Hukilau Honolulu

Came here with a large group of coworkers and service was good and food was decent. I wouldn't call this a destination restaurant, as the food is just decent, but will say it is awesome for a big party lunch or work lunch when you want to sit down and have table service. I got a turkey and Muenster sandwich which was pretty good. Someone else orders a laulau stew which looked a lot better.

Happy Hour: 4pm-6pm But don't ask what the deals are cause I didn't really pay attention. We came to celebrate Administrators Appreciation Day so in honor of that I figured I would get a beverage. $5 for the strawberry and rose smoothie which was a little tart...tasted kinda like a strawberry lemonade. I liked it but 2 other girls didn't care for it too much. We got several pupu dishes for the table: Kalua pig nachos, spicy ahi nachos, salt and pepper wings.. I wanted fries but I started getting kinda filled up with all the nachos and I also ordered the bacon, expecting crispy fried strips. It was more like chunks of roast pork but still yummy. One of the other gals got pupu steak which came out sizzling topped with mushrooms and the meat was so tender. I really enjoyed the flavor and glad she shared. We passed all the dishes up and down the table and I'm pretty sure we left nothing on the plates! There was also live music and the man playing was very good. He played a lot of well known Hawaiian and older music, and even was asked to play something by one of the people I was with. My only critique is that the volume was slightly too loud for any decent conversation unless you sat next to the person you were talking to. Our service was a little touch and go and I think i only saw the bartender and a server. This place wasn't extremely busy in my eyes but if felt very busy especially getting the server's attention to put in orders. She did end up bringing us a water pitcher though so that was smart. In my experience this was a nice place to wind down after work for drinks, good food and fellowship so I would come back again.

Hukilau is located in the basement of a mixed condo/hotel on the corner of Bishop and Hotel Street in the center of downtown Honolulu. The location has been the site of restaurants of various names for the past 30 years or so. Hukilau has been hit or miss over the past few years. I've eaten here on and off for the past 30 years. The last time I ate here, I was pleasantly surprised. I had eaten here about a year ago and was underwhelmed. The last visit, I had a salmon caesar salad with one of the best tasting pieces of salmon I've ever eaten. The rest of the salad was quite good. The location is a little cavernous. It's in a basement and there isn't much to look at but it's a pleasant, clean, airy space in which to enjoy your meal. Hukilau is both a restaurant and a bar. I've enjoyed pau hana drinks here before and I recall enjoying live music here. If you are interested in a sit down place to eat in downtown, or want to drink somewhere, check this place out.

This restaurant is a perfectly adequate sit down place to eat in downtown. It's not amazing in any category, by any means, but it's fine. My coworkers really enjoy the laulau stew, which is pretty delicious but a bit on the salty side. I like a good grilled cheese, and their double fisted fish sandwich is good too. They use a nice roll that stands up to the moisture of the Cole slaw. The fries are fine, although they are more of a shoestring variety while I prefer a thicker fry. Service is generally fine too, although the server today seemed like we were an inconvenience during lunch. She seemed particularly annoyed that I asked for a container for ketchup. She also very promptly brought the check. I got the feeling she wanted us to leave asap, although there weren't very many tables in there.

A cute place to hangout after work with friends in the downtown area. Hukilau is located on the basement level of the Executive Centre. Take the escalator down from the entrance on S.King Street which will take you to the front entrance of the Hukilau. We got there on a Monday afternoon with our party of four persons to find our group the smallest one there. Still the service was attentive without being overbearing. Sure was a festive place! The happy hour offered lots of great offerings. We started there with the poke, buffalo wings, kalua pig nachos, and sweet potato fries. We moved over to the regular menu and the deeeliiicious sizzling steak. Favorites for the evening were the sizzling steak, shoyu poke, and of course the beer! :