Nobu Lanai
I haven’t been to visit Lanai in over ten years. My last visit was to the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele, which has since been transformed into a wellness retreat called Sensei. Although our travel plans this year were all cancelled due to COVID, we really wanted to take some time away from home before the end of the year. In Hawaii there is normally always a quick getaway that locals can take by island hopping. But, with tourism being all but shutdown right now many hotels on the neighbor islands are not operating. I actually tried booking a week on Maui but the two resorts I booked with decided to push out their opening dates to September so my reservations were cancelled.
Someone on Instagram recommended I check out the Four Seasons Lanai which had reopened in July to kama’aina (local Hawaii residents) only. After looking into it I decided to break my decade-long break from visiting Lanai and enjoy a few nights at the property in Manele Bay which we had not visited last time we were here.
Being on a small island means a lot fewer people. The resort is quite empty running at maybe 20% capacity. For travelers that enjoy the luxury of the Four Seasons but want a socially-distanced experience, the Four Seasons Lanai is a great option right now. Being on such a small island means being a captive audience in terms of dining options. For our first night here we decided to check out Nobu Lanai, just off the lobby of the Four Seasons Lanai. Similar to the time period between Lanai visits, it has been over ten years since I’ve dined at a Nobu.
Outdoor seating at Nobu Lanai
The Nobu Lanai has a big outdoor seating area that looks toward the ocean. Like everything in the resort things are kept socially-distanced and the staff all wear masks.
Here is what we had for dinner on July 23, 2020:
Grilled shishito peppers with den miso
Black cod miso in butter lettuce
Rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce
Kiawe smoked wagyu gyoza
Inaniwa chuka noodle soup
Assorted nigiri and Nobu’s House Special roll
“Bento Box” - Valrhona dark chocolate fondant, goma tuile, imperial matcha gelato
“Chizukeki” - Baked yuzu cheese cake, mango, cilantro, umeboshi sparking rose sorbet
While most of the food we had was pretty good you are definitely paying a heavier premium here being on the resort property. That kind of comes with the territory I suppose since even under normal, non-COVID circumstances, there are very few dining options on the island apart from the restaurants in either resort. I think we enjoyed most of what we ordered, but didn’t find a particular dish that “wowed” us. That being said, it was still a pleasant dinner with a relaxing atmosphere, good service, and a nice view.
The view from Nobu Lanai
Nobu Lanai
1 Menele Road
Lanai City, 96763
www.noburestaurants.com
