The Bankers Club

Outstanding food, service and view. If you ever get and invite for a meeting or event, don’t pass this up.

The best dining experience in downtown Honolulu. Breath-​taking view, wonderful décor, excellent service, and outstanding food.
Unfortunately, dining here is by invitation only. Don’t pass up the opportunity if you get a chance.
I have been to the Plaza club (dated 1980s partial view), and the Bank of Hawaii private dining room (1990s no view at all).
First Hawaii Banker’s club is much newer and by far the most elegant. The moment that you walk out of the elevator after stepping into the 30^th floor, you are greeted by friendly and service oriented staff.
They provide with a small menu with a great assortment of delicacies. Soup or salad, entrée and dessert.
Pulehu prime ribeye steak, well seasoned and cooked to perfection.
Be sure to pre-​order the chocolate cake with Jack Daniels ice cream!

The Bankers Club is located on the top floor of the First Hawaiian Building in Downtown, Honolulu. Parking isn’t the greatest but I don’t think there’s such a thing as great parking anywhere in Downtown Honolulu to begin with. Their structure has teeny tiny parking spaces but on the plus side, the restaurant offers parking validation. As soon as you walk in to the restaurant, you will understand why people rave about the view. The restaurant has a beautiful panoramic view of downtown, the harbor/​ocean and the Punchbowl area. The windows go from the floor to the celling, even in the restroom (no, it’s not as creepy as it sounds). The pictures I’ve posted here on Unilocal don’t do the actual view much justice. There’s also a nice lounge area with couches that’s available while waiting for your table.
The Bankers Club has a small set menu that changes. I’m not sure what the frequency of the change is but the menu usually has a little bit of everything from fish, steak and sandwiches. They have a separate dessert menu which is also small but the choices are all good. A note on the menu-​the prices aren’t listed. I was afraid to ask what the prices are but I guess at a restaurant like the Bankers Club, you should expect the service and quality to coincide with the prices of the food. Moreover, if you’re dining in at the Bankers Club, price usually isn’t an issue. Or so we should hope.
I’ve had the meatball sandwich and I wasn’t too impressed with it. The bread and meatballs were both good but it was just missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on but I know I wasn’t impressed by it. If you’re looking for something impressive, their steak doesn’t disappoint one bit. They give a generous slab of steak and the meat is really tender. I think the rest of the details they put into the meals are pretty good. The bread basket they bring out before your meal contains a variety of starch like sweet rolls, toast and lavosh. When you order iced tea, they place fresh sugar cane sticks in it which doesn’t do too much for the sweetness but it adds a nice touch to the drink. The desserts they offer are pretty good. They have a few of their own specialties like sweet potato bread pudding and profiteroles (cream puffs) but they also have simple favorites like mochi ice cream as well.
The restrooms in the Bankers Club are pretty posh and like I mentioned, the view is just as fabulous in the restroom as it is outside. The restrooms are located on the mauka (mountain) side of the restaurant so you get a beautiful view of the mountains and the Punchbowl area of Honolulu. The bathroom stalls are awesome because you actually get an entire stall, floor to ceiling privacy and no open space where others can see your feet or above your head. The kicker for me was the napkins. They have their own napkins with «Bankers Club» printed on them for crying out loud!
The Bankers Club is the place to be if you’re looking for a gorgeous view, impeccable service and a well-​prepped meal. That is, if you can get in. As the game of life goes, it’s usually a matter of who you know and in this case, you should know someone who works at First Hawaiian Bank, preferably an executive or know someone who knows someone. I enjoy eating here, however, it’s one of those restaurants that I have to be «in the mood» for. Yes, the view is breathtaking, the food is fantastic and the service is wonderful but it’s not for everyone. Sometimes it’s a little too quiet up there if you know what I mean and it can be a little «stiff.» For instance, it’s not one of those restaurants you want to keep your phone ringer on high in and you probably shouldn’t have too many drinks because if you get out of hand, you will probably draw way too much attention to yourself. Thankfully, I don’t get the chance to dine in at the Banker’s Club too often but when I do, I definitely enjoy myself.

I first heard of The Bankers Club from Honolulu Magazine’s ’10 Places You Can’t Go in Hawaii’ article. Well, now this ultra exclusive invite-​only club is opened to friends/​family of First Hawaiian Bank employees every second and fourth friday of the month for pau hana. However, my friend said not to get my hopes too high as it is nothing compared to lunch.
The setting is casual and drinks are reasonably priced. Their special martini is $ 6, wines are $ 6.50, beers $ 5 – 6. The food ranged from $ 5 – 10. Not too shabby.
Get the braised short rib with creamy polenta! That’s the best thing we got. Fork tender beef that has been marinated in this delicious wine sauce… So good for $ 9.50!
The quesadillas are good. It’s filled with chicken, cheese, and pico de gallo. It’s served with very fresh salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. It’s a good sized portion to share.
The wings were good too. Super crunchy outside and juicy inside but it still needed sauce to add some oomph.
The beef tongue I would pass on. $ 7.50 for three paper thin slices of tongue that’s fried to taste like bacon. No thanks.
Since we went on a soft opening night of this new event, the service was lagging. I’m sure the servers weren’t used to dealing with such great volumes of people and they definitely seem to not be used to credit card charges! My friend paid the tab with his card and signed it and the server that took it kept asking if he had paid even though his signature and merchant copy were staring right back at her haha.
I’m not sure how often I’ll find myself here as I felt out of place as there were mostly employees. «Which floor are you on?» «I…don’t work here…» Maybe as time goes on, the employees of FHB will bring more guests to make it less of a business social gathering. IDK.
However, I will come back for the VIEW! Holy cow, it was absolutely beautiful at sunset. I definitely had a lucky we live Hawaii moment.
It was definitely nice to check out this exclusive club but one day… just one day, I’ll be invited for a lunch. C’mon buddy, hurry up and work your way to the top! *hinthint*

OK — this is a private club, but I’ve been fortunate enough to dine here on several occasions because of my former boss! Oh my goodness, it’s wonderful! Not only do you have a spectacular panoramic view of downtown and surrounding areas from mountain to sea, but the food is outstanding. The waitstaff is friendly and attentive, and Charlene at reception is a gem — so friendly and accommodating! The sake lamb is to die for! And the desserts are lucious.. .I’m getting hungry!!!
And have you tried their cookies (sold for Aloha United Way fundraising)? DELICIOUS! Anyone can order these and you can enjoy the heart-​stopping ride up to the 30^th floor to pick them up! Chocolate chip is my favorite, but all the cookies are good.

A friend of mine invited me to lunch. She told me that it was on the 30^th Flr. I hadn’t realized that there was a restaurant in the bank. When I got in the elevator it swished me up floor by floor. I turned around in the elevator and got nervous being so-​o high up, flying like superman. I was very impressed with the atmosphere when I walked off the elevator. I could tell right away, this wasn’t the usual type restaurant. As soon as we sat down, the waitress gave us the menu and asked us if we’d like something to drink. She returned serving us different types of breads. The food is so-​o excellent, so is the service and friendliness. I had the carrot soup (unbelievable outstanding), fish w/​lobster tail and dessert was a taro bread pudding that we shared. It was huge! Very relaxing and didn’t feel rushed. When we started to get up and leave I asked my friend, that the waitress didn’t bring the bill. She told me that they will send her a bill.
I felt very privileged to go and have lunch w/​her, and to this excellent restaurant. If I could, I’d would give them 10 Stars!

This is a very impressive place. I was impressed from the minute I got in the elevator until I got back in my car. First off, I have never been in a public place where even the bathroom has a view. Not to mention the thick napkins they offer to dry your hands.
This place is high class, so obviously I didn’t know about it. I got invited for a Christmas time lunch and I am grateful.
Once seated the service was superb. We received our menus, and were explained about each entrée. They took our order and never rushed us. We had a 3 course lunch that took about 2 hours. It started with a salad with fresh miso dressing, the main was excellently cooked Opah, and finished with a oatmeal crumble. Everything was great, even down to the ice tea. I didn’t feel overly stuffed when I left, just satisfied.
This wouldn’t be a place I would go on my own, it was the excellent company and the quite accommodation that really took this place to the next level. Come here with people you like to talk to. Oh and the view is one of the best I’ve ever seen on Oahu.

The Bankers Club is located on the top floor of the First Hawaiian Center. It’s only open to big shots & their guests so I had my cousin take me. The food & service is FANTASTIC with an unobstructed 30^th-​floor view. There are no prices on the menu and no check at the end of the meal.
The Plantation Iced tea was fantastic! I found out it’s a mix Crystal light & pineaple juice. I started with the duck soup followed by the Australian Wagyu New York Steak cooked to perfection. I finished with a trio of mochi ice cream.
The bathroom was as impressive as the huge video conferencing room. Monogramed paper towels & dual-​flush technology sensor toilets that automatically flush the proper amount of water based on time spent in the stall.
See my many pictures.