8 Best New Restaurants in Honolulu

“If you want FRESH, QUALITY, HANDMADE food this is the spot. Antonio the owner makes all his own sauces, patties and toppings from fresh high quality ingredients. Great customer service too. Always stoked to eat here, definitely favorite burger joint on Island!“

“Husband + wife owned spot, wonderfully accommodating for us with a toddler. Coffee was amazing and staff is invested in their clientele. Will be back again..Kid-friendliness: Brought a 1 year old, they were very friendly with her and patient“

“Gourmet poke bowls & ono delicious smoked meats! Staff here is super friendly and take the time to explain the menu to you.If you’re looking for good quality fish and unique poke bowls this is the place to try! We got the Kampai kampachi bowl (which 1 order is good enough for 2 people) and Gali jjim bowl a la carte. It was a fun menu and they do more than just ahi poke , they had marlin poke on the menu too. They sell drinks, spam musubi and cookies too. Wouldn’t be surprised if this place explodes on social media within the next year given its unique menu that’s speaks to the culture of Hawaii and good fish.was a great place to grab a quick bite or Togo order near Mcully / Waikiki area. Check it out!“

“Honestly I have no words to describe such a great experience in Hawaii so far.I felt like I was literally in Brazil… Service 1000 / Music 1000 / pizza 1000… every single detail GREAT!I took a friend to try Brazilian pizza and he just loved it and is already planning to go again.Thank you for bringing our culture, good vibes, good music and pizza to Honolulu.You folks are just amazing!Obrigado! Thank you!“

“The world food tour resumed its journey with a stop at Carte Blanche, one of the three restaurants operated by the XO AV & CB Group. We tried XO a while ago and found it interesting and very reasonably priced. We learned that they changed their menu after our visit and we had intended to return but we heard about Carte Blanche and decided to try this place first. It’s located on 11th avenue, across the street from Kaimuki Community Park. There are a limited number of parking spaces in front of the Carte Blanche and AV but we parked in the Kaimuki Municipal lot.It’s a very brightly lit space with white / gold wallpaper, white / black floor tiles and whitish marble tables with white chairs with large pillows as backrests. There’s an open kitchen to your left as you enter, manned by three people. I thought of Peik Lin’s family home in Crazy Rich Asians. The only discordant note was the rock music being played.They offer an extensive wine list with two prices; you can opt for corkage at $30pp and pay a lower price for a bottle or go with the “regular” price. This would work well if you’re going to consume more than one bottle as the price difference is substantial. As it was just the two of us, we went with a 2019 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from DuMol Vineyards. Purplish and raisiny, with lots of fruit.We chose two appetizers from the Carte Blanche Eats for Two menu, A5 Kagoshima Wagyu Tartare and the Seared Foie Gras. Our server Anthony recommended we order the foie gras off the kid’s menu as it eliminated the hash browns and garnishes but you got three pieces instead of two. The more foie gras, the better for us.The tartare was roughly chopped and came surrounded by chopped cornichons, herbs and crème fraiche and two pieces of gold leaf. It was left to us to determine how much of each to mix with the meat. I mixed all of it, including torn gold leaf. I found the hash brown to be somewhat at odds with the tartare and would have felt the same way with the foie gras. I would have preferred toasted bread or small blinis. However, each dish was superb.As an intermezzo, we were served some granita with an interesting flavor profile … I don’t recall what it was but it was refreshing.We had the Dry Aged Duck Breast Pretzel Brioche Wellington and the 72 Hour Not Just Braised Short Rib “Steak”. The duck presentation was interesting … It was shaped like a large carrot with latticed brioche surrounding the duck breast. It was surrounded by an ume port wine sauce. The duck was very tender and the brioche mimicked the puff pastry used in a Wellington. Inventive.The short rib came sliced and served with a large bone acting as the vehicle for the dollops of guava / BBQ / Smoked Water that added flavor accents to the beef. Under the bone was an arugula salad. I used the foie gras drippings to add extra richness to the meat. One can never have enough foie gras.We shared a Foie Gras Butterscotch Pudding for dessert and I had a French Press of Kona coffee. The dessert was probably the least successful dish for us; my fellow foodie doesn’t care for butterscotch and I don’t like tapioca. Carte Blanche needs a dessert with dark chocolate.What did we think? I thought the food was inventive and prepared well. We would have preferred more subdued lighting and music more conducive to fine dining. Having said that, we enjoyed our meal at Carte Blanche. Recommended!“

“Such a great place to eat and great customer service. The food is delicious. We would go there for breakfast every morning. Highly recommended this cafe. MahaloKid-friendliness: Open dining in a courtyard setting.Wheelchair accessibility: No stairs there are two entrances.“

“Italian food in Kaka’ako! The service here is extraordinary. The octopus and tuna tartare are local favorites. Highly recommend reservations as the place is quant and fills up fast. There is plenty of parking near by if needed. It’s a newer place that opened within the last year and it is well worth the trip to try it out.Parking: Park in the ward village parking garage.“

“They sell egg tarts, coconut tart and moon cakes but they are famous for their egg tarts. I bought an egg tart and a coconut tarte to try. Both were delicious not too sweet. The egg tart tasted eggy since it's an egg tarte after all but you also have a vanilla aftertaste. The crust was layers of flakes that crumbled as you bite into it. Overall it was pretty good but I'm not sure if it's the best egg tart I've had in USA considering the ones in New York. I was expecting it to be very big as I saw some other post but it was just the standard size. It is price-pretty/expensive for an egg tart when compared to other bakeries selling egg tart. Either way it was fresh and hot since they had a have high turnover reate. I waited 30-40 minutes on a Saturday around 12:30PM and the line moved very slow. I don't think I'd wait for an hour or even two like other Yelpers have. The staff were friendly, cash only and no parking. I'd go back if I"m in the area and the lineups are short.“