Brunch in Waikiki?

[minette]

Looking for a good place to host a large brunch (at reasonable price?) for our guests on the Sunday following my son's wedding in Honolulu. Your recommendations and comments are welcome. Anyone familiar with the Tower Grill Restaurant in Aloha Market Shopping center?

[hiD]

Any other brunch suggestions? I'm heading to Waikiki this weekend and looking for something casual, hopefully outdoor seating with a decent view. I'd rather not have to make reservations since, in the interest of full disclosure, I tend to sleep in.

[UES Mayor]

Then go to Cheesecake Factory-decent for your needs you sleephead. View is of the sidewalk w people watching.

[spang]

go to Bert's on McCully (at King Street). Greasy and filthy but brunch for 2 can be hand for under 5 bucks.. Tried to order saimin there but ran out of nooodles (I doubt they even ordered noodles). Tuna Sandwich is $1.25

Spend the rest of your brunch money on shave ice at Keneke's in Waimanalo.

Pau.

[UES Mayor]

The best brunch IMHO is at the Halekulani-of course it is a little pricey but you only live once! Must make reservation far in advance-I am refering to the brunch buffet at Orchids-simply the best!!!! People generally reserve a year in advance during busy seasons -just to show how good it is!

[Bill Hunt]

I will second the quality of Orchid's Sunday Brunch. In my case, the reservations were made 6 mos. out, but then so were all my other dining plans. Lovely venue and excellent food - very broad spectrum. While I was there, I observed at least two tables for ~12, so they can handle parties, at least that size, and maybe more. The price is in the $$$+ range, but worth it. I do not think I'd do it on every trip, but every couple of years is a treat. Even with the great service (seems that we had 4 waitpersons for the two of us), plan on a leisurly 2-3 hour experience and come very, very hungry. This is also an event, that you will want to dress for. There might have been a few aloha shirts and shorts (just do not recall), but most gentlemen had blazers to suits and the ladies were dressed for Easter dining, repleat with less than opera length gloves and hats. Even in New Orleans, I've not seen too many more elegant scenes. Worth every $, just for the experience.

This was a small part of a review, that I did last October - near the end of thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/334698

Hunt

[curiousgeo]

Totally agree with the Orchid's Sunday Brunch. Beautiful setting, good service with a great selection of very well prepared food. Pricey yes, but if you are looking for a nice Sunday brunch in Waikiki you are going to pay for it anyway, so you might as well have a really good one.

[manomin]

A truly civilized way to spend a leisurely Sunday brunchis at Michel's in the Colony Surf.
Lovely food, flights of sparking wine/champagne, a bloody mary bar. I've seen large groups there as they have a private room off main dining area that still sees the ocean.

[Bill Hunt]

I've not done brunch there, but was really looking forward to a romantic dinner, two trips back. We were very dissatisfied with the service. There was a wedding party of about 12, and they had every server in the place at their disposal. We were relegated to basically getting our own wine, and there was a 30 min. lag between courses. Food was OK, but with that level of service, I'd have to be pressured to go back. I'm a very liberal tipper, but this was a 10% experience and NOT on the wine.

Glad that brunch is a better meal, and that you had a good one. Maybe one day, I'll give it another go, though not in the near future.

Hunt

[manomin]

That's too bad about your experience Bill, sorry to hear that. I've been many times with Yoshio and our SO's and have always had a fabulous time in both service and food. Maybe brunch is better, I think I'd like the daytime more than the night anyway as the view was so great but then again if you had a good window table you'd see the lights which would be fun and probably on Friday's you'd see the fireworks, in any case I'd rather be at home dining for dinner so I'll stick with brunch! Maybe if you ever decide to try it things would be better!

[Bill Hunt]

We, too, were disappointed, as it had come highly recommended. I have now forgotten which restaurant we dropped from the list, but were looking forward to this. Everything seemed stacked against us that evening, and it made a very lasting impression. OK, there was a wedding party near-by, but to have six servers standing over that table, when we were ignored for maybe 30 min. at a time, was inexcusible. Same for the wine service. The sommelier was distracted, and got most orders wrong. He also did not know his wines that well, and just spouted a bunch of "make the tourist feel comfortable" babble. Unfortunately for him, I knew each producer very well, and he did not. Again, not a good impression.

With the restaurants in the area, it will likely be a while. That said, Bali did a number on me once, and we finally went back, having missed them for a good ten years. Now, they are right near the top. New crew, new chef, new sommelier, and a totally different attitude about service and cuisine. Things change, so maybe in a few trips, we'll go back. Wife was intrumental in going back to Bali, and I think that I'd have to take the reins for Michel's at the Colony Surf. When we do, I'll post a full review, and hope that it is better, than the previous one. Having read both your's and Yoshio's reviews and recs., I feel that I hit them on a very bad night.

Hunt

[Clinton]

Probably the best brunch (if you have military connections) is at the Hale Koa in Fort DeRussy Waikiki. Haven't found a better place yet...anywhere. The only restriction is that you will require to have a military personnel make the reservations.

[KaimukiMan]

The brunch at the Hawaii Prince (on Ala Moana Blvd) is pretty good, comparably reasonable. The Halekulani is arguably the best, and the most expensive.

[Bill Hunt]

You might want to contact the folk at AW's Pineapple Room, http://www.alanwongs.com/pineroom/pin...
They do brunch, and the prices (for general dining) are very reasonable. They are just W of Waikiki in Macy's, at the Ala Moana Center.

There was a thread asking about the Tower Grill Restaurant, about 6 mos. back. I've not been, and do not recall the replies. I did not turn it up with a search of this board, but maybe I used the wrong criteria. You will probably have better luck, than I did. Heck, I can't find my reviews from Oct., '06, and I know all of the words that it contained. I finally had to get it via Google and then bookmark it. Possibly, the new work on the CH servers will help the search function.

Hunt

[hopkid]

Personally I like the brunch at the Moana Surfrider Hotel. Get a large table on the veranda for a great experience. Good service and food. It is a bit pricey though. And they've recently undergone transformation from a Sheraton to a Westin property and they had plans to create a gourmet restaurant out of the veranda so I'm not sure what will happen to the Sunday brunch. Best to give them a call.

[Bill Hunt]

Thanks for the update on the Surfrider. I'm surprised that the Starwood folk have not notified me of this change. Also glad to hear that they're thinking of doing a fine-dining spot, as that veranda is lovely. I'll keep my eye out for any info, and include whatever, when we're next in the Islands.

Appreciated,
Hunt

[hopkid]

No problem. We were lucky enough to be there for their last Sunday brunch back in April on Easter. They had a great spread and I swear the service, at least from our waiter, Paul, was superb. That guy is a gem! Been there over 15 years.

It will be interesting to see how the fine dining restaurant turns out.