100 Sails’ brunch is back

Prince Waikiki’s 100 Sails Restaurant and Bar reintroduced its popular Sunday Brunch April 10. Brunch is available every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; reservations are now accepted and limited walks-ins are available.

Brunch highlights include hot entrées like steamed crab legs, fresh catch of the day, kalua eggs Benedict with hollandaise and crispy onions, bacon and Prince fried rice; cold dishes like ahi poke, sashimi and shrimp cocktail; carving station with slow-roasted prime rib and crispy porchetta; waffle station with assorted toppings; sushi station with temaki sushi; omelet station; assorted pastries; and desserts like Prince bread pudding.

Visit 100sails.com or call 808-944-4494 to learn more.

Celebrate Mom

To celebrate Mother’s Day (May 8), Plumeria Beach House at The Kahala Hotel & Resort is offering both brunch (10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) and dinner (5-8:30 p.m.) buffets. Each costs $105 per adult and $50 per child (ages 6-12 years), plus tax and gratuity.

Brunch buffet highlights include a variety of salads; appetizers like fresh ahi poke, ahi sashimi and assorted nigiri sushi; garlic and rosemary-rubbed prime rib of beef with au jus; steamed snow and Dungeness crab, the restaurant’s signature misoyaki butterfish; breakfast specialties like eggs Benedicts, mochi waffles and thin pancakes; and desserts like strawberry shortcake, brownies and blondies, and The Kahala’s signature bread pudding. The dinner buffet features many of the offerings, along with delicacies like slow-smoked salmon with caviar cream; seafood cioppino with shrimp, clams and mussels; grilled Latin shrimp cocktail and more.

To learn more or for reservations, call 808-739-8911.

Going Beyond Burgers

The Counter Honolulu at Kahala Mall recently launched a new happy hour menu. Happy hour is available 3-6:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and features discounts on both drinks and shareable appetizers. Drink specials ($5) include 16-ounce beers on draft, signature wines and well drinks. Cocktail specials ($7) include Classic Mule, Casa Margarita and L.A. Rum Punch.

Small plates range from $4 to $8. Mini cheeseburgers ($8) are one of the best deals on the food menu; they comprise two all-natural beef patties served on mini Hawaiian buns with housemade potato chips. Buffalo cauliflower ($6) and Sriracha Brussels sprouts ($6) are the most popular dishes. Housemade guacamole and chips ($6), shoestring Parmesan fries ($4) with roasted garlic aioli and loaded tots ($8) with pimento cheese, applewood-smoked bacon and scallions are other crowd favorites.

To learn more, call 808-739-5100 or visit thecounter.com.

Chocoholics, Unite

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Island Chocolate Festival is presenting a re-imagined edition May 13-14 at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. The in-person event features a guided plantation tour May 11 at Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kona, cacao growing and processing seminars led by industry experts, culinary demonstrates and a VIP evening gala.

“As our valued culinary festival partners are busy reopening restaurants and securing staffing, we are changing our format to forgo multiple food stations and instead, provide a VIP experience featuring a chocolate-inspired, multicourse, sit-down dinner,” states event chairperson Stephanie Beeby.

The Saturday evening gala will offer the rich taste of chocolate in both sweet and savory forms in the air-conditioned ballroom. In addition to a cocoa-inspired, three-course dinner plus dessert platter, diners can partake in a towering chocolate fountain complemented with fruit and pastries.

All VIP gala tickets (seating at tables of eight and service for a three-course meal plus fourth-course dessert platter) cost $200. For more festival details and tickets, visit bigislandchocolatefestival.com.