After checking in to our room at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, we were starving and headed to Lava's to eat a late lunch and take advantage of the complimentary Mai Tai vouchers we received at the front desk. We sat inside and had a great view of the pool and ocean. Unfortunately, we sat for about 20 minutes before anyone greeted us or even gave us a menu. I saw servers pass by to other tables several times without even acknowledging us. Annoyed and hungry, I walked to the bar to ask if we could place an order and that is when we were told someone would come over to us shortly. After a rocky start, I did not want to be in a bad mood - we were in beautiful Kauai after all! So I let the delay slide and happily devoured the Pollo Caprese Sandwich I ordered. The chicken was nicely grilled, but the sandwich overall pretty plain. There was nothing caprese about it - just regular lettuce and tomato. On the other hand, Keith found his Kalbi BLT Sandwich to be very tasty and thought the kim chee aioli was creative. The sandwiches were a little expensive in my opinion at $14 and $15 respectively.
On our third day in Kauai, we took a break from sightseeing and decided to have a lazy day by the beach and pool. We splurged on a cabana, which came with an orange flag that you raise when you want to order drinks or food. As soon as the flag goes up, a server from Lava's rushes over to you. This was perfect and such a treat to be waited on! Upon check-in, we also received a voucher for a complimentary bottle of champagne to be redeemed at Lava's. I asked our server if she would honor that at the beach area (no glass bottles allowed) and said that she would be able to pour it all into big plastic cups for us. So I asked her to go ahead and do that (why pass up FREE champagne?!?!) plus bring two glasses of passion-orange-guava juice so we could make our own tropical mimosas (I know we were on vacation, but it was barely 10am - I needed to start slow!). We sipped on those while lounging in our cabana until we got hungry. A little while later, up went the flag again, and we ordered the Island Spiced lava Wings and a BBQ Bento Box to share. The chicken wings had great, unique flavor from the lilikoi sauce. I am not the biggest fan of wings, but I ate a couple pieces in addition to the chicken portion of the bento box. Keith ate the beef part of the box, which was similar to the kalbi beef he had in his sandwich the other day. I'm used to packed sandwiches or chips and other snacks to hold me over while playing at the beach, so it was fun to eat this hot food instead. To go along with our meal we ordered a couple more drinks - lava’s skinny Chi Chi for me which was super sweet with Hawaiian Coconut Vodka, Malibu Coconut Rum, and pineapple juice. Keith tried the Kauaian Iced Tea with Smirnoff Vodka, Tanqueray Gin, Malibu Passion Fruit Rum, passion fruit puree, Triple Sec, lime sour, Sprite, and lemon. It was a tropical twist on the Long Island Iced Tea that was quite refreshing. Overall, Lava's on Poipu beach offers traditional bar and grill fare with a convenience for hotel patrons. But I would not see any locals or other tourists dining here, as the prices are on the higher side.
Total Rating: 3
Food: 3, Price: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 5, Accessibility: 5
What I ate:
Pollo Caprese lavaWich
Chicken breast, Roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Caesar dressing,
rustic roll, house-made crisps
Island Spiced lava Wings
lilikoi honey sauce, celery, carrots, buttermilk ranch dressing
BBQ Bento Box
Teriyaki chicken, kalbi beef, spring roll,
edamame, potato salad, sticky rice
Kalbi Beef BLT
Korean kalbi beef, bacon, lettuce, tomato, kim chee aioli,
sweet bread, house-made crisps
