Imari

Just plain terrible — what a rip off! At $ 69+ for teppanyaki they should be ashamed of themselves. From the wine glasses clouded with water stains to the nasty fried rice give me a break. They charge over $ 50 for an entrée that only includes a half of a steak and all fat at that. Glad we complained and got a refund which is why I give them one star.

Dined at Imari with small group on 1÷28÷16. Food for the price was most disappointing. Honestly, Shogun or other chains are as good or better. On a positive note the service overall was very good.

Wish I could write a review about the food but after making a reservation for tepan-​yaki on open table, the restaurant tried to give my party of 10 a normal dining table. I showed them the reservation and the manager said, «we have other large parties and I can’t make a table appear out of thin air». No problem! I don’t really need to make $ 65 for shrimp or $ 85 for steak appear out of my wallet.

It’s quite sad that such a beautiful property has such a dark cloud of restaurants.
The bf and I vacationed on the premises a few weeks ago and decided to spend one whole day utilizing and carousing the property. This also meant we were subjected to the hotels food – chime in Imari.
Imari is Japanese fare located on the palace side of the Hilton waikoloa. He ate here for dinner. I decided to make a reservation on open table (easy enough) and was greeted by friendly people. The restaurant itself wasn’t busy (roh oh) and of all places, they sat us right near the entrance.
We already anticipated the food to be expensive so that isn’t why I docked off 3 stars; it’s the quality and amount that you get for said quality.
This is what we ordered:
* House salad (I know you usually don’t order this at Japanese restaurants but needed greens) ($ 12)
* Godzilla roll (beef, lettuce/​cucumber/​some other filler like avocado) ($ 17)
* Miso soup ($ 6)
* Miso butterfish with some zuke and tempura green beans ($ 36)
* Curry katsu ($ 28)
*Vegetable fried rice (mine had no starch) ($ 6)
* Proseco ($ 8 or $ 12 can’t remember)
* Green apple sake shot ($ 6 or $ 8)
Key points on food:
* Wilty and sparse salad with a few cucumbers, lettuce, pickled ginger and young corn shoots; it was literally the size of a side salad from McDonald’s I shiz you not.
*Godzilla roll had such a small amount of rice and other elements, it was falling out of the nori maki.
* Butterfish was ok, as was the soup.
* Curry had the taste of beef stew and the same vegetables as it too.
* Vegetable fried rice was decent but so shame they used canned mixed vegetables.
* Sake was so weak it tasted like diluted apple water.
With the exception of forgetting our drinks, service was fine.
Hilton, up your food game!

We stayed at theHilton Resort for a week and ate here twice. That means a lot. Every dish was prepared with pride and love. Our server was Bryan each time, too. His smile is worth 5’s.

Please know that the menu which is posted on their website is not the same menu you will get at the restaurant. Our food was mediocre. The location is isolated and depressing. The drinks are overpriced, but the service was good. That’s the best I can say about Imari.

It’s just mediocre. My husband and I came here on our honeymoon, service is great but food is nothing special. We had to send back his steak 2x before we just accepted it, rolls were decent but again nothing special. Considering the prices and food it’s not somewhere we’d visit again.

I came here against my better judgement (resort restaurant? They have you hostage. No need to make it passable), and tried to convince myself that maybe because the prices are ridiculously high, they might have good sashimi? And I’m in Hawaii so how can it be not good?
What I got was thick-​cut, chewy, partly stringy, tasted either partially defrosted or at least not freshest, overall underwhelming. I realized I would need some time away from sashimi altogether after this experience to try to remove the memory from my mind.
Drinks are watery. Then the bill came and that made the experience even sadder.

I highly recommend doing the teppanyaki. For your choice of meat, filet mignon is the BEST. I wasn’t so thrilled about the stir fry vegetables… perhaps something more green? It does come with a really good salad. Regardless, the filet mignion was amazing! I had it with garlic rice. The food was delicious but what I was even more impressed with was the service. There is clearly a team work here. Everyone is super polite and friendly. The busser was very quick. Our waitress MJ was fantastic. It is not a ocean view but still a very nice atmosphere. I will definitely be back for more filet mignon!

I don’t write reviews but as I lay in bed trying to get the taste of what I can only assume was conveyor sushi out of my mouth, i feel sad for people who think this might be quality. Saying nothing of the price, this is a meal I would be in no hurry to repeat.
We had three specially rolls and couldn’t even finish them. Being from Portland, we don’t leave unfinished sushi but today we called it quits with neither wanting to finish all of our $ 30 rolls.
Maybe they have better food in steaks but I wanted sushi and got the equivalent of roller food.

It’s really disappointing that Imari has gone downhill so much over the years. We used to love coming here when we stayed at the Hilton and now it seems more like a factory to separate you from your money and get you out the door. The teppan chef was all about business and not fun, waitress barely smiled, and the bartender acted like it was a huge burden to serve us even though we were the only four people in the bar.
Food was decent but not good enough to justify $ 100 per person by a mile.
All told, we had two regular meals, two kid meals, and three drinks. $ 320. For that kind of money, you should be impressed and I was not.
I recommend re-​training the entire staff.

Good food but way too expensive for sushi. Granted you are in a Hilton Hawaii resort. But they gouge the heck out of you. Dinner for 2 with 2 drinks $ 250.
Also service not the friendliest

My husband and I try to have dinner here whenever we vacation in Waikoloa — partially for sentimental reasons but also just because we like it. I just read some of the negative reviews and I get why they gave Imari negative reviews (assuming that what they said actually happened that way). However, I personally have only had good experiences there.
We were there over 4^th of July weekend and brought our friends to try it. First of all I waa going to be really sad cause at first it looked like we weren’t going to be able to eat there this trip since we had plans on Thursday and Saturday (they are normally closed Fridays and Sundays). I decided to call the hotel just to verify and was told that because it was a holiday weekend, they were going to open on Friday… yippee! So I immediately made a reservation for teppanyaki.
We got there right at our res time, but were told that the table wasn’t ready yet. No problem, we were on vacation — so we had a drink in the bar area (which by the way I love because it’so cozy). After about 15 or 20 minutes, the hostess came in to check on us, apologize because the party at our table still hadn’t left, and offered to take care of our first round of drinks. When we were escorted to our table 5 minutes later, the staff was very gracious and kept apologizing for the wait.
Like I said, I can understand some of the negative reviews. We, however, had a great experience. Our servers spoke perfect English, were attentive and got our orders right. The chef also spoke well, was personable, and cooked everything perfectly. I should also note that my husband is a very picky eater and does not eat sushi, but he will eat the Imari Roll… I’m just saying.
Now, with respect to the price. YES, it is expensive. YES, you are eating dinner at a RESORT IN HAWAII. If you think things are cheap at resorts in Hawaii (and just in general), then you haven’t done your research. If you’re a Hawaii resident make sure you show your ID for the kama’aina discount… any little bit helps.
Thanks for another great dinner Imari. We will definitely be back!

Had dinner here with my wife last night, as we’re staying at the Hilton Waikoloa. I must say that the Hilton does their best to keep you on the property with plenty of [over-​priced] restaurants. My wife ordered the vegetarian teppan meal, and I ordered the rib-​eye. The food was decent, and the meat was pretty tender and cooked well, albeit that I probably received a plate full of rib-​eye. Additionally, the garlic fried rice could have used some fried egg and some veggies. After a couple drinks, our bill was close to $ 160, which seems a bit excessive given that my wife had veggies and tofu. I wasn’t blown away with the flavors and quality of the food, and all in all, probably wouldn’t eat here again. We just felt like teppan, it was the closest restaurant to our hotel room, and we had a 2.5 hour window while my mother in law watched our kids :-))
Don’t go here with small children. Otherwise, you’ll still pay $ 45 – 50 per meal for them too.

Located in the Hilton Waikoloa Village, this Japanese restaurant is served teppanyaki style. Sushi is also served, along with other Japanese delicacies.
For one thing, the restaurant from the outside looks absolutely gorgeous. Inside, it’s still pretty, but it’s very dark and the lighting leaves something to be desired. We came at around sunset for dinner, and we could barely see what was infront of us. Also, the teppanyaki chef who served us didn’t really speak English well, so he wasn’t able to help us.
We got the steak, which is served to you teppanyaki style. It wasn’t cooked the way we wanted it (we wanted medium well, we got medium rare). Also, we were served SO MANY ONIONS. There were more onions than there was meat. The food also takes forever to get out to you, which isn’t good, especially for a restaurant where well, cooking time isn’t factored into the ETA. Our server also didn’t speak English well, and it was HARD to communicate with her. She even started getting frustrated with us for not being able to speak to her properly. Well, SORRY! I understand this is a Japanese restaurant, but please hire people who can speak decent English!
As for the dessert, it was nicely plated. I got the chocolate lava cake which was SO sweet and decadent. I could feel my teeth rot as I ate it. I actually ended up eating more of the fruit the dessert was garnished with.
The price is horrendous. For the quality of food and service, our bill was ridiculously high. You’re probably charged for the ambience. However, if you’re willing to make a drive (as this the Waikoloa IS in the middle of nowhere) to another Japanese restaurant, then you should do so. This place isn’t worth it for anything more than taking a pretty picture.

While we stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort we dined at all of the available restaurants. Imari’s food was adequate however the service was abominable. On multiple occasions I had to ask our waitress (I Mitsuko) what the issue was. Every course seemed to take forever, and we both like to «dine».
Politely sounding my frustration, one of the managers did stop by and offered two complinentary drinks.
Perhaps it was simply an off night, but it did ensure that we did not visit Imari again, nor would I revisit in the future.

The girlfriend and I are both huge sushi fans, and so we decided to come here for our anniversary dinner since we were already staying at the Hilton Waikoloa. We ordered the Rolls Royce roll, Green Sand beach roll, Lava tube roll, and Volcanic eruption roll.
The customer service was mediocre. We had a reservation for 7:30 pm and arrived promptly, however it still took us 30 minutes to be seated. Once we were seated it took forever for the waiter to to make it to our table. By the time he arrived we had decided on both drinks and dinner. Once he took our order he came back 5 minutes later to ask us to repeat it. The wait for the food was a little long, but not too bad. However once we finished our meal, we could not seem to get his attention to bring us the check. We waited so long I had to go up to the hostesses and ask them to just take my card and pay there.
My girlfriend and I both eat quite a bit of sushi and felt the quality of the food was great. The fish not only tasted EXTREMELY fresh, but the rolls had a great combination of flavors and textures. Our favorite was the Volcanic Eruption roll which employed just enough spice to not over power the flavor of the fish. As the saying goes, you eat first with your eyes and let me tell you, our eyes were not disappointed. The rolls were quite beautifully garnished.
The prices were over the top, however it is located inside the resort so that’s to be expected. The restaurant itself also had quite a beautiful interior as well as being surrounded by lush Japanese garden, including a koi pond. If you’re looking to save a few bucks on dinner try heading over to a restaurant at King’s or Queen’s court. d.

Such a fabulous dining experience! Service was excellent, food was fabulous and a good time was had by all. Loved the garlic rice, the NY Strip and the Lobster… I want to go back just to eat there! Even my kids loved the food and cleaned their plates. Also, the resort is beautiful and worth going to just to see.

We had a delicious meal, contrary to what other reviewers have said… and as many if you know, I am one picky b — h!
We each had the scallop Teppanyaki, which comes with onions, mushrooms and zucchini (would have referred more ‘shrooms and zuccs, and less oil and onions!), rice (we did the garlic fried for a small upcharge) and a generous amount of scallops. Too much oil used on the veggies, but otherwise delish! Of course, you get the table-​side «show» from the «chef»…which can be fun if you are into that sort of thing. We also shared a spider roll (tasty) and each had an order of yellowtail (wild, fresh).
Was it expensive — yes. You are in Waikoloa, in an overpriced resort… it is par for the course. Service is so-​so on the speed, but all are very friendly, from the time you walk in the door, until the time you leave. If you are cool with that — go for it!

On a recommendation from a friend we were looking forward to Imari. Luckily they had a resort wear dress code so we ventured onward. We were greeted by the staff with warm smiles and friendly attitudes.
I started to like Imari right off the get go.
We opted for Ala Cart rather than Teppanyaki dining. They offer a decent alcohol list and a nice selection of various Japanese style food. The food is fresh and the taste, amazing! We were really happy with our experience of Amari.