The Dolphin

We got invited to The Dolphin for lunch. We had reservation for 12:45 pm on Monday for a group of 10. The restaurant was not packed and it took the waiter 15 min to take the order. It then took another 50 min for the food to come out. We had a couple toddlers in our party and they were getting hungry since the food took a long time to come out. The customer service was not great and the food tasted okay. We ordered a lot of dishes such as: bull burger, hamburger, trio sashimi, chicken strips, California rolls, seafood chowder, fun burger, etc… The waiter did not take one of the orders and later blamed us for not confirming the order. He should have put in the order when we brought it up to him instead of blaming us. Overall, we are not a fan of this place.

One of my favorite meals on this island. Everything was good. Flat beer unfortunately but the service was good, and you get 10% off if you valet.

Decent place. If you stop by for happy hour the prices are pretty reasonable and the food is good. Tuna is very fresh. Dinner prices are a little high but that’s the case in Kauai everywhere. Definitely will be back.

A fine option just off the Sheraton property (.9 mile walk). I see a lot of people bitching about price…$ 16 for two fish tacos seems ok with salsa, guac, not eating in a dirt parking lot, from a food truck… in a nice plantation style place with decent draft beer options…

I know food is expensive in Hawaii, but I still found this place to be not quite worth it. The California roll I got was $ 16 for 7 pieces; it tasted okay. The seafood chowder was pretty good, and my partner said his seared ahi tuna was really good.
They gave us complimentary edamame, but it was severely undercooked; they were so hard that I had to use my fingernails to pry them open. They also sautéed them in some sort of sauce which made them taste funny (not that good).
Service was okay. Reasonably fast but not especially friendly. Overall, the food was decent, just kinda pricey for what you get.

If your looking for a chill spot with good food and a great view this is it. The teriyaki seared Ahi was to die for. Expect market price on most of the dishes

Loved the perfectly grilled monchong had this in addition to the whole artichoke!

Sushi was amazing
Miso soup was amazing
Tempura best I’ve ever had
Sapporo ice cold
Sake perfectly hot
Chef Drew was the coolest. Even added shrooms to my miso soup wow!!!
Bartender Shane was hysterical too.
Love this joint
My new favorite sushi ever

Went here for lunch with family and had 7 members there. We were seated right after opening at 11:30. First time eating here.
Bottom line up front: the food was good but the service was not, and the sushi is way over-​priced for what it it is.
Service: ordered two sushi rolls as appetizers, and 2 of our party ordered cups of chowder. We also ordered entrees from the lunch menu. Fish and chips, fish sandwiches, salad. Nothing exotic. After a decent wait, and no sign of the apps, the entrees started arriving. I asked the waiter about the apps and he said, with no indication of any issue, that «they come from different places in the restaurant». I asked for the sushi to be canceled since we now had the entrees. He said that they were likely to b next up. And sure enough, 5 minutes AFTER everyone had their fried fish and chips and such, the sushi showed up. As well as the chowder.
The waiter took absolutely no responsibility for timing and basically just slapped them down. Bear in mind that the place was not busy and had just opened for lunch.
All of the entrees were tasty. Fish moist and fresh. But the sushi was just «meh», and fairly skimpy portions for a $ 16 roll at a place that also prides itself on being a fish market. Would not bother to order it again.
All in all, disappointing experience and not one I would repeat given the plethora of choices here on the island.

The calamari salad with Tahitian salad dressing was perfect (creamy with just the right hint of tang). The micro greens were fresh and the calamari was steak pieces not chewy rings. I would order this again in a heart beat.
Dessert was a mochi cake with passion fruit sauce and vanilla ice cream which all
disappeared quite quickly.
Our wait person, Koa, was delightful and really knew his stuff, including all the ingredients in the special Dolphin salt on our table.

The review is for the Fish Market. Hubby has been obsessed with poke bowls since arriving Hawaii. It is however first come first serve, so if you are there towards the end of the day, most of it, if not all, will be gone. Hubby got the Shoyu poke bowl which had avocado. It was AMAZINGLY GOOD. It was just fresh and flavorful. One less star because the price is a bit steep for a poke bowl. It was average in size and cost $ 12.50! Not sure if they charged by weight with the rice, but just a bit overpriced.

We had two excellent meals here while vacationing in Kauai. The sushi was all excellent, especially the tasty Hanalei roll– gorgeous. We had two excellent fish entrees that were superb. All fish delivered to their door directly from local fisherman. All caught LOCALLY off Kauai unlike most local restaurants. Our service was excellent both nights and servers were so friendly and kind and very helpful to our kiddos. We will be back here.

This place is way overpriced and not a huge fan of a waiter who doesn’t write down the orders… yet screws it up.
My girlfriend ordered a sushi roll, he comes back and asks what dressing did you want for your salad. I ordered the frings with my calamari burger but I did not get them, just fries. Dude write down the orders if you’re going to screw it up.
The price my goodness are atrocious. 14 dollars for a basic… not even mind blowing sushi roll? I have to pay 5 dollars to get fries with my burger? 3 stars solely for the bomb calamari burger. Everything overpriced.

My family ordered the sushi and they all loved it I ordered the New York steak it was just OK. The drinks were strong which is always good.
I was disappointed however because I told both the person who set us and our waiter that it was my wife’s 50^th birthday and she completely blew it off not even a scoop of ice cream and a candle obviously not a great place to go when you have a big occasion to celebrate.

A server suggested this place our first night at the GH. We tried it last night and he was absolutely spot on. The food is amazingly delicious and fresh.
We started with the rainbow poke which sits atop a bed of sushi rice. Reminded me of chirashi with poke size cuts of fish (no poke sauce). The wasabi was outstanding too with good «bite».
For entrée, we ordered the poipu roll, striped marlin, and teriyaki ahi. The roll was very appealing to the eye with a crunch skin in the middle. The striped marlin was one of the fresh fish of the day and it was prepared simply; the fillet was extremely tender and juicy. Lastly the ahi, we were told, is their signature dish. To be honest I was initially skeptical when I saw «teriyaki» but it was nothing like the heavy sauce. The ahi was marinated in it and seared to a medium rare. All delicious!

Truly the absolute worst service we have ever had. No water was brought to our table after asking 3 times. We had to get up and request it from another server. We ordered a second round of drinks that never showed up, our waitress was extremely rude and messed up our bill twice before someone from the group stood next to her at the register and helped. A nice night out turned into an almost 3 hour ordeal with the lack of service we received. A true disappointment as the food was great… Even if plates did come out 30 minutes apart.
To the manager that witnessed this all, the fact that you didn’t come over to make things right or acknowledge what you were seeing really drove this home for us. We will never return to the Dolphin and we will advise everyone we know to avoid it as well.

Holy yum!
I can’t recommend this place enough! I started with a delicious piña colada, shared the rainbow pokē, and had the «Megan-​me-​crazy» roll. Absolutely amazing!
The service was wonderful too! Our waitress, Karen, was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu.
We will be back here when we return to Kauai!

Was staying at the Grand Hyatt and wanted to get out for dinner as eating in a hotel gets repetitive. This is just a short drive away, in a nice shopping centre and was excellent.
Sat at the sushi bar as was dining solo and it was fantastic. Sushi chef Drew was amazing. Barbara was my server, very attentive and prompt. I had a specialty roll which was full of fresh fish and layered with delicious ingredients like asparagus, avocado, shrimp, salmon and a mango dressing. Massive roll and super filling so really could only have one (next time will need to go hungrier). Miso soup was a little on the salty side. Oyster shooters were delicious and made with a Hawaiian chilli water which was refreshing and had a nice kick to it.
Certainly not inexpensive but definitely worth it. Sat next to some friendly and welcoming locals about my age who made my night. Will go back before I leave the area.

The Dolphin has good sushi and some non sushi options if anyone in your party doesn’t want fish. It’s a little on the pricey side so be prepared to spend about $ 80 for a meal for 2. Our group of four had the lobster roll, spider roll, Hawaiian chicken, artichoke crowns (hearts), and rice. No one had any complaints about their meal and we all would eat there again. My meal was the artichoke crowns that were covered in breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and served with aioli. It was pretty good but a side of melted butter would have been perfect with them! The miso soup was really good! As weird as this sounds it was a little thicker than I have normally had it but I loved it! Rice as always is a great choice if you like white sticky rice. The Hawaiian chicken was two pieces of chicken breast with sticky rice on the side! We will definitely eat here again next time!

The sushi was good. Not life changing, but satisfying and fresh. The stand out roll for me was the lobster roll. But $ 30 a roll!!! Not really worth it in my opinion. I mean I get that we were eating in a super touristy area, where everything is more expensive, but I couldn’t help but feel ripped off. I understand paying more at a place like Nobu, but Dolphin was just not at that level.
The biggest disappointment of the night was the scallops. Baked in a wine sauce covered in mozzarella and bread crumbs — sounds good right?! Wrong! This dish was SO salty and SO greasy I could barely eat it. The scallops were small and just drowning in grease and salt. Pretty sure my blood pressure went up after eating that. And yes, I ate most of it b/​c I was hungry and hate wasting food. Bleh!
If you’ve eaten at all the other restaurants in the area, are craving overpriced sushi and want to have some drinks, this is your place. I probably wouldn’t return, unless I was in serious need of some sushi.