Fete Hawaii

Food was great and our server, Chris, was excellent!!

We shared the catch of the day, Japan scallops, as an appetizer. One of the best scallop dishes I've ever had. They were seared and presented on a bed of pureed carrots accompanied by cooked carrots, crispy fried hasu (burdock root), topped with a lup cheong jam. IDK what the sauces were but they all tasted so good together.

He had the beef bourguignon pot pie -- tender beef in a tasty gravy with potatoes, carrots, topped with a flaky pie crust.

I had the Market Korean -- flank steak with Korean kochujang sauce, Asian pear slaw and ginger scallion fried rice. YUM! I loved the fried rice so much, I took a side order home so that I could enjoy it again with my leftover steak.

The side of kale and mushrooms were good but did not quite match our entrees (rosemary can always be a bit strong). The steak tartare was okay.

Desserts: dark chocolate Rocky Road ice cream -- so yummy!! Olive oil cake was delish.

Chris was an excellent server! He recited all 6 specials in detail and could answer any questions we had about any dish (on and off the menu). He spoke clearly and loud enough (since restaurant is noisy) and even recommended good wines to accompany our meal. He was also very attentive.

We'll definitely be back and are recommending to all our friends.

Had a reservation for 1130 for two. Called fifteen minutes before as we were stuck in traffic to say we would be 10-15 minutes late. Was told we would have to give up table or eat at bar. Bar it is then. Show at 11:39 and told we can sit a a table but need to be finished by 1. ok. waitress then reminds us twice during the meal. The food was superb however giving it only four stars for the disrespect. PS we left at 12:52 with eight minutes to spare. Recommend for the food but the service left a bad taste in my mouth. P.P.S. checked open table and there were tables avail every fifteen minutes. We are locals but won't be back.

Walked in and was able to get two seats at the bar.
Waters were poured and orders taken soon after.
I ordered the cheeseburger and my fiancé ordered the French onion grilled cheese sandwich.
The grilled cheese was served with a side of French onion soup broth to dip the sandwich in - great idea and delicious.
I ordered the burger medium rare (naturally) and it was cooked perfectly. Seriously one of the best burgers I've ever had. It was seasoned nicely and just delicious. I didn't need to add anything else - just ate as is and crushed the whole thing.
Even the tomatoes were flavorful. I would come back just for this burger.
Also want to try the tartare eventually.

Fete Hawaii was a wonderful culinary experience. Loved everything about being there. The waiter was helpful - my sister loves hearing the details of a special lunch selection and the waiter enthusiastically explained the ingredients to her.

I parked at a nearby parking structure because I don't like street parking. There are still suspicious looking characters around even on an afternoon so keep a firm grip on your purse/backpack.

Will be returning again

Oldest daughter & her husband suggested Fete for dinner.
Food & service was great! Downstairs was a little noisy, I guess a normal Saturday night, our table was up stairs and I was very grateful to be upstairs.
Would I recommend this place, absolutely yes! Would I go back to this place, yes!

I thought I posted a review but I guess not so here goes. First time here after hearing so much about it. We came here for an office lunch. I got the Market Korean (steak), Caesar salad and frozen kūlolo. The steak dish offered a variety of flavors with the Korean steak to the salad, rice and egg. It was a nice hearty dish that I enjoyed a lot. I can't pass up kulolo so that was a must have dessert for me and that was a nice treat of taro and coconut. Glad I finally made it to try their food and a place I recommend if you are in downtown/chinatown. There are not a lot of tables so good to make reservations.

Yum, yum!

I don't know what took me so long, but I am so happy to have finally patronized Fête Hawaii! It exceeded all my expectations, which is impressive considering I've only heard good things for quite some time now.

Our waitress (I feel so bad I forget her name) was well versed on the menu, and gave some amazing suggestions that were raved about and celebrated by the entire table.

Our seating was outdoor, so there isn't much I can say about the indoor aesthetic, but we felt well attended to and still enjoyed our time. Plus, I kind of enjoy people watching in Chinatown.

Located in the heart of Chinatown, this is a fantastic restaurant that serves a plethora of divine dishes. Server Josh was excellent whose goal was to ensure a wonderful dining experience. I devoured the chocolate ice cream dessert before I could snap a photo. The best dessert ever! I need to return again and again until I've tried everything on the menu.

This was a sublime experience and it was good to go for an early dinner (we had a reservation for 4:45 pm) and were surprised to see the restaurant already quite full at that time but service was much quicker at the beginning.

We were seated in the library area which was a nice quiet spot and the brick building had an interesting character.

We started with a liver mousse, oysters, beef tartare, and carrots. All the appetizers were delicious but particularly loved the pickled cucumbers and okra and the carrots and their pesto were scrumptious.

For main courses we had the spaghetti, mushroom risotto, mahi mahi, and fete salad.... The mushroom risotto was perfection and my daughter and I wished we had ordered it instead of our dishes. The fete salad was good but the crispy chicken on the side had some pieces overcooked. The spaghetti carbonara was good but a little heavy in pepper for my daughter's liking. My husband loved the Mahi Mahi.

Service was responsive and good for the most part (the host was very sweet, his wife was the chef of the restaurant). We just felt we got stuck after dessert waiting for the check since our nice empty library room got really fully and it was a lot of tables for the one waiter who was staffing us.

I made a reservation a few weeks in advance and made a note that it was my birthday. The host/server 1/server 2 did not acknowledge my birthday or ask if we were celebrating anything. We got seated at a crappy table in the middle of the dining room. These two tables had white tops and clearly looked like an afterthought to cram more tables into the space. The tables were so small and cramped that it was like tetris trying to fit 2 appetizers plus our small plates on the table. When the entree came, WE had to start stacking plates. The staff did nothing to help. I had to ask to get my water refilled. Service was abysmal.

The appetizers were delicious. We loved the dips and the steak tartare. Highly recommend getting both.

I asked for our Market Korean steak to be medium rare. The thing could have been alive for how bloody it looked. The sauce was red so it took each of us 1-2 bites to realize it and at that point we did not know if we should send it back. This was not a fancy steakhouse so we continued to suffer through it. But luckily, no food poisoning or anything from the rare steak so at least the meat quality was okay. This dish is popular but I would not recommend. It had a weird sweet sauce and a sweet pear kale salad that did not go well. The best thing on this dish was the garlic fried rice.

We ordered the olive oil cake for dessert. It definitely would have benefited from a scoop of ice cream and more caramel. I enjoyed the cake but it was heavy.

I have no plans to return. It was just not a pleasant dining experience. I would like to dine comfortably and not have plates hanging off the edge of the table. I also expect a higher level of precision for steak as that was the only steak entree on there and the chef/owner is a James Beard winner.

Overhyped.