Review: Kona Brewing Company

September 24th, 2008

We’d always heard great things about this place and finally got around to going there. We purposely got a plethora of items to try from the Kona crab cake appetizer to the KBC’illa Po’okela pork quesadilla appetizer and the entrees were the Big Wave Shrimp Melt and Porterhouse Dip. The crab cakes were awful, I’ve had better from the grocery store. The cajun aioli they served with it was good but you can’t cover up poor quality crab cakes. (Not a single lump of crabmeat like good cakes should have and it was essentially like paying $6 per crab cake) The pork quesadillas had very little pork and a TON of big jalapeno slices. I took 2 bites of mine and said that was enough. Nowhere near worth the money for either appetizer. (The salsa which appeared to be homemade was good though!)

Then you come to the entrees. The Big Wave shrimp melt was just plain awful. So bad I stopped after 3 bites. The only flavor in it were the occasional roasted garlic cloves you’d encounter. What a colossal disappointment. The description sounded good. The Porterhouse Dip was actually decent, not great but average which at this point we welcomed. The chips were REALLY good though. They’re the only thing they didn’t actually make. They’re those salt and pepper kettle chips and taste exactly like the ones in my pantry. Seriously? You miss the opportunity to make your own signature chips?

One thing that MAJORLY irked us was we got this stuff to go because it was crowded and we were staying a few minutes away and they jipped us our crab cakes. No major deal, it happens with any restaurant from time to time on take out orders which is why you should always check your bag wherever you get take out from. I saw they were missing within 30 seconds of getting the bag since we should’ve had four items, not three. So I gave the hubby the receipt and he goes back and says they didn’t give us the crab cakes. The next thing I know, I see the manager actually walking over to our car!!! Yeah, apparently he didn’t believe the receipt in my husband’s hands and thought within 60 seconds we were trying to do a smooth criminal and swindle them for more crab cakes. (Trust me, if I’d known how horrible they were going to be, I would’ve told him to take it off of the bill and keep them.) Luckily he came to his senses before he got to the car because if he’d had the nerve to open the door, I would’ve ripped him a new one. What, he thought I yanked them out of the bag and put them in the compartment with the spare tire?? Bad move because now not only is your food bad, you’re insulting the customers by essentially calling them thieves and I’m blogging about it. So take that for what it’s worth. Anyway…

I’m sure the beer is great for beer drinkers but don’t boil all of your meats in them, it gives it a funky taste. We should’ve gotten the pizza like everyone raves about but we were pizza’d out at that point and you figure they charge so much and get such rave reviews that they had to be something right. Apparently that something is pizza, beer and condiments.

As with any restaurants, prices are subject to change and always call ahead of time especially if you’re visiting the islands because the restaurant business in the islands is particularly fickle. A restaurant that’s been around for 50 years can and does go out of business in this economy.

Kona Brewing Company
75-5629 Kuakini Highway
Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740
808-334-BREW (2739)

Sunday to Thursday:
11 am - 9 pm Kitchen/10 pm Bar
Friday and Saturday:
11 am - 10 pm Kitchen/11 pm Bar