The Kauai List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
Bar Acuda
Hanalei's institutional Spanish-tapas chef-driven kitchen — Jim Moffat's fifteen-year creative tapas programme with Kauai-fisherman and organic-farmer sourcing.
Tidepools
Grand Hyatt Kauai's institutional flagship — Tidepools's thatched-roof bungalows floating over koi ponds and the most photographed Kauai resort-luxury dining setting.
The Beach House
Lawai Beach's institutional sunset dining — The Beach House's beachfront Pacific-Rim cuisine and the canonical Kauai-south-shore evening.
Merriman's
Peter Merriman's institutional Kauai outpost — the chef who pioneered Hawaii Regional Cuisine in 1988, with 90% locally-sourced ingredients and a multi-level Poipu setting.
Eating House 1849
Roy Yamaguchi's Kauai outpost — Eating House 1849's plantation-themed Hawaii Regional Cuisine and the most reliable mid-tier institutional Kauai dining.
Best for First Date in Kauai
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
Bar Acuda
Hanalei's institutional Spanish-tapas chef-driven kitchen — Jim Moffat's fifteen-year creative tapas programme with Kauai-fisherman and organic-farmer sourcing.
The Beach House
Lawai Beach's institutional sunset dining — The Beach House's beachfront Pacific-Rim cuisine and the canonical Kauai-south-shore evening.
Best for Business Dinner in Kauai
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
Bar Acuda
Hanalei's institutional Spanish-tapas chef-driven kitchen — Jim Moffat's fifteen-year creative tapas programme with Kauai-fisherman and organic-farmer sourcing.
Tidepools
Grand Hyatt Kauai's institutional flagship — Tidepools's thatched-roof bungalows floating over koi ponds and the most photographed Kauai resort-luxury dining setting.
The Top Five in Kauai
Ranked against a single question: if you had one night in Kauai, where would you go?
Bar Acuda
Hanalei's institutional Spanish-tapas chef-driven kitchen — Jim Moffat's fifteen-year creative tapas programme with Kauai-fisherman and organic-farmer sourcing.
Tidepools
Grand Hyatt Kauai's institutional flagship — Tidepools's thatched-roof bungalows floating over koi ponds and the most photographed Kauai resort-luxury dining setting.
The Beach House
Lawai Beach's institutional sunset dining — The Beach House's beachfront Pacific-Rim cuisine and the canonical Kauai-south-shore evening.
Merriman's
Peter Merriman's institutional Kauai outpost — the chef who pioneered Hawaii Regional Cuisine in 1988, with 90% locally-sourced ingredients and a multi-level Poipu setting.
Eating House 1849
Roy Yamaguchi's Kauai outpost — Eating House 1849's plantation-themed Hawaii Regional Cuisine and the most reliable mid-tier institutional Kauai dining.
The Kauai Dining Guide
Kauai is the oldest of the eight main Hawaiian islands — a 1,430-square-kilometre volcanic island with the famous Napali Coast cliffs, the Waimea Canyon (the 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific'), and 70 per cent of the island designated as protected wilderness — and is widely considered the most architecturally distinctive of the Hawaiian islands. The Garden Isle holds about 73,000 year-round residents and runs a quieter, more residential luxury programme than Maui or the Big Island.
The dining is correspondingly serious. Bar Acuda — chef Jim Moffat's 15-year Hanalei Spanish-tapas institution — is the village's most reliable contemporary chef-driven kitchen. Tidepools at Grand Hyatt Kauai runs the most photographed dining-over-koi-ponds programme. Beach House Restaurant runs the canonical Lawai Beach sunset dining. Merriman's Kauai (Peter Merriman's locally-sourced Hawaii regional cuisine programme) runs the institutional anchor. Eating House 1849 Koloa (Roy Yamaguchi) runs the canonical Hawaii regional fusion programme.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
Bar Acuda, Tidepools,