Norio’s Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Wanted to get one last good meal on my last night in Hawaii and Norio’s did not disappoint! The staff were genuinely friendly and hospitable, the outdoor setting was very relaxed, and the food was both fresh and filling. Overall, I’m glad I got to enjoy myself with good food, service, and location.

En Fliqué — My date and I had been looking for a good place to have sushi on the Big Island, but we hadn’t had any success finding a place. We learned of this restaurant through Unilocal and decided to give it a try, especially since it was only a few miles away from our hotel. We drove up the restaurant entrance to learn that it was located in the upscale Fairmont Orchid Resort, and that there was no (obvious) parking available.
One of the valet parking attendants approached our car and told us that he would comp us for parking and that he would keep my car up front. He was a super nice guy with a great attitude, and his greeting set the tone for the rest of the evening.
We didn’t have a reservation, but the host took care of us and found a table within five minutes. Once we were seated, a server helped us figure out what we wanted from the menu, answering all of our questions and proving her thorough knowledge of the offerings. I will say that the menu didn’t have all of the standard fare I was used to from mainland US sushi restaurants. but I believe this was because the chef serves freshly caught seafood as much as possible.
For my meal, I had 5 pieces of nigiri and a Red Dragon Roll, made with shrimp tempura and tuna. For the nigiri, I had ono (local Hawaiian fish), fresh caught New Zealand Salmon (so much better than farm-​raised), kampachi (similar to Yellow Tail (hamachi) with a buttery after taste), fresh water eel (unagi), and freshly caught Blue Fin Tuna. The Blue Fin tuna nigiri was the best piece of nigiri I’ve ever tasted, hands down.
Along with great, fresh fish, the thing that made all of the nigiri stand out was the rice. It had a wonderful flavor, and I could taste the rice vinegar just enough. Best of all, when I flipped my nigiri to lightly coat the top of the fish with soy sauce, the rice and the fish stayed together. In short, the nigiri was «tight.»
My Red Dragon roll was also very good, but most of my experience is with nigiri and sashimi. I couldn’t say whether the roll was better than other rolls, but it was tasty, and the mustard aioli was the perfect topping (I opted for no eel sauce on mine).
I also can’t speak for my date, but she had equally nice things to say about her food – a roll with shrimp tempura as the main ingredient and a piece of nigiri (kampachi) that she really liked.
After dinner, I had a latte, and (not to sound like a broken record) it was one of the best lattes I’ve had. And lattes weren’t even their specialty. Congrats to whomever made that for me tonight!
After the main meal, we had a nice dessert of deep fried cheesecake dumplings with assorted sauces and a few scoops of ice cream. The dessert was good, but it wasn’t quite on par with rest of the meal. But in all fairness, the meal set a high bar. In fact, my date said that she was likely going to be «ruined» for regular sushi restaurants because this was her first experience with sushi.
Last, but not least, our server, Lexa, was simply a pleasure. A wonderful smile and a charming personality, paired with a solid understanding of sushi, made her the perfect complement to the meal. She really hit home the fact that this restaurant/​resort really focuses on hiring great people.
When the check arrived, we were pleasantly surprised as well. It was expensive, but not outrageously so. For two people, it was a little less expensive than our first meal on the island at the Marriott Bar, where the fish tacos and the four drinks were good, but nothing to write home about.
On the way out (a little after 10pm, even though the restaurant closes at 9), I saw the chef, walked up and thanked him for his wonderful food. Re the closing time, by the way, not once did we feel rushed to leave.
Our meal and our overall experience was so positive that we will most likely go back again before our trip is over. The people were great, the food was top notch, and it was the first time on the Big Island that we felt our money was more than well spent for a meal. Everything was awesome, or as the kids say today, it was completely en fliqué.

Of all the sushi we had on the island, this was by far the best! I think it was the best we have ever had, ever! So fresh and filling. It stays open longer than most restaurants, and the service was amazing. Jaylee was our waitress and was the best server we had on the island as well. Very attentive, helpful, and personable. The cost of a roll is an avg of $ 22. The eel was the bomb. Dessert was fried cheesecake… yummm!

Food: 5 (we ate at the sushi bar)
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3 inside 4 outside
Overall: 4
Expect resort quality food and service at the Fairmont Orchid which means you will likely enjoy your meal for a price. That said three of us dined last night at the sushi bar and enjoyed a highly personalized 90 minute meal with Chef Naba. He guided us through five courses starting with Kampachi & Avocado (sublime, delicate) then a Fairmont roll which was substantial and nuanced with a delicious yuzu miso aioli. We ordered the sashimi set, a worthwhile splurge at $ 65 with generous portions of perfectly fresh fish. Our treat of the night: toro sushi fresh from Japan that morning. It was out of this world.
Overall service was polite professional and attentive as expected at the Fairmont. Décor and ambiance is dated and could use a refresh.

Nice atmosphere restaurant if you stay in this hotel but really pricy and took forever to serve. not fresh not warm if you wanna spend money just go to this restaurant. the service was very very slow, we waited more than 1hr to get first sushi roll. I won’t recommend here at all. I shouldn’t eat sushi abroad since I am Japanese.

Great sushi! Loved the Fairmont roll. Staff was great. We didn’t love the dumpling dessert but the edamame appetizer was really good and flavorful. The outdoor patio is great and has a great view.

The first time we ate here was three years ago. There was a different head chef. An extensive sushi menu that was diverse and you could get omakase that was dynamic and worthy of a Michelin star. That chef has since moved on to a bigger and better things (we wish him the best.) in the wake of that, the menu has shrunk considerably, omakase is not an option. And poke (which was formerly a staple) is now an off menu item.
The food was good, but it wasn’t anything I would cross the street for. I guess when I walked in a had a certain expectation level, and very disappointed to find a very limited menu, and some menu items they were simply out of.

Very nice restaurant. Amazing Ono Sushi roll.

Elegant restaurant, nice seating, good service. They had o-​toro, and a sashimi sampler plate that was very nice. The macadamia nut encrusted asparagus was brilliant, and the spicy yellowtail roll was scrumptious. A nice ending to our Hawaii visit.

Good sushi but expensive. Try Manstera. Sushi was excellent quality just not very creative

Great atmosphere, great food. Dining staff is very friendly and actually gave me advice on what to do while on the islands along with hand written directions for the best routes to take. Miso soup is nothing special, the spicy tuna roll is VERY spicy (has habanero pepper in it which I somehow didn’t read). The Fairmont roll is one of the best sushi rolls I have EVER had and I’m an avid sushi eater. The restaurant is expensive especially if you get drinks, but that’s to be expected. If you’re here at the Fairmont, hands down best place to eat

We went here during our stay at the Fairmont Orchid. We ordered steak, the fairmont roll, fried tofu, the ahi tuna, and a few side dishes. All of the food besides the asparagus was delicious. However, prices are very high (per normal hotel restaurants). I would say the only negative was that they knew we were celebrating my dad’s birthday (and we are part of the president’s club) yet they failed to send us any Birthday dessert or do anything special. Other than that, the service and food was excellent!

another hit or miss restaurant on our trip. We went here our first night and my hubby had sushi, I had filet, son had teriyaki chicken and little had edaname, food and service was great. went there another night and all the meats were way over cooked, to the point they couldn’t be eaten.
Service was still great but again, not consistent with the food.

Went for the sushi and fell in love with the truffle fries! The fries were really amazing, totally worth getting. Ambiance is a little funny because the sushi restaurant is in a hotel lobby that also doubles as a continental breakfast area? Getting seated for our reservation took a little while but the service once we were at our table was lovely!

Attentative, pleasant, and fast service. Ribeye was cooked perfectly to order and had the perfect about of char. The nigiri was delicious and the server explained each piece well.

Everything was so yummy!!! We had the calamari app, Cesar salad, shrimp tempura, the wagu beef with dipping sauces (the best steak!!), mac nut asparagus, truffle fries, and the apple tart. One of the best meals on the island and Brianne our waitress was so knowledgeable about the menu and extremely helpful! Awesome food and great service don’t miss eating at Norio’s

Absolutely fabulous. From the grill Hawaiian Ono/​Wahoo with the chili sauce was one of the best dishes I’ve had in a long time.

My husband and I dined here our first night at the Fairmont Orchid. We had made reservations for 8pm and realized after sunset that with our time change that we’d be lucky to still be awake, we were able to move it up to 730pm. They were very nice about trying to get us in earlier.
Our service was fabulous. my husband’s sushi was very, very good– he enjoyed every bit of it. He did have a misdelivered salad– he ate it & by the time the server came to check on us and we asked about the salad– it was the wrong one, so she brought the correct one. I didn’t have a first course, but did order a rib-​eye steak which was very good and I ordered the side dish of mashed potatoes with bacon in it. They described it so wonderfully, but it really wasn’t that good. We both ordered dessert, although now a week later, I can’t quite recall what we had– but I know both were very good.
Overall, the dining experience was nice. The food was mostly good, just the one issue with my potatoes and the ambiance was lovely. They also have a resident kitty cat named «Sushi» who will happily take handouts, but is awfully cute and a little bit entertaining too.

Try the signature Fairmont Roll! The Ono was amazing and the flavors melted like warm herb butter. Better yet, start with their scallop appetizer or get two as they would make Gordan Ramsey proud! We’re from Seattle (stayed at the Fairmont Orchid on vacation); we love Sushi and get some of the best in Seattle. You probably won’t be disappointed at Norio’s.
That said, I don’t know that I would make a special trip to Norio’s as there are probably other/​better Sushi restaurants on the Big Island… maybe not. We didn’t love the Red Dragon roll and were also a little disappointed that Norio’s shares the same location as the Orchid’s breakfast buffet. The dual use is clever but the ambiance is definitely lacking especially as a kid friendly resort. I was hoping for a quiet ocean view but got something more like a hotel lobby with spoiled kids. If you want an ocean view try Brown’s Beach Resort Restaurant.
Our service Norio’s was great and we were very comfortable in the open air. Seriously, go and enjoy yourself. It’s a vacation so don’t worry about the small stuff. If you really want 5-​start dining go to a different island or stay home in NY or LA.

The most horrible meal I ever had in Hawaii. I never had bad food in Hawaii in the 5 years in a row that I have been vacationing in Hawaii, but sadly Norio’s fell in that «bad meal» category.
I dined at Norio’s last year and it was fantastic. But it went down the tube since then.
While the service was very friendly, it was slow and completely disorganized. The fish was definitely not fresh, and was actually quite smelly — the same horrible smell that was hanging around the sushi bar, where I dined. I consider myself very fortunate that I didn’t get sick. In addition to the poor quality of the fish, the portions were ridiculously small, especially for the price being charged.
I also overheard a lady at the other end of the sushi bar complaining to the waiter about the shrimp tempura being soggy. How is it possible to mess up a tempura dish? Pretty telling about the poor quality of this restaurant!
In summary, please avoid this place at all cost.