Anybody tried the Fishhopper Restaurant in Kona?

[bevvy5 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bevvy5]

I just bought some gift certificates on Skyauction for a decent price and am wondering if anybody has been there. The Tripadvisor reviews are pretty good, but any personal experience?

Thanks again.

Bev

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Not yet.

You can also go to the Konaweb website and read the reader's restaurant reviews there. I saw some recently for the Fishhopper.

KONAWEB: Readers Restaurant Reviews

[Karilynn57 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Karilynn57]

Fishhopper is ok........nothing great............I'd rather go to Huggos on the Rocks for an afternoon cocktail and light casual inexpensive dinner.........it's right on the sand whereas Fishopper is across the street ............

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

The prevailing view is that there are no outstanding restaurants in Kona. Many are decent, but extremely expensive. They say that you should shop at the farmers' markets and cook in your room.

[Karilynn57 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Karilynn57]

Fish Hoppers

It is true, there are very few great restaurants in Kona..........for fine dining, there is only La Bourgonne, a very small french cafe on Queen K highway and IT IS EXCELLENT.........the prices are excellent when compared to places like the Fish Hopper------if you want Fish & Chips, tho, Quinns Almost by the Sea is great.......also, their french fried zucchini is AWESOME........PRICES GREAT, TOO.

iF YOU WANT TO STEP BACK 100 YEARS, GO TO MANAGO HOTEL, in CAPT. COOK............FAMILY STYLE DINING AND YOU'LL THINK YOU GOT CAUGHT IN A TIMEWARP......PRICES GREAT; FOOD GREAT------JUST REAL DIFFERENT........AND, THE TASTIEST PORKCHOPS YOU FIND ANYWHERE.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

We just got back from two weeks on the Big Island. We ate at the Fish Hopper while we were there and were favorably impressed. No, it's not a great restaurant, but it was pleasant, the food and service were both good. And I agree, there are no "great" restaurants in Kona (at least none we've found). We also had dinner at the Four Seasons to celebrate our dd's 21st birthday and it was wonderful (and very pricey).

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

A couple of things to know about those certificates:

1) You don't get change, so you need to spend as close as possible to $50 or $100 to get real value from them. In other words, if your meal is $51 and you use two certificates, you just used $100 in certificates to pay for your meal.

2) They can be used to pay for drinks as well as food.

3) You have to tip separately.

The restaurant is pretty good. Overlooks the bay, open air (not air conditioned) and in late afternoon, you can usually get a seat at the window. Also not as hot as during the day. It is about a 30-minute drive from the Waikoloa area if you are staying there. Service is OK. Some nights they have live music to go with dinner.

The fish is usually fresh. Portions are relatively small, which I considered a good thing, since most restaurants serve too much food in a single serving. On Mondays and Tuesdays, they have a Kamaaina Special, which is a lobster tail and prime rib, or a slightly larger lobster tail over fettuccini alfredo, which are good, either for $20.

Most nights they offer a Kamaaina menu consisting of a cup of clam chowder, very small main course and a dessert selected by the chef for $14.95.

Their Ahi appetizer is good if you like that. Coconut shrimp are so-so. Ono and Opakapaka were good. Their Haupia/Sweet Potato pie for dessert is very good (they use Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, so they're purple). Chocolate Mac Nut Pie is good, and Key Lime Pie is so-so.

The chef also goes light on the salt (except for the clam chowder, which was salty), which we both liked, since restaurant food often tastes oversalted to us.

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

Our best meals were bento or sushi boxes eaten at grocery stores (the ABC Store near the Bay Club Waikoloa had good bentos or premade meals, including spaghetti), which were also a pretty good value. We also liked the strawberry mochi we picked up from Two Ladies' Mochi shop in Hilo, and the Sun Dried Tomato Dip from the Dip guy at the Hilo Farmer's Market (Wednesday and Saturday only). Also the Super Loco Moco special at the Cafe 100 Drive-In in Hilo was surprisingly good - the gravy made that. At about $4.99 (plus drinks) for a single meal split between the two of us that filled us up for the rest of the day.

Other than that, we liked what we cooked in the room. We also enjoyed coffee and dessert at Tommy Bahama's Cafe while watching the sunset and listening to the live music.