GREAT EATS HAWAII: HARBOR RESTAURANT AT PIER 38

HARBOR RESTAURANT AT PIER 38

1129 N. NIMITZ HIGHWAY

HONOLULU, HI 96817

808-550-3740

HOURS: Daily 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

www.harborpier38.com

www.yelp.com/biz/harbor-pier-38-honolulu

https://www.facebook.com/harborpier38/

My first impression of Harbor Restaurant at Pier 38 was "wow, what a beautiful space". The restaurant design and flow is beautiful. The views are great and the food is so so. We were quite impressed with the space but the food had us wanting something different right after we finished eating. We started with the Brasa Mushroom with Egg ($10). The dish comes with a cooked egg in the middle which the waiter cut up. Nice to have the egg yolk coat some of the mushrooms. Served with Garlic Crostini bread. The cheese in the dish really clumped up and became like rubber. Flavors were just ok. Seemed like this dish was missing some spices or herbs. The Grilled Seafood Skillet ($14) totally lacked flavor. The Shrimp were bland as was most of the fish and clams. Again a little spice, herbs or garlic would help this dish. The Cracked Pepper Wings ($9) were a total disappointment. Basically a grilled Wing with no seasoning or sauce. I asked our waiter for some hot sauce and he happily brought me some Tabasco Sauce which did enhance the flavor. Took some of these leftover Wings home and coated them in Franks Hot Sauce. The Spanish Grilled Octopus ($14) was a huge disappointment too. There was no grilled flavor or grill marks on the Octopus. This dish was so bland that we took one bite each and went no further. Actually took the dish home and after two days nobody would eat it. The Ahi Special ($24) included a very nice and perfectly cooked piece of Ahi but my Wife said she did not like the sauce. My Daughter however loved the Fresh Catch of the Day ($24) which was Furakake Salmon. She loved the dish and enjoyed the leftovers for school lunch the next day. I think Harbor Restaurant needs to work on the food a bit but once they get some winning dishes there is nothing stopping this place from becoming a great place for lunch or dinner. I am going back and looking forward to eating something that is good.

UPDATE 11/8/16: Went back again and concluded that the food here sucks. They need a new Chef fast or this place will never takeoff despite the great location and space. What turned me off big time was the Harbor Ceviche Poke ($14). Once again served with Arugula which totally overpowers the flavors of the fish. The fresh Poke was brown which is not good for Poke. The fish was tangy and tasted like lime juice. What a waste of fresh fish. There were four of us at the table and more than half of this order was left on the table. Not one person liked it or wanted to take it home. I had the Reuben Sandwich with an upgrade to Clam Chowder ($16.50). The Chowder was actually good and I finished the entire cup. The sandwich was dry. Meat dry and Sauerkraut pretty tasteless. The bread was hard and I ended up just picking off slices of the meat. My friend had the Carbonara Pasta ($19) and said he liked it. Another friend had the Burger ($16). Thats correct $16 for a burger. He said it broke apart and was a mess but ate it with a fork.