Kona Grill

She said:

On a hot Friday afternoon, Brian and I decided it would be nice to find a new restaurant to visit for lunch. After fruitlessly perusing the Internet on my phone, we remembered that we had seen several new restaurants in this area a few weeks ago. We had casually remarked that we should try them out sometime. Well, today was the day. 🙂

Approaching the front entrance, I thought the exterior looked slick. There was a wooden slatted sign painted chocolate brown with “Kona Grill” spelled out in white. The sign was flanked by charcoal gray, stacked stone and lots of glass windows. To the left side of the front doors stood some artwork crafted of various types of artificial greenery and white flowers in the shape of a “K” and a “G”—the restaurant’s initials. It was a lovely touch.

When I entered, the first thing that hit me was the volume of the music. It was far too loud! My personal preference is for music to play second fiddle to happy, audible conversation. It should enhance the vibe of the place, but not impede the ability for diners to chat and laugh and relax with one another. It shouldn’t be a competition, either. However, I can understand the proprietor’s desire to play peppy, techno-beat tunes in order to appeal to and attract the young, hip clientele.

It quickly became obvious that this establishment hadn’t been open for very long because the staff appeared to be dealing with growing pains. Managers, hostesses, and waitstaff outnumbered the patrons, as bartenders, servers, and others were obviously in the process of being trained. Our waitress told us they had only been open for two weeks.

Anyway, once we were seated at a booth, and after checking out the menus, I took in our surroundings. A large aquarium took up much of the back wall. It was a bit soothing to watch the small fish swim around the tank. Keeping up with the theme, there were fish-shaped ornaments of varying sizes suspended from the open, industrial ceiling. Some were reddish-brown and some were white. These colors were repeated on a few white walls and in the reddish-brown tabletops. The chairs were navy, but the booth benches were fashioned from a sort of nubby, Mediterranean blue fabric. The coolness of the blues, whites, and pale grays created a serene ambiance that was in opposition to Stevie Wonder loudly crooning, “You Can Feel It All Over.”

Anyway, moving along . . .

I opted for the Sweet-Chili Glazed Salmon. It came with fried rice, but our waitress graciously allowed me to swap it out for the Sautéed Green Beans. I’d also wanted an order of the Miso Mashed Potatoes, but I forgot to mention it to our server. So, Brian ordered the Crispy Brussels Sprouts to start off with, and shared a small portion of his potatoes with me. 😋 The Brussels Sprouts turned out to be tasty, crispy, and slightly charred—just the way I like them prepared.

The salmon was delicious, moist, and flaky. The sauce was great—tangy and sweet. The green beans were perfectly sautéed with the proper crispness (not still too much on the raw side, but not overcooked, either).

To finish everything off, Brian asked our server to box up a slice of the housemade carrot cake to go. That was an awesome decision. The cake was wonderful: nutty, spiced, and topped with cream cheese frosting. It felt as though I’d stepped into dessert heaven or something.

He said:

“Kona Grill.” That’s enough to get my attention, so I had flagged this restaurant for a visit. As Kathy mentioned, we entered the restaurant by passing a floral “KG” arrangement. It was nice of them to think of Kathy this way, though I’m not sure why they used her maiden initials.

And then, we encountered the music. It couldn’t go unnoticed. While it was definitely too loud for my taste, the techno-dance music clearly set a vibe. It said this place was supposed to be fun. And young, probably. Yet, it probably enhanced our expectations of having a good time.

Several guests arrived at the same time we did, but the abundance of hostesses checked everybody in quickly. We didn’t yet realize that many of the employees were still training, but we gradually started to notice that the employees outnumbered the patrons by about three to one. It made sense when the waitress explained how new the place was. It was almost comical to watch everybody constantly switch between idly standing around and purposefully rushing to some task or other. They all smiled continuously. Several managers—or possibly managers-in-training—stopped by our table, some more than once, to see how we were doing. I didn’t know if everybody got this treatment or if it was just for us. We try not to draw attention to ourselves, but sometimes they notice us taking notes on a small notepad or taking photos to help us remember details. Perhaps they guessed we were there to review the place.

The restaurant design and décor helped with the peppy vibe. The walls held colorful artwork and some full-wall murals. A large aquarium contributed to the Hawaiian theme. I was surprised that such a large aquarium only had small fish in it. I mean, one-inch size. I don’t like to see huge fish confined to small aquaria, but this was also out of balance. Maybe they’ll grow.

I don’t usually like to spend so much for a lunch, but the lunch menu didn’t appeal to me. Kathy thought she was interested in the California Roll, since it was made with crab, until she learned that a California Roll is not like a New England Lobster Roll. The California Roll is a sushi roll. So, we decided to order from the full menu.

I ordered the Macadamia Nut Chicken. It came with two chicken breasts (well, probably one butterflied chicken breast) that had been pounded flat like a paillard. These were crusted in finely chopped Macadamia nuts and topped with a shoyu cream (whipped cream with soy sauce). The chicken was good, but not as flavorful as I would have liked. Despite the Macadamia coating, it didn’t have much of a crust. The sautéed green beans were nice, and the miso potatoes were fine. The side of the plate had a spread of pineapple-papaya marmalade, sprinkled with black sesame seeds. That was interesting, pretty, and tasty.

Conclusion:

The Kona Grill is an energetic, enthusiastic place. Its hip and modern vibe will likely attract fun-loving people.