Stopped by on a warm day for some lunch! Extremely fast service -- started off with the Pork…read moreNachos, which were extremely flavorful. The mojitos were also amazing for the heat. The kalbi short rib and the menchi-katsu burger were absolutely divine! Nice spot, good ambiance, and awesome service. A must when visiting this side of town.

Rum aficionados don't get your hopes up. The Rum Shack…read moreoffers four of their own rums and a fairly decent, but not stellar, selection of rums from other countries around the world. There are a few Hawaiian rums that we like, but the Kuleana rums fall short. They are heavy on alcohol and light on flavor. My husband tried their darkest rum, which is a very light yellow in the glass, very alcohol forward and lacking depth of flavor. I had an unmemorable cocktail. It seemed as though the bartenders were not all that well versed in their own rums or mixology in general. As for the food, we ordered the pork and watercress gyoza and the crab rangoon. Both were lacking flavor and substance...not made better by the lackluster, flavorless dipping sauces. To be honest...I've had better from the grocery store freezer section. The restaurant itself is pleasant enough with a nice bar and the ability to accommodate larger parties. We ended up hopping across the street to have some great cocktails and appetizers and Roys.

We dined as walk in's for an impromptu date night and were pleasantly surprised! Valet parking is…read morevalidated. This is an open air restaurant and at first I was hesitant because of maybe having to deal with flies but we didn't run into any issues. There was live music playing. We ordered the farmer's plate of veggies to accompany the muhammara dip (which came with 4 pieces of wood fired bread). It was flavorful, fresh, and light. My husband ordered the skirt steak and I ordered the ahi steak. We also ordered the frozen fruit punch twice. This was plenty of food for us so we skipped on dessert. Everything turned out delicious to us and we quite enjoyed our evening.

One of the best dining experiences we had during our 3-week trip through Hawaii!…read more I had been looking for Mediterranean food through our stays in Oahu and Maui, but wasn't able to find any til we landed here on Big Island. We went during sunset and it was sooooo beautiful. We ordered: * the 3 dips - loved their muhammara!! Plus the bread is so squishy and soft it absorbs the flavors of the dips so well * burrata salad - very refreshing and well seasoned. I believe it's peach or melon served with it, a very nice touch * grilled octopus - loved the tomato(?) sauce it was served with, and the way they grilled was perfection. Reminded me of the octopus I'd have in Kerekennah, a small island off the coast of Tunisia. Fresh & well seasoned. * Cacio e pepe + chicken: really appreciated how they noticed my husband and I were sharing everything, so they had split the pasta into two bowls. Deliciously made, with it had a bit more sauce tho and that the chicken wasnt so dry. * inside out smores: YUMMY. loved the combo of the graham cracker ice cream with the roasted marshmallow and chocolate sauce + inside the marshmelllw too. In all we spent $190 for 2 people including tax and tip (no drinks). Sure a bit on the pricier side, but we had been spending $90-110 for very average or not even good meals across Hawaii anyways, so didn't seem too bad. Parking is free! Valet only, but give your ticket when you get the check to get a 3-hour validation stamp.

A hidden gem. I don't leave many yelp reviews but this experience was so memorial I felt the need…read moreto. Our waiter Warren was amazing. He was so attentive (he saw we were having a moment holding hands together and instead of interrupting us, he came back later to allow us time to enjoy and finish that special moment) and he gave personalized food recommendations that were on point. He was so kind and warm and made the dinner more of a thoughtful, intimate experience. The manager Chris came out to greet us during the dinner as well to make sure everything was going great which was a nice touch. The ribeye steak was out of this world. So juicy and flavorful and cooked to perfection in a red wine sauce. The salmon fettuccini was amazing as well. We sat on the back patio and the view of the golf course in the background was beautiful. We will definitely be coming back here!

Stylish spot with elevated steakhouse vibes near the golf course. Lots of the menu items were…read morepretty darn good. Some highlights include the seared ahi starter, which came bathing in a delicious creamy sauce. The sauce was novel and a nice spin on an already delicious dish. The ono was also done nicely. I have to dock them a little on their steak. With steakhouse pricing, they weren't able to produce a solid steakhouse crust on the ribeye. Without a crust, the cut ended up a little floppy and watery. The desserts were also a little off. The sauce on the passion fruit cheesesteak was amazing, but the texture of the cheesecake itself wasn't great. Their mint ice cream was also a little freezer burned. Overall you can have a good time here, but I think the pricing puts the restaurant into the elite league, and I don't think they're quite ready to play there.

Was kind of my go to place to go to while my boyfriend was out golfing…read more Fun bar and grill, everyone there, from the staff to the other patrons are super friendly. Drinks were well balanced and the food was great, I highly recommend the Korean mix plate, it comes with this super crispy chicken and hefty servings of mac and rice.

I have to say the fish tacos were very good but all the prices were above acceptable...example $26…read morefor a hamburger, etc. Restaurant wasn't fancy and the outdoor patio seating was a bit undesirable. For the prices they charge it could be spruced up a bit. Service was good. No complaints here. Just wouldn't rate higher based on prices and setting.

We arrived late in Christmas night, so were happy that they were open. They didn't have any vegan…read moreoptions except a dinner salad, which was ample. With it, I had a vegetarian sort of baked cheesy dip (artichoke?) served with tortilla chips which was actually very tasty. We shared a dulce de leche lava cake with ice cream and caramel which was very yummy. The service was good. Their prices were a bit high but not too bad for a resort restaurant. This is the cheapest restaurant at this resort.

I wish they serve food but only beer and appetizers. Service is ok. They have nightly live music…read morewhich is not good. I had the kalua pork lumpia which was salty but good. My husband had the fish tacos which were good. The mango salsa is divine!

lava lava doesn't have lava cake! the food was great though…read more ps. my son wrote this.

Great food! I wish they had more vegetarian friendly options, but whatever they had, was really…read moregood. We got the Club med plate and then LLBC w the impossible patty. Both tasted great. We also had their sweet potato fries which was one of the best I've had in the island. Andrea was our host and was very sweet and responsive. Loved the ambiance and it was a memorable dinner for us.

I haven't done a review in a while but I felt like one was due for this restaurant…read more I just want to say we have been to a lot of restaurants on the big island and some multiple times including the newly opened marlin bar. Consistency was key here and everything was on point. Service was excellent, food came out quick and hot, fresh and delicious. The prices were reasonable especially for the quality of food. We went to napua for the 2nd time and it was not as good. They raised their prices again so 62 for a plate of fish (mahi mahi with rice and green beans) and it was dry and lacking in flavor. Just for 3 of us it came to almost 200.00 you just pay for the ambience at that restaurant. We went to lava lava beach club and the prices went up and the food was terrible. Again your paying for the ambience their but there the pork was fatty, fish sandwich tasted like canned tuna and the pork sandwich idk it tasted like the smell of throw up. Ceviche was horrible and paid 30 dollars for a tiny tostada with some shrimp and fish that was super super fishy. This was the best place so far besides pono Hawaiian deli (poke spot best poke ever!!) or getting your own fish at the farmers market in Waimea I wanted to add this to highlight this particular restaurant. We ate here 4 times (3 dining and once to go) and all the times it was so good. We got the island waygu burger it was cooked perfect and seasoned well, we ordered the coconut shrimp this was delicious, we ordered fish and chips (lightly breaded not overly oily or fried it was light airy and crispy), we ordered the corn dip and this was surprisingly refreshing with their homemade chips, order the hot chicken sandwich and wow this was lightly panko breaded and it was not overly hot and spicy everything paired well with it, also got the regular waygu burger and it was again cooked perfect and exploded with flavor. Finally tonight came back on our last night and I ordered the kona kampachi, wow wow wow it was cooked to perfection (finally a restaurant that can cook fish correctly and not over cook it) the miso butter worked perfectly and the portion was huge!! And only for 36 dollars like com on. My wife got the mahi mahi fish tacos and that was delicious with the lime cream sauce. All the nights we went there never broke 100 dollars and that says something in Hawaii and it literally beats every other restaurant so far for the price, ambience and quality of food. Consistency was key please if you're reading this owner or chef of this restaurant please stay this consistent!! Thank you!!

One of the few places on Big Island that my family and I kept returning to! This restaurant is a…read morereal treat, between the drinks and the quality of the food I'd highly recommend making the stop to eat here! For starters, there's no reservations - walk ins only but we've never waited more than 10 minutes for a table for lunch or dinner. Our first time visiting was for Mother's Day Lunch and it was delightful. We started with the steak flatbread which was soooo delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly and paired with delicious carmelized onions and arugula and the flat bread was a perfectly balanced crunch and doughiness. Then we shared the mahi mahi tacos, honey chicken sandwich, and chopped salad with fillet which were all incredible. Nothing was a miss! Our second time coming back during our vacation was for dinner, which had some new additions to the menu such as the shrimp garlic noodles which were an excellent blend of umami and richness that melts in your mouth.

After a day of eating with a vacation mindset (think: malasadas), my husband and I were looking for…read moresomething a liiittle lighter for dinner one evening. Most of the nearby restaurants close to our hotel were either closing soon or offered heavier meals, so I was happy to come across Aloha Wine Bar online. Despite the name, it has an interesting food menu in addition to their drinks. We were able to walk over from the hotel and were glad to see a few other customers there without it feeling overly busy, so we were able to sit right away. We ordered a few of drinks, some sushi dishes to share that really hit the spot, and a flatbread pizza to round everything out. The bartender (whose name I unfortunately forgot) was super friendly, and it was clear he enjoyed chatting and engaging with the customers. That always adds to the experience :) If I "had to" complain about anything, it would be that the pizza took quite a while to come out compared to the drinks and other food. That being said, it wasn't a dealbreaker and we didn't mind much since we were not in a rush. We were on vacation, after all. Tbh I'm not sure when we will make it back to Big Island or to this particular area, but if/when we do, I would absolutely consider coming back to try more of their food and drinks. We had a really lovely time here.

This is a nice casual wine bar connected to the gourmet island grocery store. They have a full…read moremenu, including pokey pizzas, prime, rib, pork, chop burgers, sushi, and other items. This time we just came for drinks, but we are excited to come back for the pokey bowl bowls

TLDR: Lounge area…read morenear the "lobby" of the Fairmont Orchid resort. Since it overlooks the rest of the resort, it's the perfect place to rest and relax during the day. They start serving Japanese-inspired foods starting 5 pm and they have nightly live music starting around 6 pm. Food was fine, nothing special, but the ambiance was wonderful and the nightly torch lighting + conch shell blowing at sunset happens on this balcony. ------ FOOD: * Smash Burger (4/5): Came with two patties and a slight skirt on the meat. Was a little simple though (i.e. no lettuce or tomatoes, though did come with one deep-fried onion ring and cheese). Fries were pretty good! * Luana Roll (4/5): This is their signature roll and I thought it was good but wasn't anything special. Probably not worth $30. * Double Crunch Roll (4/5): Again, good roll but nothing special and didn't particularly love it. ------ SERVICE: * Fine service, though the waiter took a long time to check in on our table. We weren't in a rush so it wasn't a problem, but it was strange. * Note that their kitchen is not located nearby and so the waiter has to go to a kitchen downstairs before bringing the food up. That means that service can be a little slower at times. ------ ENVIRONMENT / AMBIANCE: * Really nice ambiance. It's a balcony right off the main lobby where you check-in, and there are lots of comfy lounge chairs and small tables to match. The lobby and the lounge are both technically on the 3rd floor of the resort, so you can overlook the rest of the resort including the pool, beach, and ocean. * The live music at night is nice, both if you're dining at the lounge or just returning to the lobby area after a long day out. * There's also an indoor bar area next-door to the lounge with a pool table. The pool accessories are in rough shape (only 1 usable pool stick) but anyone is able to set up the table and begin playing. Despite being here during the holidays, this table was surprisingly available for most of our stay. * Every night there's a traditional Hawaiian ceremony where torches are lit at sunset and someone blows a conch in all directions. The conch blowing happens on this balcony, so if you're seated at the lounge around 5 pm, you'll have great seats of the short ceremony.

The lounge is conveniently towards the center of the resort, close to check in. The staff are…read moredifficult to get ahold of, and service was rather lackluster. We came on a windier day, and the tiki torch kept getting blown out. The one closest to us was gushing out gas without a flame, and left an extremely heavy gas smell. We asked if they could relight it, and the first person said they'd get maintenance over right away. 20 minutes later, and getting lightheaded from the gas, I asked if they could turn it off if they couldn't relight it. The staff started getting defensive which I didn't understand, and told us that we were being unreasonable since the area wouldn't be lit up if there was no torch. I kept explaining to her that the torch was out, so we don't get the light anyways, but she wasn't listening to our concerns. Eventually another staff member came by, immediately understood, and finally turned off the gas for us so we weren't getting smothered by the odor. We ordered two cocktails and a spicy Kanpachi roll. The cocktails were mediocre, and one of them was not what we ordered. My wife asked for a blended cocktail and ended up with a drink on ice. The kanpachi roll was below average, with soggy seaweed and loosely rolled where it was falling apart while eating. I would skip on this lounge if you're looking for a place to eat and maybe even for skip and go elsewhere for drinks. We only tried one sushi roll, but after our experience we didn't intend on ordering anything else.

We happen to be in town for Taco Tuesday. They offered fresh Al pastor, from a spit and a mushroom…read moretaco. I had two Al pastor tacos and they were heaven. The green salsa was a winner. We also ordered the fish tacos, which is always on the menu. They were fresh and delicious.

My first note is this is a restaurant at a resort. So you park at the resort and walk through to…read morethe restaurant on the beach. The beach and resort are beautiful. The resort validates your parking for the restaurant and the valets are exceptional. You place the order for the food at the counter and then sit wherever you want. I did not like that they seemed to expect a tip upfront before you received either service or food, so I didn't leave one. It was not clear where the service came in. The food was overall good. The fish tacos were great, the hamburger was good. The chicken sandwich was a little dry and tough. The setting is beautiful. Food was very pricey.