mom absolutely loved it. She said it was her best meal on the island.

Side of Steamed Broccoli

Coconut Seafood Chowder - lobster, shrimp, scallops, and Hawaiian fish in a coconut cilantro broth. J's chowder was a fantastic feast of flavours. I tried some of it and I was very impressed. The coconut cilantro broth was delicious and was the perfect base for all the seafood that was included. There was rice in the chowder as well to give it some more volume, and everything mixed together was a perfect blend of flavours and textures. The seafood was cooked well and absorbed a lot of the flavour from the broth.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich - vanilla ice cream, macadamia nut brownies, raspberry sauce & whipped cream. The brownie was good and had just the right amount of macadamia nut baked in. It wasn't too hard or too soft and it went well with the ice cream. I thought it could have used just a little more rapsberry sauce, but overall it was very good. Unless you have a sweet tooth and lots of room after dinner, this is a good one for sharing.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich

Service was fairly decent. Our server was quick with our drinks and taking our orders and our food didn't take very long to arrive (maybe 15 minutes). I should mention that the hotel we stayed at provided us with some Waikiki coupons and vouchers, and there was a coupon for Hula Grill that we brought with us. The coupon was for a free Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich dessert when ordering 2 entrees. If used in the afternoon before 6pm, it also included a free salad. Our server read the coupon a few times and then said that it could only be used before 6pm. In the end, we had her check with other staff to confirm, but it was interesting that she had never seen the coupon before. I guess those booklets weren't as common as we thought.

Summary
Food: Very good. The food bordered along Exceptional.

Service: Good.

Setting: Good. There was ocean view from the dining room, but it was dark out so even if we sat there we wouldn't have seen anything. I'm sure it's quite the view during the day.

Value: Good. Very good food combined with moderate to high prices.