Pulehu, an Italian Grill - Kaanapali

My gang took me and my spouse out for our birthday dinners here. The Hawaiian word pulehu means to cook or grill over fire, so I 'm sure many including myself, expected this to be a steakhouse but it 's actually Italian cuisine. ATMOSPHERE: The open air eatery is located in the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas North. There are no views sans for the hotel grounds and buildings as its situated near the front of the property in a courtyard like setting. Decor is typical modern Hawaii resort style with an open view kitchen. The place was dead on a Sunday night. MENU: Italian apps, salads, pasta, fish, steak, lamb, desserts, kids menu. BEVERAGE: Selby Russian River Valley Chardonnay $60/bottle. We were wanting a lesser priced white but it was out, so this was the second option. Medium bodied and smooth. FOOD: Flashed Brussels Sprouts $13.00. Thankfully they didn 't use a whole lot of balsamic vinegar in this run of the mill app which made it tastier as the sprouts ' natural flavors came through. Recommended. Bruschetta $13.00. Though this wasn 't anything to write home about, because I love burrata cheese, it was good. Pricey for the simple ingredients involved. Ribeye $46.00 $20.00 for Garilic Butter Kauai Prawns. Yup, $66 for steak and four small shrimp with the heads still attached. Being a pasta fanatic, I veered to this dish as their pasta selections were so few and uninspiring. While the steak was perfectly and simply seasoned, the shrimp were dreadfully dull. No char, no zing, no relish. And $20 for four small pieces? What a ripoff! Instead of offering a traditional baked potato they served it with lackluster herb roasted potatoes. DESSERT: Tiramisu $10.00. This was a big piece good enough for the four of us to share. Regardless of my love of custard, I didn 't truly enjoy it as the other dessert we had was much more scrumptious. Chocolate Almond Olive Oil Cake with Cherry Gelato $11.00. I don 't have a big sweet tooth, but this was really delectable. The chocolate cake was insanely moist, chocolatey and not overly sweet. The single scoop of cherry gelato brought a nice balance to the dish but was not enough to share as I 'm an ice cream fanatic! Highly recommended but ask for more ice cream. SERVICE: Our male server was great. He was very friendly, professional and checked on us often. Regardless of us dining past closing time, we never felt rushed. The background music stayed on and no one was giving us evil eyes. The only negative aspect was a vacuum that was being used near us; so not a hotel thing to do, IMO. OVERALL: A nice restaurant choice if you don 't feel like driving into Lahaina town or further. Food flavors and creativity do not justify the high prices.

Price: prefix menu for $41 per person is pretty good deal. Otherwise, it can be expensive. Salads are between $13-15, 8 inch pizza for $18. Main dish between $30-50. 3+ star. Ambiance: very chic and romantic, by the koi pond. 4 star. Location: inside of the Westin Ocean Villas, South building. It is a bit hard to find... you can vallet park or self park. We vallet our car since it is not clear where the self park garage is! 3+ star. Meals: pretty good Italian food! The bread is very fresh, moist and worth every carb calories! Good portion. Nothing creative here! 4 star. Service: I was surprised that they have so many complaints! Our waitress Kara is very nice. The hostest is this little older lady a bit slow but our waitress made up for it ! 5 star. This is about 3.5-4 star. We came here for my fiance's birthday! Although there are not-so-good reviews on YELP, we came here anyway since there aren't many Italian restaurants in the area. The place was a bit hard to find because the Westin Ocean Villas has two separate building lobbies who'd knew! We got seated right away by the Koi pond. It is very romantic with the dim anddle light and light from those tiki. Our waitress was very nice and attentive... Not over the top, just right! We had one prefix menu for $41, Brussels sprouts, magherita pizza and Kampachi for main dish. The prefix menu is the way to go if you don't want to burn a hole in your wallet, including 1 appetizer either Caesar salad or agurula salad , 1 main entree, likes spaghetti with meat malls or pasta, and 1 dessert. The Caesar salad $14 was very fresh. Spaghetti with meatballs $24 was just ok. The spaghetti was a bit on the soft side. For dessert, we chose budino which was very tasty, not too sweet! Magherita pizza $18 was good, freshly baked with local ingredients. Brussels sprouts $13 was a bit burnt but tasty once we removed the coat. There is a touch of balsamic sauce, goat cheese and brochutto which gives a tangy and salty taste. I just wish they did not grilled it so much! Pan fried kampachi $36 was served with lentils, pickled red cabbage and basil. The fish was good but a bit overcooked! Overall, we enjoyed our dinner here!

I thought it was a 5-star restaurant, but unfortunately it is now permanently closed.

I don't get the 3.5 stars. This place is solid. We had a group of 10. We were escorted to an area where was more private for our group. The place is classy and very clean. Our service was immaculate and really attentive. Our drinks were always full, and the servers checked on us often for everything that we needed. All of the food worked, but the ones that really stood out was the ossobucco, risotto crusted monchong, and porcini crusted lamb chops. The ossobucco was so tender! And the bone marrow was so elegant. The meat fell off the bone and was so tasty! The monchong was cooked perfectly. The risotto crust offered a nice texture difference to the moist and soft fish. The porcini crust was a different take on lamb chops, but just tasted really good. This is one of the better spots to eat on Maui. I hope to go back again.

The Pulehu Italian Restaurant was absolutely amazing. Despite being located in the middle of the Westin Resorts, the atmosphere was peaceful. John's childhood friends, Thomas and Tina Cooper, made dinner reservations to celebrate John's birthday. Everything about Pulehu's exudes elegance. The waitstaff and hostess were exceptional in the hospitality industry. Now, let's talk about the food. The menu features Chef Prepared dishes that are not overly expensive. We started with Calamari and Bruschetta, both of which were delicious. Our main courses were well-presented and generously portioned. We were able to take a break from our meal to watch the sunset and return to finish eating. Tina surprised John with a Birthday Chocolate Molten Cake with Raspberry Ice Cream. We will definitely be returning to Pulehu's soon.