Paris Hawaii serves “contemporary French cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients”. Many of the dishes creatively incorporate Hawaiian ingredients and dishes into them.
The chef is from Japan and worked at the highly regarded Clown Bar in Paris (which I found to be underwhelming). Paris Hawaii reminds me of the many French restaurants in Paris, run by Japanese chefs. They attract a loyal following from Japanese tourists.
Here is a bit about the chef.
…and the menu
We opted to add both the Kona Lobster and Nihau Lamb. Nihau is the “forbidden island” of Hawaii so i was excited to be able to try products from the island. I also had the wine pairing and by wife had the tea pairing. The first course was a play on Hawaiian Shave Ice, basically an oyster with ice on top. This, as all the dishes, were beautifully presented. Taste was ok.
The next dish was the highlight of the evening unfortunately. A beautifully presented Kauai shrimp. First, the head juices were delicious. The meat had great flavor.
Next was the chef’s take on Poke. Poke is one of those dishes that is hard to improve and make “fancy”. I think that the stuff you can get at Foodland easily blows this away. The dish lacked acidity and seasoning.
Next was the chefs take on lau lau. It was chicken but I wished they used pork. Anyway, the dish lacked flavor as I find with most lau lau. The presentation was exciting however, as they brought the chicken to the table in the cooking vessel prior to plating.
Taro Gnocchi
Fish (Onaga) with Maui Onion and Finger Lime.
Bread
Mushroom consume as a cleanser.
Kona lobster and Nihau lamb additions.
…and the final savory dish was the Big Island beef.
For dessert, the lava cake which was made to pay tribute to the volcanoes of Hawaii. It was a beautifully presented dish.
Overall, the service was good except at the end where they do the awkward “the tip is divided among everyone, but you can also tip me directly too” speech.  The server was very good and had great attention to detail. Foodwise, I felt like the dishes were not memorable. Well presented yes, but taste wise very toned down. Except for that shrimp. I would not return. 7/10