Cinnamon’s at the Ilikai: Hawaiian brunch in Honolulu

During our stay in Honolulu, my friends and I stayed at an Airbnb in Illikai hotel. So when I saw that the restaurant downstairs had 4.2 stars on Google and almost 2k reviews, I was pretty set on checking it out. The restaurant is called Cinnamon’s at the Ilikai and they serve a variety of breakfast and brunch items.

Interior

Cinnamon’s is mostly on a patio area so all the seating is basically outside but it’s Hawaii and every day is beautiful so it’s ok. The area is under cover so if it rains or something, you won’t get wet but you may feel hot as there is no A/C. Seating is similar to patio furniture so not super plush or anything, but again it’s Hawaii lol.

We put our name down and was told it would be a 1-1.5 hour wait. We are fine with this as our hotel is only upstairs. There was a bit of confusion because the Hawaiian phone number we gave them doesn’t actually receive any calls (only texts) so they almost gave our table away when we went downstairs to check after it was 1 hour but they seated us as soon as everyone in our party had arrived.

Food

All prices listed in the post are in USD.

Our table of 5 people waited more than 50 minutes for our food to arrive. I’m not sure if this is a regular wait time or if there was something wrong in the kitchen, but on top of the 1-1.5 hour wait to get seated, it just took too long for us to actually eat.

Kalua pork eggs benny ($16/$21)

I order 1/2 eggs benny, which comes with 1 eggs benny instead of 2 for $16. For 2 eggs bennies, the price would be $21 but I didn’t think I could finish it. For sides, you can choose between home cut fries, rice or country tots (of course I chose the tots). The hollandaise sauce is made from scratch using fresh island egg yolks, hand squeezed lemon juice and butter.

Overall, I thought the dish was tasty. The kalua pork was tender and similar to pulled pork. It didn’t get too messy to eat and I love tater tots so no discussion about that.

Tropical stuffed french toast ($18)

My boyfriend orders the french toast, which is huge and smells very fruity when it finally arrives at our table. The dish uses Portuguese sweetbread and has a mango-cream cheese stuffing inside, topped with a pineapple compote and whipped cream.

Upon first bite, the french toast is super delicious. There are bursts of mango flavour and the cream cheese makes it a little savoury as well. Pineapple compote, even more fruitiness. Over time, we found it can get a little rich so if you’re not into sweets, this may get a little heavy for you. Portion size is also really big so good to share with others too.

Kalbi short rib loco moco ($21)

Most of my friends order one of the loco mocos, and select the Korean kalbi short rib one. Kalbi is essentially Korean beef short rib and it supposed to be super tender to the bone. As with loco mocos, these ones are served on a bed of steamed rice, topped with 2 eggs any style and a mini scoop of potato-mac salad.

The kalbi was delicious and tender, but to my Korean friends it basically meets their expectations. Portion is again huge as it comes in a super big and deep bowl (lots of rice).

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐

So all the food was good and prices are not cheap but it’s Hawaii and it’s brunch so we weren’t expecting to get away with a cheap eat. But mostly the long wait time to get our food left us feeling hangry and sour. It took a long time for us to get our bill as well so that was frustrating as we basically just wanted to leave. Our server was nice and apologized for the long wait but I honestly don’t think any restaurant is worth a 2 hour wait, especially when you are on vacation and have things you want to do or see. We could have definitely gone somewhere else and finished eating in the time we spent waiting.

Again, I hope there was something happening that day that was irregular and this is not a normal wait time. I wouldn’t return since I’ve already eaten here and wouldn’t risk waiting that long again.

Sincerely, Loewe