10 Best Restaurants in Kauai

Sam’s Ocean View Restaurant is an American-style bistro that serves up great sea views in Kapaʻa. With its location on a busy street that’s home to a wealth of other shops and restaurants, it provides a limited menu of small plates and entrees, with a focus on fresh seafood.

Try the ahi poke nachos for a Hawaiian take on a Tex-Mex classic. This version comes topped with avocado, wasabi and sriracha aioli and can even be served atop steamed rice if you don’t care for chips.

Beach House Restaurant next to Kauai’s Lawa’i Beach provides a fine dining atmosphere with amazing views of the water. The cuisine is Pacific Rim, which is just another term for Asian fusion or Hawaiian regional cuisine. The menu focuses on fresh ingredients and healthy options. The fish, beef and coffee are also sourced locally.

You can start with a fun cocktail, like the Monkeypod Mai Tai with its blend of rums, lime juice, macadamia and curaçao. Then, chow down on delicious dinner eats like wasabi-buttered fresh island fish, furikake-dusted ahi or poke tacos.

Hukilau Lanai is the place to go in Kauai for a side of live music to go along with your Hawaiian meal. The mid-range restaurant offers a locally-inspired dinner menu (plus an entirely separate menu for gluten-free diners) and a local band regularly plays to provide live music throughout the week.

While you can find many of the fresh and light options that are so popular around the island here, Hukilau Lanai also offers some admirable comfort food-style options, such as its farmers’ market vegetable lasagna, local mushroom meatloaf and prime rib au jus.

Merriman’s Kauai is an upscale eatery with a focus on regional cuisine and is one in a family of restaurants with locations scattered across Hawaii. The Kauai outpost offers a limited menu of upscale, steakhouse-style items.

The restaurant is a good pick if you’re travelling with someone who’s not quite the seafood aficionado. They’ll appreciate the steak, lamb and pork options, served along with classic sides such as garlic mashed potatoes and salads. Looking for something a little more unique and regional? Check out the daily specials for the freshest flavours and the best local ingredients.

Bar Acuda is a mid-range tapas bar serving up a wide range of wines, speciality cocktails and small plates in Hanalei. The popular restaurant is the place to go when you want to try a little bit of everything, as sharing is highly encouraged.

Beyond more traditional, Mediterranean-style tapas, the restaurant also offers small plates with a distinctly Hawaiian touch. Among these are a Hawaiian fish with saffron mashed potatoes, fennel-orange jam and sunflower sprouts, or an almond and coconut cheesecake with caramelised white chocolate.

Keoki’s Paradise is a Hawaiian restaurant in Koloa with a tiki vibe that may seem kitschy to some, but which is all fun. Enjoy some outdoor dining in a festive, tropical atmosphere, whether you stop in for lunch, brunch or dinner.

This is one spot where you won’t want to miss dessert, as the restaurant serves up its famous hula pie. This treat has a chocolate crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge and more macadamia nuts, all topped with whipped cream. You can even get a milkshake version of the pie. And if macadamia nuts aren’t your thing, they have a banana coconut cream pie that’s delicious and also gluten and dairy-free.

Eating House 1849 is a great spot for Hawaiian tapas, salads and steaks in Koloa. The menu also has an entire section that’s dedicated to noodles and rice bowls. The restaurant located at The Shops at Kukui‘ula is helmed by an award-winning culinary team, and their expertise is evident in every single elevated plate.

Try the Eating House 1849 Spicy Ramen Bowl for one of the restaurant’s classics, with its ginger soy-braised pork belly, pork and shrimp dumplings, sprouts and (even more) ground pork. Pair it with one of the restaurant’s staple cocktails, the Eating House Classic, a mixture of bourbon, Luxardo liqueur and Aperol bitters.

Duke’s Kauai is a surfing-themed restaurant at Kaua'i Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach, named after Hawaiian legend Duke Kahanamoku. The beachfront diner is surrounded by resorts, shops and parks, making it a convenient stop for anyone staying in, or exploring, the area.

Check out the menu while you check out the waves right outside the window, where Duke himself used to surf. Menu favourites include the sautéed macadamia nut and herb-crusted fresh fish, served with rice and lemon caper butter. The slow-roasted prime rib is also a must-try for meat lovers.

JO2 is a fine dining restaurant in Kapaʻa that serves fusion cuisine with a menu that changes regularly to fit the season and availability of local produce. Even so, whenever you visit, you can expect artfully-plated dishes with a protein and starch focus.

Among the top picks from the menu are the tempura lobster tail served atop ramen, or the seared shrimp served alongside risotto. This is one spot where the dessert options are pretty plentiful, so save room for all the possibilities, such as the vegan mango cheesecake or banana cream pie.

Coconut’s Fish Cafe is a restaurant in Kapaʻa with a welcoming vibe and offers delicious seafood options. The menu items are a little more familiar than some of the fancier dishes you’ll find at fine-dining locales. Think fish tacos, fish and chips, and fish sandwiches.

Crowd favourites include the macadamia nut-crusted mahi-mahi, served with brown rice and coleslaw, and the poke bowl, which comes in a gluten-free variant. You can find the spot with its bright-green roof and logo at Kauai Village Shopping Center.