The restaurant reviewed is:
Merriman’s
65-1227 Opelo Rd
Kamuela
HI 96743
(808) 885-6822
Kwai’s Dish
Fillet Mignon Taco. Passionfruit Iced Tea. Carrot Cake
Yiki’s Dish
Island Fish with Passionfruit sauce, tomato salad and rice. Fresh Pineapple Juice. coconut Creme Brulet with Macadamia nut shortbread.
Exterior
Easy to find off the main road with ample parking. Some shops and other services are nearby as are other restaurants.
Interior
It was a late lunch time on a weekday and we had to wait for over 10 minutes for a table. We wouldn’t normally have to wait for lunch so this is a very busy place. This is a tablecloth and nice modern interior type of place with decent cutlery. You can see the open kitchen from most seating positions to wet the appetite. They play some Hawaiian music for your background pleasure.
Service
There is no one at the door to welcome you or tell you how long you will have to wait for. Instead you have to hover around and jump about a bit to get attention from one of the waitresses. Once you do then you get pretty good ‘tip chasing’ service. The waitress thought that absolutely everything on the menu was the best which didn’t help in choosing what to order. Service was speedy though.
Toilets
Very clean toilets and well maintained. I would happily take a crap in the Merriman’s restroom.
Review
Like most places we went to on the big Island, Merriman’s serves food with ingredients sourced locally. So let’s start with the criticisms… well my Passionfruit Iced tea was bland and flavourless. We had to wait ages for a table and had to flag down a waitress to get seated…. Anything else? Nope! Everything else was simply fantastic. My Taco dish was one of the food highlights of the Hawaii holiday and I was very impressed at the high quality of everything on the plate. My wife rated Merriman’s over our Wedding dinner at Canoehouse and was her second favourite restaurant in Hawaii. The place is very welcoming and the service is excellent once it gets going. We only stayed for dessert in restaurants we really liked which equated to 3 places whilst in Hawaii (Canoehouse, Merrimans’s and Huggo’s) and we weren’t disappointed with ours at Merriman’s. I would highly recommend a visit and prebook as it will make your life easier!
Score
14/20
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