I had plans on October 27th for lunch but since that was rescheduled, I debated on checking out the new dinning spot at Ala Moana Shopping Center. I put out a poll on my Instagram Story and it was a unanimous “Check it Out!” So there my husband and I was on opening day at Lanai.
Opening day at Lanai
For opening day they had a few places opened. Going from the left to right side: Mahaloha Burger, Brug, Ahi + vegetables, and Sobaya. HiTea Café was also suppose to be open but they opened the following week. Other eateries to open are: Da Spot, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, Agave & Vine, Musubi Café Iyasume, Uncle Clay’s HOPA, and Teppanyaki Farmer. No dates were given yet but I saw Uncle Clay’s will open mid-November based on their Instagram Story.
A really nice space as it feels a lot more open than when Shirokiya was there with the food spots lining around the sides and the tables are all in the middle for Lanai. There’s a variety of seating that have their own feel to them but still keeping the modern look that’s suppose to seat 450 people. In the morning it was still pretty empty but by early lunch time it was getting full with some places with lines.
And for those with kids, bathrooms are in the back left with the black and white wall art. Not a whole lot of stalls but at least it looks nice. There are water fountains near them as well.
The things you notice
Some interesting tidbits: We saw while there Uncle Clay himself with his nephew as they must have been checking out his spot for the second location of his shave ice shop outside Lanai. We later saw them inside holding a large bag. As I observed them I saw them going to the different opened shops and talking with the owners/managers for a bit before presenting a small bag with what looked like a Chinese design on them. Most likely those were gift bags as a sort of welcoming to opening shop there. I thought this was such a nice gesture and definitely shows why I hear people call him Mr. Aloha and exemplifies how he runs his business. I also saw this big group of adults with name tags (business people of some sort) file in and walked around the whole area passing by all the shops. I’m not sure what they were doing, but it made me think it was a tour if it wasn’t for the business-like tags.
We did try a couple of places that day and another later the following week but seeing as how this is getting long, I’ll include them in the next post of Brug and Sobaya first!
