Andy F.
Yelp
For my mom (same as her dad/my grandpa), she loves going to nice places with nice views, a nice, clean environment, excellent service that enhances the occasion, and for an amazing experience. The food isn't that important.
Well, for her birthday, I couldn't think of a better place than to take her to Kahala Hotel and Resort to dine at the Plumeria Beach House. It's located on the right side of the lobby. You'll need to take the stairs down. But there's an elevator past the stairs at the end of the walkway. There's no sign and it's somewhat hidden from view, but it's there...
For my mom, Kahala Hotel is probably the marquee hotel, especially when it's where every US President stays in when visiting Oahu (pre-Obama), and any establishment within the hotel should provide the top notch service, quality food, clean environment, nice views, and memorable experience.
Plumeria Beach House did have the nice views and environment with decent food. The service was not bad, but it was very basic, not very attentive, and just didn't make it feel like a special occasion. I noted it was my mom's birthday when I made the reservation. NO ONE mentioned it. Even without any mention of a special occasion, my meals at every other high-end restaurants or in high-end hotels always had excellent service.
The menu is simple with a nice variety of proteins. We started with the Hamachi Roll. This was ok. Hamachi was decent thickness. Inside just had cucumber and avocado. The roll was very poorly wrapped though. It was loose and fell apart easily. This felt like something from a chain sushi place. No refinement, nothing that elevated this sushi roll. And no, the wasabi indented took look like a leaf isn't enough.
The Caesar Salad was traditional. Fresh baby romaine, shaved Parmesan, crunchy croutons, and anchovy dressing. This was good. Nicely dressed and seasoned, and fresh, crisp lettuce. Where's my table side pepper mill service? lol. Too much? Hey, I could've asked for table side freshly shaved Parmesan!
The Gratin of Big Island Abalone was less than ideal. The culprit that ruined this dish that should've been rich, delectable, and satisfying was the watery clump of bland, boiled spinach. I personally do not understand why spinach was used, why it had zero taste, and why there was so much of it. To compensate the small piece of abalone? Put a mushroom underneath or zucchini, or just something else that not watered down. Abalone was nice and tender, but the blandness was disappointing. I shouldn't be needing to use the leftover butter spread from the complimentary bread (which was good. Soft inside with a nice crust. Like a mini ciabatta) to make it better.
Next was Broiled Misoyaki Butterfish. $39 is paying for it. A regular size piece that was pan fried well, flaky, and seasoned well. It sat on top of steamed baby bok choy and hamakua mushrooms. The accompanying pickled ginger beurre bland sauce was on the bland and buttery side. I couldn't taste the pickled ginger if it had any. It did not go well with the rich butterfish. If the sauce was more tangy to cut into the richness. Oh, and the rice was on the dry side. Not enough water. Kinda disappointing poorly preparing "premium" short grain rice.
The North Shore Ludovico Farms Half Roasted Chicken seems to be all name (and no game? I don't know the saying if there is one!). This was on the dry and bland side. The meat wasn't as tender as I'd imagine, even the wing was difficult to eat. Skin wasn't crispy and underseasoned. But the taste of the chicken was clean. The accompanying mashed potatoes and gravy were delicious, and the green beans were fresh, crunchy, and well seasoned.
Lastly was the Plumeria Beach House Pork Tonkatsu. $36, and no extra wording for the pork. This was probably the best dish of the evening. The pork was tender and well seasoned. Breaded and deep fried well. The tonkatsu sauce was flavorful and tart. The accompanying miso soup, however, was unacceptably SUPER, SUPER salty and incredibly strong. I just had one sip, and that was it, and my tastebuds favor salty. It was inexcusably bad. The regular white rice was too dry as well.
Overall, it was an unexpectedly subpar meal and experience. Yes, environment and views were good, but the food was lackluster and poorly prepared. The service was very basic and not very attentive. I do expect a higher level of service and experience and more refinement on the food for a restaurant located in a five star resort hotel. Arancino gets it. What's going on here? Don't feel it's worth it for the higher prices.