Name: Top of Waikiki Location:  2270 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu Cuisine: Asian Fusion, Seafood, Steakhouse Website:  https://topofwaikiki...

Top of Waikiki

By | Monday, June 06, 2016 1 comment



Name: Top of Waikiki
Location: 2270 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu
Cuisine: Asian Fusion, Seafood, Steakhouse
Website: https://topofwaikiki.com/
Rating: 2/5

A great way to experience any beautiful city is to visit a revolving restaurant or bar that offers a fantastic view. One restaurant in Honolulu is known for their breathtaking views surrounding the city, both during the day and at night, and that restaurant is Top of Waikiki which is a rotating restaurant that offers a panoramic view of Honolulu, completing a full rotation every hour.

During the time we were booking our trip to Oahu, we thought it would be a wonderful experience to dine at Top of Waikiki and so we made reservations online in advance. On the day of our dinner (literally an hour before), they called to inform us that their restaurant wouldn't be able to rotate due to technical issues and that the rest of the week might be the same. We were really disappointed but decided to go forth with our dinner plans because it was something we were looking forward to.



When we arrived at the restaurant, we asked for the best seating with a nice view since the place wouldn't be rotating, but instead were seated in an area with not much of a view and I noticed there were many empty seats throughout the restaurant. That really sucked because our main purpose of dining there, fully knowing the food was "okay" from other reviews, was for the view. Things were already off to a bad start.

Our waiter was very friendly and gave us several suggestions from what was popular at the restaurant and what he personally enjoyed. For appetizers, we started with their Garlic Shrimp and Korean-Style Poke.

Garlic Shrimp ($16)
Panko and garlic crusted shrimp on toast points,
tsuke relish and lemon zest

The Garlic Shrimp tasted delicious but the toast it came with was extremely stale which could have broken our teeth (Trust me when I say it was stale). Kevin didn't enjoy any of it and was quite disappointed.

Korean-Style Poke ($16)
Fresh ahi, onions, jalapenos, Korean-style
gochujang sauce and Kula baby romaine lettuce

The Korean-Style Poke was good but had no Korean elements integrated into the poke except for on the plate where they put a dab of gochujang (red chili paste). We were expecting the poke to be marinated with some gochujang to give it a Korean flare, but it was just regular style poke. 



The only thing that made it seem "Korean-style" was the concept of wrapping the poke in the romaine lettuce and adding the gochujang paste. But even the gochujang wasn't seasoned at all with any sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar/honey, etc., which is the way Koreans make sauce for ssam (wrap).


For our mains, we took our waiter's suggestions for his personal favourites and ordered the Kurobuta Pork Chop and the Pan-fried Chinese Style Onaga.

Kurobuta Pork Chop ($44)
Grilled 100% Berkshire pork chop, macadamia nut
mango chutney crust, kabocha mascarpone puree,
apple curry glaze served with roasted vegetables

The Pork Chop had was covered in a mango chutney and apple curry glaze that was overly sweet and overpowered the pork. We ended up having to remove it all from the pork in order to finish the dish. The pork chop itself tasted good but there were some parts of the pork that was a bit dry and tough.

 
Pan-fried Chinese-Style Onaga ($36)
Pan fried Onaga filet (long tail red snapper),
stir fried vegetables with a black bean relish,
mushroom dashi poured table side

The Onaga tasted fresh and was flaky and moist inside. I liked the stir fried vegetables it came with but found the mushroom dashi to be salty.

Overall, we were quite disappointed because both the appetizers and entrees were below average and overpriced for what we experienced. We were relying on the food to have a nice dining experience since the rotating floor wasn't working, but we basically went there for nothing since the food wasn't special and were seated in an area with a poor view.

I wouldn't recommend Top of Waikiki for their food when you can get an amazing meal elsewhere for the same price or less. I would, however, only recommend this place just for their drinks and view if the revolver is actually working, assuming that they really do have a fantastic view.


Top of Waikiki Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
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