My friends and I dropped by before hiking the circle route near the summit. TLDR: Patio seating 5…read morestars; service 5 stars; food 2 stars. We enjoyed the late summer trees and people watching around the patio. Our server was really funny, speaking French, English, and a splash of Spanish. I originally wanted the beef salad, but he recommended the salmon poke bowl ("deconstructed sushi!") for more vegetables. (He didn't seem to know that poke is Hawaiian and sushi is Japanese, but poke appears often in Asian restaurants in this area.) He was right--the salmon bowl provided lots of crispy raw vegetables, and enough carbs to power me through the hike. The poke was unlike any I've had at an authentic Hawaiian place, though. It was like tuna salad, except instead of canned tuna I got raw or salted salmon (I couldn't tell which). I didn't touch the side sauce, which looked like tartar sauce. The salmon mayonnaise provided plenty of flavor for the vegetables and rice, and I ate the whole thing. My friend's spouse finished his fried rice, another good sign. But my friend didn't like the ramen. She said the broth was flavored with soy sauce and coconut milk--neither Japanese nor Southeast Asian. Her kids didn't finish their pho or pad thai, perhaps because there was too much for them. After tasting both, my friend ended up eating the pad thai.
I'm glad we tried this place. It's a novelty amid the predictable overpriced North American and European food one finds in a touristy area. If I find myself in this area again, I'll probably try someplace else first, though.