Going out to brunch is always a weekend treat, and it’s even better when the restaurant’s aesthetic is pleasing. So, imagine my excitement when I heard last year that Heavenly Island Lifestyle — which already has a location in Waikiki — was set to open late December in Hawaii Kai’s Koko Marina Center.

This marina-front restaurant is much bigger than the Waikiki location and boasts an open-air terrace-like dining area that’s suitable for both eating and lounging. While the Waikiki location caters to tourists, Heavenly Island Lifestyle Hawaii Kai was designed with the local community in mind.
“We want to be a place that welcomes everyone, where they can come and relax,” explains restaurant manager Karie Pastor.

The breakfast and lunch menus feature a mix of local- and Japanese-style dishes. Hawaii Kai also has several exclusive dishes like the Koko Head Loco Moco ($24), which comprises flavorful grilled beef short rib over garlic fried rice served with a ginger soy glaze and cucumber kimchi.
If you’re in the mood for a Japanese breakfast, opt for the beef sukiyaki combo ($17.50) — the restaurant’s current bestselling dish — featuring Japanese-style sukiyaki beef with onions, tofu, soy sauce, a poached egg, miso soup and choice of white rice or 10-grain rice. Once you’ve mixed the poached egg, you could either pour the mixture over the beef (perfect if you love that yolky goodness), or delicately dip the pieces of beef in the egg.

If you want something on the sweeter side, go for the pancakes — fresh berry berry ($17), Manoa chocolate banana ($15) or fresh tropical fruit ($15) — or acai bowls. I enjoyed the pancakes’ subtle sweetness and slightly chewy texture, a result of a batter that’s a hybrid of traditional, fluffy pancakes and Japanese mochi. Fresh berry berry (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and berry syrup) is the most popular, and the Big Island honey butter it comes with had me swooning. 
 
I was also a huge fan of the peanut butter acai ($12), a refreshing concoction of bananas, mixed nuts, peanut butter, blueberries, granola and cacao nibs. The acai is more sweet than tart — just how I like it — with a nice crunch from the nuts and granola. 

Lunch entrees are served starting at 11 a.m. and are more Japanese-influenced. Choose from dishes like chicken katsu curry ($14.50), Japanese-style bacon and mushroom spaghetti ($14.50) and omu hayashi rice ($15.50). The latter is one of my favorite dishes — the Japanese-style rice omelet is flavorful and comforting. It’s a savory medley of bacon, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and green bell peppers with a demi-glace-like sauce that’s to die for. The fluffy omelet envelopes the steaming mountain of rice like a blanket, and trust me, you’ll use every bit of rice to mop up all that umami sauce.

The restaurant’s salad bar, available during lunch, is a unique feature. In collaboration with local farms like Kahuku Farms and Sugarland Growers, Heavenly’s farm-to-table salad bar is available as an add-on to any lunch entree for $7. It includes options like local egg and potato salad, eggplant salad, watercress-and-tofu salad, and sweet potato with honey butter.

If you’re enjoying a leisurely brunch, check out Heavenly’s specialty cocktails. Among the most popular are the Hawaii Kai Sunset ($15) — rum, lilikoi, pineapple, lime juice and grenadine — and Lanikai Blue ($15), a medley of vodka, Coco Lopez, pineapple, lemon juice and Blue Curacao. The inside-out umbrella for decoration is not a mistake; it pays homage to Lanikai’s windy conditions.

The eatery recently launched its dinner menu, available from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays-Sundays. Choose from cold and hot tapas, including jumbo shrimp cocktail ($18), truffle wedge fries ($14) and mac and cheese — available in original ($11) and blue cheese ($12.50). The blue cheese mac and cheese — an indulgent blend of homemade cream sauce and blue cheese crumbles, served with small crostini and honey — was insanely addictive. I love blue cheese, so I adored the strong flavor, which was balanced nicely with the honey drizzle.

Main dishes include several steaks — inspired by the eatery’s sister restaurant, Aloha Steak House — fish (grilled mahimahi and miso salmon) and pastas (penne carbonara, shrimp green spaghetti and mentaiko butter shoyu pasta).

We settled on the local romaine Caesar salad ($14) and fish and chips ($28) to share. The refreshing Kula Farm romaine lettuce and light, housemade dressing were the perfect segue to our fish and chips — lightly battered Swai fish, accompanied by wedge-cut fries, housemade tartar sauce and sweet chile sauce. The fish was perfectly golden and crispy on the outside, while the interior was moist and flaky.

If you have room for dessert, check out the custard pudding a la mode ($12) and ITO EN matcha tiramisu ($8.50). Matcha lovers will swoon over the tiramisu — which has a strong matcha flavor — and features a combo of mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, biscuit and ITO EN matcha powder.
Pro tip: If you go to Heavenly Island Lifestyle for dinner, time your visit around sunset so you can enjoy those marina views.

Heavenly Island Lifestyle Hawaii Kai

Address 
Koko Marina Center
7192 Kalanianaole Hwy. Ste. D-105, Honolulu

Phone
808-517-3777

Hours
Open for breakfast and lunch daily, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (closed Tuesdays)
Dinner 5-8 p.m.
Fridays-Sundays

Website
heavenly-hawaiikai.com

Instagram
@heavenly_hawaiikai

Parking: Free parking at Koko Marina Center