Honolulu is a great destination, but also we love it because Waikiki is such a convenient place to stay for a few days on our yearly trip to Maui, or on our way to Asia. With the best prime rib we’ve had in our lives (Hy’s steakhouse), and one of the classiest bartenders (Wayne at Lewers Lounge), Waikiki is worth a visit.
Interested in Hawaii? See our full Maui Guide here.
Don’t know what to pack? Here’s Jess’s Packing List.
Top Restaurants
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 8.5/10 Food: 8/10 Beverage Program: 7.5/10
This is our #1 recommendation for Waikiki. Reservations are strongly recommended, and there is a dress code: Men must wear a collared shirt. No flip flops.
Hy’s manages to feel cozy and intimate despite being a rather large steakhouse. There are shelves with books, wooden paneling, atmospheric music (often live), and – quite importantly – a great bar and lounge area. In addition to lovely staff, there is some solid food. They have all the steakhouse classics. However, the real star is the prime rib with cajun seasoning – it is the best we’ve ever had. There are only 6 bar seats, so it fills up fast, but there is a trick for booking these bar seats – you can book happy hour. The latest reservation for bar seats is 6:15PM, but it is worth snagging and going early.
Top Bars
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 8.5/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Food: 1/10 Bar Program: 8.5/10
Lewers Lounge is an upscale piano bar located in the Halekulani hotel, that opens at 7PM nightly. We like this bar so much that it might actually be the only bar we’ve been to in Waikiki for our last 3 trips. Wayne is a talented bartender (who may be approaching 80 years old), and he moves with tai-chi grace that is amazing to watch. The piano players are similarly graceful. The dark and moody atmosphere reminds us of Tokyo. Just go already. It’s a great place (aside from the food, absolutely do not order the cheese plate – ours was entirely rind).
More Restaurants & Bars...
Overall: Recommend
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Food: 8/10 Beverage: 6/10
A great omakase in Honolulu, Amaterasu was only a few months old when we visited, but it was such a good choice (both Sushi Gyoshin and Amaterasu were basically equally good, only the uni was better at Gyoshin). Chef Hide offered very fresh fish, and we enjoyed every single bite. Everything was very balanced (no bite was too vinegary, for example). They had 2 bottles of sake on the menu only, but the first bottle (white label with black writing) was dry and worked well for us. We went for lunch, and the lunch omakase was plenty filling. It is a little hard to find – this is downstairs on the bottom floor (parking garage level) of the Ala Moana Center mall, somewhat tucked underneath the staircase.
Overall: A Good Stop
Service: 9/10 Atmosphere: 6.5/10 Food: 6.5/10 Beverage: 6/10
For casual Korean BBQ in Waikiki, Hangang is a good choice – especially if service trumps atmosphere for you, or you are new to Korean BBQ. When we went, everyone was really nice and explained their favorite dishes and cuts of meat, plus helped with most of the grilling. You could tell the employees were naturally quite good on the hospitality front. We enjoyed the marinated ribs and skirt steak bbq (skip the jachae and the kimchi was just okay).
Overall: Recommend
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Food: 8/10 Beverage: 0/10 (it’s BYOB)
Sushi Gyoshin is a 7-seat BYOB omakase and the hardest reservation to get in Waikiki. It’s booked out months in advance, so do keep that in mind when you’re planning your Honolulu trip. Chef Hiroshi procures fresh fish from both Tokyo and Hawaii. We enjoyed the flavors of each bite and even found ourselves liking fish we normally are less excited about, which might have been the most impressive part. The uni was especially good. Overall, it’s a solid omakase and worth the visit if you can secure a reservation, but it’s not worth being upset if you can’t get in. People bring a wide variety of their own drinks, from wine to sake (we got our sake at The Sake Shop), and share with the chef.
Overall: Go if you need BYOB sake
Not rating
If you are dining at Sushi Gyoshin or another BYOB Japanese spot, you can stop by The Sake Shop to pick up bottles of sake. The owner is a sweet woman who seems to know everything there is about the sake she is selling, and she will certainly point you in the right direction. (No sake tasting).
Hotels
We are creatures of habit when it comes to Honolulu, and as creatures of habit we stay at the Halekulani Waikiki. This hotel has pretty much all we need. The bar at Lewers Lounge is lovely, the rooms are clean and spacious (with thoughtful touches like benches for low sinks), the pool has good service, there is a gym and small spa, and the ocean view is expansive. We’re happy here.
We took a tour of Prince Waikiki and it was a little out of the way for us personally, as we try to be as close to walking distance to our favorite restaurants as possible. We stayed at the Ka La’i many years ago, back when it was a Trump hotel. It is not located directly on the beach and it had double elevators to get to the room, which is a small pet peeve. In most cities we switch hotels a lot, but for Waikiki will 99.99% likely stick to the Halekulani.
Tourism & Travel Notes
This fun glow in the dark mini golf spot is a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon. It was practically empty when we went, which just made it more fun. It’s a quick stop.
Notable Places Visited & Not Reviewed
Bar Leather Apron: The reservation booking proved too annoying for us this last trip. We will see about next time. Kirin Chinese: We had both an excellent lunch and a horrible dinner here, so we can’t recommend it, but we still might return in the future. We are also confused about it. STIX Food Court: Fun spot. There is a good bahn mi in there. Taormina Sicilian: The hostesses are a little unaware, so be prepared, but aside from that this place can be good if you’re craving Italian. It gets busy. Tim Ho Won: Skip.
favorite moments
