Bar Maze

November 15, 2025

Our best meal in Oahu. We did the tasting experience. It is a cut above the rest. It is inventive, highly chef-driven concepts, integrated beverage pairings, and a more intimate, progressive dining style. Amazing from start to finish. Thank you for the dining experience.

June 28, 2025

Such a wonderful restaurant! The people were so kind and accommodating for a good allergy even with their limited menu. The food was SO GOOD! The omakase experience with cocktail pairing was seriously an incredible experience. All the bites were to die for and the drinks were great, but paired with the food, they were off the charts. Highly recommend!

September 28, 2025

Absolutely amazing experience here with the tasting menu. Being so up close and personal was really cool for me and I loved being able to see them out the dishes together. Everything here is truly a work do visionary and culinary art. Prepare to be impressed!!!!!

June 19, 2025

Birthday dinner omakase! Book early on Resy for prime weekend times (Friday/Sat). Seems like a rather casual dresscode but we did go fancy! Bar counter seating recommended to watch the team prep, cook, plate (can add this request on the Resy page). Kitchen is very small but staff are extremely quiet and efficient, motions in practiced synchronicity. Personally do not care for paired drinks with my meal (alcoholic or otherwise) so there is an option to opt out of the full tasting experience ($200). We just added both desserts as ala carte items to our meal, as well as the special supplemental menu item (wagyu musubi). For the food scene in Hawaii, even the fanciest places have fairly predictable food - it tastes like how it looks or reads on paper and quality is on par with the reputation of the restaurant and prices. I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. Creativity similar to a restaurant vying for a Michelin nod. My favorite dishes were tied between the Scallops (Chef Chong's take on SF clam chowder) and one of the desserts - the Cherry Shaved Ice. The scallops and butter sauce can be a bit too rich towards the end, but it was such a playful and delicious dish!! Would have loved a bit more limu for texture but the crispy chicken skin and finely sliced, almost hair thin celery sticks were a nice addition. Scallops were done marvelously! Briny but also so sweet, cooked perfectly! I am not keen on shaved ice but this Cherry Shaved Ice was so marvelous, my taste buds lit up like a Christmas tree because it agreed that YES the flavors were hitting and that YES this was what good food tasted like. Homemade syrup was a nice blend of cherry, orange blossom and rose water. The lavender cream dollop was a rich note that came out strong - so lovely. The fresh cherries were a nice added texture and natural juice, less sweet than the syrup, contrasting nicely. Pistachio, amaranth, honey toppers tied it all together. Beautiful dish. Other highlights, the bourbon barrel smoked salmon toast (1 of 3 snack set) - how did they get that texture on the salmon??! It melted in my mouth practically! Toasted bread was crunchy and fresh. The other 2 small bites in the snack trio set were also very well done. The banchan that accompanied the American Wagyu galbi was fire! Loved the watercress *with green tofu sauce and the king oyster mushroom bite. Wagyu musubi was nice as well (much lighter than I imagined in my head). Beautiful interpretation of a 김말이 (a Korean street food item of glass noodles wrapped in seaweed, battered and deep fried. BM swapped the noodles for sushi rice lightly seasoned with truffle (couldn't decide if the truffle flavor was too light or was a perfect complement that didn't overpower the rice vinegar). Wagyu definitely melted in my mouth. Least favorite was the tayaki dessert with a banana pudding creme brulee. Not a fan of bananas and it didn't really give anything. Tayaki was just...present. This was a throwaway dish. I also didn't really like the American wagyu kalbi shortrib. Banchan was great! Minus the black garlic sauce. Meat wasn't very flavorfully braised in my opinion. It wasn't special, just a well executed piece of meat cooked medium rare (or slightly over). 2 week dry aged kamapachi was fine. Would have liked thicker slices of jokbal (pig feet) because mine were barely existing. The accompanying salad was phenomenal. Could eat a bucket of that. They ended with a complimentary pair of chocolate truffles resembling pebbles. I did like the truffle itself with a hint of mint, very nice texture, BUT we both hated the charcoal powder the truffles were dusted in. Powder was very irritating in our throats and we couldn't clear it out with drinks. A bit unpleasant. Overall, solid solid fine dining experience! Vibes, professionalism, phenomenal creativity for the foodie palate. Plating was also beautiful, understated. I would come back again for a new seasonal menu. Sidenote: manager comped 2 dishes as a gift for my birthday. Very thoughtful!

August 3, 2025

My family dined at Bar Maze last night. Their tasting menu was one of the best we had recently. Every bite was delicious. Their cocktails were also interesting and complex full of seasonal and local ingredients. Every little dish of the snack course was tasty. My favorite was the oyster. Sweet, juicy and the cucumber added crunchiness. My son’s favorite was the potato pancake with foie gras and salmon roe. The Dungeness Crab Jook hands down the best of the tasting menu. The sweet and fresh crab meat complimented with the flavorful broth with the crunchy rice. It made me happy to watch my family having such a happy experience eating and drinking at Bar Maze. Service was warm and full of youthful happiness! Look forward to dining at Bar Maze again!