We saw a commercial on TV regarding the newly renovated buffet and bar at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. It looked really interesting. Fully remodeled, fresh vibes. But could the food be better than when it was the Prince Court?
Since I knew we were going to a buffet, I deliberatly did not eat as much that day.
So I was quite starving.
Hello??
 At the reception, we found a Japanese tourist couple waiting to get seated. It took them a while to finally get the attention of the hostess who was missing. Since we didn't have reservations, we decided to just see how long the wait was. We waited until the hostess came back, which was not for another while and this seemed to be the case throughout the night. While we were waiting, a server was kind to see if we've been helped so that was nice of them. |
My Fiance waiting for the hostess to come back.
Still waiting...
Once the hostess finally returned, they thanked us for waiting.
Then proceeds to sit us in an intimate corner.
It gives us a bit of privacy, you know behind the pillar.
 I can barely see past the pillar, so it's no wonder the server couldn't really see us. In hindsight, it was not the greatest area to be sat. We should have asked for another table. |
We were expecting the usual "feel free to grab food" or "what would you like to drink?"
But the hostess leaves, without saying anything to us.
Ok
...
My Fiance and I stared at one another confused.
We decided to just get up to get food.
- 100 Sails buffet -
The Sushi station is right next to the Prime Rib. The same chef multi-tasks to make you hand roll sushi + carve your prime rib.
There's a selection of steamed crab and sashimi/ sushi.
There is a small salad bar (along with white rice).
But it didn't look too exciting so I skipped it.
- A few of the items on offered -
Cheese and Crackers anyone?
Miso Kahuku Corn with red pepper and Calamansi.
The decor is clean and integrates local imagery.
Cheese Ravioli with Alfredo sauce.
There was also fried chicken and clam chowder-- which I'm sure you know what it looks like. ;)
Salt & Pepper Shrimp. Good flavor.
Steamed Clams with Ginger and Garlic.
I personally thought their Dungeness Crab in Miso butter was the highlight of this visit.
If you were to load up your plate with these, Snow Crab, and Sushi you can certainly get your money's worth.
The crab pieces were generously sized and packed with flavor.
Dungeness Crab (Wok-fried) with Miso Butter.
| After getting our food and eating for a bit, we finally got to put in an order for drinks. We requested Ice tea (which is included in the buffet along with soft drinks and coffee. We heard it direct from the server as we did not see signage anywhere mentioning this). It was pretty good and tasted like a plantation ice tea with mango. But at one point, we didn't even know if the drink order was put in because we were already mid-way through our meal and it still hadn't shown up yet. |  I enjoyed their Ice Tea a lot. |
[Food Selection]
- We thought the food offerings were very limited. For desserts, I counted about 7 items (including cookies).
- A few things were very tasty (like the Miso Dungeness Crab), but others were average.
- Their Prime Rib had good soft texture, but the light lamp didn't keep it warm. We kind of miss that there's no nice crust on the outside too. The Prime Rib station is shared with the Sushi (hand roll) area. So the chef that cuts the meat also makes the hand rolls. There is a limit of 2 rolls per person; per order.
- Later towards the night, it looked like they closed the Temaki Sushi station as the signage was taken out and everything was covered.
- Some of the food advertised on their dinner menu (such as the "make your own noodle station" was not available). The container and tag was there, but it was empty when I opened it. I don't know if it's because we went a little later in the evening and they ran out and did not replenish.
- Overall, 100 Sails has food that is better than a lot of buffets currently on the Island. But if you are used to large buffets (like from Las Vegas), you will be dissapointed with the quality and quantity especially for the price ($58 per person).
- It looks like a cool hang out place for drinks and small bites though.
 Their Ahi Poke was big and filling. The other seafood items were average. |  The Spicy Tuna Temaki (hand roll) was good but the Nori Seaweed got soggy really fast. |
- Desserts -
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie ,Pina colada cupcake, assorted fruits, cookie, caramel custard, almond float.
Let's take a better look at their Caramel Custard.
Raspberry cheesecake, Guava Chiffon Cake, and Bread Pudding. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Raspberry Cheesecake.
Their bread pudding was really good
but we had to wait for a new batch to be put out since it was all gone initially.
| [Service]
|  Very small dessert station. |
Empty Ice Tea.
| [Comments] A couple that sat next to us had ordered ala carte off their menu instead of the buffet. They communicated their meal through the hostess but only the server can ring it up. They also ordered beer and wine but there's no drink menu on the regular tables so the server had to grab one from another area. (Also, they got their alcoholic drinks way faster than we got our Ice Teas!) While we were there, there was also a larger group (~ 10 people) that sat close by us. It sounded like a company party. They were playing games throughout, laughing and talking very, very loudly for the entire time we were there (~ 1 1/2 hrs). It was a lot of fun for them, but they were so loud and disruptive that they gave my Fiance the biggest migraine. Should the restaurant have stepped in to tell them to quiet down?...I don't know. I know it's out of their control on how their patron's behave. It made the night memorable...but not in a good way for us. Overall, 100 Sails has the potential to be really great, but fails short to slow service, limited selection of food, and organization. Their bar (small bites menu) looks good though so maybe we'll give it another try and skip the buffet next time. For now, I think we miss the old Prince Court Buffet. |
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100 Sails Restaurant & Bar
Hawaii Prince Hotel Resort
100 Holomoana Street
Honolulu, HI 96815
808.944.4494
Dinner: 5:30p-9:30p nightly
Dinner Buffet Menu ($58 pp).
Bar/ Lounge: 11a-10p (Sun-Thurs)
11a-11p (Fri-Sat)
Drinks & Small Plates Menu
(Small plates from $8++)
Honolulu, HI 96815
808.944.4494
Dinner: 5:30p-9:30p nightly
Dinner Buffet Menu ($58 pp).
Bar/ Lounge: 11a-10p (Sun-Thurs)
11a-11p (Fri-Sat)
Drinks & Small Plates Menu
(Small plates from $8++)
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