Waikiki Restaurants-We Love Them, But ...

You're on vacation in beautiful Waikiki and you want to go out for a romantic dinner overlooking the ocean. You walk around a bit and find a place with a great view and nice ambiance. You go in expecting a nice meal only to be disappointed with bad service and mediocre food. Unfortunately, this has happened to us quite a few times. Sometimes we find a place with good food but the staff and service are so bad we don't go back. What's going on and how do you find the good restaurants in Waikiki?

Like many other tourist destinations, it seems some restaurants in Waikiki take advantage of the customers who are only in town for vacation. Since these tourists probably won't become regular customers, the restaurants don't put the energy into quality food and service. And just because a place is expensive does not mean it's going to be any better than a cheaper one. For some places, you basically pay for the view and that's all you're going to get.

This is a frustrating situation but not hopeless. There are terrific restaurants in Honolulu and Waikiki and here's how to find them. Check guide books and online reviews like those at www.tripadvisor.com. Get recommendations from your friends and the hotel concierge. Often the hotel concierge will have sample menus from area restaurants you can look at. Also talk to other hotel staff or even shop clerks. These people are locals and can point you in the right direction. They can tell you about the good places and also the restaurants to avoid. (Keep in mind that sometimes the concierge and taxi drivers receive commissions and discounts from the places they recommend so try to ask around.)

Well known hotels usually have nice restaurants, bars and cafes. We've found some amazing restaurants that we will go back to again and again and two of our favorites are Musashi in the Hyatt and Sansei in the Marriott. Both the Hyatt and the Marriott are international hotels with reputations for quality and they work hard to earn and keep that reputation. You may never come back to their Waikiki locations but chances are, you will have the opportunity to visit another location in the future so they want to keep you happy.

It's a shame that some of the restaurants in Waikiki are less than stellar but you will find others that are simply amazing. You can see our favorites at www.honolulu-insider.com. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Aloha and Bon Appetit!


About the Author

www.honolulu-insider.com is an online guide with useful information for anyone visiting or relocating to Honolulu and Waikiki.

Author: Lori Downes

One Response

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