The Grove

We’ve eaten here several times. Date night with the husband and a couple of girls nights out. Every time I go I have a great experience! Great food, great service.
Most recently we’ve had two larger dinner parties — my husband surprised me with a birthday dinner over the summer and most recently I coordinated a dinner for a larger group (about 20 initially) of us to celebrate a milestone. Chef Daniel Kim is exceptional, so patient and is involved from the get-​go. I really appreciated his attention to the details and making me feel at ease He was so accommodating and excellent to work with.
I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from eating here wishing I had gone somewhere else.

This place is closed. Not sure if they are ever going to open back up.

I have been here a few times and sadly it just keeps getting worse and worse. The wait staff are wonderful, but the interior needs a serious face lift and they need new staff in the kitchen or someone to help insure better food quality and consistency. I recently dined here with my mom and my prime rib, mashed potatoes and green beans were ok, but her chicken was still frozen in the middle and seriously undercooked. My mom didn’t eat her chicken and they took it off the bill which was nice, but she ended up getting sick later. Last time I was here the friend who ate with me also got sick… I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Usually I am pretty liberal with giving businesses three chances and the brunch menu looks tempting, but I think with conditions the way they are it is just too risky.

I had a nice dinner here with a couple of friends tonight. I ordered the mushroom salad and the earth pizza. I enjoyed both of these dishes very much. The salad wasn’t soaked with dressing and the mushrooms were tender. The earth pizza was tasty. I enjoyed the mixture of mushrooms, watercress, and truffle oil.
I thought our server was wonderful. She went above and beyond to make sure my party and I were taken care of. Thank you.

I really like this place. It is very versatile for different types of occasions. It has what I call a «casually classy» atmosphere. Whether you want to come to their «Shady Hours» (happy hour) and have some drinks and light pupus after work, or enjoy a romantic dressy dinner date, or just have a casual nice dinner with a group of friends, this place will always be a perfect choice. The prices can be a bit higher than other choices in Kailua, but the food and drinks are definitely worth it. Their poke is spot-​on, probably the best in Kailua, if not the entire island of Oahu. They have live music many evenings and they have a great outdoor covered lanai to sit comfortably with friends and drinks. If you are visiting Hawaii, this is definitely a go-​to place for the locals, and you will see why. Love The Grove!

Went for happy hour and was pleasantly surprised! Food and drinks were delicious and well priced. $ 5 happy hour drinks included most domestic beers and a variety of martinis. Chicken tenders ($ 7) were juicy and meaty, served with crispy fries. Steamed clams ($ 7) were heavenly in a rich garlic n herb sauce (wish we had a loaf of bread to mop up it up with!). Sautéed mushrooms ($ 6) also a hit. Garlic fries ($ 5) were perfection served with pesto, wasabi and some kind of cheese. I would skip the cheese and ask for an extra pesto instead.
Live music (Kawika Kahiapo) was very nice and added a lively atmosphere to the place. I will definitely be going back and bringing friends with me!

Arrived at 4.10pm ordered our food and drinks by 420pm no one else at the restaurant… They ask us to move to another table because «we gonna get super busy» well were only going to be 30
Minutes. Server didn’t like that. Well got rained on and had to move back to table we were originally at… well it’s 446pm and we are handing over our credit card guess what the are two other 2 other tables occupied right now.2 so rude I hate it when restaurants do that. Poke and fries are good. As is Brussel sprout salad. But just not great customer service. Server was pleasant but hate that we were asked to move during open seating. #seethebiggerpicture.

A friend and I ate here last night and got the poke shooters, Earth flatbread, and deconstructed s’more with a side of vanilla ice cream. We split everything, which was a good idea, especially for the s’more because it was really sweet and if we each took our own (with the ice cream) we both probably wouldn’t have been able to finish it. All three dishes were good! The poke and Earth flatbread were full of flavor and the s’more was just like a regular s’more.
The service was fast: Our waiter was really upbeat.
We’re gonna come back here and try the cheesecake.

I suggest that diners go here for some appetizers and drinks rather than main meals. I’ve been here a few times, and the entrees are overpriced and not that good. Thus, I deem 3 stars for this place. The appetizers however, are pretty good and also good for sharing. :)
Steamed Manila Clams: very good, broth is tasty
Ahi Poke: fancy kine, got some kind of chili gelee.
Warm Brussels sprouts salad is sooo good! A must have even for non Brussels sprouts people like my husband!
Thursdays are 25% off for military. :)
Stick with the small plates and you’ll be a happy camper. :D

Oh, only 3.5 star average. You misleading fool, you.
To the woman that sat next to us and proceeded to stare at my plate while I finished the very last bite of salmon and sweet potato: make note that I did see the incredulous look you gave my bf as you left. Guess what? I went to eat ice cream afterwards. So there.
This meal was beyond anything I’d ever expected to get from this restaurant. Walked in and was completely blown away by the menu — the menu on open table and maybe even Unilocal are outdated so don’t get stuck on anything you HAVE to have. They’ve got a ton of drink selection, unless you’re looking for a Japanese beer (they don’t have any).
I ordered the togarashi crusted salmon, which was terribly good. It came with sweet potato and edamame which was excellent. My only complaint about my meal was that there wasn’t enough of the delicious sauce. Truly a great dish. Bf got the 5-​spice braised short ribs, and it was also just as good as the salmon. It was very soft and flavorful.
Definitely worth the price and the drive.

Here’s another one of those hit & miss places
Starters we came here because we purchased a coupon. Okay in all honesty my fiancé bought the coupon and he did at the end pay for this bill…
We ordered fries with parmesan cheese and fried procuitto. Fries were okay, but the fried procuitto was a real disappointment. I think they should 86 the procuitto from the fries too overrated. We also ordered kalua nachos with sour cream (I think it’s sour cream). wow Turns out it’s pulled pork sweetened placed on four squares of nachos and topped with scallions. I ate to pieces so I don’t think it was all that bad. Neat idea though placing them on a nice size nacho chip.
My fiancé ordered two lobster tails on bed of garlic mash potatos and we weren’t impressed at all. Lobster was under cooked and his place didn’t have enough color. I was screaming a few greens please!!!
I ordered the rib eye and for a few minutes I thought that this blob of a thing was mashed potato on my steak. Hahahaha it as my mistake because it was butter. But when I placed it on my steak it took sometime before it resembled «melted butter». I didn’t eat it all because I was disappointed in the steak.
BUT!!! There is dessert!
Ah where do I start, this crem brulee had the perfect table appearance and it tasted as good as it looked. OMG I have never had such a great crème brûlée before. The custard has a twist to it that I didn’t find in others (vanilla beans were visible). The texture of that creaminess’ on your tongue will leave you wanting another serving. I will compare everyone else’s to this place from now on.
I’d go back just for this dessert alone.

Cute, a little hipster style. I came by to grab some pupus before physical therapy. I had The Grove Fries with prosciutto, salami, Parmesan and truffle oil. I ordered the Aioli Trio: sun-​dried tomato, creamy Mac nut pesto, and furikake and wasabi. Super good! I loved the pesto the most.
I came on a Wednesday Happy Hour when their martinis are $ 5. The cucumber lychee saketini. Quant little cucumber taste, a tad sweet with the lychee, and a sake after taste. Super yummy! Perfectly balanced.
I love the indoor/​outdoor bar feel. Reminded me of Novaks in StL on a weekend afternoon.

TIP — MAKE A RESERVATION!
I had a half-​off certificate that was pushing expiration and we went last-​minute. I’d heard that it gets crowded, but thought we’d be safe on a Sunday at 5pm. Nope! They were already completed booked up. Although it appeared relatively empty, the hostess said all the tables were already reserved. She said we could sit at the bar outside (already full) or inside. Since we had driven all the way to Kailua from town to go to this restaurant, we opted for the inside bar. The hostess hadn’t mentioned that it was right in front of the kitchen and the beautiful wood-​fire oven. It was HOT people, HOT. I did not need that sweater I’d brought along in case it got chilly. I needed a bikini, a fan, and a cold drink. ;-)
The server arrived immediately and apologized for the hot seats. She quickly brought us waters and took our drink orders. The chefs who were working right in front of us were friendly and gave us a generous sample of the seared beef poke — it was good. The beef was a little on the low-​end (like they used the ends from the steaks), but had a good, salty, shoyu flavor. The chili pepper gelee (like a spicy jello!) was odd, but interesting. During dinner the chef also slid us some garlic cheese bread, which we barely touched because we already had so much food, but it was yummy. The house bread was good too and was served with a really tasty tomato-​relish kind of thing.
I ordered the kiawe grilled vegetable terrine (I’d always wanted to try a terrine — they are so pretty!) and the kalua pork sliders with fries. The terrine was pretty good, but a little hard to eat (it slides apart when you try to cut it). The highlight of the dish was the kabocha pumpkin purée and the Okinawan sweet potato purée along the sides of the terrine. Sooooo delicious. If no one was looking I would have certainly licked the plate! The sliders and fries were really tasty and made a good lunch the next day (too much food!).
My BF got the prime rib. I’m not into large cuts of meat like that, but he really enjoyed it. The mashed potatoes were good, and the veggie medley was okay. He also had the soup of the day, which was a seafood chowder. He said it just tasted like yesterday’s leftovers, but liked it well enough (I’m all for using up leftovers!).
So overall, aside from the heat, it was a great experience and I would definitely try this place again (with a reservation!).

My most recent visit to The Grove just left me with a bad taste… quite literally.
I dislike being negative in my reviews; I mostly like to point out positive things in my review rather than make the focal point wholly negative… But in this particular case, I just don’t understand what the heck happened here. I’d been to this restaurant before, a few years ago when it first opened and I remember being impressed by both the food and the service. But this time, both categories seemed to be lacking. A part of me wants to chalk it up to poor ordering choices, but with the prices they charge for an entrée (upwards of $ 25), I don’t think there should even be a «bad» choice on the menu.
There are ample parking choices available: there’s a structure located behind the restaurant that has metered parking stalls (weird, because you have to feed them even at night/​sundays), or there is also plenty of street parking nearby (which is free at night/​sundays). The restaurant has both outside and indoor seating, and bunch of nifty counter seats at the bar.
The complementary bread was definitely the highlight of the meal. The bread was crusty and delicious paired with the accompanying tomato mash/​salsa. Really light and addicting!
While I’d normally flip over lobster risotto or ribs, I felt like something light and opted for the Kiawe Grilled Fresh Island Fish ($ 29). Fresh fish shouldn’t smell fishy! But this one did; the smell lingered before the server even put the plate down on the table! Overall, the filet of fish was salty on the outside but bland on the inside, and extremely rubbery in some parts. No amount of sauce could save it. The veggie medley that topped the fish was unremarkable – even the onions in it were undercooked and still had a bit of a crunch to them. The garlic butter orzo was buttery, but lacked any hints of other flavor. This was an extremely disappointing dish.
We also ordered a few desserts to share. The chocolate cake was good but unremarkable. It was rich, dense, and paired very well with coffee. The portion size was generous though, and perfect for any chocolate lover! On the other hand, the bread pudding was just meh. While other reviewers seemed to rave over this dessert, the one that we got seems bear more of a resemblance to croutons rather than bread pudding. Enjoyed the taste, but way too dry to be categorized as bread pudding.
Service was just OK. The restaurant wasn’t really even hoppin’, but they clearly seemed shorthanded. Food took a long time to arrive, and at one point a server plopped down someone else’s take out order on our table while he was dropping off some of our food. That was a weird «first» for me.
While The Grove has some redeeming qualities, there were way too many missteps during my most recent dinner visit to warrant a return trip anytime soon. I feel like they market themselves as an upscale restaurant, and charge $$$ prices, but the food nor the service are up there yet in that caliber. Not worth it.

What a WOW experience! My boyfriend and I visited this place during a date night — enabled by our $ 25 for $ 50 deal. To really enjoy a variety of dishes, we ordered a bunch of appetizers to share instead of ordering the entrees, which actually didn’t seem too vegetarian-​friendly or «appetizing.» Our dining adventures for the night:
— Assorted cheese and charcuterie — The cheeses were delectable as was the baba ghanoush. I let the boyfriend take care of the meaty stuff. In addition the meat and cheese, there were dried cranberries, walnuts, and olives (I believe) to add some different flavors.
— Kiawe grilled vegetable terrine — This dish was the winner of best presentation out of our veggie orders. It was sufficiently good. Next time I will try it warm rather than cool.
— Grove sweet potato fries with the three dips — We specified to have this one veggie style. Our server suggested sweet potato fries, one up from the regular potato fries. The three dips (cost a bit extra) make it — Sun-​Dried Tomato, Creamy Macadamia Nut Pesto, Furikake & Wasabi.
— Kiawe grilled hamakua mushroom blend — The ingredients were garlic, demi glaze, red wine reduction. By far, this dish was the highlight of the evening — probably the best mushrooms I remember having in my life! The amazing flavor! My boyfriend brilliantly thought of putting something similar over mashed potatoes.
— Warm Brussel sprouts salad — We requested veggie style. I wasn’t expecting the Brussel sprouts coming out like salad with individual leaves instead of the usual halved or quartered.
Amazing dining experience. Unfortunately no room for dessert! Next time!

So after a year or two of The Grove making it’s debut in Kailua I had high expectations. The 4 stars and rave reviews got my taste buds really excited to check out this cute little restaurant in Kailua.
The restaurant was pretty busy for 8pm on a Tuesday night. We sat by the door so it was a bit warm especially with the heat from the recess lighting.
The Ahi Poke was amazing. Tasty. Great mixture of the textures from the Ahi and the crushed Macadamia nuts. Best thing we had that evening.
Hamakura Mushroom Salad was so so. Nothing to rave over.
Grove fries were nice and tasty! Fresh, crispy and thin… just the way I like my fries. Truffle oil wasn’t too prevalent in our batch but the dipping sauces really made up for it.
They were out of Manila Clams so that eliminated about 2 dishes off their menu. Keep in mind that the menu is not that extensive. So I was limited on the choices of what I found appealing at that moment. Friend of mine ordered the Catch of the day which was Opah and that was tasty and Delish. The fish was moist and savoury. The fish was served over a bed of Orzo and with a side of cooked veggies. I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon because I couldn’t resist how good some of you Unilocaler’s pictures. I’d say it was great because it was served with a ton of cooked veggies including Sea Asparagus and also some Fingerling Potatoes. But if I had to rate the dish I’d say it was «mediocre.»
This place is okay but def not worth the drive to Kailua. There are a ton of great places in Kailua that I think I would overall prefer to dine.

I was first introduced to The Grove via Unilocal during a kick off party for Passport to Kailua. So, thank you Unilocal for helping me find my favorite restaurant!
I’ve been back several times since that first visit and The Grove hasn’t disappointed me yet. The first return visit I came with my husband and we just had drinks on their lovely outside patio area. This is probably my favorite area of the restaurant because you can just really chill out, relax and take in the wonderful Hawaii weather while sipping a delicious cocktail. This last visit I was with a group of ladies and we sat inside by the HUGE fish tank and had a lovely dinner.
Daniel Kim is the GM of The Grove and he’s super rad! He remembers your name and makes you feel extremely welcomed when he sees you. It’s people like Daniel who really do make a restaurant worth coming back to. He was also kind enough to send over a lovely, and delicious, cheese plate to our group. What a nice gesture, seriously.
The food there is fabulous. I’ve tried the brussel sprout salad (my personal fav.), the braised short ribs (OMG!!!) and the clams and linguine pasta, the Grove fries and lemme tell you, it’s all mouth watering. Usually I don’t take home leftovers if I’ve had seafood, but the linguine was still delicious.
I’m so glad that The Grove is so close to my house because I see myself being a frequent visitor here. It’s definitely a gem in Kailua!

Another successful Groupon discovery with The Grove!
Grilled Hamakua Mushroom Salad — Simple and yum! A little over-​dressed, but definitely recommended for mushroom lovers.
Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad — Also yum! The pancetta and macadamia nuts bring a fun crispy texture, and the creaminess of the chevre with the tart burst of cranberry comes together quite nicely.
Maine Lobster Risotto — This dish reminds me of a comforting and homey Kailua version of Azure’s Kona lobster risotto. It’s very rich, but the sweet corn and tomatoes really help to balance things out, and I just love the crunch of tangly sea asparagus in creamy risotto. The lobster was a little salty and chewy, but oh well. My bf thought this dish was to buttery and heavy, but that didn’t stop him from finishing my leftovers.
Braised Beef Short Ribs — Oh, I get it, it’s like a spiffy version of laulau with poi and lomi salmon! At first I thought the sweet potato purée was a too sweet and the lomi salmon tomato on top was out of place, but after trying all of the components of the dish together, it totally makes sense and it’s really cool and delicious.
Unfortunately, they ran out of the bread pudding dessert that night. Otherwise, service was outstanding. It’s a little spendy, but the overall quality of the food was worth it, and it’s Kailua. Go figure.
Is it worth the arduous drive to Kailua for a townie? Honestly, no. Don’t get me wrong, the food at The Grove is good, but there are a lot of other great establishments in town around the same price point. However, if I find myself on that side, I think it’s a great spot for a nice relaxing dinner.

I never knew this place existed! Thank you, SS and Groupon! Hah. If it weren’t for my SS purchasing the Groupon and suggesting this place for one of our dinner dates, I would have missed out on some great eats!
Steamed Manila Clams ($ 13)
Sumida Watercress, grape tomatoes, gremolata, roasted garlic.
Loved the whole roasted garlic, which our server squeezed over the clams.
Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad ($ 13 full)
with crispy pancetta, macadamia nuts, dried cranberries, chevre, and Big Island honey champagne vinaigrette.
I don’t think I’ve ever had Brussels Sprouts like this before — broken apart like lettuce. It was a nice twist! The chevre was a delicious addition and the cranberries added the right pop of sweet.
Roast Leg of Duck Confit ($ 19; +$ 9 for another leg)

Ewa sweet cream corn and a balsamic reduction.
I added another leg for an additional charge. The leg was perfectly cooked and tender. Loved the balsamic reduction bc, well, balsamic is friggin’ tasty! I would order this again.
Kiawe Grilled Lamb Chops ($ 34)

Accompanied by a vegetable medley and romesco sauce.
I love lamb, so this was a guaranteed win.
As for seating, there’s both indoor and outdoor dining options. And on Tuesdays, which is when we went, there’s a special promo called «Tapas Tuesdays.» Tapas Tuesdays features special tapas and live music. :) It was loud, but everyone seemed to be having a grand time.
VERDICT
Overall, it’s a go. I’m a fan and I can’t wait to go back. Great for a casual dinner with friends or the fam, but also a nice (and fun) date option.

I need to caveat this review with the fact that we came here from some wine tasting at oeno, and my taste buds may have had wine goggles on them, but this was some seriously DELICIOUS food.
We ordered manila clams with garlic based on the recommendation of the waiter. I am so glad we took his advice. We were slurping up the garlic sauce with bread long after the clams were gone. My husband had the lobster risotto. I’ll be honest. I can barely remember what I ate because the lobster risotto was THAT good. It was creamy with good chunks of lobster. I had the fresh island fish, which I believe was a mahi mahi. It was delicious, but not memorable compared to the fish prepared all over the island. Definitely overshadowed by the lobster risotto.
Although you can walk in, as always if you can get a reservation, do so. I wish we could have had a table outside. It was a beautiful evening. The décor on the inside is a little «cookie cutter.» I think they could spend some dollars updating the upholstery and wall artwork. You won’t be looking at the walls though, you should be looking at your lobster risotto!