Arancino di Mare

Came here with really high hopes, and parts of our experience were great! Park in the garage right before the restaurant and you get 3 hours of free validated parking.
So we arrived at 1130 and got seated quickly. The bread they give isn’t very good, but it’s free bread so can’t complain.
I got a pasta with vegetables and citrus oil sauce. it just really lacked flavor. My sister got the blue crab spaghetti and there was a hair inside. The waiter saw it at about the same time she did and grabbed her plate away really fast. They did comp us for her plate and made her a new one.
Our friend got a spicy penne pasta that was really yummy, so maybe only the tomato sauce plates were good, because our sauce was olive oil. But when your paying $ 20+ a plate it should all taste good.
We also got a chocolate mousse for dessert that was really yummy!
Over all a good experience, but the spaghetti we had just really lacked flavor.

Jeff was our waiter this evening. Nice guy. Food was delicious. Shared a salad and the risotto fungi. Now that was great. Jeff brings it table side with a large half round of Parmesan cheese hollowed out. Puts the hot pasta in the parm, swirls it around and then out comes risotto with extra infusion of Parmesan. And who doesn’t like cheese. Thanks for a great dinner.

A guy whoever answered my call was rude and has no phone etiquette when I asked a simple question about the dinner reservation.
First he told me they were fully booked «tonight» before I even mention the date, and when I gave him the date I wanted to make a reservation, then he cut me off while I was talking and rudely yelled «We are in Waikiki, and really busy every night.», so I told him «ok, understand, thank you.», and he hang up the phone WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING. He didn’t say «THANK YOU», OR «SORRY ABOUT THAT». He just hang up on me.
I used to work at the one on beachwalk long time ago as starting crew, and I was shocked to experience this kind of rude treatment from Aranchino staff.
Maybe he was tired or having a bad day, but still, he is representing his restaurant the moment he answers the call.
His attitude needs to be changed.
I told my friend to go to the one on beachwalk and not here.
Also, I will definitely talk to Mr. Inamura about this and recommend to have a basic phone etiquette training for ignorant people like him.
It’s really disappointing and hopefully they will have a better customer service for all the guests.

Birthdays only come once a year, and when they do, what better way to celebrate than to go to Arancino di Mare.
I have to give many thanks to my gf — Jules Y., for setting up this wonderful dinner… and I must say, as good as the food & service was, the company of a beautiful women was the high-​lite of my night!
Arancino di Mare is located in the heart of Waikiki at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.
Although the restaurant has indoor seating, I would say the majority of the seating is actually outdoors.
The outdoor seating area is partitioned off by a rope, as the outdoor seating is actually on the hotel’s sidewalk area.
Seating is covered by large umbrellas, and I must say the outdoor seating is pretty comfortable on a cool winter night.
Upon getting seated, our waitress comes by quickly to drop off menus & water. Shortly after that, she comes back to take our drink & food orders.
We order the following items —
1. Antipasto Misto — Which had 9 different (cold appetizer) items.
2, Lobster Bisque
3. Insalata gamberetti e avocado — local nalo farm mixed greens, shrimp, avocado, & grapefruit slices with homemade grapefruit vinaigrette.
4. Spaghetti Alla Pescatora
5. Margherita pizza — mozzarella, basil & homemade tomato sauce.
6. A complimentary Tiramisu cake was provided by Arancino di Mare for my birthday (nice touch guys!)
7. Earl Gray Tea to top off our meal.
What can I say about the grub?
Delicioso,
おいしい — Oishi
— Mas-​issneun
Delizioso
美味 — Měiwèi
— Svaadisht
Köstlich
Heerlijk
Susua
Ono
Delizioso
masarap
In other words… simply D-​E-​L-​I-​C-​I-​O-​U-​S!
The sample platter had a little bit of everything, and to be honest, I’m not really sure exactly what everything was, but I ate it anyways! Lol!
The lobster bisque was very rich & creamy… a very nice soup!
I loooooooooved the Insalata Gamberetti e avocado! The local greens were very fresh, and it was topped with fresh shrimp, avocado, & grapefruit.
The Spaghetti Alla Pescatora was simply devine! Lots of seafood loaded into the pasta!
And the Margherita Pizza… now who doesn’t like pizza? Fresh ingredients, nice thin crust, tasty & light! Ummmmmmmmm!
And to top off our meal, we had some Earl Gray tea to go with a little complimentary Tiramisu Cake. (Thank you Arancino di Mare for the cake!)
What a wonderful and enjoyable meal!
I’ve been lucky enough to go to two, out of three Arancino restaurants, and I must say the two restaurants I’ve been to — (Kahala Hotel & Marriott Resort)… hasn’t disappointed yet!
If you ever in Waikiki, and you’re jonesing for Italian… may I suggest you check out Arancino di Mare!
Parking — I forgot to mention… the restaurant validates parking for 3 hours if you dine here, parking is at the hotel garage. I was lucky when I showed up to the restaurant, as there was a metered stall open just for me! Guess the parking gods were looking out for me!

This place is really nice! Ocean view little pricey for lunch but that doesn’t stop me from coming here. You can’t go wrong with any of they’re pastas

Another Great Meal! I can ALWAYS count on my pasta be to prepared PERFECTLY! whether it is the Uni Pasta or the any of the other Pasta — delicious and perfectly seasoned!

Walked by the last week that I’ve been here and finally stopped. Unbelievable Crepes. Yogurt with fruit Amazing. and beverage bar. Love it. A must

The food magnificent. The service unmatched to date. The atmosphere welcoming, warm and intimate. Your loss if you don’t dine here

We ordered the Lasagna and the Penne Arrabista with spicy sauce. The lasagna was fantastic although the the Penne was very under cooked. The highlight of our dinner experience was the bartender Harry and his helper Mike. They made our dinning experience an exceptional one. Very friendly and informative! We will come back for their service

Arancino is a consistently three star place. And truth is, I feel bad rating it three stars because I am friendly with a lot if the staff that work here. I’m a regular, because of this, and I have avoided doing a review simply not to make them look bad. Especially because I think the old management staff would use this against them.
That being said, I’ve noticed a definite change since the new management team took over. I’ve known a lot of the staff here for years now, and am sad to see so many of them struggling with all the changes. It is clear that many of them feel over worked, under paid and unappreciated from the many conversations I’ve had. One major complaint being that they’re overstaffed and therefore, not able to make enough money to pay bills. It is a problem when any business fails to make their staff feel cared for. Even just realizing that your staff is your best asset would be beneficial. I’m sure they’ve all got ideas about how to make the place work better for everyone. I’ve personally witnessed members of their staff working breakfast, lunch AND dinner more than once in recent months, including on holidays. I never witnessed this in the past, and have made comments to staff about it. I think this negative environment bleeds out into day to day operations, and is obvious even to me from the outside. The food is still as good (or bad, depending) as ever, but the atmosphere has soured a lot.
I usually come in and sit at the bar and have a drink/​snack. I quit doing this a while back when Fonte left. I came in a few times and was really put off by the bartenders attitude/​mannerisms. This is a bummer, because I really like this person and they clearly work hard, but they don’t have the personality style for bartending, or from what i can see, interest in being a good bartender (not good at making conversation, very short with people and all ‘business’, not to mention that drink quality has gone down). I miss visiting with Sean Fonte-​whom I actually don’t know outside of Arancino. He was just good company, and truly seemed to care about making patrons’ experience a good one. And he made a MEAN Bellatini. What happened to salt&peppering the rim?! It’s way too expensive and not as good without it.
When I came in on New Years eve all my Arancino friends were working. I sat at the bar and ordered food/​drinks. I don’t know what was going on at the hostess desk, but all of a sudden I had like 5 people surrounding me/​bumping into my chair and yelling over me to the bartenders trying to order drinks so they could drink while waiting for a table. They were just taking up space around the cocktail tables/​behind bar stools and into bussing area. It was very invasive, and I was offended that none of the staff asked these people to please wait outside. It gave me anxiety to have so many people practically ON me while trying to enjoy a nice meal. I snapped a few photos for reference.
I know to whomever reads this it might sound like I’m making silly complaints, but I want you to know that this is a standard experience here. The food is usually good, the service is either great or non-​existent, and it seems like something weird always happens when I am there. Never anything super awful, but I’ve considered doing a review for one negative reason or another every time I’ve been in. At this point, I feel like I should say something because I doubt many people have been in as often as me in the last few years. My opinion is an educated one, so there’s my two cents.
Bottom line– Food is Good (3−5stars, depending), Service needs work (3 stars), Atmosphere is decent (but, seriously the plastic lawn chairs outside?! That’s NOT fine dining…)-3stars

The bread that they start you off with is warm and very tasty. We ordered the seafood linguine and owner’s favorite pizza. The seafood linguine was aiiight but the pizza was seriously THE BEST.
The owner came to check up on us twice. Once for the pizza and another time for the pasta. We told him our opinion on each dish. When he heard our opinion on the pasta, he didn’t charge us for it! His generosity and tasty pizza will def bring me back to this restaurant :)

Found this restaurant while on the way to a different place and decided to just eat here. Got the guest favorite pasta (forgot the name
but it’s at the top of the pasta page on the menu) and owner’s favorite pizza.
Guest favorite pasta looked really good but did not taste up to par. Noodles were a little undercooked for my taste. The seafood was nothing special. I would pass on this pasta.
Owner’s favorite pasta made up for the guest pasta because it was delicious and I’ve never seen any pizza like it. It’s a thin crust pizza with maui onion and shrimp. Must try!

Good place for Italian in Waikiki. Compared to the other location, Arancino on Beachwalk, I think I prefer Beachwalk instead of di Mare. Beachwalk has a better atmosphere, more intimate and more casual dining fare. di Mare is a tad more fancy. Then the Kahala Arancino is fancy Fancy.
At di Mare, I had the squid ink pasta with sauteed squid. The black sauce is striking in color and rich in taste. Although super delicious, I won’t be ordering it again because the black sauce darkened my lips and loved living in the crevices of my teeth! Definitely not a good date or business lunch dish. The warm, fresh foccacia bread was delightful. We had the crudités with garlic anchovy dip which was scrupulous. My husband had the prawn pasta which he really liked.
Service was very friendly without being overbearing.

As always, our meal was fantastico! I love everything about this restaurant, the outside seating under the red umbrellas near the sea, the fantastic service, and the amazing food. Everything we have ever ordered has been just that, amazing! Please ask for Travis as he is our favorite waiter.

Amazing but note there are distinct quality differences from each location. They would be better served to have different names and the say by Arrarcino. While still great, the Uni spaghetti was not half the quality of the Kahala location. The caprese salad only shares common ingredients. Had I ordered this tonight after the Kahala location, I would have been quite disapointed. This is not to say do not to go, DO! But, if your first visit was at Kahala, lower your expectations.

We were so lucky to get a last min reservation. I’ve been craving Uni for a long time and Uni pasta satisfied it completely ! It’s so creamy from not only the sauce but the urchin. It’s so perfect together and made me so happy. I had a salad to start but the dressing was too subtle, though the Uni made up for it. Husband got a tomato sauce risotto that was very tasty too. The server was attentive, I would definitely come back!

I had this place bookmarked for awhile… helllllo uni spaghetti!
Luckily, the bf and I had dinner here on the 4^th of July. The place seemed busy but we were able to get a table in a matter of minutes.
Travis was a great host from recommending my bf a great beer to checking up on us at the right time.
For dinner, we started off with the carpaccio di capesante: 8 scallop sashimi slices, topped with local sea asparagus, tobiko caviar & red onions with light champagne dressing. Great appetizer! It was refreshing and enjoyed all the different textures of the dish. For $ 19, I thought it was fairly priced.
We also split two pasta dishes. My favorite of the two was the spaghetti ai ricci di mare: spaghetti with fresh uni in a sweet garlic wine cream sauce ($ 32) The portion is a little bigger than what I’m used to seeing at Italian restaurants at this level. The pasta was al dente and the sauce was so smooth. If you’re unsure about uni, I think this is a good dish to try it in.
The other pasta dish we split was the spaghetti al nero di seppia: squid sautéed in a unique black squid ink garlic sauce ($ 17). Noodles were also al dente and I thought the sauce was good although the squid ink flavoring wasn’t as dominating as I thought it would have been. Don’t forget to check your teeth and lips after eating this, since the sauce does get in your teeth and stuff.
While the prices aren’t exactly cheap, I thought that they were fair for the portions and quality we were getting.

Crepes rank high on my list so when Arancino di Mare started posting photos of their crêpe breakfast beauties on IG, my attention was caught. Arancino di Mare is located in the Waikiki Marriott and is a nice size restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating.
Breakfast is served daily from 7−11am and the menu is limited to crepes and a few other small items. For $ 5.95, diners can opt for a beverage bar: unlimited juice, coffee, and tea. They also offer a beverage bar for children for $ 2.95.
We started off with a couple of orders of their acai with fresh bananas, blueberries, and strawberries. It was a perfect size to start off breakfast. Their crêpe selection is mostly savory, but they do offer two dessert crepes, both served with fruit. I was a little surprised they didn’t offer one with nutella or something a little more kid friendly.
I had the crêpe with proscuitto, arugula, and tomato. What’s interesting is that the crêpe is filled with egg salad. You can opt to skip this, but it actually pairs nicely with the toppings. We finished everything. The crepes made a great breakfast choice and didn’t leave us feeling heavy.
Service was great and self parking for 3 hours is free in the hotel with validation.

Nestled in the heart of Waikiki and just a stone’s throw from the beach, this little restaurant is a lovely place to enjoy a meal away from the bustle of Kalakaua.
Offering traditional Italian fare for lunch and dinner, my first experience here was to enjoy the breakfast, which is solely a selection of crepes. Beautifully presented with a sweet grilled onion and sprig of rosemary, my sausage crêpe was symmetrical and made with care. My rumbling stomach made my eyes think it was small, but the richness of the eggs, meat, and cheese filled me up quickly and kept me satisfied. The iced tea was refreshingly delicious and bottomless, just as I like it. I had a few bites of the tomato bisque to start, which was also excellent.
The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Marriott and just off the main street along the beach. The location means only light foot traffic goes by, which keeps the outside seating area quiet and pleasant. There are umbrellas to protect you from the hot sun, but it’s perfectly situated to feel the ocean breezes. The staff was welcoming, friendly, and professional– it may be the best service I’ve had in some time. There are no dedicated bathrooms, which requires a long walk to the hotel lobby. The restaurant is very clean. Food is moderately priced for portions, but this can be expected due to the location in a high-​tourist area. I would recommend this place and will be going back.

I’m a sea urchin fanatic so when I saw they had the uni pasta here I knew I had to try. My husband ordered the steak that came with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and whole garlic. Tasted really good but we both agreed that the overall quality and price wasn’t worth coming back for.
Of course, I ordered the uni pasta. You can’t really go wrong with uni so the noodles and add-​in ingredients are key. It was good, but I felt like whatever they put into the dish masked the full flavor of the uni. Again, delicious but not worth coming back for only because the uni pasta from Taoramina’s takes the cake.
Bottom line: great service, lively and good food. I will say I feel that the items are a bit overpriced for quality and quantity.