Poi Dog Catering

Came to Princeville to celebrate my 60^th birthday. Friends from the mainland joined me. Before I left Georgia I thought about having a birthday meal catered but time got away from me. After several days at The Shack (Kauai vacation rental at Honu Point) I realized there would be no better place than here to celebrate. Rae-​Marie May recommended Poi Dog Catering. I called on Thursday to find out whether or not a Sunday brunch was possible. Well the odds were in my favor and Carla and Eric were able to provide a wonderful 4-​course feast for 6. Seamless, gracious, delicious, yummy soul and tummy love. Highly recommend the food taste, quality and service.

We hired Poi Dog Catering for our 36-​people wedding in Kauai, and we could not be happier with the service we received. From the moment I first contacted them, Carla was very responsive and accommodating and was very helpful through my numerous menu changes, and she did everything possible to work within our budget while still serving an outstanding meal. Our guests loved the food and everyone commented on how great the service was. I would highly recommend them for any event big or small!

My husband and I got married on Kauai in July, and we used Poi Dog Catering for our post wedding dinner. It was one of the best decisions we made! From the moment Carla and I first spoke on the phone probably six months before our event, I knew the dinner was going to be amazing. I have to admit planning a wedding over the internet was a little stressful, and Carla made me comfortable from the beginning. I gave her the details and they took it from there. They gave us several sample menus – it was so hard to choose because everything sounded amazing. When we arrived on the island Carla and Eric took the time to come by our rental home and meet us in person (even though we felt like we already knew each other by that point!). The next night they arrived right on time and prepared the most AMAZING meal for us. We were busy getting married on the beach, and they were creating a wonderful atmosphere for our dinner – white lights around our deck, candles, glassware and dishes that they brought along with them. There were just six of us and we opted for a heavy appetizer dinner and then dessert (more on that later!!!). We arrived up on our deck after the ceremony and Carla had everything all pretty and Eric right away offered to fix us drinks (we hadn’t even discussed that ahead of time). Then they delivered the appetizers two at a time so we could savor everything. Oh my gosh! I really don’t know how to describe how amazing the food was. We had chicken wings, steak kabobs, pot stickers, ribs, shrimp, and some «to die for» macaroni and cheese. Oh, and the most delicious Caesar salad spears. All was heavenly. All the while Eric was continuing to fix is drinks, open our wine, Carla was downstairs cleaning away in our kitchen. I’m sure the kitchen was cleaner when they left than when they arrived! And now for the best part of all, our dessert/​wedding cake that was pineapple upside down cake with dulche de leche caramel sauce and homemade vanilla bean ice cream. I may not have the name exact, but I’m sure they would know what you mean if you requested it. Oh my gosh… pure heaven! I am still dreaming about that cake and ice cream. They even left us the leftovers, so we all got to have it for breakfast the next morning (along with ribs and mac n cheese). We parted ways for the second part of our trip, with some of us staying on Kauai, and others going to Oahu. We all agreed that our meal we had with Carla and Eric was the best of our entire trip, and we ate at some pretty nice restaurants! I If you can’t tell from my review, we highly recommend them and are hoping to connect with them when we go back to Kauai on our five year anniversary (if not sooner). Nicest people you will meet!

If you ever have a need for a catering while in Princeville/​Hanalei area Eric is the man. We charted sail boat for an evening sail, Eric came out handled all the food and it was simply outstanding! He plated it right there on the boat and it was to die for.
Nice, local, professional and most of all delicious! you simply couldn’t as for anything more.

As a professional I considered not doing a review but when I put thought into it, I realized that this is the information age and anything that can help others make decisions should be put out there. I contacted Poi Dog Catering in the capacity of my job here on the island of Kauai. I gave Carla, who was a pleasure to talk with, a brief explanation of what my boss was looking for, spoke to her on the phone and emailed with potential menu ideas. My boss decided to add a few items to the menu and then we took some off as we contracted some menu items out to other vendors. 8 days before the event we had a menu set and were just working out the details. 4 days before the event I asked about the possibly of increasing the count of an item and instead of Chef Eric decorating cookies the possibility of us doing that during our event. I was told they had purchased all the ingredients for the menu we had set up. My boss had me ask about potentially changing from a sugar cookie to a chocolate chip cookie as well. Mind you they were just questions of possibility. This all transpired via email and I decided to call Carla to speak about the cookie changes. When she answered the phone I could hear Chef Eric in the background yelling. The yelling increased and soon profanity was being thrown out directed at me and my boss. I have never in all the years I have worked as an administrative assistant, been spoken to or treated the way Chef Eric treated me. He said things that were completely uncalled for and completely unprofessional. I had nothing to say as I was being verbally assaulted and ended up hanging up the phone as he continued to scream and yell. I never had an opportunity to see/​taste their food but based on the lack of professionalism that Chef Eric displayed I believe it was best for all involved that the relationship was ended.

We used Poi Dog Catering last year for our reception on June 21, 2012 on Kauai and they were nothing short of wonderful and amazing. My husband found them on-​line and from the moment of initial contact, Carla was amazing to work with.
Our wedding was a destination wedding with the reception in the backyard of a large house that our family rented. We had about 24 guests including us, which seemed like a lot for a destination wedding. We had a wedding ‘coordinator’ to help us with the planning but to be honest, she wasn’t great. Carla offered suggestions and per positive and joyful demeanor was such a pleasure to work with.
The food… This was to die for. Chef Eric is truly talented and the passion for what he does is reflected in his cooking. They came into the house, worked in the smaller kitchen, and kept bringing out food that was delicious. It has been over 6 months since our wedding and our guests still talk about how wonderful the food was. My mother in law, the one that rented the house, also still talks about how they came in, cooked, cleaned up and left and you never would have known someone was working in the kitchen. We had appetizers, salads, finger foods, small main dishes and a cupcake tower all by Chef Eric.
Chef Eric and Carla are locals and community helpers. There was plenty of food left over from our reception and instead of throwing it away, they donated the food to a local charity which I was very touched by.
If there is any question as to whether to book them, do it. You will be just as amazed as my husband and I were.

Reasonably priced, GREAT food, and AWESOME service!!! Our dinner with chef Eric and Carla was delightful. They catered to every desire we had for our meal. The food quality, flavor, and presentation was top-​notch. All of the ingredients they used to prepare our meal were locally grown. We had the tuna tar tar and kalua pork sliders for appetizers, which were incredibly tasty! For dinner, we had the spiny lobster and the Princeville filet which were amazing. The lobster was caught a few miles away. Chef Eric is a very talented man in the kitchen. We were informed that they do breakfast and lunch as well, so next time we are in kauai we will definitely have them prepare all of our meals.

I want to give a big thumbs up to Carla and Eric, owners of Poi Dog Catering. My husband and I just got married in beautiful Kauai. We were recommended Poi Dog by out wedding coordinator, Magenta, who said they would be fabulous.
From the moment I spoke with Carla on the phone I knew it was the perfect choice. Carla is a super friendly, bubbly lady, with great attention to detail and an eye for style. I told her about the number of guest and our working budget and she helped design the menu of our dreams.
Carla and Eric prepared an amazing feast right in our rental home, featuring fresh, local ingredients, and had everything decorated, set and ready to go when we returned from our ceremony in Hanalei Bay. Eric was amazing in the kitchen. The food tasted terrific, beautifully presented, and our guests raved about it for days…
After the dinner, they also cleaned up, which was a terrific help as we were exhausted from our super long wedding day. She followed up with us the next day and made sure we were super happy with our wedding feast.
Both the quality of the food and the friendly customer service were top of the line and we would highly recommend Carla and Eric for any catering needs. They were truly a pleasure to work with!
Mahalo!!!