The Islander

I wasn’t impressed. (I don’t think they had musubi!) Great view of the bay though.
Walk up to Ohana if you want good Hawaiian food.

I would have given The Islander 4 or 5 stars until my last visit. My first time was a late lunch, had delicious salmon and rice, all was good, including service, possibly cause the place was practically deserted. Next few trips were for Happy Hour. They get bonus points for HH lasting until 7! I hate trying to rush madly out of work to grab a cheap drink. HH menu is good: great pot stickers and yam fries, a full size burger for $ ⁴⁄₅. Never had any problems or complaints until we went there in June for my bday. Bad idea. It was a Friday and we dared to go a little after 5pm. First, we wanted to sit on the deck (which is located strangely far away fr the actual restaurant), but no, they don’t serve HH out there. We went inside. It was already crowded so our group was split up between 2 table and the bar (cause if you go down literally 2 stairs where there’s more room, you can’t get HH). The waitress told us it was OK for us to claim a larger table once the couple there left. And that’s when the trouble began. Yes, it was busy, but the service was TERRIBLE. One of my friends waited 45 mins for a (virgin) lemonade! By the time she got it she had to leave for dinner plans. After a couple hours we got fed up and asked for the bill. Apparently, consolidating a group of people was so confusing that we literally had to ask her to redo the bill three times! After that we were still sure it was wrong, but we just paid it to end the ordeal. The waitress was kinda nice and apologetic, but also kept blaming us since we changed tables. Maybe she was new and overwhelmed, I don’t know. But the whole experience was pretty bad. I guess I’ll go back, just not on a Fri evening. And I will stay in one seat the entire time.

Four Stars for the beautiful outdoor patio overlooking Puget Sound. With almost an non obstructive view, you can’t beat this downtown!
As for the food, it’s okay. The Loco Moco was to die for according to my lunch mate today. My pad thai was, pad thai. I wanted to be more adventurous but I just didn’t have it in me.
Keep this place in mind for happy hour on a sunny afternoon, but know you better get there right at 4pm in order to get a seat!
Fellow Unilocal lovers Theresa, Brandon, Diane and I are all about this place… come say hi :-)

THE EVIL STEP SISTER OF OHANA.
please don’t walk in here and think this is a taste of Hawaii. LIES.
* overpriced menu prices
* pan-​asian more then hawaiian
I love the location of this restaurant, near Pike Place market and the Harbor Steps with the view of the waterfront. I like the ambiance of this place, doesnt make me feel like I’m in Hawaii but it makes me feel like I’m at some islander bar on the mainland. Typical right with all the Hawaiian décor. This is a «hawaiian-​style» place but reminds me more of «pan-​hawaiian-​style». The food is good, i like it, but it’s not the way I feel Hawaii would really cook their food. This place serves more «pan-​asian» dishes then really Hawaiian dishes. I didnt know Hawaiians make Pad Thai and curry dishes? Did you? ha! I prefer Ohana more then The Islander and I think The Islander really needs more pacific islanders in this place to really give that home-​front affect.
Been here twice and definately do see myself coming back. The pot stickers and the Salt & Pepper chicken wings were delightful. I would love to try the Crag Ragoons and Ahi Poke Salad and maybe some desert items too. Next shot in!
I haven’t ordered anything beyond the Happy Hour menu but from the looks of it, seems WAY OVER PRICED. example, $ 8 for spam fried rice are you kidding me? $ 11 loco moco, thats ridiculous. $ 12 honey walnut prawns, wtf. HINT HINT, in hawaii loco moco is like $ 5 bucks. if you want good honey walnut prawns go to chinatown for a cheaper price.

I love this place! They have a GREAT happy hour! M-​F 4 – 7! (FOR THE WIN!)
I tried the Mango tini and the Key Lime tini and went back to work feeling nice and warm. :)
The service is really nice, and I felt like it was ultra personal. It was pretty dead in there being it was past the lunch rush, but the décor and set up of the bar is really great, with awesome views.
My friend and I loved the food too! Great miso soup, delicious crab spring rolls, edamame, and amazing crab salad. Be sure to check it out.

When I dined at The Islander, I ordered the Mahi. I shy away from previously frozen fish products as they seem to have a «fishy» taste to them. My server assured me that the Mahi was indeed fresh. To be quite honest, I have never had a filet of Mahi that was as «fishy» was the one I had here. I dined with two other people, both of which did not enjoy their food either. The service was scarce, and we were the only people there! I will not be dining at this restaurant again.

Chicken mango salad was great, it came with crab rangoon DEEEELISH!
nice place for lunch, afterward you can walk to the public market and get fresh Cinnamon donuts fresh out of the fryer. YUU UU UUMY!

If there was ever a reason to dine and dash, this would be one of the few times I have actually considered it. The service during our night out here was absolutely terr-​i-​ble. We were greeted by a rude hostess, who ended up being our rude waitress. She served our pitcher of beer with dirty glasses. As in, there was food stuck to the outside of our glasses. When we explained why we decided to use our bamboo water glasses for the beer, she abruptly said, «That’s just because of the hard water.» WTF? She brought out our food order piece meal with no explanation to where my order was. Eventually, I asked her (very nicely), «Is my foo…» She interrupted by saying, «Ya, it’s on the way.»
That said, the food was ok. And I have been here before and enjoyed it. However, I don’t see the need to rush back and see if they’ve made any improvements.

I think the food is really good — service… really bad. SUPER slow. I have been there mostly for lunch. Here is my suggestion — you better know what you want to order when the waiter comes by the first time, otherwise you will be sitting there for a long time. Can’t decide? Go with the fish tacos. They’re good!
Nice view. They’re usually playing Hawaiian music, so it’s a nice escape on a crappy day. Pretty good happy hour prices too.

My first meal in Seattle was at a Hawaiian restaurant!!! Oh but it was indeed! And it was really good. After walking around aimlessly trying to find just the right thing to eat we stumbled upon The Islander… what a pleasant surprise! The service was great, and food was delicious. I started off with, what else? A Mai Tai… You cant go to a Hawaiian restaurant and NOT order a mai tai! For the appetizer we had yam fries, oh my god, hella good! I could have eaten just that and been happy. For our meal I ordered the Loco Moco which is a beef patty with an egg on top with rice and gravy… all that equals yumy! Trust me this is a sure bet, you wont be disappointed and don’t miss out on this restaurant, its fun and has good food!

My first official meal in Seattle was at this place. After going all over Pike Place Market and being indecisive, this restaurant, which was situated in a blind corner of the market, ended up being the final choice. The dcor is quirky… almost like a tiki lounge feel. There’s seating inside and outside on their patio. The service was great and friendly.
Now onto the food. Reading all the Unilocal reviews made me get the yam fries, and I’m glad I did. It was crispy and soft at the same time, and the aioli went well with it. Coming from Hawaii, I tried out their loco moco to see how it compared. It was surprisingly great and portioned just perfectly. Only the macaroni salad was missing from the dish.

I met some amigos for a graduation party. They had set up a large table for us outdoors, and the weather was cooperating nicely.
I’m glad the company and scenery was so nice, because the rest of the experience was so-​so. Our water was slow, indifferent, and a bit dense… I ordered a Mount Gay and Coke and got a glass with Mount Gay Rum, and another glass with Coke!
The food was okay, but overpriced (as you’d expect, given the location). I don’t see myself rushing back to this joint.

I’m torn. Had a small tiff with the boyfriend while here, and you know how that can skew the experience.
Drinks STRONG. Service MAL.
Like, REALLY bad. We spent ¾ of the night waiting for someone to notice us.
Salt and Pepper wings were «eh.» Yam fries, «eh.»
Mahalo for nada, Islander (except the strong drinks)!

It’s good when you need a fix of super fruity island drinks and coconut shrimp but it’s sad that there isn’t more choices on the menu. I’ve been craving coconut shrimp and I was hoping they would have a comfort food Hawaiian style platter. But I was somewhat disappointed.
First off, I could not partake in the yummy island rum drinks since the no alcohol diet. Bummer. Since I’m a sucker for rum and their Mai Tai sounded incredible. None of the entrees enticed me. I didn’t want a curry or Southern style gravy and biscuits (? what was this doing on the menu?) So we all decided on appetizers.
Most of them were not appetizing. So I stuck to my beloved coconut shrimp and the crab dip. The coconut shrimp was great but that’s hard to mess up. And the dip was alright, nothing great.
The staff was nice and attentive and the décor was over-​the-​top which I appreciated. It totally reminded me of cheezy style restaurants in Hawaii.
Once I start drinking again, I will totally be here for happy hour since I know rum loves me. But as for the food, I’ll skip it.

As a person from Hawaii… this place was an over the top cheese factory! (And I loved it!)
:)
The lighting there was completely dark. I get that they are going to ambiance, low-​lighting, intimate session. But jeez! When the three of us had to use the candle on the table to light our menus… not good.
Each of us got different platters, although they were all chicken based.
Since we were all from Hawaii, we weren’t expecting anything like at home.
I was pleseantly surprised that they food wasn’t that bad.
I got the «Nutty Chicken». Yummy.
A white, peanutty sauce that was delicious (though use is sparingly or you may get a saucy headache. which I kinda did… it happens).
Green beans… mmmmm.
Also sampled was the Coconut Curry Chicken (yet again. yum) and I think it was the Red Curry Shrimp, with Chicken subbed for Shrimp.
The desserts were… desserts…nothing special… although I loved that they had Haupia.
All together it wasn’t that bad. Kinda expensive though, but the lunch menu is a bit cheaper for the same stuff.
Oh! And when you enter, there is a table on the left. It has a bowl for business cards and says «Win a free lunch for you and 20 friends».
Well.I knew it was one of those «we’ll buy you dinner if you listen to our speel» kinda thing. I did it anyway.
Only 3 people could come (so make sure lots o friends are able to attend. makes it better… hehe) and all we did was talk about living in Seattle… since, well, the company was all about homeowners insurance… and guess what! Not one of us has a home, owns a home, or is really thinking of buying one!
So…take advantage if you want.
:)

First off it’s the décor is over the top cheesy, every time I’m there I wait for the Brady’s to pop out from behind a tiki and sit down.
OK now that I have said that I do like this place I get take out for lunch about twice a month their red curry cashew shrimp and nutty chicken are two of my favorites. On my last visit I discovered their yam fries and I was one happy camper sitting at my cube eating my lunch.
I use to go here for happy hour all the time, two drinks and I was on my lips the bartender was a heavy pour and I loved it. Try the Dark and Stormy I originally order it because it had Cock and Bull Ginger Beer and I thought the name was funny, the drink was anything but funny it was good. Go try one and if you don’t like it, oops sorry.

We just returned there from lunch. I was looking for some poke… and they had it! Although I would have preferred it as sushi, it came in salad form. And pleasantly spicy at that! My friend had the Mongolian beef, which also was tasty.
What a great place to go for lunch on a nice sunny day! I think I got a little sunburned on the patio. And it looks like a very cool place to be at night on the inside!
Food was reasonably priced, considering downtown seattle and the view, but service was quite slow (other people were noticeably irritated at that too). Luckily I didn’t mind waiting since it was so nice out!

The Islander is just plain weird. It’s an island themed restaurant/​tiki bar smack dab in downtown Seattle. I mean, that’s great, we need something resembling warmth and sunshine in those grey months of winter, but it’s still weird. And it’s hidden, so when you find it, you sort of question if you’re still in Seattle or on a tacky waterfront strip somewhere in Hawaii.
Let’s start off with the décor. I think someone was perusing a ‘How to Decorate: Island Style!’ book, and happened upon a page containing just this décor, pointed to it and said, ‘I shall take ALL of it!’ Very fabricated and a little too obvious. Very, how shall I say, early 90’s?
The food is decent… some of it almost borders along the more ‘gourmet’ frozen choices one has at Costco. I swear I’ve gotten the exact same coconut prawns there. But I must say, I ordered the Huli Huli Salmon once, and it was dang good.
I do suggest going to the bar for happy hour and getting lots of appetizers and Pu Pu’s. Oh yes, and of course, DRINKS! The best thing about this place is most definitely the alcoholic beverage selection. Certifiable tiki drinks, in tiki man glasses, with umbrellas, pineapples, cherries… I’m serious. If you go here and don’t even order a drink, you’re a mean person. A mean, mean person.

Went last night after following Brian’s and others recommendations, Loved it! What a great place, the food was really good, the interior is fun. We were on our way to the Moore Theater for comedy (Jim Gafigan) and it was perfect. The walk to the theater was nothing. Now I can’t wait to go back when the outside is open!

Solid Polynesian food on the water with a great view — near Pike’s Place. Interesting menu — all of which is orderable. Lunch portions are relatively affordable and generous. Service was good. Missing an «X» factor, but overall quite good.