Very innovative cocktails. The corn drink I got actually tasted like real corn with a piece of corn cob on top and everything.
I'll start with the excellent service that makes it hard to leave this review as I was truly excited for the food; they're knowledgeable, friendly and you can tell have a great relationship with the kitchen. Unfortunately the tasting menu paired with paintings is not there yet - too many contrasting flavours and little consistency between the dishes. The first 2 or 3 dishes started off great and we thought would set the tone for the rest of the dinner. This wasn't the case: each following dish was more confusing and less flavourful taking a too literal interpretation of the paintings, all underlined by very high acidity (my hypothesis is too much citric acid) and smothering high quality ingredients in overpowering sauces. My partner and myself left disappointed and woke up regretting going for the menu. Of course, I still applaud them for trying something exciting and different.From a nobody who enjoys good food: take a less literal approach and showcase your ingredients.
Best food and cocktails in Honolulu, hands down. Hugely imaginative cuisine. If this place were in NYC, it would be booked solid every night and cost twice as much. If Kamaaina haven’t visited yet, they’re missing out.
I made a reservation last evening for 8 PM at this out of the (tourists’) way, tasting menu centric, restaurant. When I arrived I was told that they ran out of the tasting menu! Disappointed, still I tried to make the best out of it and ordered 4 out of the 6 available “bar snacks”. The flavors were good. My drink was good as well. I left wishing I was told before I made the $20 cab ride from Waikiki that all they had were snacks.
Let me break down our experience at Heihō House!Reservations: Super easy. This can be done through Resy. We booked our reservations directly through their GM, Christopher. Something to note, there is a 48-hour cancellation notice requirement. Cancellations made less than 48-hours will incur a cancellation fee. While we didn’t cancel, I figure I still share that piece of info. If you’re like me, I RARELY read the fine print!Restaurant: The restaurant is located on 11th Avenue in Kaimuki. Parking is available in front of the restaurant. There is a paid parking lot one block up from them as well as street parking.Ambiance: Walking in to the restaurant reminded me of a scene from Memoirs of a Geisha. It may have been their wooden lanterns and their shoji screens but it definitely transported me to another time/place. It was welcoming and exciting at the same time! The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we arrived. The sounds of patrons having fun, laughing, and enjoying their food filled the restaurant. The music wasn’t too loud.Food/Drinks: We started off with champagne as we perused the menu. Shortly after, we ordered a couple of cocktails. My personal favorite is their Skim to None Cocktail. Try it. Trust me. I’m going to be honest and share that I didn’t know what to expect when we decided to dine here. The dish descriptions were quite bold, to say the least, and definitely pulled me out of my comfort zone. After looking through the menu and not knowing what to order, we left it up to Christopher to choose our food…and that was probably the best decision, ever! After asking us if we had any food aversions or allergies, he set us up for what would be a pretty damn amazing food adventure! I don’t remember the names of all the dishes but we enjoyed every single dish that was brought out. As non-traditional as their flavor pairings were, our minds (and tastebuds) were absolutely blown at just how freaking awesome the dishes were! Their desserts were just as out-of-box in creation as their savory dishes, BUT just as mind-blowing and delicious! Kudos to the chef and his crew for being able to pull off such creative dishes!Service: Ahh-mazing. The staff was polite, attentive, and just absolutely the type of folks you’d want as a part of your dining experience!While I am no “foodie”, I know a bad-ass restaurant when I dine at one and Heihō House is pretty bad-ass!
We have been coming to Hawaii yearly for over 25 years and the restaurant scene is constantly changing--even more so this year with Covid 19. When I decided to try Heiho House I didn't know what to expect, except, per the reviews saying to keep your mind open and give everything a try. Well I was simply AMAZED! The first thing you have to know is that outside signage is meager and almost making the restaurant a true "hidden gem". The only sign for the restaurant is a "red square", no name. But, as we were driving back and forth in front of where we knew the restaurant to be, Christopher came out to tell us we were in the right place. The menu is short, but I would actually advise you to try everything. You can't tell from the name what the dish is, but EVERYTHING was outstanding. I am gluten free, but except for one or two dishes I could eat everything. They use tamari for everything in lieu of shoyu, which made life wonderful for me. The highlights for us were the kampachi and the deconstructed pho. My husband said the panna cotta was great (one of the non GF dishes). The servers were outstanding, and the "aloha" was everywhere. I must comment on the decor, as well- as it enhanced the experience immensely- the wood and rice paper lanterns covering and hanging from the ceiling were stunning. The wrap around bar is the centerpiece of the room, filling 2/3 of the dining room, but it added to the experience as well. The mixologist was inventive and extremely well versed in his craft. There were bourbons on the menu we can't even find at home. All in all, this restaurant will definitely be on our list the next time we come to Honolulu. It should be on your list, too.
Amazing food & atmosphere. Biggest downfall was the obnoxious group of patrons seated next to us. I’ve never heard such vulgar language in a public place before IN MY LIFE. And they were LOUD. Multiple other tables were clearly frustrate, too. Asked the manager if he could ask them to keep it down & ‘if this was normal?’ And he replied with ‘well we are a bar setting’ … to which he pointed to the empty bar where no one was seated. This loud, obnoxious vulgarity continued our entire meal. Couldn’t believe it. Not sure if this group was someone important the manager was afraid of offending or what but I’m still in disbelief at the manner of conversation I had to endure while trying to enjoy the fabulous food. Our poor waiter was phenomenal but the situation was out of his control.
The most innovative restaurant on Oahu without the pretentiousness. I tried the $110 11-course omakase menu and honestly had no idea what to expect once the first several courses came out. Some of the items might make you raise your brow as they’re describing them to you, but the unique flavor combinations surprisingly worked well.The courses I particularly enjoyed were:- soft shell crab with sticky rice- seared maitake mushroom with apple streusel and cider vinegar jelly- braised beef cheeks with marshmallow- semifreddo dessertPersonally, I would have replaced the sweetbread or pate course with a lighter vegetable-forward course. They were a bit heavy to start with.The bar program is excellent and is nicely tied in with the menu (e.g. tea flavors in some cocktails and dessert). They offer a $55 whisky pairing with the omakase, but I think a cocktail pairing would work even better.You’ll definitely walk out of here trying flavor combinations you’ve never tried before.
On the trip to Oahu we went to Heiho which was a really great experience. I would not say That I loved all the dishes, but they were interesting and experience was amazing. You should take Pho, lamb, and branzino for sure. Their drinks are also very cool and very good. The way the dishes were served and level of service that we got deserves a 5 star.
Best meal we had in Hawaii. The menu was innovative and you could tell the chef is really having fun. I’ve eaten at a lot of Asian Fusion and fine dining type restaurants, and Heiho stands out. Normally, an upscale restaurant like this charges for the quality of the ingredients, the strength of execution, the service, and the atmosphere. Heiho had all of that, plus a menu with some of the most interesting flavor profiles I’ve ever eaten.If it’s available, try the marshmallow braised short rib. The celery bulgogi was interesting but way too salty, and was probably my least favorite item.We thought we weren’t hungry and ended up eating almost everything on the menu. The dishes are on the small side so you can definitely try a large variety.For 2 people, the bill was ~$130 which was very fair for how much we ate and how fantastic the food was.