2 Best Restaurants in Kakaako, Honolulu and Pearl Harbor

Housed in a McVilla aimed at attracting a Japanese wedding clientele, this restaurant serves contemporary Continental food that focuses primarily on beautifully plated, well-prepared standards—albeit with a million-dollar view of Honolulu. Perched at the water's edge, with famed surf break Point Panic offshore, 53 by the Sea uses its setting to great advantage—the crescent-shape dining room faces the sea, so even if you’re not at a table nestled against the floor-to-ceiling windows, you have a fine view. Besides dinner, drop in for lunch or cocktails and appetizers at the bar while watching the city lights go up as the sun goes down. Sublime.

At this restaurant where fine dining comes without the fussiness, the cordial, well-trained servers present your "Bag O' Biscuits" or smoking oysters on the half shelf with equal aplomb and know all the details of each menu item. The large Hawaiian-French bistro has floor-to-ceiling windows and native wood accents throughout, and chef-owner Peter Merriman focuses on farm-to-table food, using Oahu-sourced ingredients as much as possible. In addition to other branches of this restaurant on neighbor Islands, Merriman operates the more casual Monkeypod Kitchen in Kapolei and Waikiki, plus Moku Kitchen in Kakaako.