The Restaurant
DESCRIPTION: On Oct. 7th, the last night of our honeymoon in Kauai, my husband and I went to Cafe Portofino with a reservation. The owner himself gave us the worst table (too much traffic) although there were many tables available. (By the way, I wore a dress and my husband was in short pants and polo shirt.) We got a nice table outside after requesting our waitress for another table. The dinner was good....until we found a piece of plastic wrap in his meal, egg plant parmigiana. The waitress was very sorry and reported it to the chef and the owner. Neither of them came to our table for an apology. Moreover, the restaurant charged us for a full dinner....without any discount for the meal contained a piece of plastic wrap. When we left the restaurant, we saw the owner having his own dinner and chatting his bartender. It is very clear that the owner does not care about the cust
DATE: 2001-10-16
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : egg plant parmigiana....? (see what's in it)

Pity this is the only Italian restaurant in Lihue
DESCRIPTION: We've sampled most of the menu here. Most dishes here seem prepared too far ahead, are overpriced and lack real Italian flavor pizzaz. Salads are miniscule for the money. The basic wine list is super market stuff, but priced like boutique wines elsewhere on Kauai. There is also an over-expensive "private cellar" selection, but no middle ground. The wines served by the glass taste like box wine. Frequent staff changes result in poor service. Typical wait for a drink is twenty minutes. Food service is not much faster.
DATE: 2001-10-21
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 2
OVERALLRATING : 4
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Pasta Marinara is generally good.

Good Meal Had by All
DESCRIPTION: After being asked our seating preference, we accepted a table on the outdoor patio overlooking the harbor shopping area. Our orders were promptly taken and our meals arrived after about 15 minutes. Each item was very well prepared. Desert was equally good and very ample (we were forced by full stomachs to stop before completing the deserts). All in all, I would strongly recommend this restaurant to anyone finding themselves in the Lihue area and in the mood for Italian.
DATE: 2003-01-05
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Canelloni, Scampi

DESCRIPTION: We just showed up for an early dinner in May of 2003, at Cafe Portofino because of many friends that had 'highly' recommended it. It was everything that they had 'raved' about and even more. Great 'house wine,' and our veal dinners - outstanding. Service with our waitress was great. This restaurant should not to be missed in Kauai - it's part of the romance of the Island.
DATE: 2003-06-12
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Veal - any dish with...

Very poor service
DESCRIPTION: Poor food quality. Very Poor service. Owner had a lot of excuses. The awards are not current. He should be forced to remove them from his ads. Gourmet would cringe if they ate there now.
DATE: 2004-08-25
FOODRATING : 2
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 2

The food is great, but your kids are not welcome!
DESCRIPTION: I have been a customer of Cafe Portofino for 11 years, and have always enjoyed the food and hospitality. Last week, my family and I were in Kauai, and I called to make reservations for 5 or 5:30....not exactly peak hours there. I told the person I would need to be seated somewhere such that my kids would not disturb anyone. (My kids are not complete monsters, but are typical two year olds.) I was told, "Maam, this is a fine dining restaurant." Clear implication.....we were not welcome there. I was livid, and walked over to the restaurant at 5:30 (the appointed time) and found it empty except for about 2 tables! I told Guiseppe (the owner) what had happened and mentioned how upsetting this was to me, as a long term and loyal customer. He said that he had 25 employees and could not control them. Huh? Last time I checked, he is the owner. In my mind, he totally failed to take ownership of the problem. I will never dine there again.
DATE: 2005-07-01
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 2
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Penne Salsiccia

A Great Restaurant!
DESCRIPTION: First of all I have read the reviews at this site and what bothers me are the individuals that complain about the resturant but do not have the courage to give their name and instead sign it aonoymous... if you want to complain give a name! My wife and I vacation to Kauai almost every year for the past 18 years and have eaten at the Portofino many, many times and have always enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere, and will again when we are there for two weeks next week.
DATE: 2005-09-15
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Osso Buco

Avoid this place
DESCRIPTION: I am not sure I have ever been to a place as opulently decorated combined with agregiously repulsive food. It made for a most unsuitable combination for my wife and I on our summer trip to Kauai. The $200 bottle of Shiraz was brown and rancid, the risotto was like mushy oatmeal,the fish smelled like it was aged in the alleyway,my wife's filet was raw inside with gristle! Even after the apologies and discounts, I still paid almost $250 for the indigestion.
DATE: 2003-01-21
FOODRATING : 2
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : not even the dessert was good

Boo Bravo
DESCRIPTION: It might have been an off night, but we did not have a good experience at Bravo in Aiea last night. First, when the hostess took us to our table, there was a long discussion with a 2nd hostess on whether the table was ours or belonged to another party. When we finally sat down, we ordered calamari with "mild sauce" for the 3 kids - it came out super spicey (so glad I checked it first). The calamari was undercooked as well. When the replacement sauce came out, it was a huge bowl of marinara sauce. Then, when they brought out the entrees, all 3 children had ordered mac and cheese, they only brought out 2, after a long wait we asked the manager to help us, he grudgingly went to the kitchen and after a while it finally came. My food came out long later. My wife's food took forever, a vegie pizza. When it finally came much of the toppings were totally raw vegetables (tomato, broccoli, were totally uncooked). Waitress was totally defensive, and said she would take the calamari off the tab and didn't. Overall we had a bad experience - we went out to Bravo last night to celebrate a birthday. We hadn't been there for several months because of a fruit fly problem the last time we went (salad was teaming with fruit flies). Since we really usually like their pasta dishes, we thought we would give it another try. What a mistake.
DATE: 2005-08-13
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : spaghetti and meatballs