Diners' Choice: Contemporary American restaurants in Hawaii

OpenTable

Updated June 05, 2025

Looking for restaurants with the best overall Contemporary American cuisine in Hawaii? You’re in the right place. Each month OpenTable analyzes more than 400,000 new diner reviews. We sort the results by category to help you discover new favorites. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Spoon and Key Market

4.9

4.9 (136)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Wailea

About the restaurant

Spoon & Key Market is a multi concept restaurant with ocean views.
We offer Breakfast, Lunch, and Grab n go items daily from 8:00am - 3:30pm, including Illy coffee, house baked goods and a full wine/bar list.
On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we pause our lunch service at 3:30pm and resume at 4:30pm for Sunset Dinner Service.
On Fridays and Saturdays evenings, we offer a Chef Tasting Menu in addition to our A La Carte dinner menu
Both reservations and walk-ins are welcome for dinner. No reservations needed for daytime.

Top review

Emily

Dined on Jun 27, 2025

Spoon and Key Market exceeded every expectation. We came here for a special celebration, and it was one of the most memorable dining experiences we’ve ever had. The staff were phenomenal—kind, thoughtful, and genuinely committed to making our evening special. They even curated the music to surprise us with a birthday song during dessert, which was such a sweet, unforgettable gesture and a great dance party. Every dish was outstanding. The flavors, presentation, and quality were simply exceptional—truly some of the best food we’ve enjoyed anywhere. We can’t recommend this place highly enough. Whether you’re marking a special occasion or just want an incredible meal in Maui, Spoon and Key Market is a must.

Senia

4.8

4.8 (125)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Downtown / Chinatown

About the restaurant

Senia is one of Honolulu’s favorite restaurants for simply good food. We offer an à la carte menu with delicious, casual food made with exceptional craft. Chef Anthony Rush trained in multiple three Michelin-starred restaurants and creates beautiful dishes with passion and skill, but he believes everyday food should be delicious and well-crafted, too, so Senia was created to be a casual, affordable, neighborhood restaurant. We celebrate quality ingredients, creativity, classic techniques, and thoughtful hospitality. We welcome you in for dinner to share a meal with friends and loved ones in a comfortable, beautiful space.

If you are looking for a fine dining experience, we invite you to join us at our Chefs’ Counter for our award-winning Tasting Menu. With eight seats and one seating on Friday and Saturday nights, our Tasting Menu is exclusive and luxurious. It’s not all fancy on the weekends, though. We always offer casual dining and our à la carte menu in our main dining room.

Top review

Robert

Dined 1 day ago

Ahi cigars were delicious 007 martini has cucumber taste Whiskey martini was excellent Lamb special was delicious

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Experience

Tasting Menu

Experience

OPEN MONDAYS - 25% OFF WINE BY THE BOTTLE*

Mud Hen Water

4.8

4.8 (1417)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Honolulu

About the restaurant

A Hawaiian Sense of Plate

If there are no reservations available at your desired time, understand that we hold our patio seating, communal table, and bar stools for walk-in customers only. Please call to reserve parties larger than 8 guests. We are open to walk-ins only for Happy Hour ("Pau Work") from 2pm to 5pm Tuesday - Saturday and offer a pupu menu and drink specials.

Hang Loose at The Hen

Top review

Cathy

Dined 7 days ago

Absolutely delicious food that is familiar, but with a delicious twist utilizing local food such as taro leaf, coconut milk, and local fish and meats.

Fête

4.8

4.8 (4181)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Downtown / Chinatown

About the restaurant

2022 James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef Northwest & Pacific.

Rooted in the local farm-to-table movement — a place where seasonality and culinary tradition are celebrated in tandem. One part Hawaii and one part Brooklyn. The atmosphere shares a brasserie feel with a laid-back island sensibility—a celebration and homage to all of our favorite things we enjoy eating and drinking.

Crafted with brick & reclaimed wood, our urban Hawaiian farmhouse features an open kitchen, lush plant wall, brick walls, and lots of natural light in a historic Chinatown building. The bar mixes classic and modern cocktails with artisanal flare with a well-curated wine list.

Top review

Jade

Dined 2 days ago

I love the service at Fete. The food is to die for and I’m always pleasantly impressed with their specials menu.

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4.8

4.8 (283)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Waikiki

About the restaurant

SHAREABLE BITES, UNFORGETTABLE NIGHTS.

Poised to become your new favorite, at Arden Waikiki, we celebrate Hawaii’s harvest with shared plates that redefine island dining. Rooted in local fare, every bite invites you to savor elevated flavors through a down-to-earth experience.

Helmed by Executive Chef Makoto Ono and Pastry Chef Amanda Cheng, our menu showcases the vibrantly diverse culinary expressions of Hawaii. From bold, creative shared plates to fresh, field-to-fork classics, Arden Waikiki brings the best of the islands to your plate.

Accolades: Sunset Magazine "Best Restaurants in the West" 2024, EATER "One of the Best 21 Restaurants in Waikiki" 2024, Honolulu Star Advertiser 'Ilima Awards: Ovation Award Winner 2024, EATER "One of the 38 Essential Restaurants in Honolulu" 2024

Top review

SarahVIP

Dined 1 day ago

So good! Standouts were the hamachi sashimi-super flavorful and delicious, the tomatoes stacciatella-I could eat this every day and the Kona kanpachi which had a very light buerre blanc sauce. Fresh, flavorful and delicious

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Veranda - Moana Surfrider

4.8

4.8 (1180)

$50 and over

Contemporary American

Waikiki

About the restaurant

Our renowned Victorian tradition of “Afternoon Tea” under the historic banyan tree invites guests to indulge in a variety of tropical tea blends accompanied by a selection of delicious finger sandwiches, scones and delicate pastries.

Please Note we are a cashless restaurant. We only accept credit cards or room charges as form of payment. A 20% gratuity will be added to all parties of 6 or more and for parties of 5 or more that request split checks.
We kindly ask to refrain from balloon decorations to ensure the views for others are respected. Guests are welcome to bring their own cake/dessert for an additional fee of $7 per person.

Top review

Mary

Dined 7 days ago

Always a wonderful experience having afternoon tea at the beautiful Moana hotel. Staff is always attentive providing excellent service.

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Experience

Butterfly Tea Time

Mahi ‘ai Table

4.7

4.7 (836)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Kapolei

About the restaurant

Mahi'ai Table, Foodland's first full service farm-to-table restaurant.

Top review

SamVIP

Dined 7 days ago

Nice Touch Having Live Entertainment We always enjoy the staff readiness to help Great Job Team

LA HIKI KITCHEN - Ko Olina at Four Seasons Resort

4.7

4.7 (985)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Kapolei

About the restaurant

Lâ Hiki Kitchen is inspired by the Hawaiian phrase “mai ka lâ hiki a ka lâ kau” – “from sunrise to sunset” – Lâ Hiki Kitchen is an inspired interpretation of American continental dining, infused with local influences, re-imagined with farm fresh ingredients and prepared by a world class chef. Cooking with heart and soul!

Top review

Jev

Dined on Jun 22, 2025

We had a great experience and the food was delicious!

et al.

4.7

4.7 (1560)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Honolulu

About the restaurant

et al. is a new full-service restaurant, bar and neighborhood eatery offering an imaginative menu of multi-regional dishes drawing inspiration from local produce and ingredients at the peak of seasonal flavor.

Top review

JanM

Dined 1 day ago

The hostess was good. Nice welcoming greeting. The waiter was very good ~ very attentive. I ordered the tagliatelle. The pasta was cooked nicely as well asparagus. However overall the rest of the dish was just ok. I should have asked for olive oil on the side to drizzle over dish to create more flavor.

Monkeypod Kitchen - Wailea

4.7

4.7 (10922)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Wailea

About the restaurant

Aloha, we are open daily from 11:00am to 10:00pm, with our last seating available at 9:45pm. We accept reservations & reserve a large amount of space for walk-ins. If your desired reservation is not available, please join our waitlist in person daily. Happy Hour is available daily from 3:30pm-5:00pm (excluding select holidays).

Our chef driven concept is led by the classically trained, award winning chef, Peter Merriman. Peter is a culinary pioneer and one of the founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. He has always been inspired by the people and products around him and this spirit has lead the movement to look at food in Hawaii in a new light. Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman embraces this passion! Each item on the menu demonstrates our commitment to craft and showcases high quality, socially conscious ingredients, creative preparations, and perfect execution.

Top review

Nikki

Dined 3 days ago

Experience was fabulous and loved our server, Steve R! Great food, great atmosphere, and delightful drinks!

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Popular dish

Margherita

Popular dish

Pete's Fresh Fish and Chips

Popular dish

Coconut Cream Pie

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