Ever since we knew we were going to Hawaii, my main culinary desire was sushi! I couldn't wait to get there and see how fresh the fish were when compared to the Midwest. One of the first things I looked up in the Ultimate Guide to Kauai was to see where the best sushi restaurant on Kauai was. They listed 3 as "ono" (which means "best" in Hawaiian). So, I picked Kintaro based on their review. My husband is not a big sushi eater and Kintaro also had cooked food for him.
We got to the restaurant, which seemed nice and classy with Japanese-esque decor (except it did seem a little bit dark, particularly as we were eating an early dinner--5 pm--and it was extremely bright outside). I ordered the Hanalei roll (on the book's suggestion), as well as a California roll, a tuna roll, and a spicy tuna roll. Nothing really out of the ordinary -- I geared up to have a sushi tasting sensation. Boy, was I disappointed!
The service was lousy. While the food came quickly (we were almost the only people there at that hour) our waiter hardly came by to check on us, leaving us without drinks (not a good idea when soy sauce & wasabi are involved in any combination). The sushi left much to be desired. The rolls were not tight at all and were difficult to eat. Most of the rice ended up in my soy sauce/wasabi combination than in my mouth. The fish, while it wasn't terrible, didn't seem very fresh to me. I made my poor husband try a little bit and he lost his appetite after that.
Perhaps I was expecting too much -- wanting Paris and getting Podunk, Michigan. I don't know. I do know that I have had better sushi elsewhere and probably could get some in Podunk, Michigan. Perhaps it was an "off day" -- their regular chef didn't come in that early. Either way, if we ever go back to Kauai, we would not spend our money there again. Incidentally, this was the only thing on which we did not agree with the authors of our guidebook on the entire vacation.