The Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant

Outstanding! Delicious food and excellent service. We sat on the patio enjoying fresh air and sipping our various cocktails. Started the meal with a generous and oh so fresh sushi roll and the richly yummy artichoke appetizer. Then to each their own with catch of the day, scallops, chicken and a nice white wine. Definitely a highlight of our stay in Hanalei.

So want to give this 5 stars because the food here was OUTSTANDING! Definitely one of the best restaurants in Kauai hands down! Absolutely worth the drive no matter where you are staying in Kauai, even if you’re as far as Port Allen! I had to knock off a star as biggest downside to our experience is literally having a road runner as our waitress (no exaggeration!). She was NOT attentive at all, couldn’t even give us more than 10 seconds of her time! If we couldn’t give her our order fast enough she should just take off to attend to something else **beep! beep!** until we could spit it out the next time she ran/scooted by our table. Even when we tried to add more to our order she would cut us off not realizing we were trying to add more instead just assumed we were inquiring about our food & would say “it’s coming” & off she goes **beep! beep!**. Wish we had more of an attentive experience to what was phenomenal food. The service was definitely lacking but the food was amazing!

Recommended by a shop owner in the area, I normally would've skipped over this place due to only 4 stars, but after said recommendation & reading into the reviews, we decided to give it a try - and I am SO happy we did! I had, to date, the best sushi roll (The Kamakani) my palate has ever had the pleasure of indulging in (and in a most humble way, I've eaten sushi all over the world). My partner also loved his lobster. Service & ambience were great too. Our one dining experience here says this place deserves otherwise of 4 stars...5 stars.

Outstanding poke bowls! The quality of the fish is top notch. Beautifully nestled along a canal which provides a nice relaxing outdoor environment. Highly recommend giving it a try! Both the rainbow and spicy ahi bowls were delicious.

We visited this place on Christmas eve and we were lucky to find a table without a reservation. For drinks, we ordered lava lava and margarita - drinks were decent, nothing special. For food, we ordered miso soup, poke bowl, specialty roll and steak fries. Food was bland and underwhelming. Our server seemed to prioritize the table next to us, acting as if she knew them, while completely ignoring us, which was frustrating. Overall, we didn’t have a good dinner experience at this place. They have plenty of outdoor and indoor seating with good ocean view!

This was such a delightful meal!! We ate at the sushi lounge and so happy we did. Our server, Alicia, was so great and helpful and made a delicious recommendation. Will definitely be going back before our trip ends

I stopped here for a quick bite as I used it for a reference to get to Hanalei. It had high stars and a fish market attached. I was in the mood for some sushi. When I arrived most people were sitting outside in the outdoor seating. It’s located in a small mirror area as you drive into Hanalei. Its view is of a creek area and people kayaking and paddle boarding along the way. It was not overly busy as per the time of day just got there at the beginning of lunch. I asked my server which roll she recommended. I had the tuna and snow crab. It was fresh and delicious. I would have wanted to try more but did not want to over do it. I would definitely return and try more. I did see the Poke Bowls others where eating. They looked very good as well.

The restaurant left a very disappointing impression. The prices are extremely high, but the quality of the food doesn’t justify them. There was very little fish, the presentation was mediocre, and even chopsticks and soy sauce had to be requested separately. The service was inattentive, and the atmosphere didn’t make up for it. The drinks were decent, but nothing special. Overall – a disappointment, definitely not recommended.