It’s not at every hotel that, after mailing a coconut (yes, you read that right), you can hop on a beach bike and ride along a shoreline path to dinner.
But that’s what it’s like at Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, a luxury retreat originally built in 1961 on a lava field fronting storied Kahuwai Bay. Today, it sprawls across 81 acres, with 150 freestanding thatched-roof hale (bungalows) scattered throughout the property and connected by crushed-coral paths. It feels more like a laid-back village than a luxe resort.
READ MORE: The New Kona Village Adds Modern Luxury to the Hotel’s Vintage Charm
Which is fitting, since this area was a thriving fishing village going back to about A.D. 1000, when it was settled by Polynesians.
So, it also makes sense the resort’s signature restaurant, Moana, pays homage to the area’s history. Its menu features a slew of seafood-forward dishes like miso-glazed kampachi (amberjack), charred ‘ahi, abalone and lobster from Kona and bowls of ramen brimming with Manila clams and Kona prawns.
I park my bike right outside the open-air restaurant. Its A-frame structure—a popular architectural design in Hawaiʻi—offers panoramic views of the bay and, particularly at dinner, Kona’s famous sunsets.
I’m sitting at a cozy table at the edge of the outdoor dining area, with an unobstructed view of the water. To my left is the popular Talk Story Bar, a stand-alone, thatched-roof bar surrounded by swaying palm trees and staffed by friendly bartenders. I feel like I’m on a deserted island—but with a fully stocked bar.
READ MORE: 3 Cool and Unexpected Hotel Bars and Lounges in Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi Island
My server arrives with a drink menu and lots of recommendations. He tells me the banana daiquiri uses apple bananas grown on the property that are vacuum-sealed for three days, then, somehow, turned into a juice that’s combined with aged rum from nearby Kuleana Rum Works. Or that the Vice cocktail is part strawberry daiquiri, part piña colada. But what matches the mood, at least for me, is the Pōhue Bay, a blend of Gentian Amaro, blood orange and a splash of Champagne. Perfect for sunset sipping.
The dinner menu is separated into parts: small plates, raw, fresh and tossed; entrées; and, of course, dessert. (Don’t skip that part. Trust me.) There’s something for everyone on this menu, from charred octopus in a Kona fish bouillabaisse and chimichurri to a super-fresh roasted beet and carrot appetizer with whipped honey ricotta. (The Kamuela tomato and strawberry salad is a surprise, with each local tomato hand-peeled and swimming in a white shoyu vinaigrette that tastes a little like crack seed.)
Photo: Courtesy of Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort
I want to try a little of everything. So, I start with the sticky pork ribs, a pile of fall-off-the-bone ribs slathered with a chili glaze that’s cooked for three days and topped with pickled onions and jalapeño slices . If this was my entire meal, I would leave very happy. But I had ordered a few more dishes, so I had to hold back on eating this entire plate. Which wasn’t easy to do.
A lot of thought and care goes into these dishes. The dressing for the Caesar salad is sprayed on, not drizzled. The kalbi beef cheeks are braised for eight hours. And the side of potatoes—that’s what the menu says—isn’t simple at all, topped with ikura (salmon roe), black garlic, yuzu and pickled onions.
I order the Hawaiian snapper—or onaga, the local name for a long-tailed red snapper that boasts a firm-yet-moist flesh with a mild flavor. It’s the restaurant’s top seller—and I can see why. The fish is delicate and tender, the dashi light and flavorful.
The beef and broccoli entrée features roasted USDA prime New York strip loin, charred broccoli and a black garlic veal glaçe all pulled together by a broccoli-and-spinach purée.
Meanwhile, the sun has set, the darkness punctuated by fiery torches and twinkling stars. I see the constellation Orion floating in the sky above the bay.
And the dessert menu has arrived.
While I’m tempted by the unusual-sounding roasted barley ice cream sundae with a furikake cookie, miso butterscotch and puffed buckwheat, I opt for the highly recommended pineapple upside-down cake, prepared tableside. It’s a revelation. The cake is a dense toffee pudding concoction with a pineapple slice baked in. It’s served warm and topped with pineapple salsa, candied macadamia nuts and housemade ice cream made with locally grown vanilla. (Fun fact: Hawaiʻi was the first state in the U.S. to grow vanilla commercially.)
The cake is decadent and sumptuous, but homey and comfortable. Like putting on a very expensive, very cozy pajama set. And like those pajamas, this resort is a relaxed luxury that’s easy to get used to.
Moana at the Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, rosewoodhotels.com/en/kona-village.
Catherine Toth Fox is the former editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine and continues to contribute to the website and print publication.
