Mana + Pua S.A.L.T. at Our Kaka'ako

"Update April 2026 : Still a lovely restaurant with a welcoming, classy-yet-casual bar. Comfortable seating, and food that really is worth ordering. Most recently, the Salade Niçoise with its fresh-caught, seared tuna, and the cauliflower in a mild yogurt-curry sauce were winners. May 2025 : Beautiful food that in fact actually tastes good. We got various fish dishes, of which sashimi, Caesar salad with seared ahi, and the scallops, and all three preparations on the seafood were fresh and spot-on. The French fries are crisp and hot, though a bit on the bland side, and the sauce, which was described on the menu as the house ketchup, was strange, more like a sweet romesco sauce. The fish spread is creamy and spreadable, bread is good quality and toasted, the cocktails are excellent. Regardless, the fish was perfect for our Cave de Lugny Crémant de Bourgogne sparkling wine from France. Very pleasant environments that encourages people to appreciate spending time with one another, be it at a table, or at the spacious bar. Service was competent, friendly, and lacking a bit of professionalism, at least for a waitress, but it’s hard to but this is only one visit, and it’s worth returning to this casual-elegant restaurant"

"I have given this establishment several chances and unfortunately it gets worse every time. I went once for lunch, once for an early dinner, and twice for happy hour over the course of the last year. Every time I went it was at an off hour (between 2 and 4:30pm) where the restaurant was literally empty or had one other table at most. I generally try to give places and people the benefit of the doubt, but each time I had a negative experience getting seated. My first visit I was ignored for about 5 minutes and every other time the hostess aggressively asked if I had a reservation and seemed perturbed I did not. I would understand this on a Friday night, but it's not too hard to fight for a table on a Thursday at 3:45 pm. My most recent visit was last week after seeing an instagram post (attached) encouraging people to bring their dogs to happy hour. The angry bartender that seemed irritated with our presence seated us and when we inquired about happy hour she seemed further irritated we didn't pick a seat at the bar. It's perfectly reasonable to put happy hour at the bar only, but they should state that in their advertisements and on their menu or inquire while seating people. Every other establishment at SALT has happy hour throughout the entire restaurant (Moku, Pitch, etc.). Also, why would you encourage people to bring their dogs to happy hour if you're sitting on a bar stool? It's not fun having a dog 4 feet below you. Once seated at the bar, we ordered from the attached menu. The beer was warm and we weren't informed of the cocktail special until we overheard the bartender telling a group that came in about 20 minutes after us. The atmosphere and environment was so harsh that we finished our fries, venison burgers and fish bites and left within 30-40 minutes of entering. As much as I think their food is overall pretty good, I will not be coming back to this establishment since I feel like my existence perturbs the staff."

"Walked into a nearly empty restaurant at 5, to immediately be asked, “did you make a reservation?” No greeting, no discussion of happy hour, just the wait staff bothered about that two people who came for happy hour. After asking the waitress about the happy hour menu advertised on Instagram, we learned happy hour is only at the bar and the Instagram menu is outdated, and there is no happy hour cocktail. The food was fine but inconsistent. The drinks were a $12 glass of wine from a cheap bottle and $6 less than chilled Heineken. Mana + Pua is a great looking restaurant in a fantastic location with a staff that fails to deliver on food, drink, and service. I’ll go back in a year."