Manta Restaurant is a great place to go when nothing else will do but an upscale meal on the Big Island waterfront. Only specializing in breakfast and dinner fare, this Mauna Kea Beach Hotel restaurant helps you perfectly start and end each day. They bring in local musicians on the regular to make your dining experience even more magical. Plus, their team always offers the highest quality of service designed to leave you wholly impressed with your visit.
Whether you come by for breakfast or dinner, expect the restaurant to stay busy throughout your entire visit. It’s often best to make reservations if you want to avoid an ultra-long wait. But you’re likely to have to wait at least 20 minutes even after booking a table. You’ll usually need to start your visit by standing in line at the hostess counter. Then, once a table opens up, your server will walk you back to your seats and provide the menus.
You’re welcome to take your time in browsing the menus, although you can buy even more time by starting with drinks and an appetizer. They have many excellent drinks available all morning and evening long, including their ever-popular Tropical Mimosa Special and Cutwater Bloody Mary. Prefer to keep it alcohol-free? You can always choose between their coffee, soda, juices, and smoothies.
Once you know what you want to enjoy for your entrée, get your order into the kitchen right away. The talented chefs make all their dishes from scratch using fresh, local ingredients. So, it can take them some time to prepare each order, and then artistically arrange the items on your plate. Thankfully, it’s well worth the wait, especially as you see how beautiful each plate looks. All their menu items taste just as good as they look, too, ensuring you enjoy a fantastic meal every time.
As far as the dining experience goes, it’s just as memorable as the food. To start, their waterfront eatery lets you dine right along the bayside, ensuring you can soak in the picturesque oceanside views. On top of that, their beautiful island-inspired décor adds to the ambiance, which perfectly sets the stage for an amazing meal.
Your server will go all out in making you feel right at home as well. They always seem to check-in at the time at just the right times to keep you well-fed without interrupting your conversations. If you’d like to simply enjoy the music while you dine, time your visit from 6 pm to 9 pm when the jazz bands come by to play for the crowds.
You cannot miss their:
Energy Bowl
Want to fuel up for all your island adventures? Treat yourself to the Energy Bowl for breakfast. This dish starts with a brown rice base, covered in arugula, heirloom tomatoes, and basil. Over that, they add sliced avocado and an egg perfectly cooked sunny side up. Home fries come alongside to add even more deliciousness to the mix.
A5 Wagyu Tartare
When you want to kick off your meal with pure beefy decadence, you cannot go wrong with the A5 Wagyu Tartare. This iconic appetizer starts with a raw ribeye cap diced into tiny pieces. Then, they mix it with shallots, mustard, capers, cornichons, and quail egg. Once it comes out of the mold, rye bread lands right alongside just before it comes to your table.
Kona Kanpachi
For a taste of a Manta signature entrée, get the Kona Kanpachi. This delightful entrée begins with kanpachi, or amberjack, filleted and grilled to perfection. Alongside that, you get bok choy, baby carrots, and mushrooms elevated by ginger soy vinaigrette. Chopped cilantro goes over it all at the end to brighten up the flavors even more.
As you chow down on all their amazing dinner items, save room for dessert, for sure. Then, get in your order for Manta’s Souffle when you’re about halfway done with your meal. They need a little extra time to get its chocolate goodness just right, after all. If that’s not quite your speed, no worries, they have many other scrumptious sweet treats on tap, including their ever-popular Mud Pie.
Insider Tips:
-Want to see the inspiration for their restaurant name? Go out to the oceanside after dinner to see the divers bring the manta rays into view using their bright lights.
-Not sure what dinner entrée to get? Order the I’a to leave it up to the chef.