Le Cacao Bistro

Where do you want to go tonight? How often do you hear that, or ask it!!!
Could not decide; so I scrolled through Open Table for ideas. Le Cacao Café! Haven’t been there since the change from Red Ginger. Let’s check it…
Atmosphere is colorful, clean, eclectic-​Asian mix-​genres Buddha /​French Bistro, with ‘Would you like to look at my sketch book’ art, and gold plated Monstera leaves on the walls. And a large, pleasant– faced Buddha overlooking the room from the back; Kind of Alice in Wonderland went to Shangai, drank some tea with Shochu in it, but did not get into trouble, kind of vibe.
The three course Prix Fixe was the deal, but of course I decided to try his version of Surf-​N-​Turf. The lobster bites submerged in a ramikin of Newburgh sauce and a simple steak with a great mushroom sauce protecting the surface. Very nice presentation for $ 18. But if you like Med rare remember to order it as ‘Rare’, My MR was soon well done as it rested in front of me.
The three lamb lolipops with a very tasty white sauce were adventurous in flavor. I don’t really see why so many Unilocal reviews clame ‘lack of flavor,’ I did not experience that at all.
The portions are perfect I believe. they are large enough for ladies, and for diners who don’t require Sam Choy sized plates. Dish size to price ratio is good! Try Cacao.
And you can bring your own wine; you may want to bring glasses too if like acceptable stem ware. Cheers!

Bought a Play Hawaii $ 20 coupon that expired today. Emailed the company last week asking if there were any restrictions and was told no restrictions. Today I drive into town for an early dinner with my son. After sitting we are told they will not honor today. Because its a holiday!:&;”/)/@@
Seriously! Never again

One star for the desserts, one star because we found bug bug (an adult mantis in the parking) It just so happened that buggy, (our 2 month old mantis that we raised from a newborn had met his early demise from eating an infected cockroach earlier that day) :(
Anyway, on to our dining experience…
It was Monday night, 7pm, and we walked in to an almost empty restaurant. I ordered the prie fixe menu, and my daughter ordered a steak pizza. Bf ordered something unmemorable… My shrimp pasta was bland, watery, and overcooked. They use the tiny shrimp, usually found in salads. Maddy, who is usually happy with ANY pizza, scraped off the toppings on her pizza, and ate just the bread. The highlight of the evening were the desserts, and the server was nice enough to substitute what we picked out of the showcase with what was supposed to be part of my menu. I will not return here for anything other than dessert.

I read up on the reviews and found it disappointing that there wasn’t a lot of good reviews. Since I bought the Play Hawaii vouchers and expiring on Valentines day, I was forced to use it the day before.
I called to make reservations for two at 7 p.m. When I arrived, the place was packed, so I was unable to be seated in Le Cacao, but at JJ French Pastry. Which was nice and empty.
I went with the 4 course meal; a starter; Cesar salad, an appetizer; Sauté Shrimp Kataifi, an entrée; Lamb Chop w/​ginger shoyu Grazed, and dessert; warm chocolate cake. The food was good, I would give it a 3.75 out of 5. The shrimp as the appetizer was smaller than I thought it would be.
My experience over all, I wasn’t wow’d by it. I felt the service could have been better. Food was good. I’m not sure if I would return to dine again.

So sad… my mom was excited to see that Le Cacao Bistro was offering an afternoon tea set so she invited me to go. While our server was friendly and helpful, she was the silver lining in the grey, disappointing food.
The menu reads:
Mini croissant sandwiches (Translation: One mini croissant with ¹⁄₆ slice cheese, ¼ slice turkey and a bit of lettuce.)
Ham and Cheese Quiche (Translation: 2 inch diameter, burnt tart shell filled with an overcooked egg mixture. There were a few small diced bits of ham and you could taste the cheese but overall, it was not good.)
Smoke Salmon with Avocado (Translation: ½ inch slice of baguette smeared with a thin layer of avocado cream mixture, topped with a single layer of smoked salmon cut to precisely the size of the baguette and some sprouts. If I hadn’t known to look for the «avocado» I never would’ve known it was there. More unfortunately, the sprouts were the most generous serving of anything during the meal.)
Crab Rangoon (Translation: A thin wonton wrapper fried into a concave bowl and filled with a creamy crab and corn mixture. This was the best tasting item.)
Scone (Translation: A small, hard biscuit, appropriately sized for a mouse. Literally. It was 1 ¼″ diameter max.)
For Dessert, a choice of A, B or C:
A: Le Café, Red Velvet and Citron Tart
B: 3 French Macarons
C: Molten Chocolate Soufflé ($ 5 extra)
Translation:
A = 1″ square of dry chocolate cake topped with coffee mousse + 1″ square of red velvet cake topped with twice as much cream cheese frosting as cake + 1″ diameter tart shell filled with a dried out yellow cream and topped with a sugared citrus gummy.
B = 3 tiny macarons
C = $ 5.00 supplement on an item that has a menu price of $ 5.50.
A variety of teas are offered but coffee comes with a $ 2 upcharge.
I have had afternoon tea at nearly every local establishment that offers it as well as many places in other countries. I have never seen such a pathetic offering. Afternoon tea at Le Cacao Bistro is overpriced for what you get and the food that came out of the kitchen was marginal at best. I would expect higher standards and quality control from anyone who appreciated a patron’s decision to spend their hard earned dollars at his restaurant.
I really get the feeling that this establishment is resting on the laurels of it’s perceived past success and therefore feels justified in asking for $ 15 in return for giving you $ 5 of food and service with a $ 10 premium for the privilege of dining there.

Rating: 3.5÷5
Date (s) Visited: 1÷3÷12
Food: ³⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Price: ³⁄₅
I think this restaurant deserves more credit than the Unilocal rating gives it. I came here expecting lackluster food and service, but that’s not quite what I got. Sure, it might not have been the most dazzling experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant, but it was much better than other reviews lead me to believe.
Food:
We started off with their «South Beach Blue Crab Rangoon». The dish was served in tiny little tart shells with a cream of chicken-​like filling which was the crab and cream cheese. Though that doesn’t exactly sound appetizing, the flavors were very mellow and the addition of corn and a razor-​thin slice of apple added some contrasting textures and flavors.
For my entrée I had their «Baked Opaka with Sweet Chili Marinara Sauce». However, the fish didn’t taste like it was baked. It felt more like it was poached or steamed or cooked with wet heat of some sort. Aside from that, it also tasted rather plain. It could’ve definitely used a hit of black pepper or something. Also included was fettuccini with a marinara sauce that, rather than being a sweet chili, was more like a really watery tomato sauce. It was indistinguishable from spaghetti you could make at home, except that at home you probably could’ve added some spices.
For dessert, my cousin ordered their «Warm Chocolate Cake» and «Le Café». The chocolate cake was very rich and oozing with melted chocolate. Their «Le Café» was a frozen dessert made with ladyfingers at the bottom and topped with an icy mocha mousse. It was good, but not spectacular. Both desserts were served with a mango and lilikoi sauce that had a good balance of sweet and tangy.
Service:
I found little to complain about with the service. My cousin and I were taking forever to decide what we wanted to eat, but he knew when to come by to take our orders and didn’t hover over us the whole time. When we had finished eating, he was still refilling our water as my cousin and I chatted and I never once felt pressured into leaving as soon as possible.
If there was one thing that could be improved, it was his volume. Though the restaurant was very quiet, we still had a hard time hearing him because of his softness. He also seemed just slightly awkward, dropping everything he was doing just to let us know that the dessert menu was on the back of a little placard on our table.
Atmosphere:
This isn’t a very busy restaurant and so it’s not very loud. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you’ll actually be trying to keep your voice down so you don’t disturb other people. I actually like this atmosphere, since it really lends itself to good conversation and good laughs. You might want to bring a jacket, though, since it can get chilly.
Price:
I am least impressed with the price we paid. The portions were definitely on the small side and generally lacking the flavor and interest that otherwise would’ve justified such prices. My advice if you really wanna make the most of the food is to order the most flavor-​packed-​sounding thing on the menu. I’m sure you’re less likely to go wrong that way.

I would actually give this place a 2.5. It’s not that the service or the décor was bad, it’s just… kinda bland. We were lured in by the 4 course meal special and figured, «Why not?» I got the Baked Seafood Ravioli a’ La Maison and the boyfriend got the Pork Rack with Herbal Mustard Cream Sauce. The Pork Rack was definitely better than what I got, but it wasn’t anything extremely memorable. The dessert was good, but definitely not worth it to go there for a whole meal.
Overall, it’s one of those places you try once and never go back to again. It’s not because it was a bad experience, it’s just because it wasn’t memorable enough for you to want to go. This is just my own personal opinion…

I love this place!!! My boyfriend and I went there last night for our 4 year anniversary and I’m so happy we did :-)
I ordered the 3-​course le prixe with the meat lovers option. This usually comes with a salad, a drink, an entrée and a dessert. I substituted the soup of the day, a velvety cream of potato soup with chunks of ham, for the salad. The rack of lamb was delicious and perfectly seasoned and cooked and came with mashed potatoes, veggies, and garlic sticks.
My boyfriend ordered garlic sticks and the chicken roule (chicken stuffed with cheese, spinach, and ham) which also came with mashed potatoes and veggies. He loved it!
For dessert, a decadent scoop of dark chocolate macadamia nut gelato and their specialty, warm chocolate cake with a guava lilikoi sauce.
All of the food was amazing and so beautifully plated that I had to take pictures!!! The portions were just right … some reviewers think the plates are too small for the price but I didn’t mind paying for the quality. The service was great … both waitresses were very attentive and when I told them we were celebrating an anniversary, they went out of their way to decorate our dessert plate for the occasion.
The waitresses also showed us a private room that can be reserved for larger parties :-)
I will definitely come here again … You have a new fan!!!

Bye bye Wild Ginger :(…
Helloooo Le Cacao!
Me and My Dad did some errands early yesterday and were pretty famished to say the least… We were thinking of eateries on our drive home. Hmm Phucket Thai– (family favorite), Subway? No i want to sit down and enjoy my meal… Chinese?.. no, no definitely not in the mood for any msg headaches.
«Hey what’s that?»
«That’s not Wild Ginger»
«I know, there’s 2 corn on the logo…»
haha. turns out it was not corn. it’s a a cacao bean! I must say JJ has really turned this space around beautifully! The wall art looks they they might’ve bought some pieces from the picture place next door. Got rid of that terribly loud and annoying AC that used to go off and on spontaneously. To be honest, I was scared at first I had made the wrong decision because when we sat down my dad quickly checked on Unilocal and the reviews were… not the best. But we took a chance!
Both got the prix fixe 3 course menu. Beautiful little salad, thinly sliced carrots and criss-​cut cucumber w/​miso (?) dressing.
I had the chicken fettucini w/​tomato sauce. dad– baked opaka w/​sweet chili sauce and fettucini. My sauce had a zesty kick to it. And the opaka had a slight hint of sweetness. Servings were perfect. I would rather eat and savor the flavor of these foods rather than a humongous sloppy pile of bland food… which is what most people serve now-​a-​days. Both our meals were absolutely delectable and portioned perfectly.
And for the grand finally since both our meals came with dessert. We could pick any on the menu or in the showcase! We shared a warm chocolate cake, which just came out of the oven and had a little river of lilikoi magma on the plate with fruit and the chocolate soufflé was warm and crisp. I wish I had taken a picture of it! It was so pretty!
We then wrapped up a red-​velvet dessert for later.
Read the Unilocal reviews but make the decision for yourself. I say you’ve GOT to try Le Cacao Bistro… it’s an art museum for your eyes and taste buds! :D
btw I think more people would gravitate if the logo was changed. Maybe to JJ’s face with his cooking paraphernalia under him. Like a pirate logo! For his bad-​ass bistro! Maybe I could design it! Think about it JJ…

Two of us went on a Thursday night. No problem walking in for dinner at 6:30 as the place was empty. Tables are huge, so if you have a full table of 4 or 6, you won’t be bumping elbows with your neighbor. No drink menu either, but looking at a table near us, I assume that it allows BYOB.
We each had the prix-​fixe, 3 course meal. I had the New York steak and she had the rack of lamb. The portions sizes are fairly small and while I didn’t go away hungry, there are some who might be disappointed at the serving size.
Food quality was okay. We walked out not terribly impressed with the meals. Was there anything wrong with the meal quality, not really, but it was nothing remarkable that would want me to return.

Le Cacao Bistro is on the corner of Waialae & 9^th Avenue. There’s a small parking lot on the left hand side when you make the turn onto 9^th.
A couple of girlfriends and I met on a Saturday to try out their Afternoon Tea service. For $ 14.95, you get 2 «courses» and your choice of tea or black coffee.
Tea selection included Earl Grey, green tea, chamomile and mango peach. I had the mango peach and I really liked it! The mango peach flavor is subtle, but you can definitely taste it. It’s good enough to drink without adding any sugar.
The first course comes with mini versions of the following: ham & cheese croissant sandwich, smoked salmon and alfalfa sprouts on a toasted baguette, ham quiche tart and a scone with apricot marmalade. It was all pretty tasty! My favorite was the scone & marmalade, which paired perfectly with my tea.
I chose the macaroons for dessert. They are so tiny! You can probably eat them in one bite, but since it’s served with an itty bitty fork, you’re supposed to daintily savor them like a proper English socialite. There were 3 different kinds of macaroons — chocolate, lilikoi and almond. The best one by far is the lilikoi… so citrusy and tangy, the flavor really pops in your mouth!
Service was decently attentive although slow at times; it took a while for our tea to arrive and they’re not as quick with water refills. Also, I think I would have liked the experience more if they used the traditional bone china teapots, cups & saucers.
We talked, sipped on our tea, had bites of this and that, and caught up with each others’ busy lives. All in all, an ok option for tea service in town at an affordable price.

Same owners as JJ Bistro and right next door. My mom had a Groupon so we checked this place out on a Monday night.
I liked the menu choices better than JJ Bistro. I think the soup was the same. I enjoyed my seafood pizza with a curry base. My mom’s chicken roule was great! Moist breaded chicken with ham and spinach inside. Again just like JJ Bistro I loved the presentation of the food as well as the cute decorations.
Dessert options weren’t as plentiful as next door.
On a side note, the bathroom was cute and clean!

I’ve enjoyed the food at JJ’s so I thought I would give his new lace a try. Living Social had a $ 20 coupon so even more reason, right? The coupon says valid on weekdays, but the waiter told us it was only good Monday — Thursday. I asked the owner’s daughter about it and she said she would make an exception. Hmm, last time I checked, Friday was still a weekday, but ok…
The food was tasty enough… fixed menu is around $ 20-​$ 28 depending on your choice of 3 or 4 courses and pasta, seafood or meat entrée. I had the steak. While it was a small NY, it was cooked nicely and right for their pricing. My friend had a seafood pasta which she said was just ok.
Desserts are the same as at JJ’s… which is to say fabulous. Plum tart for me was sweet sour yummy and my friend’s warm chocolate cake looked great too.
There were only 2 waiters & the owner’s daughter but they did a courteous, efficient job.

I almost gave this 4 stars …
Just came here for an early dinner with my wife. The place already had other customers at 4:30, and the service was friendly and prompt. We ordered the 3 fixed price menu. I ordered the chicken roule, and my wife ordered the grilled salmon. The salads were fine — just lettuce, cucumber, and some anemic looking tomato slices (I’m assuming tomatoes are not good in HI, but I’m not sure.) The dressing was good, and I think it had sesame in it.
My chicken was excellent. It was nicely breaded and lightly fried. The cheese oozed out all over the place. My wife said her salmon was good, but not amazing. The portions were medium-​sized. We weren’t starving, so they were perfect for us.
For dessert, I ordered the crème brûlée (listed as «cream brulee» on the little menu on the table, which cracked me up). It’s this crème brûlée that’s pushing me to ding them one star. It looked fine, but the custard was too eggy. It was almost omlette-​like underneath the pseudo-​hard crust. I mean, if you’re a French bistro, you should at least have good crème brûlée. So, that was disappointing.
My wife had the warm chocolate cake, which she enjoyed, but said it wasn’t mind-​blowing.

Dinner was awesome.
Get the 3 or 4 dinner pre-​fix. Well worth it.
The starter salad was nothing special. Just some lettuce with shredded carrots, but with pretty good dressing.
The main dish was smothered in butter. But not to overwhelming. Vegetables and butter go great together!
And the best part is the dessert. The red velvet and the chocolate cake is what makes this meal complete!
The service was great and real friendly! Good going JJ

The price is ridiculous. I ordered seafood ravioli, which costed me $ 14, and they dare to give me two raviolis??? are you kidding me? The warm choco cake is not good at all.
The whole dining experience is disappointing.

Oh man… where do I begin?
I got a $ 10 coupon (valued at $ 20) from Play Hawaii. I’m always excited about trying new places out. First off, it’s located on the corner of 9^th Ave and Waialae Ave in Kaimuki.
We get in and the place is pretty empty. There were only two other tables having lunch. The coupon we had was for the pre-​fixe menu, which is a three course meal. You get to choose from any of the pastas or pizzas for your main dish. It also comes with a house side salad to start, and you can also choose from any dessert from the dessert menu. It also comes with a drink.
We had ordered the Southeastern Seafood Pasta, which listed scallops, salmon, shrimp and came with fettucine noodles in a green curry sauce. Sounds good! My friend and I were going to share the pasta and the dessert, so she just ordered herself a side salad and iced coffee in addition to my order. We asked our server what dressings are available with the salad. He said, «It only comes with one.» But didn’t tell us what dressing that was. What if it was something a customer was allergic to?! So we asked the other guy who was working what dressing it was, he also didn’t know! We had him go ask the kitchen to find out. Lo and behold, it was a ginger sesame dressing, which was very good by the way.
After our waiter had taken our order, he comes back to ask my friend what salad she had ordered. Really? She just told you the house salad… but okay. It’s his second day on the job. Obviously the poor kid wasn’t trained very well, if at all.
He brings out my salad but not hers. I don’t get why, because we had the same salad! It took maybe 5 minutes or so before hers came out. Weird, but eh, not too much of a huge deal. I just feel it’s a little rude to start eating before someone else’s food comes!
We finish our salads, well actually we had a few bites left, and our waiter was hovering over us, waiting to take our plates. It was pretty awkward. Okay, now he brings out our Southeastern Seafood Fettucine, right?! No! I’m looking at the plate trying to figure out where the scallops, shrimp and salmon is. This is odd… did they forget how to make the dish? Did they run out of these things? Then I notice it’s not in green curry sauce. This canNOT be our order. So I get up and grab a menu and lo and behold I see what they gave us. Le Clam Fettucine. Ok this is just the last straw! I flag our waiter down and politely let him know this is not what we ordered, but I didn’t feel the need to make a huge deal about it and send it back, so we just decided to eat it.
Our food was cold as if it was sitting out for awhile. It tasted good, but probably would have tasted a lot better if it was hot. It wasn’t even warm!
At this point, we start discussing how this is not going to be a good Unilocal review. I wanted to at least give them 3 stars until this happened. But I just can’t find it in me to ever want to return here or suggest anyone eat here.
I tell my friend, «Well, maybe their warm chocolate cake will be their saving grace.» Nope. It was the smallest piece of «chocolate cake» I have ever seen. I mean. It must have been 2.5−3 inches in diameter. It tasted like it wasn’t fully cooked, and it tasted like mushy cocoa powder! I mean, this is what they advertise outside their restaurant, «Home of the warm chocolate cake.» And it’s not even good! At this point we just want to get the heck out of here. Our balance was just under $ 4. We tipped him $ 3 for his «Service» but honestly, we felt that was being generous.
Also, while customers are eating lunch, they have movers bringing in tables and chairs. Very unprofessional! They do not open until 11am, they should have this done before opening.
Will NOT be returning and this wasn’t even worth the $ 17 we spent (coupon included).

With just a few more options than JJ’s, if you are hungry for meat with the same JJ flair, than this is the one to eat at. Moist and flavorful with very good sauces. The pork chop was cooked perfectly and my friends salmon was perfectly cooked.
The only bazaar part was when my friend ordered some tea and requested honey, they had to run over to JJ’s for that.
PARKING — there is a lot in the back of the building!

I guess I went on a good day because didn’t had to wait long compared to my experience at JJ’s. Got the Prix Fixe 3 Course Meal with Seafood Fettucini. The description said the sauce was Green Curry but like JJ’s, it came out very watered down and seemed more of a cream sauce to me. No curry flavor at all. My friend had the same meal but chose the Chicken Pasta (the menu said pasta but didn’t specify what kind. It came out to be fettucine and looks EXACTLY like mines! The sauce even looked the same and tasted similar. While it tasted fine, portions were a bit small, style and taste seemed to be the same as JJ’s even though we wanted to try out Le Cacao, not JJ and not J2 Fusion.
While my visit was last week, upon looking at their menu online right now, they seem to have revised it a bit.
Not a bad experience per se but just disappointed at how similar it was to JJ’s.

Servers need help. Maybe a host. We were seated fairly quickly. YEAH! But then we had to wait for the menu. Then we had to wait for the water, then wait to order, then wait to get our food. Polite service, but so slow. We had to ask for refills on water and coffee, paper napkins. At least the food was served at a very good temperature and had a nice presentation. The portions were a bit small, but I already expected that from the sister restaurant ~ JJ’s Pastry restaurant. The waiters forgot about our dessert. Finally, we had to flag someone down to ask for it. Then guess what, wait for it.
The same with paying the bill. I finally stood at the cashier to wait for someone to take my money.
I had the price fixe was house soup of the day (Onion), Appetizer (had the Buffalo Wings, overpowered the main dish in spiciness.) Baked opakapaka with Chili Lemon Butter sauce (tender, but a little on the sweet side, and little piece) and then the Sweet Corn Haupia Parfait (I was expecting a bigger portion, it ended up small tidbit of delight)… $ 24.95. Coffee $ 3.00.
So food I would give a 4, 1 point off because of the small portions. and Service a 2. Averages out to a 3. Not to bad. But I really didn’t feel well served. I would probably go there if I had a coupon.