Last week we had a great stay at the family place in Kauai. We did go out a few times, but mostly stayed in to supervise some construction work. One morning, mid-week we met some friends for breakfast at Gaylord's @ the Kilohana Plantation. This place has been serving breakfast for about a year, from 07:45 to 09:30 AM. I haven't been to Gaylord's in a couple years, and then it was for a decent dinner. But, as for breakfast, what a disappointment at the price! A small buffet of a few sad fruits, a bread tray which was comprised of three items; a limp banana bread, banana nut muffins and pre-cooked cinnamon rolls of the Pillsbury Doughboy variety... Then a few cold items that were supposed to be served warm, I guess... Overcooked, dry and cool scrambled eggs, some barely warm fried potatoes/onions, tepid bacon and sausages and the nastiest french toast I've ever seen... White bread triangles barely dipped in egg batter and stacked in a pan that was cool to the touch. Breakfast was very poorly done and Gaylord's would be better served if they stuck to lunch and dinner.

Another disappointment was the overrated BUBBA Burger in Kapa'a. Again, I admit that it has been few years since I've been there, but back then you could get a choice of a few types of local fish items offered in lieu of burgers. This time I saw 3 fish items offered... All were "Icelandic Cod!"

I guess that my favorite place to eat out in Kauai is at Hamura's Saimin Stand on Kress Street in Lihue... I first tucked into a bowl of their namesake saimin about 35 years ago and don't pass up a chance to eat there every time I'm on the island. Few tourists seek this place out, but locals pack the place for what's possibly the best value, best tasting chow in Kauai!

I can tell you that this is by far the most non-overrated eatery on Kaua'i. (My apologies, my Hawaiian keyboard isn't working at the moment, or else I would have actually typed an okina)

aloha

Had the same experience with breakfast at Gaylord's last October. I've actually been steering people away from their (with regard to breakfast anyway).

I like Bubbas, but I think part of what I enjoy is sitting across from the ocean while eating lunch, and there's also a few throwback memories to my childhood which make it a nice "package" for me. Based just on the burger, not that big a deal

Ah, Hamura's Saimin. My favorite lunch spot on Kauai. Everytime I go to Kauai on business, I pick up a few boxes of noodles to take home. I purchase some packets of S&S soup base, green onions, kamaboko and char-siu and wolf it down in the comfort of home. Of course, the instant soup base pales in comparison to Hamura's, but at least the noodles are genuine.

How is Gaylord's for dinner now? We enjoyed a wonderful evening there years ago, but wondering how it is now.

We dined at the Lemongrass Grill location in Kapaa Kauai, but I believe there are other locations.

We were very excited to go here as it is often highly recommended.

Guava Mai Tais were a great way to start and very very refreshing.

For appetizers wife had the 911 roll, quite tasty. I had the Smoked Ahi. Good solid appetizer but Ahi was overdone.

When viewing the entrees it is easy to see that the chef is in love with mashed potatoes as many dishes contain them, not very creative.

I had the grilled fresh fish (tonight it was mahi mahi) over mashed potatoes (who would have guessed?!? ), served with Thai eggplant. It was good, but fish was very overcooked.

Wife had grilled miso salmon. Good, but again fish was WAY WAY overcooked.

After discussions with others on the island (many had been to Lemongrass) it seems as if overcooked fish is normal for them.

Lemongrass just did not deliver the quality I felt it should have, I can not recommend it.

Lemongrass Grill
4-885 Kuhio Hwy
Kapaa, Kauai
Phone 808.821.2888

just returned from Kauai a few hours ago (actually from HNL - had to spend the night in HNL due to CO 72 catching on fire about 2500 ft up -- was anyone on that flight?) but that's another post...



dined at Gaylord's and was somewhat impressed... didn't really think the prices were all that bad either... service was pretty good and they gave us the best table in the place facing the rear of the plantation (ocean i think, but it was in the evening so couldn't tell)


also fine dined at Portofino's at the Marriout Kauai beach Club complex... was decent as well...

As Kuaui grows most of the highly touted restaurants have dipped a great deal in quality. I tend to enjoy the middle range places more and more ie skip the recommendations in the travel books. Some of my best breakfasts and lunches have been at the small mexican restaurant near the lighthouse (at least it was there a year ago). There is also a great store in the area to buy high quality bread, cheese, meats and enjoy a really nice french style meal at the beach or even on your lanai. Get your wine from a supermarket.

MisterNice