We had such a lovely evening at pai Honolulu. The ambiance, service and food were all on point. Open kitchen concept with a few other tables makes for an intimate dining experience. Desmond and Laurel were super helpful with menu suggestions and all around great service. We enjoyed everything we ate and drank and highly recommend pa read more

The service here is stellar, 10 stars for service if I could! I've been to many fine dining establishments, and compared to the best ones from Vegas, San Francisco, to London and Lisbon, this was at the very top. Servers were friendly, polite, humble, available, but not over-bearing. The ambiance was beautiful, the kitchen is open, the decor is elegant, and the presentation is beautiful. The food (5-course) itself did not blow me away, especially because the day before I had an incredibly delicious meal at Senia (though this is a totally different style of food). Great place for a date night! read more

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Gorgeous restaurant with items that seem simple but have such a unique taste! Justine and her staff are incredible and so accommodating. Will definitely return when I'm in the mood for a sophisticated atmosphere :) read more

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PAI was a great experience! Perfect for a celebration or just a nice date night out Service: amazing, thorough and attentive. Food: Everything was delicious! For appetizers we had the Crab and avocado, Candied Beets, Pasta: we had both! Entrees: Shitake Confit, tasted like a deconstructed amazing pizza, and Scallops, Scallops were amazing and perfectly cooked. read more

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Definitely recommend Very well paired menu 4 coarse menu with wine pairing Service was pleasant The restaurant setting is cozy feel Not ultra noisy like some other places. read more

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I cannot say enough wonderful things about Pai and the staff at Pai. Justine helped us create a wonderful wine tasting menu for our sons graduation with a party of 16. The food was amazing and paired with wine perfectly. Thanks to the chef and Christian for service that was on point. Justine assisted with many details to make the night memorable. Highly recommend! read more

PAI Honolulu - Wine tasting dinner. - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

A for effort but certain things were amiss. 1st- it was great that they have parking but the path for parking is like driving up a corkscrew to the 5th floor. Take your motion sickness pills or ginger! This is not a place where you will be tempted to drink and drive. 2nd- Ambiance. The facade of the restaurant is nice and welcoming but the lighting while dining outdoors in the courtyard of this office building is like an airport with bright lights beaming down. 3rd- while I appreciate security and being escorted, it's a lil odd and inconvenient when you have this for going to the restroom. 4th- food/drinks were all atfully presented including the smoke infused cocktail i ordered. However the bao BBQ brisket needed more sauce and veggies. Seemed like a thick slice of meat with a scant line of red sauce. The Hamachi fish was decent. Curried salad was good but beware if you don't like spicy salads. read more

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I had a wonderful time eating at PAI for the holidays thanks to my vendor who always treats me to a great year end meal each year. The last time I had the privilege of eating at this restaurant was, ironically, when Yelp elites were invited by Justine and Chef Kevin Lee for their soft opening (6 years ago?). I remember both the food tastings and drinks we were treated to at the time being equally great. I'm happy to say nothing has changed (except the menu). PAI is still serving us delicious and carefully curated dishes and beverage pairings that excite the palette with their amazing creative flavors. We both ordered from the prix fixe menu, which comes with chef's buttermik & cornbread with honey-miso butter for your starter. Choose from sets of appetizers, pasta, entree, and dessert. And if you're feeling up for it, add on the wine pairing for an additional $45. I must admit I didn't realize when we chose to add the wine it was for each individual course, so 4 wines total (for some reason I thought it was just 1 wine for the whole meal). I had ordered a cocktail to warm me up (the Tutu Mele) and had been nursing that until my food arrived. Regardless, i love happy surprises and the wine selection here is worth it and paired exceptionally well with each course! Each of the dishes were portioned perfectly so you're ready for the next course and not overly full. Here were my selections from the prix fixe menu: Appetizer-Crab & Avocado/ Wine pairing- Gruet Brut sparkling wine Pasta Course-Pork, foie gras & black bean agnolotti/ Wine pairing- Matanzas Creek chardonnay Entrée Course-Chermoula salmon/ Wine pairing- Maison L'envoye Fleurie Dessert Course-Vanilla custard Japanese sweet bread french toast/ Wine pairing- Broadbent Madeira-Boal The crab and avo salad dish really set the bar high for the rest of the following courses. The appetizer and pasta dishes would have to be my favorite though; super flavorful and cooked perfectly. I'd like to say that the entrée course was good, yet simple. My dessert course reminded me of bread pudding and was a great choice if you like that texture in your dessert. My vendor said his meal was the best he's had in a long time. His standouts were the Warm Autumn Salad, Katsu Curry and Dark Chocolate Molten Brownie. His mushroom entree may have been tailored more for someone who loves mushrooms, but for his preferences he would have gone with a heartier meat-dish like the pork shoulder instead, since eating mushrooms and cauliflower for a main dish was not as filling as he'd liked. Service here was also excellent and just added to our great dining experience. Our server was so gracious and friendly and very knowledgable of the wine pairings he introduced to us. Located in Harbor Court building, they have parking available in the building and they do validate (flat rate $3 after 5pm). Everything from the flavor profiles and experience you receive here is definitely worth it. If you are planning a special occasion, call ahead to reserve and they will even personalize your menus for the event! Thanks again to the awesome staff at PAI for making our holiday dinner so incredible! read more

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Wow, we were really looking forward to a delicious meal in a cozy restaurant! Sadly, we didn't have either. First, we were told the mushroom lasagna AND the curry bolognese was sold out by 9pm on Valentine's Day (which we were later told, "there's 'suddenly' one last piece of the lasagna..." -queue mixed feelings), and then it took two hours to get our main courses. The food was good... but I just can't imagine going back after waiting that long. I even felt empathetic with our wait staff who apologized several times. Overall, I wish our experience was better, but our valentines dinner ended up being exhausting just waiting for our food. Although, at least the people watching was somewhat entertaining, aka, watching everyone else watching for their food. There was a really cool smoky drink with great presentation. It was the PBNJ one. Wish I took a picture, but I was too excited to waft the smoke and try it. It tasted like a refreshing old fashioned. read more

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My daughter was taking us out for an early Father's Day dinner on Saturday night and she decided upon trying PAI. She was a classmate of the chef's wife and they had just celebrated their 1 year anniversary since opening so had high expectations. First of all, for everyone (like me) who hasn't been to downtown lately and thought this place might be in the old Palomino's location on the 3rd floor of Harbor Court....it's not. They are located on the street (or as they call it the Plaza) level fronting Queen Street facing the inside courtyard. Parking is in the bldg. and was only $2.50 flat rate. I had looked over the menu online and was sooo wanting to enjoy their food....not that I was particularly disappointed but I wasn't especially overwhelmed either (sorry to my daughter). Please don't get the wrong idea, the food is good, very trendy and upscale; I just feel that at the price point and level of what I had expected, it didn't quite deliver based on what we had ordered. First of all on the plus side,the service was excellent. There were 4 of us seating at 8pm and as first-timers, it took a little while to get acquainted with their menu, even though we had looked it over online. The wait staff were very on-pointe and knowledgeable about their food and wine. They took the time to explain the food items as they were served and except for a couple of missteps, had everything down pat. I give them a 9.5 out of 10 stars. It felt comparable to the service at Tom Colicchio's Craft or Gordon Ramsey's London restaurants in LA. The restaurant was also fairly accommodating with our order, allowing us to order one prix fixe dinner with a wine pairing while still ordering other items ala carte; although they would not let us order their potato appetizer separately even though it was normally available on their "bar" menu. I had thought about the chef's tasting menu but felt it was just too much food (we had a 9 course tasting menu at Valentino at the Venetian in Las Vegas and were full after the 6th course!). I had felt the prix fixe would give us a good feel for what their overall food theme would provide. We also ordered several appetizers such as their sampler bites platter (much like an amuse bouche - fairly complex, one bite morsels of tasty goodness; our favorite was the citrus cured salmon and the dry-aged beef tartare), oysters (awesome - small but very fresh and sweet), double cut bacon (also very good - smoky, salty with a slight sourness from the tamarind citrus glaze), Kolea salad (fresh, crisp greens with a schmeer of ricotta which was tasty and similarly used in several dishes), and crab risotto (this was our least favorite - a bit lacking in overall flavor and the consistency was a bit underdone). The prix fixe menu apparently changes regularly and on this night it was 5 courses that I wish I could say were memorable....but I can't. Maybe because the first course came out 15 minutes after the wine pairing was poured, lol. I do remember it included a house-made, fresh "udon-style" pasta dish - just okay. Plating was outstanding, with beautiful touches such as edible flowers and such - but they didn't add any taste to the dishes so could really have been left off with more attention paid to the taste of the dish itself. Overall it was a nice experience, especially to spend it with family and we were definitely full when we left. The food dishes were probably more hits than misses but in my (never to be humble) opinion for the price tag, it should be the other way around. Definitely great service and I'd give it another try but with different dishes. In a nutshell, PAI is a very trendy, foodie style place with top notch service. The food is a bit hit and miss for the price but still a must try. I give it a 3.5 (3 for food, 4.5 for service). read more

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PAI is now one of my favorite restaurants in all of Oahu! The food is so delicious and very inventive! The foie gras pate... oh my! So good we needed a spoon to lick it dry. The adobo head pasta was so creamy and had an Indian flare to it. The Naw Mai Gai was definitely different and I loved the sticky rice inside. Huge shout out to our server! The most genuinely sweet person and so passionate when he described the food. I like to try new restaurants and rarely like to repeat anything. Must make an exception for PAI! read more

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I'm so pleased I got to visit PAI for restaurant week 2017. Their 4 course menu for $55 was well composed and beautifully presented. Located in the harbor court building, parking is $3 flat rate for self-park. We made reservations easily via opentable. Inside is very simplistic, clean, modern, with an open kitchen. First course: XO taro puff. A classic dim sum dish, perfectly crispy on the outside with a soft taro filling. The horseradish creme fraiche was light and a great accompaniment. Second course: Warm mushroom and bussels sprout salad. Crisp brussels sprout leaves were mixed with persimmon and slightly tangy shimeji mushrooms. The real star was the parsnip puree, which was velvety and tasty. Third course: Lobster risotto. Now this was anything but your average risotto. My favorite course of the night. The pumpkin risotto was mixed w/ actual pumpkin seeds, small cubes of pumpkin, shrimp, ginger, and topped with a perfectly cooked hunk of lobster tail. The fresh mix of herbs gave a brightness and I loved the addition of some shiso. Dessert: Spiced yam cobbler. Pieces of apple, jicama, yam baked and served warm w/ a scoop of marshmallow gelato. It was just plain good and not overly sweet. Overall, PAI truly impressed me by elevating dishes I have had before. They kept the familiar flavors but also introduced unique textures and tastes. Each dish was crafted thoughtfully and looked as good as it tasted. The chef's table sounds great, interaction with the chefs while they prepare a 10 course meal. I'll have to save it for a special occasion, but definitely would go back. read more

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Such a beautiful place with great ambiance and staff! They're we're super welcoming to my group that accidentally got our reservation time wrong and still sat sus right away. The prefix menu was great and everything was nicely plated. I did the wine pairing as well and really enjoyed listening to the history and how much the sommelier knew about the wines. Love this place! read more

PAI Honolulu - Ginger snapper - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Best restaurant in Oahu, opened in June 2017. Sleek and modern, half the restaurant is bar seating for a sort of chef's table feel, so you can watch the kitchen in action. Bar is only the chef's tasting menu at $135/pp, while tables offer a more affordable tasting menu (I think ~$65/pp?) in addition to the chef's menu. Highly suggest sitting at the chef's bar, as the chef himself was serving us. Menu changes at least seasonally but often twice a season (per our server). Purse baskets provided. Restroom is clean but in the neighboring office building, and you enter with a fob. Chef's tasting menu ($135): Amuse bouche - Kauai shrimp with pickled cucumbers and salmon roe in chili water. Um, YUM! XO Agedashi turnip cake - chef's spin on a dim sum turnip cake. Covered in crispy daikon (?) and topped with smoked fish in a ti leaf broth. If turnip cake tasted like that at dim sum, I would order it. Slight spiciness was great. Truffled egg chawanmushi - I was looking forward to this dish, however it was the only one to disappoint. With the name of chawanmushi, I expected a softer more silky texture, but this was basically tasty scrambled eggs. May have just been overlooked slightly, but flavors were still good. Tiny foie gras cannoli - dipped in cacao nibs. Love the new way to serve cold foie gras (unlike most other restaurants' PB&J spins). Grilled yam tortellini - thanksgiving in a bowl, complete with pickled cranberries, sourdough croutons (stuffing), smoked hen (turkey). Loved the flavors of bacon and lop cheung. Rich dish. Black cod - miso glazed, with beets, green apples, and spicy cumin salt on the side. Star of the night. Fish was perfectly cooked--fall-apart, melt-in-your-mouth tender. Butternut squash spiced gelato - so many spices: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, all-spice. Interesting but not my cup of tea; hubby loved it. Chocolate haupia - with almond cookie crumble and Lilikoi sauce. Nice and chocolatey, more creamy and dense than your typical haupia. Sweet bites: butter mochi, dark chocolate with sea salt caramel, and likikoi jelly candy. That lilikoi jelly candy--wow. Make sure this is your last bite. Better than most of the 1, 2, and 3 Michelin Star restaurants that we've been to in SF and NY, including Atelier Crenn and Eleven Madison Park. May be because of the heavy Asian influence and my appreciation of the flavor profile and spices, but this is a must if you're in Oahu--make a reservation! read more

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they have reopened for dine in services! BUT theyre still doing take home kits too! got the fathers day kit this past weekend because hello, HOTDOGS! still love that everything about their food is home made. house made smoked pork and bacon sausages in a house made bun, topped with house made cheddar & light lager beer cheese, with an onion/pepper/garlic topping, accompanied by house made kettle chips! the house bleu cheese dressing was seriously to die for. since i didnt eat it all with the wedge salad i kept the rest in my fridge to use later. it is THAT good that you cannot waste any of it! super easy to cook too, mostly just reheating. also had to get the popcorn, because seriously, if you havent had it, you are missing out! sausage was huge, and with all the topping, almost too difficult to eat with your hands. but im a professional lol. my friend however had to resort to using a fork and knife because everything was just overflowing! the 4+ oz sausage however was a little too big and too flavorful, only in that you lost the taste of the amazing bread. kettle chips were amazing, and soo soo crunchy! even after a few days they still havent gotten soggy. and taste great when you dip them in the beer cheese! ALSO! they just partnered up with Lokahi Market, a kailua farmers market thats open on sundays 9-2p. visit the LKM website to preorder kevins amazing breads!! this weekend will be their first week there! read more

PAI Honolulu - Fathers day take home kit - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Simply put, this is the very best meal I have had in the last 2+ years. It may be the very best meal I have ever had. We were lucky enough to get reservations here on our honeymoon and after eating here, I don't know how we are supposed to enjoy any other food on the island. Chef Lee provided so many smooth transitions between American, Korean, Japanese, Thai And Chinese cuisines and did so seamlessly. The textures were outrageous And this staff brought the meal to another level. I can see a Michellin star in their future and wouldn't be surprised to hear that Chef Lee is a James Beard finalist or recipient in the future. The next time I am fortunate enough to eat here, I expect that the secret will be out and his kitchen staff will have we quadrupled to keep up with demand. I remain so incredibly satisfied with everything presented tonight. Outrageous and outstanding still don't fully award the experience of our meal this evening. This is my new, Last Meal. Thank you to Pai chefs, servers, bar tenders and everyone between. read more

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New fine dining tasting menu spot we had mixed feelings about. 4.5 stars Food: 4, Service: 3, Atmosphere: 3 Cost to worth it rating: 3 (10 course tasting for $135) Return worthiness: probably not Highlights: - 5 spice pork belly: nice chunk of meat with tasty Asian flavors. 4.5 stars - Escargot congee: unique mix of french and Asian--somehow managed to genuinely maintain both flavors. Came risotto style instead of a rice soup. 4 stars - Coconut panna cotta with abalone: light start with lychee and coconut water and a tiny sliver of abalone. 3.5 stars - Beet salad: nice variety and semi circle plating yet pretty standard. 3 stars - Dessert course came with a nice rum on the rocks if you got the pairings. - Pretty plating: from the actual plates to how they were arranged on the plate. - Little hospitality things: gave me a basket to put my purse under my chair and customized my menu with my name and happy birthday for my dad Midlights: - Dishes sounded great but most were just ok - Foie cannoli: sounded cool but greasy and not much flavor. 2.75 stars - Atmosphere: like that it's small so you feel like you're at a private party almost and an open kitchen but the lighting was too glaringly blight like a cafeteria - Ordering confusion: waitress said you can mix and match and we were thinking pick items if each but its that you can order 1 of each tasting menu Lowlights: - Bathroom in another building: you have to get a key and a person to show you the way which isn't very convenient Wanted to like it but I was underwhelmed. So many good spots to try in Honolulu. read more

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Surprisingly tucked away in what looks like the lobby of an office building, this spot skews towards the higher end for dinner service. Was able to book a dinner reservation for two people on a Thursday night without any trouble. Ended up doing the prix-fixe special ($95 each) since then we'd be able to share almost every dish they had. By course: Pre-appetizer - a delicious cornbread served with miso butter. Light and fluffy so it was hard to spread the butter but great flavor together. Appetizer - Kampachi; a mix of fruit, avocado mousse, and greens on the thinly sliced fish. Refreshing and easy to eat. Romaine Caesar; pretty large for an appetizer salad, basic and delicious. Pasta - Risotto; mixed with curry, beets, and chili. Reminiscent of similar Indian dishes. Foie Gras/Pork Agnolotti; looks like a stuffed ravioli dish, more of the pork comes through than the liver, cheese on top is nice. Entree - Thai Curry Stew; root vegetables and mushrooms weren't cooked down well enough, so was hard to finish. Pork Shoulder; a few chunks of meat with sauteed veggies. Meat itself was a highlight, vegetables could have been seasoned more. Dessert - Molten Brownie; amazing dark chocolate paired with peanut butter crumble. Japanese French Toast; custard and shoyu syrup soaked slice of French toast. Melts in your mouth and not overly sweet. Service here is great and we were assured on the vegetarian dishes. Definitely a splurge of a meal, but if not drinking too much then it's reasonable for a very nice night out. read more

PAI Honolulu - Dark Chocolate Molten Brownie - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Service was excellent. Everyone was nice . It's a Casual atmosphere restaurant although Food are fancy. read more

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Wow. The chef tasting menu was on point. We tried a lot course menu before from previous restaurant. But this place really top it off. This place really knows what they are doing. The food itself is very exquisite and really thought out. The chef really thinks outside the box on creating some awesome dish. Who would've thought foie gras for dessert would taste amazing. Kudos to the chef and amazing staff for a great service... read more

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We like to go with a big party so we can order a lot and sample everything. There were six of us. I want to say we nearly tried half the menu. This is one of those restaurants that likes to be innovative and tries to bring a twist to old and tired menu choices. I do often appreciate that as I dine out almost every night of the week and am ALWAYS looking for something "different". My rave of the evening was the risotto. Hands down, that was one of my favorite risottos I've ever had. The rest of the dishes though were tough to love. I have to say that am perplexed by all of the 4 and 5 star reviews. While the dishes were innovative, many of the combinations of food and spices and whatnot that were put together just did not do it for me. It didn't make me go, "WOW! I need to come back for this again!", it actually made me go, "Hmmm....? Hmmmm...? Hmmm.....?" The service was excellent. They had everyone from the wait staff to the hostess to the chef himself bringing our food out to us. Most impressive was the hostess to did an amazing job describing what she was setting down in front of us to devour. read more

Who doesn't like PAI? If you've followed me on social media, you know this is clearly a place I've been dying to try since I first laid ears on it. I know the Chef and owners very well, however what I'm about to share is thoughtful, truthful, and hopefully helpful to those who are yearning to try something uniquely delish here on Oahu. The etymology of PAI is two-fold: Its principle derivation is from the Hawaiian word "ho'opai", meaning "to uplift, inspire". But it also means "plate" in Mandarin, quite apropos stemming from Chef Kevin's Chinese ancestry. PAI is nestled in Harbor Court on the ground floor in the main atrium. Parking and security were intentionally afforded to their guests: two factors that I strongly applaud considering all the pop-up eateries in Downtown that seem to lack both. If you're zipping down Ala Moana Blvd/Nimitz, take a right on Bethel St and the parking structure is to your right. If you're making your way from the freeway, head down Nuuanu and turn on Merchant St to snag street parking, or hook around back onto Bethel. From there, you'll be greeted by the hostess awaiting you at the front door. PAI is quickly evolving. As of now, dining is strictly a set menu featuring 5-courses at $65/head. For some top notch wine pairing, add $40. To get an even grander experience, the Chef's Tasting is a 7-course spread at $135, plus $65 for pairings. But give it a month or so, and all that may change. Chef Kevin has many aces up his sleeve, including his mighty XO sauce filled with complex pleasures of the palate, and his famous salmon crostini on ikura featured at last year's Passport to Luxury event. His passion is seafood, but his forte is in the sauce. Our server was Kyra (pronounced Kiera) and she was extremely polite and professional. Drinks were closely monitored and we were never short on sips. The PAI team served the room well and was properly staffed for opening night. PAI's strengths are equal in BOTH food and drink, a rarity in the foodie scene. Jessica Laidlaw is the lead bartender that whips up superb cocktails that resonated well with the guests. John Fujimoto and Rani Shigemitsu joined forces with their passion in sommelier to possess a strong wine list for the restaurant. Tables were giving high marks on the pairing, especially with the soup and mains. Our 5-course dinner: Mentaiko Taramosalata: spicy cod roe, chervil, lavosh Chilled Corn Soup: turnips, pickled cherries, goat cheese, tarragon He'e & Fennel Ragu: tagliatelle, curried fonduta Pan-Roasted Opah: katuray flower tempura, broccoli florets, wood ear mushroom Spiced Apple Banana: smoked macadamia nut brittle, rum gelato Every dish was well executed. The taramosalata is a spread that I can put on anything, and can easily tank a whole pint of. Clean notes, fresh flavor. Chilled soup was served tableside with conservative portions, but the flavor was massive. Loved the pickled cherries to counterbalance the cream and goat cheese. The he'e (octopus) pasta dish was a big hit and possessed many flavors that even the simplest carnivore can appreciate. Ikaika didn't even know it was a pesca-dish and ate it thinking it was red meat. The opah was perfectly cooked with a nice char layered about the moist flesh inside. The wood ear mushrooms were delightful with the fish and sauce. And finally, dessert... oh dessert. Chef Kevin did a fine job on his famous Apple Banana bread, but the gelato was having technical difficulties so we settled for a creme anglaise sauce with crunchy mac nut brittle. Portion size was perfect for me (even at 5 months pregnant), but may be a bit modest for the heavier eater. As PAI continues to enhance their team, I am confident they will evolve into a great runner in Hawaii's epicurean scene. Congrats to PAI on their big opening and looking forward to their continued success! read more

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TL;DR: the dairy free menu was not dairy free, more than half the dishes contained butter as the chefs apparently did not think butter was dairy. my partner got an allergic reaction and the situation was not handled well by the chef. Be careful going here if you have any dietary restrictions! I went here for my anniversary dinner a while back. We chose the course meal and informed the restaurant ahead of time about allergies -- my partner is allergic to dairy (not lactose intolerant, but actually allergic) so they prepared a "dairy free menu" for him. The reason we chose this restaurant was because they had advertised on their website many accommodations for those with dietary restrictions and even had an example dairy free menu. After the first course or two my partner began experiencing an allergic reaction so we asked the waiter to check if there had been any cross contamination. Turns out there was butter in the dish, and they had planned to include butter in more than half of the whole menu because the chefs did not think butter was dairy. Considering this was advertised as allergy-friendly I find this extremely irresponsible. If anyone's allergy was more severe this could have literally killed them. I'm also shocked someone, especially an experienced chef, would think butter is dairy free -- to me that's common sense. The situation was also handled poorly. Our waiter was very kind in listening to our concerns and butter was removed from the rest of the menu, but I feel the chefs did not understand the severity of their mistake and would not even come over to talk to us despite being a few steps away so our waiter had to go back and forth multiple times to sort things out. The only compensation that was offered was a free soft drink. They tried to charge us full price and only gave a discount after we complained which was quite unprofessional in my opinion considering they could have killed someone. The food itself was decent but was overshadowed by this whole incident. If you have any allergy/dietary restriction I would think twice about coming here. read more

Awesome anniversary experience at PAI. Finally get to move this restaurant from my "To Try" list to my "Must Return" list. Delicious & Creative. You can see and taste all the time, thought, effort, experimentation, skill that went into each dish. Service was incredible from my initial contact with Justine through service to the last picture in front of the restaurant. Next time if allowed I'd really enjoy sitting at the kitchen counter to watch Chef work. read more

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Came here for new years tasting menu with wine pairings and oh my god did this menu take me for a ride! The meal started strong with aggressive seasoned dishes, then it mellowed out for more complex flavor profiles on the mains, then finished perfectly with dessert! This was our first tasting menu experience and we're so glad we did it here! From making conversation with our host Justine who was very lovely and friendly and made us feel really welcome, to our server Matt who explained the dishes with the wine pairings and detailed how the ingredients all complimented one another to create excellent flavors on your pallet. I can say with confidence that we will be coming back sooner than later! Thanks all!! read more

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Appetizers were amazing. Had kampachi! Great and amazing service !!! But I wish they didn't use foie gras because of how it is made :( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=idfE2iCNHjA read more

We came here for a birthday on a Friday night. There was a good-sized crowd and the bar seemed full. Our first course was the sample plate with four bite-sized morsels to start our palates off right. Each item, from the tartare to the mushroom puff, was delightful and tasty. Our next choice was the charcuterie board. WHat a feast! I particularly liked the spiced popcorn (yes, it's a thing here!) and the refreshing grape and pickle offerings. These both made the house-cured meats even more enjoyable. We also had the stuffed chicken, which, unlike other reviewers' plates, was not at all dry. All in all a wonderful meal in a very cozy setting! read more

PAI Honolulu - Stuffed chicken. - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

PAI Honolulu was a highly satisfying dining experience, I left feeling so giddy. It is located inside Harbor Court off of Merchant street. Parking after 6pm at the Harbor Court complex is a $3 flat rate. You can also find street parking. I especially recommend their cocktails. I could taste the peanut butter in the Peanut Butter & PAI, complemented by the rose and smoky lavender. Not only did it taste good, but it was entertaining too (order this drink or something with smoky lavender to know what I mean). My friend tried the Hey Bartender! Trust PAI to make a great customized drink based on your preferences. We shared umami bites, the Kona kampachi crudo, and smoked bay scallop fettuccine. The umami bites was so aesthetically pleasing, I almost didn't want to eat it. I would go back just for them. The Kona kampachi had a lot of flavor, and I enjoyed the heat of the dish. The scallop fettuccine was absolutely divine! It was a real treat to eat scallop chips, however, the mustard creme fraiche was too salty. With fine dining, the portions are on the smaller side, but we were full after sharing three desserts. I recommend the ricotta fritters if you like doughy/cakey desserts. The pain perdu was AMAZING; the lightest piece of French toast I ever had. The Hong Kong milk tea gelato had a myriad of flavors, but its portion was shockingly small. Overall, their service is outstanding. Jade and Nelson were attentive, but not overbearing, and made us feel special by always opening the door for us. Whenever you feel like splurging, come to PAI Honolulu for an exceptional fine dining experience! read more

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Had the chance to go for Happy Hour and really enjoyed the food and drinks. Although there isn't really a good food menu for happy hour since the prices are the same, there are a few drinks listed at cheaper prices. At first I was disappointed with the small listing of drinks for happy hour, but as soon as I sipped my PAI 55, it was all good. It was lemony without being too sweet and was really refreshing. Had I not had to drive home I definitely would have had a few more of those! The food there is a bit pricey, but the amount they give for the dishes we ordered were sufficient and extremely tasty! I ordered the salmon bite (be warned that it is exactly that...a bite! So no sharing...). Felt that was pretty good though not sure I would order it again. My friend ordered the shrimp chips with a horseradish dip thing that totally elevated it. Recommend. Had the chicken fried oyster mushroom. Best dish of the night! Also had the Bbq brisket and cauliflower. Recommend both. The best part was sitting at the bar. After seeing how complex the drinks are and the quality ingredients they use, I understood why the drink prices are on the higher side. Definitely want to go back and eat the chicken fried mushrooms and drink that PAI 55. Crave-worthy! read more

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Yay!! Walk in to The new Bar @ PAI HONOLULU!! * Mushroom Puff - Super cute and Delicious!! * Raw Oysters - Fresh!! * Beef Tartare - Wow!! Wow!! Delicious!! I would definitely come back for Prix Fixed Menu!! read more

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Mushu and Umami's favorite restaurant in Honolulu! Owners Kevin and Justine of Pai restaurant turned it out for us and our pooches "fine dining style." We ordered from the doggie menu with doggie mocktails like Cherub's Cup (strawberry water with basil), Orange Crush (orange juice and water with an orange garnish) and Blueberry Smash (whole blueberrry water with mint). And they devoured their Loco Moco entrées. A beautiful patio area for the dogs and their owners. The human food is great too! All the staff love dogs and you can count on them getting a friendly greeting. read more

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PAI!!!! The last time I was here, it was for a yelp elite event. They were a fairly new establishment, but I remember their food had a unique (in an awesome way) taste. That was almost 1 year ago. I came back this time for lunch and boy oh boy was it delicious! It was meant to be, because honestly I forgot about them and then she picked Pai. I was like....YES!!! I looked at the menu a couple days before our lunch date and instantly knew what I wanted - CIOPPINO!!!!!! The day arrives - we walk in and are seated instantly. I am almost ready to order my cioppino and I smell meat! OMG someone had ordered their sandwich and it smelled HEAVEN! My friend who was debating between their soup bowl and sandwich, knew right away it was the sandwich. We ended with CIOPPINO and Brisket Sandwich! I would highly recommend their CIOPPINO - the broth was incredible. It was light, but had this delicious creamy flavor to it. It had shrimp, clams, tiny scallops and came with two chunky pieces of their sour dough bread. It just healed my soul! It was amazingly good. The sandwich was large - once again their house made sour dough bread and potato chips, which were just so good! It came with generous portion of that delicious smelling meat with perfect crunch on the outside and meaty softness on the inside. I will never forget you again! And I am curious to try them for dinner as well since they have a different menu. Also, they have open kitchen so you can see where and how your food is made. read more

PAI Honolulu - Sandwich (ugh I don't remember the name of it) - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The reason to come here is the ambience. The structure is in the lobby of harbor court. Unusual location but they really made this small space lovely. Open with all windows in one side. Beautiful beams on the ceiling and teal blue accent wall. Completely open kitchen. Clean and fresh. The restaurant is not huge but bc it's curves it seems bigger than it is. The service is attentive and gracious. It's fun to watch the kitchen prep like watching something on food network. The service is solicitous that someone will walk you all the way to the bathroom which happens to be inside the office building somewhere. The food is very different and beautifully presented. I had the four course prix fixe menu for $69. I had the salmon crudo, the kabocha soup, the schnitzel and the lilikoi tart. I'd say the food looked beautiful. The taste was good. But the taste is not a revelation or something mindblowing. But since we eat with our eyes first I thoroughly enjoyed it. The hub got curry bolognese which he liked very much bc it was different. The pasta was fresh and al dente. My favorite food was the dry aged tartare crostini from the umami bites. Didn't even taste raw. There were a couple snafus with our orders - accidentallygot received risotto instead of the schnitzel I ordered so I had to wait while everyone else had their food. Also we had ordered the cauliflower and the beet salads which never arrived. We were already getting full from the other apps we ordered so we told the waiter to cancel the salads and he was like oh you didn't receive them? He took them off the bill which obviously should bc we never got them but somehow no apologies or explanation. Otherwise service was excellent. They must have a soda stream bc free sparkling water. Try to make group trips to the bathroom. The servers walk you all the way there bc key fob is needed twice and it's a bit of a maze to get to the bathrooms with no signage. So we felt bad when first my mom went and then I went and another lady went so the server was walking us back and forth. He was gracious the entire time. Anyhow this is a lovely space and ambience and presentation great so I'd like to come back for their happy hour. For 5 ppl and everyone had one drink (although 3 mocktails) was about $360 including tax and tip. Definitely a special occasion place but maybe for happy hour more often. read more

We had the pleasure of sitting at the bar so we got to watch bartender Jessica in action all evening. She brought out her large wood cutting board (Koa or Monkeypod?) to perform her mixology magic with house made bitters, beautiful edible garnishes, etc. We ordered the Curse of the Golden Flower, Knob Creek with Chrysanthemum, lemon & egg white, and the Pleasure is all Mine Kohana rum, Velvet Falermum, lemon & grapefruit bitters We were started with a glass of LP Brut on arrival as it was my husbands birthday. It went well with the lavosh and cod roe spread Next we had veggies in a bowl that included turnips & pickled cherries in which Adam poured chilled Corn Soup over them, I licked up every drop! Tagliatelle Ragu was perfectly Al dente The Pan-Roasted Opah was nicely seared but moist and delicious melt in your mouth goodness! Spiced Apple Banana Bread: smoked macadamia nut brittle, rum gelato. Yum! We ended with a Burned Bridges cocktail, Mezcal, Scotch, Coffee & Orange Liquers and chocolate bitters! We will be regulars! read more

PAI Honolulu - Curse of the Golden Flower - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I'm giving one star for the staff because they were attentive, however do not waste your money here. As someone who frequently tries a lot of restaurants from fine dining to hole in the wall places, I felt the need to leave a review to warn people. My friend and I both had the 4 prix fixe so we were able to order one of each item on the menu and NOTHING was memorable. The appetizers were okay and then it went down hill from there. Entree was under cooked and dessert was the worse thing I was served in my life. Not exaggerating. read more

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Last night I had the chance to eat at PAI Honolulu and it was amazing! If you like trying new things and love food tasting then this is definitely the place for you. I chose the 8 course tasting menu, the chef made 8 different dishes for me to taste. It was brilliant, Chef Kevin Lee was able to create unique and tasty dishes I never thought possible. For example to start off I had the Inaniwa Udon which was delicious, followed by the Chilled Lobster alongside truffles corn soup and pickled blueberries as an appetizer. I know it might sound weird or not sound complimentary in the same dish... BUT let me tell you the sweet that was mixed with the salty Blew My Mind. (Sorry, I was so focused on enjoying the dishes I ate it all before I could take a picture). There were many other great dishes but the dessert hit the spot! I had two desserts, a Watermelon Dragonfruit Soju sorbet and a Mango Panna Cotta accompanied with pickled mango gelato and black sesame brittle. They also have a full bar with a mixologist on hand to make you exotic drinks. I suggest the Coyote, they bring it out to you under a glass dome filled with smoke, the smoke is infused into the drink and it smells like smoked wood and tastes incredible. It was just an all around great experience. I couldn't find the 6 star button so I could only give it a 5. Thank you again to Chef Kevin Lee and the staff at PAI Honolulu, I will be returning. read more

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Experienced Pai Honolulu for the first time during Restaurant Week 2019. OMG, best experience . . . The service 5, the ambiance 5 and the food was simply AMAZING!!! 5+++. Highly recommended. read more

PAI Honolulu - Restaurant Week 2019 - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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If you're a foodie then don't miss out at an evening at PAI Honolulu. We did the prix fixe menu and we were not disappointed. Great presentation and incredible food creativity along with palate pleasing dishes. I would go for the wine pairing to complete the experience. I know on our next visit to Oahu we will be making a point to revisit PAI. read more

The best meal we had in Hawaii. Absolutely outstanding (and coming from San Francisco with a glut of amazing dining options, I have high standards). The meal was so unique with exquisite flavor combinations. It was far better than the previous night (Senia). The service was outstanding--from the servers to the hostess. We tried the crispy mushrooms which were one of the best renditions I've had and a great choice to share. The foie gras French toast was on the sweeter side (but I adore sweets) and cake with a lot of foie and a simply perfect rendition of French toast. The final savory dish was the stuffed hen with sticky rice was was perfect to share and so well cooked (often a roulade can be dry). I loved the rice as well. The dessert was a milk and cookies dessert which was not too heavy and really nice--like the momofuku cereal milk ice cream flavor profile. A must go for truly outstanding food at a fair price. read more

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Excellent dinner experience here last night. My husband and I were impressed with the personalized printed menus with mention of our anniversary and my husband's birthday. Our favorites were the lamb pasta and corn and crab dishes. The wines were phenomenal. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a first class meal. read more

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