Bamboo Restaurant & Gallery
Fine Island Cuisine
www.bamboorestaurant.info
Figure $20/each +whatever for drinks.
At 250/270 Interchange in Hawi Town
{written July 2008}
Let’s start with what I didn’t like about the Bamboo Restaurant. At the end of the meal they came around with a dessert tray that had itsy-bitsy samples of three different types of cheesecakes on it. I mean, we are literally talking about forkfuls of the stuff, mere samples, and the waitress is like, “Do you want to try a dessert?” So I’m thinking a free sample. Cool. It’s not like I’m not going to turn down a sample of lilikoi cheesecake, but then after I’ve grabbed a piece off the tray, and it’s already sitting in front of me on the table, the waitress informs me that they are $1.95/each. It felt like a bait and switch to me, and I didn’t care for it. It would have been odd to put tidbit back on the tray, so I sucked down the two bucks. But the bottom line, you could have put five of those little bite size pieces together and still not had a proper piece of cheesecake, so you’re looking at one pricey dessert. No big deal if you know what to expect it, but I felt broadsided. It left a sour taste in my mouth... but then, hey, I didn’t pay for the meal, so no worries.
Oddly, while we were waiting for a table, someone left without leaving a tip and the manager rushed after them to ask why. Never did find out why, not because I wasn’t listening, but because the manager asked the wrong party. Whoops! Anyhow, if I was paying, and someone did that dessert thing to me, I might call it a wash. I pay for the overpriced sample of a dessert and you don’t get no tip. Seems fair right?
Anyhow, the rest of the meal was superb. They had ono for the fish of the day, and you can’t go wrong with ono, but its just a fresh catch thing, so who knows what they’ll have at any given moment. I didn’t try the fish, which my companions assured me was excellent, but instead went for the pupu sampler plate. It was tasty. The pot stickers sucked, which is perhaps at odds with saying the dish was tasty, but the simple fact is the pot stickers were not enjoyable--just dry, nasty, and poorly flavored. Everything else though was top notch. So what did I get for my $14.95? The two pot stickers (mediocre at best), two shrimp (kind of small, but in a lovely tangy sauce that I used to flavor the scoop of rice), half of a chicken quesadilla (very cheesy, very tasty), a nice high end organic salad (a small handful), and two different types of relishes (a small scoop each of pineapple coleslaw and a tropical island chutney). For my eyes, it was a bit light quantity wise, but I acquired an extra scoop of rice from my lady friend, and I left satisfied.
The restaurant is at the 250/270 interchange in Hawi town, and, so far, it’s the best restaurant that I’ve tried in either Hawi or Kapaau. My recommendation is drive up 250 during the morning before the fog rolls in over the ridge, check out the galleries in Kapaau, and then hit the Bamboo Restaurant before taking the coast road back home.
{And yes,
I’ve eaten there plenty of times since this writing and I can recommend the
ribs most heartily.}