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    Waikiki Leia

    4.4 (85 reviews)
    Closed 5:30 pm - 8:30 PM

    Services - Waikiki Leia

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    Small salad with papaya dressing that accompanies the omelette rice dish.
    Darren S.

    Waikīkī Leia is a hidden sanctuary in a residential neighborhood just outside of bustling Waikiki off Monsarrat Ave -- so you don't feel like you're in the crowded cityscape. Small and limited parking in their lot off Kanaina Ave but lots of residential street parking -- just be considerate of the neighbors. They host weddings and private parties in various sections of the venue, so check first before going. Went for brunch and had a relaxing time with friends, and we all had fun with the cheerful and humorous staff who were all bilingual Japanese/English speaking. Definitely recommend this off the beaten track restaurant for a little escape from the stresses of daily life!

    Cora L.

    In Diamond Head, Waikiki Leia is a stunning place to grab a bite to eat! The entrance sets the tone with an arc of flowers and a classic looking white building. The space is well lit and clean. We sat outside and it was a beautiful day. There was a grass area right outside while we ate. The food was good too! We got soufflé pancakes and french toast. Both were quite good. Next time, we'll try a savory dish like pasta. The service was efficient as well. A very pleasant experience. The only difficulty was the parking, as there are limited spots so we had to find street parking and walk. Otherwise, very sweet place that we hope to visit again soon.

    Passion fruit iced tea ($5)
    Takashi H.

    Perfect for feasting with the eyes. Waikiki Leia is my favorite new discovery. I came across this unmarked restaurant while walking in the neighborhood, and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the chapel adjacent to the restaurant. Social media influencers flock to Waikiki Leia for the picture perfect dining experience. Bring your incognito shades if you're shy and want to avoid getting caught in someone's livestream. The menu features Japanese cafe favorites, like omelette rice (オームライス). Each lunch entree comes with the option of the daily soup or salad. Today's soup was corn consumée, leaning on the sweet side for those with a local palette more accustomed to corn chowder. The salad came with a mango dressing, which would be perfect for panna cotta or other dessert dishes. The salad was fresh and crisp. The grilled vegetables and tofu were well prepared and satisfying. Want to know a secret about those picture perfect parfaits? It's Dryer's! Walk-ins are welcome, despite the "reservations only" posts on their website and Instagram. It's best to call ahead to reserve a spot and make sure your table is ready. Reservations may be made in English, but don't be alarmed if your first greeting is in Japanese. Carpool for best results. There's plenty of parking in the private lot in front of the restaurant. With nine stalls, including a handicap access, there's plenty for the size of the restaurant. The neighborhood is full of cars parked on the street, so take a tip from Kaka'ako and avoid overcrowding.

    The back area
    Verna A.

    I have always seen food influencer come to this place and I can see why. It's beautiful and very quiet inside. I love how there is a chapel inside where the restaurant is. My friend and I went for their breakfast and they open at 9am. We were the 2nd customer tomorrow get seated. The inside of the restaurant was very lovely. We sat inside by near the outside patio. There isn't much on the menu for the morning time but we shared the pancakes and the French toast. We were expecting the pancake to be big but it was four small fluffy pancakes and three different sauce to pour on. The taste of the pancakes felt like you were back in Japan! The French toast was HUGE. We were actually expecting it to be small but it did the job done and made both of us full! The price is quite expensive and I would go again for special occasions only. Wonderful experience and a beautiful place to have a meal! :)

    Menu
    Jessica R.

    Absolutely lovely venue but mediocre food :( my friend and I were so excited to try this place and spent most of the time talking about places we could get better versions of what we had ordered here. Great service too.

    Teriyaki chicken sandwich
    My My N.

    Such a cute little place. We came here to celebrate "friendship" over lunch. We sat upstairs with the view of diamond head. I had the teriyaki chicken sandwich. And it was delicious. My friends had the beef stew with two slice of baguette bread and they loved it. Wish there more bread for the beef stew. Very friendly staff and awesome photographer. =) The decor, the chandelier, the ambience, the staircase going up, the little waterfall, the chapel, we wanted to take photos of it all. There's even a toto in the women's restroom. A very nice place to celebrate.

    Tin Shing C.

    Excellent atmosphere, good food, good for small groups and small parties. reservations are requires, limited parking. We had a good time there.

    Entrance to the mansion where the dining service is
    Lori I.

    Threw a small party here in the upstairs room. Ambiance and service are top notch. Food presentation was excellent and delicious and very Japanese-y. Oishii. Highly recommend. Check hours on Instagram, they close the place for weddings. Advance reservations highly suggested.

    Chapel
    Shantell C.

    Wedding chapel and restaurant venue at the foot of Diamond Head. Beautiful venue for a small wedding or intimate brunch. You're also able to reserve up to five on Open Table. Parties greater than 40 are usually seated in the first floor dining room which may extend to the lawn fronting the waterfall. Parking is a hassle as there's limited stalls and street parking. I came as a party of six and was set up in the private room upstairs overlooking the front entrance and chapel. If you're looking for a wedding venue this is an intimate setting with multiple options to have your photos taken. We ordered multiple dishes, the crusted, salmon, with shrimp; soufflé pancakes; roasted ribeye; teriyaki chicken sandwich; seafood, rice, gratin. The baked salmon was a little dry needed to be eaten with the vegetable salsa. Ribeye was tender and delicious. Highly recommended dish would be the seafood rice gratin. Chock full of various seafood with tons of flavor. PS: corkage fee of $10, bring your vino.

    Soufflé pancakes
    Maria P.

    Who would have thought that within this somewhat mixed residential neighborhood there's a beautiful wedding venue turned restaurant that is now open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Such an unexpected, lovely space! During my all day O'ahu foodtrip, we stopped here for brunch (or more accurately... second breakfast.). The parking lot is small, but we managed to score the last spot. Behind the gates you're welcomed with lovely landscaping, the pretty chapel, and an incredibly quaint garden villa all at the foot of Diamond Head. The restaurant is the perfect setting for a garden/tea party and of course, wedding receptions with it's spacious lawn, waterfall, flowers, and gentle breezes flowing through. We made reservations ahead of time and were seated promptly upon arrival. We opted for outdoor seating to take in the sunlight and enjoy the scenery. Their menus are small and serve simple Japanese-style cuisine. For breakfast, you can choose between four different sets and a soup set. Each set includes a drink of your choice. We ordered the Japanese-style thick toast, souffle pancakes, and fluffy and thick french toast (almost the whole menu, really). Everything came out REALLY fast and each dish was just so cute and plated so clean. It really all felt very Japanese and I loved it! Our group of three shared all the dishes and they were all executed very well. My favorite overall was the french toast which was served with ice cream and fresh berries. The souffle pancakes were also tasty with the macadamia nut sauce being my favorite. The thick toast also came with an egg salad spread that was so delicious! The best part is it's very light on the stomach which set us up well for our day of eating. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the meals here. Given the venue, I think it is also reasonably priced. The only down part was that we waited quite a long time to get our check. Guests that arrived after us and finished after us got their check and left before us. Overall though, we had a lovely time and I would highly recommend a stop here.

    Fruits parfait
    Vivian L.

    Waikiki Leia is a wedding venue that now opens as a restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and some times closes on days when a wedding is booked. It is recommended to check their IG on their latest hour of operations. I visited this place for both breakfast and lunch. The setting was calm and beautiful. The area was smaller than I expected but the tables were spread out well from each other. Their menu is quite simple and limited. Soufflé pancakes: It includes sliced berries, whipped cream, and three sauces: macadamia nut sauce, berry sauce, and maple syrup. The pancakes were thick and fluffy. The macadamia nut sauce was my favorite out of the three. The berry one was a little tart. I wished there were more sauces because there wasn't enough of each. Breakfast sandwiches: It includes two different type of sandwiches: bacon, egg, cheese and ham, lettuce, tomato. The bacon, egg, and cheese was my favorite out of the two. The bread was toasted and it has some honey mustard dressing. The ham, lettuce, and tomato was alright but it wasn't anything special. The bread is also not toasted for this one. The breakfast sets includes coffee, tea, or fresh juice. The coffee is free refills. Cream sauce with seafood pasta set: The cream sauce was delicious. The spaghetti noodles were cooked perfectly. There were bite-size seafoods mixed into the pasta. Higawari set: The special for that day was "otona-sama" lunch, which is an adult version of a kids meal. It includes: Japanese beef curry don, a fried shrimp, arabiki sausages, fried chicken, and a side salad. There is also an egg salad dipping sauce. The fried chicken and sausages were bite size. The egg dipping sauce was pretty tasteless. The curry was alright but it wasn't anything special. The beef was very tiny and there were barely any in the curry. Overall, the whole dish was just alright. The saving grace were the fried chicken, the shrimp, and the salad. I would prefer the pasta over this dish. Also for this special, the price is actually $26 instead of $24 and we not really sure why. Fruits parfait: The fruits parfait was delicious. It consist of mainly vanilla ice cream with blackberry/blueberry purée (note: the fruits may change depending on the day). There wasn't any crunchy texture, such as corn flakes, in the parfait to scoop with the ice cream, but the cone acts as a substitute. The lunch sets includes a soup or a salad, focaccia bread, and a drink. For drinks you can choose from coffee, hot tea, iced tea, or juice. The coffee has free refills, but the iced tea charged for refills. The focaccia bread is also refillable for free. Overall, a very nice experience for breakfast/lunch. The service was friendly. We do prefer lunch over breakfast since lunch has a bigger portion and is more savory than breakfast. We also love Japanese-style pastas and their pasta reminded us of Japan. Their Higawari special may be a hit or a miss but definitely worth trying out if interested. We will be back again.

    Mika O.

    Been a few times since they opened as a restaurant during the pandemic. It really is a beautiful hidden gem. I recently went for lunch with a few friends but have also been for breakfast and lunch twice previously. They have a parking lot but if it's full, you can try to find street parking in the neighborhood nearby. The restaurant is located off the main street kind of behind Pioneer Saloon. The first two times I came, I was really impressed. The vibes are immaculate and so aesthetic. It's cute that it is a wedding venue that pivoted during covid to also offer dine in services. Their menus are pretty small but that makes it all the more easier to choose! The first time I came, they had pasta lunch sets that came with your choice of pasta, salad, and a drink for under $20. Most recently, they had a revamped menu with completely different offerings - omurice, beef stew, seafood doria, katsu sando, etc. The menu sounded good so we were excited to go. We got there a little late and they had a wedding that day so we sat upstairs and felt like it was a bit rushed since they had to prepare for the event. I wish they had told us when making the reservation that day. Also, the menu prices have definitely gone up - each dish is around $18 without any soup/salad/drink. If you'd like to have soup or salad, it becomes $22 and $24 for both. Drinks are all ala carte now. I know food prices have been going up drastically at many places, but I wish that they could still keep a set menu for an affordable price. I ordered the beef stew and my friends got the omurice and katsu sando. All dishes were quite small portions in my opinion. My dish was served in a little bowl with three slices of bread. It was okay, but I felt like I've had better beef stew. The meat was really tender but I didn't like how watery the base was and it may have gone better with some rice. My friends dishes looked yummy but also small - the sando comes with 3 pieces and the omurice is also quite small especially for $18. I'm hoping they will add new menu items or bring back their pastas! I really liked those. Although the food wasn't as good this time around, we still had a good time and will be back for breakfast (the souffle pancakes were sold out when we got there). PRO TIP: Come early or stay a bit after your meal to snap some pics before you leave!

    Entrance from parking lot
    cel m.

    3/16/24 - Made reservations for breakfast over the phone. She informed me that breakfast is 9-11 so I made it at 10 & she also added that we would need to be done by 11. But I wish she informed me that the whole menu isn't accessible til 11. So we only had 4 items to choose from. But nonetheless my husband and I still enjoyed ourselves and we'll definitely come back to try the rest of the menu. Parking is small gets full fast and then you'll have to find street parking. Luckily someone just left and we were able to park inside. Entrance is beautiful with a cute little chapel. Then when you enter the restaurant area it's also beautiful. There's 2 stories. We didn't see the 2nd floor. They sat us on the first floor with a great view of their water fall & diamond head view in the background. Food - like I said earlier there was only 4 entrees to choose from. We decided on Soufflé pancakes & Avocado toast with prosciutto & corn potage. Soufflé pancakes 5/5 so fluffy & delicious. It came with 3 small pancakes & 3 little cute cups of syrups: Maple, Coconut & raspberry I think. Also came with sliced strawberries & blueberries, a little stingy with the fruit lol. Avocado toast w/ prosciutto 3/5 we added an onsen egg which we felt definitely completed the dish. Although it was an additional $4 for it it was ok, nothing special about. Could've done with more prosciutto. Corn potage (Japanese corn soup) 3/5 tasty but small. Maybe some crackers or small bread or croutons would've made it complete. Definitely gonna make reservations to come back for lunch.

    Omurice, salmon, seafood gratin

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    Ask the Community - Waikiki Leia

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    Review Highlights - Waikiki Leia

    It's located near Diamond Head, a street away from Monsarrat, on corner of Kaunaoa Stree and Kanaina Ave.

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    Haiku Gardens Weddings

    (165 reviews)

    Sorry for the late post. I was waiting for pictures so I can provide you all with visuals hehe…read more Anyways. We got married at Haiku Gardens on 9/3/2025. Amazing individuals involved: We worked with Tamara, Morgan, and Kat. Tamara ended up being on maternity leave (CONGRATS TO HER!!) and we worked mostly with Morgan as she helped continued getting us ready and settled for the big day. We met Kat on rehearsal day and she helped us and the wedding crew know what to do and what will happen on the big day. And Kat was there with Morgan the day of to help run the show. Most of our communication was from emails. No texting. And phone appointments. Heads up: a wedding happens almost everyday here at Haiku Gardens so getting an immediate reply via emails and phone calls are not always guaranteed. So ADVICE - set those phone appointments! VERY HELPFUL to do! Haiku Gardens have many different wedding packages to choose from. They will layout the pricing for you of each package. My husband and I did an "a la carte" instead. Tamara and Morgan were on task and organized with the pricing of everything and anything added or subtracted. As far as vendors go, we definitely let them choose which ones to use (I believe the vendors they use are ones they mostly use in their wedding ceremonies) and all vendors were GREAT! We had no issues with them at all. I had to ask Morgan a few times who were the vendors so I can look them up online on my free time and follow them on IG and FB. Our reception was at Haleiwa Jose's which is up the little hill and very close by. They provide a golf cart to pick up and drop off guests and wedding crew from the ceremony site to the reception site. Tamara and Morgan showed pricing of menu choices. We chose the buffet option and added a roasted pig station. Per our guests, they loved everything and said all food choices were delicious! Nothing was dry or too salty. PERFECT! They even enjoyed the bar. Reception Space used was great. Just seeing the amazing trees, mountains, sky...was a perfect view. We had a small group - 53 guests - but Haiku Gardens can definitely have more than 100. Haiku Gardens....sigh...the scenery...BEAUTIFUL and PEACEFUL. With of course a couple sounds from the roosters, which we didn't mind. We're Filipino and we get that in the Philippines so we're used to it hehe. It was hot that day. LOL. During the ceremony, all of us were sweating. Good thing, our wedding favors were fans for the guests to use. But even though it was hot, everyone enjoyed and the Aloha spirit was definitely present. The floral decor was just how I wanted it. They turned out so beautifully. Wedding decor, which were from me, were arranged as asked. Morgan even let me borrow a couple of easels for the reception :) Haiku Garden's ceremonies are "DAY weddings," so just know you have the venue with reception (at Haleiwa Joe's) from 10am-2:30pm. Which was fine. My husband and I were looking for something not too long or during most of the day (we already got married at a city hall in San Francisco a year ago). It was definitely convenient for us. DJ and Emcee were perfect. We really loved our Emcee. She definitely helped reception activities go by within time range without the rush or push of getting things done. The only thing that did not happen (which we assumed because of time) is our money dance. L'Amour Photography & Video - They are amazing! Just having them on our special day was fun and they helped eased any nerves. Still waiting for the rest of the photos, but the videos they captured - wonderful! All in all, we are glad we found Haiku Gardens and Tamara and Morgan. Everything went smoothly before and during the big day. I did not feel stressed as I expected to be hehe. Views were amazing especially if you are not wanting a beach wedding. Our guests cannot stop talking about the ceremony and the food! And my husband and I love reliving and remembering the small details that happened on our big day. Mahalo Haiku Gardens for everything!!

    We had our wedding ceremony and reception here with 140 people. We could not have chosen a better…read morevenue. You cannot beat these views. They are full service venue, they offer a lot of services booked by them which makes planning easier. I booked the solo guitarist thru the venue for the ceremony I don't know his name but he did an amazing job! I got the bride suite to get ready and definitely recommend, it's comfy and has AC. I booked my hair and makeup with the venue her name was Emily, she was EXCELLENT. My hair and makeup stayed put all day! The staff there was great, Kat and Kim were our coordinators that day. I booked the DJ thru the venue it was Bliss DJs, the DJ was Kembo and he was so friggging amazing. I did my cakes thru Sam's Club and my mom just put flowers on them. I recommend doing this if you're on a budget, the wedding cake and sheet cake were like $45 each. My mom did the wedding arch and ceremony chair flowers. We ordered pupus, buffet lunch and added the roast pig. The food was good, the pig was delicious. The best entreee on our menu was the sweet sour chicken.

    Waikiki Leia - weddingchappels - Updated May 2026

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