Rapanui Island Cafe

8pm Friday night, walked here and they are closed. Lame. WS really looking forward to eating here based off of great reviews and the pictures made the food look amazing. They looked permanently closed to me but I’m not sure.

Ever since I returned from Kona Ive been craving for the paw paw chicken. During my staying I ended up going to this place almost every day. The prices where decent and the service was friendly and and good. The atmosphere was very kicked back. I highly recommend tp pay them a visit. The paw paw chicken really «broke da mouth» :D
Greetings from Frankfurt, Germany!

Located in the back among a bunch of small shops. The owner must be a Kiwi because I spotted a poster of the All Blacks on the wall. We had the Toru plate so we could sample a bunch of things — it was around $ 18 and change. Our choices were the beef sate (grilled nicely with good flavor), the chicken curry (pretty bland, not our favorite), and the Moa chicken (grilled, great flavor). We also had the house rice– nothing stood out maybe because we had piled on the peanuts and other table condiments, plus the sate sauce was on it.
Chef looked like he was having a bad nite. Judging from the other reviews, it’s not new. His grumpy face shouldn’t deter you from trying this place though. The portions are big enough for 2 to share and the food is pretty tasty.

It took several tries to actually sit down at this place because they were closed when the hours said they were open. My family came here for dinner for its high ratings online.
It was empty when we got there and none of the tables were set. I think the lady who eventually served us was the owner because she was the only one there besides the chef. She was dressed in normal everyday clothing and she had a bored, dismissive, borderline annoyed attitude. Not impressed.
We ordered the catch of the day, paw paw chicken, and a fish stir fry. I really liked the lemongrass coconut rice, but the stir fry itself was nothing too special. The paw paw chicken and fish stir fry taste pretty much the same. The catch of the day, a seared ahi tuna steak, was good, but pricey.
If it weren’t for the lady’s unpleasant attitude, it would have been a really nice experience. Probably wont be back.

****** MUST TRY *********
So I think it was in my 2013 trip to the Big Island that I happened upon this small little restaurant tucked away in the downtown tourist area. They are located right next to a great little parking lot that not many people seem to have found.
They have indoor and outdoor seating. They specialize in Pacific Rim foods but have a heavy emphasis on foods and spices from New Zealand. The menu runs the gamut from seafood, to chicken/​beef, to vegetarian for all different tastes out there. While many of the dishes are «spiced» they are not particularly «spicy» but just packed with a punch full flavor.
So twice I have ordered the curry but the first time I ordered chicken and the second I ordered the shrimp. If you are given the option of «house rice» take it. This is NOT the time for brown rice. You won’t regret their coconut based tastiness. Yes, the curry was spectacular. Coconut base with spices and not spicy at all. The food comes out piping hot so take a few moments to savor the smells before committing your tongue to heat!
Their appetizers are equally amazing. Remember to order the wontons and the mussels. The mussels are fresh and well seasoned. The only thing I wished was that they had more on a plate! The wontons were crispy and so tasty with their mango chutney type sauce.
Don’t forget dessert! Their banana wontons with vanilla ice cream is to die for. A perfect way to end a perfect meal!

Fantastic food! Don’t miss this gem hidden off the street near Scandinavian shave ice. The food is terrific, spicy, delicious and big portions. Save room for dessert! And with a staff of two, the service is better than places with 5x as many on wait staff. Get in here!

PRO: 4 stars for the food. Service was simple, courteous, prompt, and swift (with a lightly attended Tuesday 3 table «crowd»).
CON: the setting is not scenic, dated décor,

The restaurant was busy and was only staffed by 2 friendly people but they never refilled out water. I ordered the paw paw chicken which was great but the brown was partially undercooked. I was biting into uncooked rice kernels at time. I loved the Peanut Butter Bars dessert as it tasted like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Yummy. And the Fresh Lilikoi Juice (passion fruit) was delicious.

I’m not going to mince words: best food I had in a week on the Big Island. I enjoyed an Indonesian-​Malaysian combo, which was hands-​down the best Indonesian or Malaysian food I’ve had, including anywhere in the SF Bay Area. The most succulent, tender beef satay was the star, but so closely followed by the chicken (mau mau?) and spicy pork that rounded out my combo. My GF had the prawns, which had a macadamia nut coating and were excellent. Very large servings, for under $ 15. The ginger-​lemongrass iced tea was also excellent. We did share an appetizer of pork-​mushroom filled fried wontons, which were good and had better dipping sauces, but came in a bit small of a serving. I think our bill was around $ 45 for two dinners, an appetizer and two beverages, including the tax.
5 stars for food, and I’d give a 4.5 for overall. The only detraction is that the location isn’t very charming or scenic, but if it was you would have to pay a lot more and deal with longer waits if this place was more prominently placed. Please support this family run restaurant if you’re in Kona. The food will be worth the visit.

Liked the flavor and the food, but enough cons to bring down the overall score.
Pros:
— Paw Paw chicken was pretty amazing
— Wha (#4 plate) was a great way to sample all the sate (chicken x 2, beef, pork, and shrimp) and the flavor was good.
Cons:
— the chef/​owner looks really pissed off all the time
— small area, lots of flies
— the «house rice» is supposedly a fried rice option you can get besides white or brown rice. It has lemongrass, ginger, and other stuff. Sounds great, but when we got it, the rice was lumpy and very obviously old rice that was re-​cooked with various spices to try to bring it back to life (and failed).
— my shrimp sate was severely undercooked (like it was still gray…)

Once again Unilocal comes through in a pinch as I walked up and down the Kona shore trying to AVOID the chain restaurant trap! Sure enough my intuition + Unilocaler reviews led me to RAPANUI, the sweet and friendly waitress made great suggestions and I absolutely loved the lamb burger w/​sweet potato fries and hummus (and I rarely eat red meat!!!) Unfortunately there’s no indoor a.c. and there were a ton of flies which really almost ruined the dining experience so I just have to say PLEASE get some bug repellents/​traps so your guests and eat in peace!!! Other than that– keep up the great food and service! Thanks!

Dropped in for lunch. My meal didn’t meet my expectations, but that may also be in part because we ordered lunch specials rather than dinners.
The highlights for me were actually the super-​garlicky hummus, of which I could have eaten an enormous amount, the pea sprout garnish and pickled cucumber, and the paw-​paw chicken.
The peanut sauce was tasty, but the chicken satay wasn’t that exciting. The catch of the day pita sandwich had a very generous amount of fish, but I wasn’t in love. The fried spring rolls were also just ok.
I also ordered the pork wontons. They were super-​crisply fried, which may be the style, but I didn’t really enjoy them. The tamarind dipping sauce was the highlight of that dish for me.
Again, I think dinner might have been a better choice than going for lunch specials, but in general I didn’t experience the strong flavors I’d hoped for.

Simple spot in a hidden spot inside a strip mall downtown Kona. Not sure it’s up to the Unilocal average 4.5 stars, but I give it 3.75 stars.
Food: 3.75, Atmosphere: 3, Service: 3
Cost to worth it rating: 3.5 (reasonable prices)
Return worthiness: maybe
Highlights:
— Chicken: their signature dish was moist and had a good glaze of flavor
— Spring rolls: crispy with a bit of curry flavor I liked the soy ginger and mango chili sauces
— Shrimp macadamia: enjoyed the big nut pieces, large shrimp, and mound of vegetables mixed in
— Side of peanut sauce with stir fry: loved this since I don’t do many sauces but peanut sauce is one of my faves
— Combos: like how you can pick from entrees and skewers to mix and match for variety
— Satay: not the traditional flat kind you find in Thai food but juicy heavily marinated chunks of tender meat
— Sweet potato fries: didn’t seem to fit on the menu but my little guy loved em
— NZ uniqueness: had a NZ beer and wines on the menu
Midlights:
— Liked the idea of the coconut lemongrass rice, but couldn’t taste the flavors so well
Lowlights:
— No AC: though the tables outside were nice
— Hidden: finding it takes a bit of work nestled in the back
— No high chairs: makes it a bit harder for a young one but we managed ok
It was a fine lunch and I’d consider coming back.

What’s for lunch?
Paw Paw Chicken & # 4 Combo (All Sate over brown rice)=$ 32
We chose these because of all the reviews. Very good, very filling, and definitely had left overs.
My favorite is the peanut sauce that covered all the sate and more onto the rice… SOO YUMM!

This was our first meal in Kona. We tried this place based on Unilocal reviews, and because it was just a short walk from Courtyard KingKam. It’s tucked in a small shopping plaza, easy to miss. There were a lot of empty tables when we arrived. We seated ourselves on one of the outdoor tables and we were told (not asked!) to move to a smaller table. Not a good first impression, if you’ll ask me. And in our defense, my husband and I usually prefer to sit at bigger tables because we usually order food good for four people… a table for two just doesn’t provide enough space :)
Anyway, I was no longer in the mood to order appetizer so we ordered our entrees right away. My husband ordered the catch of the day while I ordered a meat dish (being the carnivore that I am). My husband enjoyed his meal. I, on the other hand, found the flavors too overwhelming. Maybe I should have ordered something else. Or maybe my sour mood affected my taste buds. I didn’t bother ordering dessert either. I just wanted to leave the place. I would have given it two stars but since my husband liked his dinner, I’ll throw in the extra star.

This is my first review on Unilocal.I am usually not a frequent Unilocaler, but my meal here was so outrageously good that I couldn’t keep this place a secret. It was so good that I took pictures of it. I’m not sure why I did that — future food porn collection?
Anyway, I started out ordering a Jasmine tea. I usually HATE tea but drink it because its good for you or some sh*t. But this tea was amazing. Homemade, just sweet enough to satisfy my sugar cravings but not TOO sweet. My sister ordered the passion fruit juice (it’s called something else on the menu that I can’t remember…) and I thought that that juice was too sweet compared to my tea. I also tried the lemongrass tea and it was great, though a bit too tangy and lemony for me. The jasmine tea was so good that I ordered another after my sister spilled mine all over myself.
As for food, I ordered the Paw Paw Chicken over the coconut lemongrass rice with a side of broccoli. I regretted the broccoli (my fave veggie) as soon as I realized that the chicken was TOO GOOD and TOO FILLING to be sedated with something as bland as broccoli. The chicken itself — oh my God. The waitress said it was the most ordered thing on the menu, and I can see why. It is savory and sweet at the same time. It was like a mouthgasm. I kept thinking about how good it was. I think I thought out loud, because my sister repeatedly told me to shut up.
Speaking of my sister, she enjoyed her meal, too. She got the Beef Cashew. My dad got the fish catch of the day (Mahi Mahi) and said it was his best meal in Hawaii yet.
So don’t pass up this place just because it looks a lil sketchy and it’s a little hidden in a shopping mall next to a hair salon. I will be dreaming of that chicken for days to come.

I read wonderful reviews about Rapanui when searching for a vegetarian-​friendly restaurant in downtown Kona. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would, but maybe my expectations were too high because of all the glowing Unilocal reviews. I thought it was just okay.
The location was great, because there’s a huge free parking lot behind the little plaza. We didn’t have any trouble pulling in and finding a spot right away.
The pseudo-​outdoor seating doesn’t provide much in way of a great view of the ocean, but it is comfortable, and there were enough tables even though we got there during a busy dinner time (6 p.m.).
The food was, in my opinion, just okay. I didn’t care for the house rice (too soggy and soft) or the satay sauce (my fault — I always forget that I don’t like savory peanut butter), but the combination of those two (the satay sauce mixing with the soggy rice, creating almost a peanut butter rice pudding kind of thing) turned me off on the whole meal. I think if I had ordered something else, I might have loved it. I saw other meals being served that looked way better (with tons of fresh veggies).
My husband said his tofu stir-​fry was pretty bland as well.
I loved the fresh passionfruit juice — it was very refreshing!
I was disappointed when our server told us that they were not offering dessert on the evening we visited, both because I was still hungry (couldn’t eat my gross peanut butter rice) and because we had read that the dessert was not to be missed. Apparently, they only have one person working in the kitchen, so on busy nights, they don’t do dessert. So we just walked over to the nearby Scandinavian Shaved Ice shop and got an awesome scoop of Mac Nut ice cream instead!
All in all, I’d probably try Rapanui again and I would order something different, because the menu (and all the Unilocal praise) makes it seem promising.

This place is kind of tucked away and we definitely missed it walking by, but glad that we found it.
We ordered Mahi-​catch of the day, Mia chicken, and the macadamia shrimp stir fry. All the dishes were exceptional delicious.
I highly recommend coming here, you seriously cannot go wrong & the service was on key.

I wouldn’t call this Indonesian food. This is more like Thai– American fusion.
We started off with the green mussels appetizer. This was pretty good so I was hopeful that our lunch would be just as tasty. We opted for a combo plate with shrimp skewers, chicken curry and a spicy pork atop their house special rice. The rice tasted like Rice-​a-​Roni (no bueno!). The shrimp skewers were grilled well. The chicken curry was good. The spicy pork was too spicy and had a rubbery texture. Overall, our lunch was average, but mostly unsatisfying.

I’ve eaten at Rapanui 5 times and highly recommend it. I love the entrees, but the appetizers are nothing special.
I highly recommend the paw paw chicken with the house rice! You can skip the mussels or the pork won tons appetizers. I’ve also had a steak special that was fantastic too.
Rapanui has become one of our favorite places to eat in Kona. You won’t be disappointed!