Arancino at The Kahala

Went there for our daughter's 30th birthday. The Food, Service and ambiance were excellent. Will definitely be taking my wife on a date there in the future.

I highly rate Arancino! This is a great spot for Italian fine dining and the the taste of the food exceeds expectations 👏👌 We had the famous uni (sea urchin) pasta & the bolognese were among the best pastas we've had. The dessert of deconstructed tiramisu & coconut granite was also super yum. If you love uni - you have to get this! Don't miss out - I'm so glad I had it. It was creamy, tasty and well balanced. Service was amazing too - thanks Paolo for the warm hospitality, humor and your great recommendations.

I heard about their uni pasta & knew I had to try it myself. Definitely make reservations ahead of time. It’s a beautiful restaurant and the staff are very attentive and kind. They really ensure that your experience is a great one. We bought our 2 kiddos and they enjoyed it as well. My daughter who is usually a picky eater ate all of their complimentary bread and her Alfredo pasta. Our appetizer was the calamari and it was light and crispy. Not oily at all. The uni pasta was amazing! So creamy and rich. Definitely full of flavor. Our toddler kept asking for more! My husband got the seafood pasta and the scallops were cooked perfectly. I love how the truffle sauce came through the dish. Overall, it was a lovely and delicious dinner. They do validate valet parking so no stress in finding parking.

We annually celebrate special occasions here because the food IS excellent (tasty and attractively presented), service is always friendly & professional. For us, there is nothing in Waikiki that can match the nostalgia and elegant history of The Kahala. We are always more than satisfied with our visits to Arancino in Kahala.

Awesome! My daughter took me to Arancino's for Father's Day Dinner and it was awesome! We've been there for many celebrations and it was on par for our expectations. We arrived for our 5:00PM reservation and were seated promptly. Kudos to Arben and Justin for providing excellent service throughout the dinner. The Focaccia bread was warm, soft, with the golden crisp crust. We started with the Lobster Bisque which is consistently good. Next was the Tartare di Mare which is a nice combination of fish (ahi, kanpachi), avocado, and tobiko. It provided an inviting presentation. My daughter thorougly enjoyed it! A new item for us that we needed to try was Carpaccio di Manzo. It was thinly sliced raw wagyu beef, tableside parmigiano, arugula, and a lemon dressing. It was terrific! It was superbly prepared, presented, and finished! My wife, daughter, and I enjoyed it immensly. A must try item! Two other items that we specifically go to Arancino's for is the Affettato Misto (cured meat and cheese) and Calamari. Those two items were on point and goes well with the Foccocia bread and Lobster Bisque. My Asahi Beer refreshes my palate. My wife and daughter ordered the Risotto which is something they always look forward to, prepared tableside, and was great! We were disappointed that the Pesce al Sale (Sea Bass) was not available. But we understand the seasons. Branzino next time. I had the Filet Mignon, which was rare, tender, and flavorful. For dessert, My daughter had the Fragole con Gelato (strawberries and gelato), my wife, the Gelato Affogato, and I had the Bonet (my favorite). All desserts were on point! We ordered a Porcellini Pizza to take home. It's a well-balanced delicious prosciutto pizza. Again, kudos to Arben and Justin for providing excellent service to a terrific Father's Day Dinner at Arancino Kahala! Ciao!

Had a wonderful dinner here! Carbonara and Uni pastas were amazing. Our server, Leo, really took care of us and gave us honest and thoughtful recommendations. Would recommend this restaurant to anyone!

We had a lovely dinner with our family and kids last night at the Kahala resturant. The waiter Leo gave us exceptional recommendations as we are picky Italian eaters from Australia. Desert sizing was the only thing that was disappointing. We had the antipasto, aranchini(amazing), the crab and sea urchin pasta. The kids loved the cheese pizza with Nutella ears in the shape of Mikey mouse Leo the waiter was exceptional!

Amazing dining experience! This is clearly one of the top end Italian restaurants in the area, the service was really good and there are multiple people coming to check up on you. The food was good, we tried the uni pasta and the whole branzino. The pasta was good, but slightly overhyped I think (seems to be the most popular item on the menu). The branzino was top notch, prepared in a special way with salt to keep the moisture in. Also, the tiramisu was fantastic.

Fantastic meal here—one of the best I’ve had on Oahu. The staff was great and friendly. The food was excellent. The pasta was perfect and the special occasion dessert was fun and good. We’ll have to go back again. Please make a reservation and head out there for a fantastic meal!

The world food tour made a stop in Italy, Arancino at The Kahala style. It had been a while (two years) since we last visited and we heard they made some changes to their menu so we looked forward to stopping by. We started with a 2015 Paulownia, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon I hadn’t seen before. Limited production; just 134 cases produced. It featured notes of dark fruit, chocolate and a hint of coffee; I really liked this wine and want to find more. We paired the wine with the Affetato Misto, a charcuterie board that featured five kinds of cured meats, bits of parmigiano Reggiano, gherkins and pitted green olives. On the side were little pillows of fried bread; these were scrumptious! We ordered three mains, spaghetti ai Ricci di Mare, a personal favorite and the reason I come to Arancino’s, Spaghetti alla Carbonara, and Pizza Carbonara as the food duo can never get enough of guanciale (sort of like bacon) and Waimanalo TKG eggs. The spaghetti Carbonara was redolent in truffle oil but we put it over the top by adding shaved truffles. The intoxicating scent of truffles was “to die” for. My Ricci di Mare was fine but I sensed something was missing … I couldn’t place it but there was something different. It didn’t stop me from cleaning my plate with some of the pillows from the misto. The Pizza Carbonara was served last (by request) and we ended up taking more than half of it home. It was delicious and the scent of truffles was heavenly but I had eaten too many bread pillows so I had to tap. The crust was a little too soft in the center but the edges were perfect. The richness of the TKG yolk made it a luscious dish. We didn’t have room for dessert though several sounded tempting. I had a French Press coffee; no Americano for me. Final thoughts? We enjoyed our dinner. Service by Mike and Corie was professional and unobtrusive. The pace was leisurely, which we enjoyed. Too many restaurants now seem to want to rush you or place a time limit on your stay; we find that to be overbearing and dampens our experience. Recommended!

Much Mahalos to especially Maria, Arben, Christian, Micah for a great dinner & time for my 63yrs young birthday dinner...they all took good care of us. We will be back again, & again!!

We came to this restaurant to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, and Keola made the experience truly memorable with his incredible kindness. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful atmosphere and helping us make beautiful memories on our special day. thx keola:)

First class dining experience from the hostess to our wonderful server. They were super accommodating and understanding as we were quite jet lagged from flying from Canada so we weren’t able to finish our dinner. All that meant was that we had excellent leftovers when we got home! Food and atmosphere are top notch and everything is reasonably priced and generous portions. Mushroom pizza, calamari, and lobster pasta were what we tried and would definitely recommend!

My bridesmaids celebrated for my bachelorette party at this restaurant! All of the food, service and people were super nice! The chef gave me a beautiful cake as a celebration treat! I’ll definitely come back soon! Thank you so much for the amazing dinner! Y

Came here for lunch on a Sunday. We had reservations, but it looked like it got busy around 12:30. Most of the seating is outdoors, which is next to the valet area so it started to get hot. Next time I'll try to sit inside. We ordered the lunch course, which is $43 and allows you to choose appetizer, entree, and dessert. If you get the uni pasta, there's an $8 upcharge. Food was great! Eating all three was courses was too filling.

Outdoor dining in Hawaii with Italian romance and charm. Food is bursting with flavor. Wine list has great Italian selections. Service is attentive and passionate about their offerings.

Arancino at the Kahala is probably one of the top picks for a special date night like a birthday or anniversary. It's located inside the Kahala hotel close to the valet parking at Lobby level. You can self park for free or Valet park for just the cost of a tip. Be sure to go early and walk around the grounds and take some pictures of the dolphins or the Orchid wall. We went for the wine pairing menu which included four wines and five courses. Service was excellent and the speed was perfect. Not rushing between courses and enough time to enjoy the wine and chit chat between courses. Be sure to let them know if it's a special occasion like a birthday and they will prepare a special dessert. Definitely recommended for that special someone on that special day.

This is one of my favorite Italian places! It is honestly the best arancino on island. Free valet at the Kahala hotel. They have the best pasta, even have burrata! They also have a giant parmesan cheese wheel that they finish their risotto in! It was so decadent and cheese and amazing. In addition, the service is top notch. The manager checked on us twice throughout the service, which is really rare nowadays. I saw her checking in with a group and it appeared she was friends with them. I remember thinking that they must have been crazy rich or famous! Then to my surprise, she approached us and treated us with the same aloha! I also, silly me, misplaced our valet ticket and spent the next 5 mins frantically looking for it. She approached us and told us to relax, they'll take care of it, so please don't worry! (Of course I ended finding it a few moments later in the most OBVIOUS PLACE OF ALL lol). I can't end this review without mentioning the vegetables here... they are crazy fresh, crazy sweet, and like make me want to become vegan! Well, they serve banga cuada (which I always get), it's a warm anchovy dip with vegetables-- and it is delightful! Ok so maybe not vegan but a pescatarian...

The Uni pasta was my favorite, unique and delicious! If you're a mushroom lover, get the the spaghetti carbonara with added truffle on top!

I had a little bit of a hiccup making my reservation (large parties have to go through and events person or manager and there are only two seatings: 5/5:30 and 8/8:30) but they more than made up for this with exceptional food and service. Our servers were attentive and helpful with recommendations on the menus. Timing of the food was good (always a pet peeve of mine when one person gets their entree way before the last person). The food itself was well executed and portions were even bigger than I was expecting. I split the caprese salad with my boyfriend. Wish it used regular tomatoes instead of cherry/grape but mozerella was very tasty. I ordered the uni pasta, which was a perfect al dente that it needed with the rich, buttery sauce. I also tasted his carbonara which came with an egg you mix into the dish yourself at the table. Not traditional but it was definitely one of the best dishes of the night. I plan on going back so I can eat a whole one myself. Didn't try any of the desserts but they were nice enough to comp us three for the birthday girls. In summer time the outdoor seating may be a bit hot. I wasn't in vacation so that kind of thing is lost on me. Opt for an inside table if you can.

It was a pleasure having the course meal because each dish was a surprise in imagination and quality, such as the lobster bisque and the squid ink pasta with seafood. The wine pairing also was a perfect complement.

The service level was incredible and the food was so delicious. Especially, ‘Aliana’ !! We are so impressed her service and sense. We came back the next day for lunch to eat again ‘Carbonara’ (Amazing!!!) and had great her service again. We were so lucky to meet you! Thank you again all Arancino staffs, my husband and I had a wonderful dinner with you and we hope to be back some day on my vacation!

@Jen Lee your inconsistency is hilarious. You complain about the high prices here compared to when you ate similar things in Italy. Yet in your review of Mana Sandwiches, you say that everything is overpriced on Oahu and that food prices can’t be compared between Hawaii and Asia. Why do they get special treatment? Also, your math sucks. A tenfold increase of €25 is about $300, but the more expensive course menu here is $150. Even so, I highly doubt you were getting a six course meal in Italy for $30.

Better to go later in the evening - it is more chilled as not a rush to turn tables. The service was very good - knowledgeable, friendly with good recommendations. Food was delicious. Clearly fresh and all arrived hot. Desserts are both creative and out of this world.Great atmosphere.

Arancino blew me away — I couldn’t believe such an incredible, old-school upscale Italian restaurant exists in the middle of Hawaii. Tucked away in Kahala, it feels like stepping into a rustic Italian dining room, but with an island charm. The service was flawless, the drinks were spot-on, and the pasta was fantastic. Beautiful setting, excellent food — a must-try and the perfect date-night spot.

Service was amazing and food was delicious! We were celebrating a special event and the weather was terrible but the staff was still so accommodating for both the event and weather. Highly recommended for any special event and we will be coming back!

Fantastic food. The bass is especially fresh and tasty, and quite plentiful. Pasta was special too. Tiramisu prepared tableside is a nice touch.

We had a lovely final meal in Hawaii at Arancino. Our waiter, Leo did a great job taking care of us and helping us navigate the Italian specialties on the menu. We were staying at the adjacent hotel so it was an easy choice for dinner after all the activities in Hawaii. We started with a fresh tasting caprese salad with juicy fresh cherry tomatoes and creamy burrata. They also serve a house made rosemary bread with olive oil throughout the meal. For pasta my wife chose the luscious Carbonara (soooo good) and I had the bolognese with thick noodles. (Just ok). The wine list features mostly Italian choices in a wide range of prices. We opted for an often overlooked Etna Rossa which was a steal at $75 for a 2018 vintage. Most of the seating is open air and if you go later (7 or later), you can avoid families with toddlers who tend to eat early.

Our friends booked because it was a Saturday night and Waikiki is too busy. Great staff and friendly greeting on arrival. Plenty of time allowed for us to look through the menu and place our order. I ordered a Caesar for entree and the rigatoni amatriciana. Our friends ordered the sea bass and it looked and tasted amazing - sweet and cooked perfectly. My rigatoni was tasty and came with dried chilli. To be honest I would have preferred it if the sauce was a bit spicier. Biting the chilli wasn’t a good alternative. I finished with an affogato. Table service was excellent. A good night out.

Good food and vibe. Our waitress Michelle was very friendly. But really bad and strict wine policy. Btw corkage is 75$ minus 1 star.

This was a desperation visit if we are being fully transparent. We were looking to charge our rental Tesla and this was the closest supercharger we could find to the area where we were in. As a result we found ourselves valet parking and having to purchase something somewhere. Ironically we were hungry for pizza and so we found Arancino’s. Very high class Italian they lived up to expectations as we sat at the four seat bar. We struck up a great conversation with the bartender and watched him mix drinks. The pizza we ordered was $37 so that was a bit extreme considering the pizza had two shrimp and onions per piece. We also were served a singular piece of focaccia bread and a dollop of olive oil. At the End of the Day I can’t complain and blame Arancino’s for catering to a different tax bracket since the place was packed and we were clearly out of place. The pizza was fine and the company was great so overall it was a good if not expensive side track.

Amazing experience. We went twice during our anniversary stay and loved it both times. Pizza was great, pasta was fresh, sauces were delicious and portions were fair and aligned with quality and cost. Buster was our server during the first visit and he was beyond exceptional. Very attentive, good attitude and wonderful customer service. It was busier during our second visit and service was not to that level. It took longer to get our wine tasting out. They did a great job making the Tiramisu table side - beautiful, elegant and flavorful! Make sure to save room for dessert!

The place is beautiful. Came here to celebrate my birthday, the waiter was diligent but didn’t seem very friendly. Food was delicious and had a beautiful presentation. I appreciated the kids pizza that was shaped like a bear with Nutella on the ears. The birthday dessert was gorgeous and delicious.

Good service and ambiance but unfortunately the food wasn’t on par, my lobster bisque was too sweet, the pasta and beef courses were too oily and lacking flavor. The food is well presented but there was just something missing…be prepared to pay a lot for your meal especially if you plan on having drinks $$$

To us the ambience and the setting and also the food didn’t really justify the price. The food is good, but not THAT good. We’ve had comparable meals in Italy for €25-30. Quality and taste seemed pretty standard, nothing superb. And yes I get that we are far from Italy but it still doesn’t justify the tenfold increase in price. It wasn’t super authentic either. Carbonara came with raw egg in the middle rather than mixed in with the pecorino. The tiramisu was like 80% cream, not enough lady fingers to hold the espresso or offset the cream.

Docking 1 star for sneaky surcharge on final bill for kitchen staff (Pay your people their market value, and don't give customers false menu pricing). Got seated in the very back so no atmosphere to speak of. Food was pretty good, but not worth the price. Beautiful hotel grounds, with dolphins!

I have to say that high end Italian restaurants in Tokyo and NYC are 10X better. No after dessert drinks offered (for a $150 dinner course you would expect at least espresso to be offered), table was not ready until almost 15 min after reservation time, and food was mediocre at best. Service was great. Just disappointed in the chef. Overpriced for what amounts to Gusto-like food.

The food was average for the price you pay, we had the calamari, uni pasta and a pizza. The pasta was tasty but the pizza a little salty and not great. The main issue was the service. It is very slow, we waited 1 hour between receiving our starter and the pasta dish. The staff were all very polite due to the error and gave us our pasta and pizza for free, however we felt it could have been avoided by being more attentive. When other tables were having 6 course meals in the time it took for us to receive 1, it should surely make a server aware. Overall nice experience and decent food, but the stars reflect the quality and service we got, which for the price of the meal ($40+ per dish) is way below par.

Overall, the food was decent but I would expect more from a fine-dining restaurant especially one that is located in a high-class resort. The uni pasta, for example, lacked seasoning and I could barely taste the freshness of the uni. The pizza was a bit too salty. Like others said, the service was very slow. My friends and I waited for a long time between dishes. It was so long that one of us had to order a cup of coffee to keep herself awake! I felt relieved when I knew the bill was here. Definitely not returning to experience the wait again!

I was super disappointed with my experience here. Asked for a slice of tiramisu to go and got three small dabs for $18. See photo. The setup of the restaurant is terrible. It overlooked the valet for the hotel. The tables are situated so that servers are constantly streaming around you - like a beehive. Expensive, as mentioned, for very small portions. I paid $70 for pasta and tiramisu bites, no alcohol. The pasta tasted very good, but no greater than pasta you can find anywhere. Pasta is just good. The one redeeming quality was my waitress! She went beyond and above, and was flawless. Overall - wouldn’t go back here, ever. If you have any type of fine dining experience, this will seem like a major let down to you.