La Vie

Wonderful food, servie and amviance. Price is reasonable for wjat you get.

This restaurant is fabulous. One of the best French dining experiences I've had in a long time. Beautifully executed and outstanding service. Clever and well chosen wine list too. Don't miss it!

Always a great experience - always well take care of! Hats off to the team, especially Hayden who took GREAT care of us that night! We will definitely be back!

For a special evening, La Vie is our first choice. The delay to verify our vaccinations was minimal. Watching the sun set and the lights of Waikiki come up from La Vie’s large window openings with a glass of champagne is a perfect way to start the evening. The menu is creative, tastes are well thought out and the dishes are perfectly prepared. Casey, the sommelier, does an outstanding job of selecting interesting wines that match the dishes very well. Our server was attentive and friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. Between us we enjoyed fresh and perfect Kushi oysters, lobster, red snapper and the venison. Every dish was excellent. La Vie has mastered the art of presenting fine dining while staying completely modern and it’s a winner.

There is little to no decoration but as the sun sets and the curtains roll up there is a great ambiance. Expect your taste buds to be tantalizing as you are presented with creations that won’t disappoint.

Food and presentation absolutely ann MB amazing
Service iutdtanding

Our dining experience at La Vie was wonderful. Enjoyed the open air ambience, excellent service and delightful menu. Highly recommend.

Everything was as great as on Wednesday. The octopus was tender with a quite original preparation (alert: it *is* moderately spicy); the foie gras came with minimal accompaniments, so it could be the star, and it was. I normally avoid any meat dish with a fruit-based sauce, but the quail was terrific, with just a hint of sweetness. Servings were ample. Casey's wine pairings were predictably spot-on. Chris's service was friendly and prompt. My reservation was this time too early for live piano music, but the advantage was to be able enjoy the excellent view out to the beach as the sun set and a crescent moon rose. Highly recommended.

Just amazing food, drinks and great service

After the preceding four evenings, La Vie faced stiff competition, but it more than met the challenge. The beef tartare and the venison were top-drawer. The gnocchi would have been outstanding without the truffles (I will give away no details). With them they were "to die for". All portions were generous (as usual the tartare looked like not enough *until* one began to eat it), including the truffles. Casey's wine pairings were excellent, as was Henry's service throughout. A very pleasant space, covered but open-air, with the bonus of a live pianist playing suitable Broadway & classical numbers. Not inexpensive, but very good value for what one receives. Highly recommended for any special occasion.

Initially we were seated inside the outdoor area and we asked for a table change to the window setting overlooking downtown which was ideal. There was a large table of diners which were quite loud and glad we moved. That's for the higher noise level but the setting was perfect and intimate to enjoy our dinner. We were given babka and truffle butter for starters. Yum. The upgrade of truffle gnocchi was out of this world and portion on the dinner size. The desserts were stunning and tasted as good as it looked. Our service was top notch and Henry described all of the dishes to us and always topping off our bottle of rose and water glass. Next time we visit Kauai, we will stay at the Ritz and dine at La Vie again. My daughter did not take an alcoholic cocktail but she couldn't stop talking about the mango one drink and would have that again and again if you don't want alcohol.

We enjoyed our dinner very much! Hayden was our excellent server with help from Tina, who always refilled our water glasses. We loved the menu where we could choose anything from the 3 or 4 course prix fixe dinners. And best of all, we ate family style -more to taste!

Birthday and wedding anniversary

Exciting and innovative menu. Service was very attentive and knowledgeable. Wine paired beautifully with each course. The food was outstanding. Look forward to returning!

We were very disappointed with our visit to what is supposed to be one of the premiere restaurants in one of the premiere hotels in Honolulu. The gourmet menu has nothing on it that the typical person might find tasty. The menu features mushrooms on most dishes, none of which seem appetizing. I was looking forward to sampling the wagyu beef, but it was truffled to the point of tasting as earthy as dirt. The venison was good, but the bearnaise sauce served with it was too acidic and the mushroom dust aligned it with the finer aspects of mud. The service tried...well no they didn't...the menu was what they had and if we didn't like it, we could go elsewhere. Didn't expect that from the Ritz. You may like this experimentation with your taste buds, but we wasted a lot of money on food that might be grand for food critics but tasted like dirt to me....

Great ambiance and great food. The manager was helpful guiding us through any questions we had.

Checking in was a breeze and we were quickly shown our table. Our waiter explained each dish very well and the rest of the wait staff was very attentive. We both got the 4 selection meal. The portions are small, but each dish was well thought out and incorporated seasonings/foods not often used here in Hawaii.
My favorite of the 8 dishes was the octopus anchoiade. It was the most tender and best flavored octopus I have ever tried! Not chewy at all, but tender like a steak. The bread with truffle butter came out the the second round of dishes was also amazing! Not an overwhelming truffle flavor, but perfectly balanced with the butter.
The downside of the evening was the constant gawking of the bartender at my girlfriend. On at least 15 occasions I saw him staring and only after he made eye contact with me would he look away, only to return his eyes on her a few minutes later. This ruined the ambiance and made us feel like we were at a dive bar or college bar instead of a fine dining restaurant. This creeper should be told to conduct himself in a gentlemanly manner.

The 3 or 4 course selection is such a great value. Every course we had was delicious:

Gnocchi w/truffle - $20 supplement
Oysters
Foie gras
Octopus
Squab
Lobster
Cheese tart
Gateau Ispahan

Hayden, Casey and the rest of the team were wonderful! Would highly recommend dinner here.

We continued our world food tour in France, at La Vie in the Ritz Carlton. It's an austere space; I was expecting more in the decor but when you have views like these, perhaps patrons overlook the restaurant itself.

We started with a bottle of Chateau Montrose 2012, from St. Estephe. It was more delicate than I recall and could have used a few more years of aging, but it was sound.

My tablemate ordered the Beef Tartare Marrakech, Foie Gras Brule and the Venison Noisette while I had the Crispy Grenouille (frog legs), a special whose name I can't recall but it contained gnocchi and Australian black truffes, Dry Aged Yellowtail and the Truffled Cheese Tarte.

Each dish was a visual work of art. Interestingly, the beef tartare tasted like ahi, served with crispy eggplant chips. We shared the Foie Gras Brule ... I can never get enough of well-prepared foie gras. The frog legs were delicious, and no, it doesn't taste like chicken. It's more delicate and tender. The special (whose name I can't recall) was sublime, the black truffles delicious! I found it fascinating that they dry age the yellowtail ... it concentrated the flavor of the fish; I scarfed it up in just a few bites, but I savored every mouthful. The venison wasn't gamy (we love fresh venison) at all.

Finally, the piece de resistance, the Truffled Cheese Tarte. This was served warm and was savory, not sweet even though it was a dessert. It was served with a small salad and shaved white truffle. I was so full I could only partake of a single bite, but it was sublime. A wonderfully rich cup of coffee completed one of the finest meals we've experienced in 2021. Vive la France!

Absolutely good! Both my hubby and I went with three courses, and all the dishes were delish. Their non-alcohol drinks are also surprisingly good, the passion fruit pop and lavender mist are both refreshing. Would definitely recommend!

It was such an amazing experience. Thanks for making our anniversary so special!

Incredible experience. The food was wonderful as was the venue but the real treasure was the people. Our server Hayden and the general manager were both INCREDIBLE and truly elevated the our meal to altitudinal dining experience. Food was superlative, staff was beyond compare

Amazing food
Great service...
Frog legs delicious.....

La Vie is exceeded the highest of my expectations! My server Ru was amazing and her infectious friendly personality made my dining experience more than a hundred percent better than what I could have ask for. Everything on the menu is exquisite and could not have asked for more. I can feel the chefs’ hard work and dedication to each dish, which was made to perfection! On top of all dishes, the wine pairing of every single dish are all cherries on top! I highly recommend this restaurant for any special occasions. The full dining experience of La Vie deserves everything and beyond!

It was a very good experience , the ambience was spectacular with the view of the city lights and music played by the pianist.
Service was amazing … they paid attention to every little detail. Food was great and have given us a choice for 3 courses on the tasting menu which was just enough for us.

Great service. Food was good but was expecting

Great ambience, food is delicious and unique, service was outstanding

Delightful and charming staff. Inventive food with great attention to detail. Nice fusion of local food and French technique.

Family vacation

It was quite and amazing experience! Everyone and every staff was knowledgeable about the dishes and very nice!

dessert was surprisingly delicate and tasty! We enjoyed all the dishes we ordered.

Frim the gorgeous open air view to some excellentfinecdiningvtbisxwas a great experience. The food was amazing and service impeccable. We ended with a nice birthday dessert fir my wife and some complimentary after dinner wine. It was great.

Great service, beautiful view and tasty food and wine pairing!

The entire staff was attentive and knowledgeable helping to provide an evening of dinning enjoyment for our little group.

the menu was confusing, the food was ok but to involved atmosphere was very plain and boring the noise from the pool was annoying and no view, alcohol was extremely over priced!

Henry (our server) and the floor sommelier provided a phenomenal experience for our last dinner while in Hawaii on this vacation. I highly recommend asking for Henry and doing the wine pairing with dinner. The execution of all our dishes were spot on and they did some very unique wine pairings in an unexpected way. Can’t wait to come back!!!

Wonderful dinner celebrating my daughters graduation. The views from the restaurant were stunning, with wonderful service and innovative food. Many of the key ingredients were local. The staff brought out a special dessert to help celebrate which was unexpected!

We had a late night dinner and felt the noise from the poolside was loud at times but otherwise a perfect evening.

Particularly loved the piano player. He played songs such as California dreaming and really made the ambiance delightful. Thank you.

Will definitely recommend to anyone looking for a special dinner.

This was one of the most elegant experiences that I've had at a restaurant! The food was great and our server was so helpful and friendly!

Henry was awesome!

Amazing food and incredible service. The view alone was worth it!