New places that opened recently:

Cassis - by Chef Mavro (old Palomino's location)
Stage - at the new Honolulu Design Center.
Epic - Old Havana Cabanna space in Chintown.
Elua - A joint venture between Donato Loperfido and Phillipe Padovanni.

Scott,

I took the family there last year (my kids where 3.5 and 1.5 years old).  There was a guidebook that was pretty helpful, but I cannot remember it - it has a picture/map of the island on the cover - geared as a local's guide.

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt.  In terms of things to do, we had the following:

1. Brick Oven Pizza (highly recommended to me, but I didn't make it);

2. Roy's - went there early, was fine with the kids - had a very reasonably priced Billecart Salmon Rose;

3. Tip Top Cafe (by the airport) - this will test your tolerance for local environment (cleanliness), but we loved the breakfast there.

4.  Waimea Canyon - definately worth the drive, it is beautiful up there - incredible sight to see.

5.  Shaved Ice - got it wherever and whenever we saw a place.

6.  Princeville - not too kid-friendly, but may be worth checking out.

7.  There is a beach/state park on the east coast that has a set off area that is only 4-5 feet deep, great for kids - there is a break that keeps the waves at a minimum.

That's what I can remember, have fun.

Rob

This update is very timely since we'll be in Oahu and Maui this August.

Chef Mavro and Allan Wong's are definetly in our plans and we'll try to check out 12th St Grill. I viewed the website and the menu looks very appealing, but I did not see the wine list. Any plans to add it to the site?

Maybe we'll BYO, I just hope they allow Aubert or Marcassin PN

I didn't get the chance to eat out much while on Kauai during this trip for some reason.  I ate at Duke's, The Bull Shed and the Kalaheo Steak House.  The only place I tried to BYOB was at The Bull Shed and they allowed it.  Food and service are average.  At Kalaheo I ordered from a very short but reasonbly priced list.  Stemware sucked.  Food and service were average to below average.  At Duke's I stuck to cocktails.  Food was good to excellent as well as the service.  Duke's is my usual "go to" place when I'm on the island.

Sorry I can't help more.  Didn't eat out much on this trip.  As always I'd recommend you just go ahead and pick your preferred places and then give them a quick call to see if they'll allow it.

P.S. If you need some wine while over there The Wine Garden in the small strip center across the road from the community college has a nice little selection of good stuff.  COSTCO down the road from there has a few nice selections as well.

Scott,

Assuming you'll have a car, you really want to spend some time on the north side of the island - Hanalei, Tunnels Beach, End of the Road, etc.  The weekend brunch at The Princeville is also worth the trip.

Another reason to head north is to eat at my favorite restaurant on the island - Postcards Cafe in Hanalei.  Great food, great ambiance and, best of all, everything is free!  (Hmmmm.  I suppose that could be because my sister owns the joint.)  Seriously, though, it's a good place.  It's where Pierce Brosnan - a regular - took Bill & Hillary when they were on Kauai.

Have a great time!

Richard

Definately received high recommendations for Postcards - worth checking out.

My wife and I just returned from a week on Kauai.  We stayed at the Hyatt, in Poipu, on the south shore.  Even though we spent some time hiking and snorkeling on the north shore, we didn't eat up there and unfortunately missed some recommended places, like Bar Acuda, Postcards and Coconuts. We had to save something for our next trip !  We did enjoy 3 very nice dinners in the Poipu area.

Our first dinner was at Tidepools, one of the restaurants at the Hyatt.  I had Opah, topped with crab and lobster and finished with a Tahitian vanilla hollandaise sauce.  The dish was excellent - incredibly rich, as it sounds - and it went very well with the 2002 Kongsgaard Chardonnay I brought.  While I wouldn't suggest making a special trip for this restaurant, if you're a guest at the Hyatt, it's a great (and easy) choice.

Our second dinner was at Roy’s in Poipu.  This was our first time here, even though we’ve been to Poipu several times.  Another excellent meal; my wife and I both had the prix fixe sampler menu, for about $40 each.  It included a small, taster’s portion of 3 different appetizers: a baby back rib, a spring roll and some ahi, a main dish – I had the braised short ribs and my wife had salmon - and dessert – something extremely rich and chocolaty.  All were quite tasty and went very nicely with our 2004 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.  A common complaint about Roy’s is it tends to be rushed, and our visit was no exception.  There are a team of servers, and it seems as one dish was removed, the next was immediately set down.  Not unpleasant, as we were able to finish each item, but definitely noticeable.

Our last “nice” dinner out was a return visit to The Beach House, also in Poipu, on our last night.  My wife commented she was glad we saved this for last, as it was by far the best meal we had on the trip, and probably the best meal we enjoyed on Kauai since A Pacific Café closed.  We started with an appetizer of Kauai Asparagus, Kamuela tomatoes, red onion, and goat cheese, with soy sherry vinaigrette while waiting for our table in the bar - we had arrived early and were seated promptly at the time of our reservation.  Once we had a chance to look over the menu, we agreed to share a starter of Macadamia Nut Crab Cakes, served with papaya black bean salsa, coconut red curry, and finished with a ginger beurre blanc.  For our mains, my wife ordered the Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi, with a citrus aka miso sauce, and I had Fire-roasted Ahi, with furikake mashed potatoes, black bean sauce, and ginger lime beurre blanc.  Everything was superb: the crab cakes were rich and meaty, with little evidence of binder, and had a smoky, fruity flavor which contrasted nicely to the Old Bay or Creole-seasoned crab cakes we usually encounter here on the gulf coast or on the east coast.  Both fish courses were great: extremely fresh, perfectly prepared and wonderfully complemented by the accompaniments and sauces.  All the sauces stood out; light and subtle, to not overwhelm, but very pure flavors that worked with the fish preparations.  We brought a 2005 Araujo Sauvignon Blanc, which worked very well with the crab cakes and fish dishes.  It offered some tropical – pineapple and mango – flavors and a rich creaminess I don’t normally find in a CA Sauvignon Blanc.  For dessert, we shared a Molten Chocolate Desire, a hot chocolate tart served with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate caramel sauce.  Desserts like this have become so common; they’re almost a cliché now.  Given that, this was excellent and the richness and pure, intense flavors that had highlighted earlier dishes also showed here.  The chocolate, vanilla and caramel flavors never became muddled, even as we fought over who got to lick the bowl.  If I had to criticize anything, it would be the mashed potatoes accompanying my Ahi; very bland and non-descript, it seems their main purpose is to make a base for my fish to lean against.  I'll add the service was excellent and we had a fun discussion with Jordan (?), the wine director, who I'm sure is out looking to bring in some Araujo right now.
 

During our trip we enjoyed late lunches at Brick Oven Pizza, in Kalaheo, a little up-country from Poipu, and Brennecke’s, just across the street from the beach in Poipu.  We had so much fun at Brennecke’s Happy Hour, drinking mai tai’s and Kona Brewing Co’s beers with a great crowd of locals and visitors, that we gave it another try for dinner.  Once a favorite of ours, it disappointed on our last visit, and again this trip.  No one thing, but the grilled fish was merely good and the service was a little on the sloppy casual side.  Not too big a deal, until you realize the prices are within $1 or $2 of The Beach House and the value is nowhere near as close.  Oh well, we’ll probably continue to stop by for happy hour, or maybe burgers for lunch.

All the restaurants were BYOB-friendly:

Tidepools (at the Grand Hyatt) - corkage was $25. We did offer the server a glass of the Kongsgaard Chardonnay. I was told the fee was $30 at Dondero's, another restaurant on the property.

Roy's, Poipu - according to an email response and the menu, corkage is $18. The server told us it was either $12 or $14. We shared a glass of the Kosta Browne with her and there was no charge on our bill.

The Beach House, Poipu - corkage was $25 per an email response. When we offered our server a glass of the Araujo Sauvignon Blanc, he mentioned the corkage fee would disappear.

Both Roy's and The Beach House had very nice wine lists, with prices in line with what you would expect (unfortunately). I was surprised by some of the offerings. For example, both had 1 or 2 Sine Qua Non bottlings on the list, at prices around current retail or auction levels.  In spite of the previous posts, I showed incredible restrait and passed on the SQN.

I understand the legality of BYOB in Hawaii is a county-by-county decision. Apparently, Maui County prohibits it; obviously, Kauai County permits it; and I don't know the answer for Hawaii or Honolulu counties. BYO is apparently very widespread on Kauai with the usual restrictions: not on the wine list and frequently a limited number of bottles - not a problem for my wife and I. Stated corkage fees were on the high side, but so was everything else, and they didn't show up 2 out of 3 times in our limited sample.

This was our 5^th or 6^th visit to Kauai, and we still love it.  When we’re traveling with family, we’ll typically head to Maui as there’s more for the kids to do, but when it’s just the 2 of us, the quieter, slower pace works great.  We really enjoy the Hyatt and think they do a good job for a large (600 room) resort property.  Of course, staying using points is a big plus !  Driving around Poipu is a little concerning, though.  There’s a tremendous amount of building just getting underway.  One local said there were 5000 new homes or condos in the plans for the immediate area.  It’s obvious this will have a dramatic effect on the south shore area, and I fear it will change things for the worse.  Luckily, the rest of the island doesn’t seem to be seeing this sort of development, but it will have an effect, none the less.  Traffic, already bad at times, will get worse and this will put additional pressure on housing prices, which is already somewhat of a crisis.  Hopefully, this won’t alter Kauai’s character too significantly.

Scott