I was trying to find some place nice for us to eat in Hilo so after a brief amount of research, I booked this place. The restaurant is located right by Hilo Bay and near the Suisan Fish Market (which we still haven’t been to). The restaurant is located up on the second story (all the better to give a better view of the bay) with the area underneath as parking. I think since we had a reservation, we had a table outside on the small deck which gave us a very nice view of the bay. The menu looked to be a mix of Japanese, Hawaiian, and American.
For cocktails, I had the Smoked Dahlia (mezcal, tequila, aperol, cilantro, lilikoi puree, lime juice) and Andrea had the Spicy Sake-tini (vodka, spicy sake, lemon, lychee puree, hawaiian chili pepper, simple syrup). We both really liked my drink. Andrea’s was a bit on the sweet side for our taste, but was still had a nice flavor.
To share, we ordered the Hawaiian Ahi Poke (medium spice), I ordered the Fresh Catch Fish + Chips, and we ordered the Sweet Heat Pickles and and the Ginger-Garlic Sautéed Market Vegetables (Andrea wasn’t very hungry at all and I wasn’t much either, but I have a hollow leg so I keep eating anyway).
The poke was very flavorful with a bit of heat from the Hawaiian chili oil and probably too salty (presumably from the shoyu) for most, but we love salt so we were ok with it. I also liked the addition of the micro greens with the poke and the the purple sweet potato chips were quite striking and delicious.
My fish was made with ono. It’s a bit firmer a fish than what might normally be used, but I really liked it and it had a nice light and crisp batter (panko?) on it. The fries though were kinda dead and flabby and I’m assuming they weren’t freshly made just for my dish, so were disappointing.
For lunch, this was a great option and I’m surprised we never ate here during our previous visits to Hilo, but I’m glad we finally did.
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