Arden Waikiki

Arden delivers an unforgettable dining experience with its exceptional farm-to-table menu. Each dish is a masterful blend of unexpected flavors that come together in the most delicious and surprising ways. The ingredients are incredibly fresh and there's even a corner of the menu that lists where in Hawaii the products are grown, caught or raised! Seated near the window we overlooked Kapiolani Park and caught views of Diamond Head changing colors as the sunset. A gorgeous dining space with a casual upscale aura. We ordered several entrées to share, and each one was a revelation--thoughtfully crafted, beautifully presented, and bursting with flavor. The cocktails were equally impressive, expertly paired to elevate the meal even further. Some of my absolute favorites included the venison tartare, the romaine salad, the lamb lollies, and the braised oxtail udon. And just when we thought we couldn't be more impressed, dessert arrived: the coconut mango sesame creation and the miso gelato were the perfect sweet, umami-infused finale. I could not recommend this more, I already have a reservation to return next week.P.S. For my friend, the loaded ulu was his favorite. I personally don't love cheddar and think it'd be amazing with goat cheese instead, like the carrot app and romaine salad.

**This review is for the Valentine's Day set menu**Choosing a Valentine's Day dinner spot has become harder with so many choices now. Arden Waikīkī was one of my last discoveries and was lucky enough to get a reservation in while on the waitlist.Arden Waikīkī is located in the Lotus Honolulu Hotel--formerly Diamond Head Grill in the W Hotel. There's FREE self parking in the lot, which is amazing in itself. The website and past Yelp reviews noted valet only, but that's not the case anymore. The restaurant is inside the hotel. Take the stairs or elevator to the 2nd level. Inside is quite wide open and spacious with a bar and lounge area near the front and dining area after. Depending on where your table is located, your view is Kapiolani Park, so if you want the Diamond Head view, you can request a table near the window.The Valentine's Day set menu was $98.00, which was an amazing (and the best) deal compared to the many other restaurants that were all $100+. This was essentially a $196 meal for two.The Valentine's Day special drink was a Banana Bread Old Fashioned. It sounded interesting! This came with a thin slice of a crisped banana bread, and oh this was delicious and went incredibly well with the old fashioned. The flavors were very well balanced between sweet and bitter with the right amount of bourbon. I wish the ice block was smaller though! I went through the drink too fast!We started with the Oysters on the Half Shell with Rosé Shave Ice and Mignonette. The oysters were Shigoku oysters from Washington State, and they were delicious! Sweet, clean, fresh, with a slight brine. The rosé shave ice added a nice hint of berry and citrus flavors while the mignonette added a touch of tartness and tanginess. Definitely a nice bite and a nice start. A total of 6 oysters came.Next was the Hamachi Sashimi with beetroot slices shaped like a rose with Shiso leaves. I wouldn't have guessed the combination of beets with hamachi would work, but it did! The hamachi was fresh and sliced well. It wasn't as rich and buttery, but more so light and delicate. The beets had a slight bittersweet flavor. It needed bit more shoyu for me to bring everything together. The portion was a little small for two people. It looked like it was for one, maybe?The Big Island Veal Bone Marrow was good. But it was odd to have 3 pieces of marrow with 4 pieces of bread. Is this right? The bread was toasted too much--too hard, and had too many holes, so it was very messy and a lot of oil went through. The miso paste on top was flavorful and along with the pickled onions helped cut through the rich marrow.For the main dish, the surf and turf, 16 ounce USDA Prime Ribeye and Kauai Prawns with fried brussel sprouts. The ribeye was very well cooked to a medium rare. It was an excellent char taste and aroma, and the meat was tender and juicy. It was a little under seasoned for me, but still acceptable. The prawns were perfectly cooked! Firm, fresh, sweet, and clean. The brussel sprouts were very good. Light and crispy. This was most seasoned item on the plate!Dessert was a lychee sorbet with fresh raspberries, rose and raspberry jelly, and these little sweet tubular crackers (that looks a lot like dried bean curd sticks). The sorbet was amazing! It was creamy and with good lychee flavor. A nice ending to the meal.Overall, a very nice Valentine's Day dinner. The food was fresh, beautifully presented, and prepared and handled very well. What I really appreciated and enjoyed is that each dish really let the ingredients shine and show how well they complement one another. There was hardly any wait time for each dish to come after one was finished. Our server, Josiah, was great. Very friendly, very attentive, and very informative. He made us feel welcomed and comfortable. Most of the staff we interacted with were very friendly. I liked the openness of the restaurant. I wish they had bigger windows to enjoy more of the view. Definitely a nice place to chill, relax, and have a meal. Will come again!

My husband and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Arden Waikiki - highly recommend if you're looking for a nice dinner away from the busiest parts of Waikiki. The menu is designed for sharing, and each dish is meant to serve 2 people. It's on the pricier side but to be expected in the area and the food quality makes it worth it. We ordered the following:- Hamachi sashimi: The fish is so fresh, thinly sliced, marinated in a lilikoi ponzu sauce and topped with jalapeño. The sauce elevates the flavor of the fish with its sweet tangy citrus, and the jalapeño adds just a hint of heat. - 16 oz Ribeye: Both the meat and the miso onions were grilled perfectly with a nice char; so good that we felt like we didn't even need the rosemary vinaigrette sauce on the side. - Mushroom Rice: Winner of the night and as other reviews have alluded, definitely a must to order if you like mushrooms. The umami flavor of all the different types of mushrooms made it a great dish to go with the ribeye. - Panna Cotta: Light and creamy dessert with a berry sorbet and sauce which added a nice acid flavor to the dish - nice way to end the meal.

Loved all the food here - so fresh, delicious!Drinks were strong and good and they have a great happy hour.Hotel parking available is free valet only I believe.

What a great sleeper meal! My partner and I spent a night in Waikiki at the Lotus Hotel, which Arden is located inside of. After a full day of walking and avoiding super touristy places, we decided to use the complimentary wine card that the hotel provided us with at Arden. We figured we'd also eat there too, but wasn't expecting too much. Our minds were literally blown!It seemed like the restaurant was going through some growing pains as service kept apologizing for being "off", though we didn't really notice and felt like everyone was very accommodating and attentive. We probably also missed the most chaotic period as we sat down for dinner after 8pm, and the restaurant closed at 9pm.The interior had a very warm, romantic feel to it, and the food was all excellent! We ended our meal with the Baked Hawai'i, which was the perfect ending to our meal! We will definitely suggest this restaurant to others! :)

Located on the second floor of the Lotus boutique hotel near Kaimana's beach and Diamondhead is Arden Waikiki. New on the scene and worth the visit!Service was warm, attentive, and friendly. Ambiance boasts modern simple elegance. Views overlook Kapiolani Park and offer a nice breeze while still technically dining inside. Complimentary valet at the Lotus or metered parking along the park.We went for an early dinner pre-show at the nearby theatre. Cocktails are delicious and my favorite was the SMOKE & MIRRORS. Menu is share plates. We had the hamachi sashimi (loved), venison tartare with buttery pillowy toast (so good), roasted cabbage (simple, unique with fish roe, & overall tasty), and the special of the night, an oxtail udon (very good). Can't wait to go back and sample more of the menu. Arden has a daily happy hour 3-5 which I would like to try still too!

After a social media food influencer highly recommended Arden Waikiki and a friend also recommended it, we decided to give it a try. Arden is located after Kaimana Beach & Hau Tree Lanai, in the old Bobby McGees location, where many other restaurants have come and gone. The interior has a spacious, modern and elegant design, with a combination of fresh air & air conditioning. While the food is good-ok, I was disappointed at the very small menu and limited choices. For appetizers "Light" there is only a poke, a sashimi, a venison Tatare and a prawn appetizer, aside from veggies. For entrees "Bold", there is only a lamb, a ribeye, an ahi and a butcher's cut, of which two are market price. I hope that the chef will expand the menu and offer more tasty choices, especially if they want repeat customers. If you dine out often, like veggies and can afford $100/person, you may want to give Arden a try. Other Yelpers have given them a high 4.6 average rating. If you enjoy a variety of seafoods, fish and meats, and you like tasty dishes, you may want to look elsewhere (Roy's, MW). I highly recommend that you look carefully at the menu and pictures of the dishes on Yelp, then make your decision. Overall: **** Recommended ****Food: ****Value: ***Menu: ** (only 4 entrees)Ambiance: *****Service: ****Parking: *** valet, metered streetRATINGS & RECOMMENDED ORDER:Lamb Lollipops = B ($12/piece)French Fries w Mentaiko Dip = B Hamachi Sashimi = CMushroom rice = C Website: https://www.ardenwaikiki.com/Yelp: https://yelp.to/wta8AaU9RdYELP: Sorry! They allow only one 12 second video & the remaining to 3 seconds, with maximum of 10 pictures/videos. The full video can be found elsewhere.RATINGS KEY: A = Really Good - one of the best B = Good - would order again C = ok - similar, nothing special D = Not very good - wouldn't order F = Terrible - avoid

My husband and I were staying at Kaimana Beach hotel next door and decided to pop over for drinks and snacks at the bar. We caught the end of happy hour and grabbed shishito peppers and ahi poke. Both came out quickly and were very fresh and tasty.It was quickly apparent that our bartender, Jeremy, was a pro. One benchmark for a quality bar for me is if they brew each espresso fresh for an espresso martini (Vs premade batched espresso/coffee which I see more often than not, sadly. I get that it saves time, but when you're paying almost $20 on average per drink, in a nicer establishment I'm happy to wait a couple extra minutes for the quality) and here they do. I appreciate someone who has pride in what they're making and serving, and Jeremy was friendly and adept at his craft.They also had a lovely singer in the dining room to add to the chill vibes. Not too loud, but not too sleepy either. Just right for a romantic evening. We had the baked Hawaii dessert which was lovely. I wish we had come with more of an appetite as I would have liked to try some of the larger plates as well. Before we left we met and chatted with who I believe was a manager (whose name I can't remember, oops!) who was really kind and sweet as well. I would definitely come back here on our next trip, and certainly recommend!

I was staying in the same hotel where the restaurant was located. The ads from my hotel influenced my decision and I'm glad I did. Booked reservation online service was great. Restaurant was fine dining but smaller scale. Live music played as I ate my dinner. My poke appetizer was great. My steak (filet) was cut into medallions it was not as tender as I thought it would be. Dessert was delicious

Came here for a date night. It is located on the second floor of the Lotus Hotel. They provide complimentary parking at the hotel if you're dining at the restaurant. We came on a Sunday night and the ambiance as soon as you enter is really great. Everything was really nice and stylish, 5/5 in my opinion. Their food was definitely unique and interesting. For starters we ordered the tomato and buratta salad and french fries. The tomato salad was very pricey, but it was worth trying something different, as the tomatoes were flavored with li-hing powder. While it was unique, the taste of aspartame from the li-hing made me dislike the flavor over time, as it overpowered the other flavors in the dish.The French fries were very tasty, and it was topped with furikake. They offer a spicy roe dip to go with the fries which I would've liked to try, but it cost an extra $13 dollars!For our entrees we shared the tenderloin special and mushroom rice. The mushroom rice tasted great and paired well with the tenderloin, which was very soft and tender. The steak was paired with a Wasabi sauce, and ume butter. Very interesting combinations of flavors. Overall the food wasn't mind blowing and I probably wouldn't re order any of the dishes we got. But it was fun trying the different dishes as they were all unique, and new twists on old dishes. They use really good sources for their food, which is unfortunately, reflected in the rather high price point. If anyone made it this far into the review. I definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a romantic date night or a special occasion. As they offer very unique takes on their dishes.