My family loves sushi and great Japanese food so it was a no brainer that we needed to make a visit to Chef Matsuhisa's Nobu Lana'i while visiting the private island.
The restaurant is set cliffside in the Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay overlooking a protected marine reserve. The inside of the restaurant is gorgeous with a modern and clean design.
We saved our dinner at Nobu for our last night on Lana'i because I was worried how my children would behave and hoped all the other dinners would be dress rehearsals for this fancy restaurant. When the hostess seated us, I almost requested her to put us in their noisiest section. But as we were seated on loveseat-style couches and told they had a keiki (children) menu, my worries for the most past were put to rest.
My son has shown a preference to shrimp and loved the crispy cream shrimp bites and edamame. My daughter is a more adventurous eater when it comes to sushi, so we ordered off the regular menu for her. She enjoyed ikura (salmon roe), maguro (bigeye tuna), and kohada. Her favorite is ikura and we had to order her two more pieces.
It's apparent that she didn't get her love of sushi from me as I ordered all my dishes fully cooked with the exception of some spicy ahi. Nobu Lana'i offers the same hot and cold menu items as their other locations but in addition offers special items exclusive only to Lana'i. You can be sure that I ordered off that menu! I had the Kauai shrimp dumplings and the local whitefish tempura. Both dishes were delicious.
My husband opted for the premium omakase or chef's choice where menu items are left up to the chef. His seven course meal included: scallop ceviche, seafood salad, sushi (oburi otoro, maguro, hotate, kampachi), king crab, wagyu beef served on hot lava rock , spicy mushroom soup, and chilled shiso soup for dessert.
But that wasn't fancy enough for him and he ordered the lobster sashimi which was absolutely amazing and delicious. The chef later created a lobster soup for our family to enjoy.
Finally, we ended our extravagant meal with dessert: assorted mochi ice cream in unique flavors like ume and lihing and Nobu's banana soy tobanyaki: caramelized bananas, rum raisin ice cream, toasted walnuts and banana nut bread croutons.
Ultimately, we have had better sushi on Oahu, but not at a stunning restaurant on a private island that overlooks the ocean. Dinner was excellent and the service was even better. Although dining with little ones can be worrisome, Nobu Lana'i made it way less stressful with a great kids' menu and informal seating. The lava flow helped a little too. :)
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