I went to Kona Grill in Troy, Michigan for the first time for date night this weekend and the experience was pretty amazing. I just wanted to share with you guys my thoughts about the service, the seating, and the food at Kona Grill.
Making Reservations for Kona Grill & Being Seated
I originally had made a reservation for Kona Grill on Opentable, but I ended up not being able to get ready on time for the 3pm reservation. I canceled it and we were able to go to the restaurant as walk-ins which was pretty great. There weren't too many people at this restaurant at the time in which we went. I want to say we ended up getting to the restaurant around 3:30pm on a Saturday. Surprisingly, there were a good 20 tables available.
Ambience
The lighting was dim. It had a very romantic appeal. The seating was spacious and surprisingly comfortable. We were placed in a booth which was pretty nice. They did have music playing in the restaurant, but it wasn't overwhelmingly loud. I barely payed attention to it playing in the background.
Kona Grill Service
The waitress was extremely kind and helpful. She explained everything thoroughly about what the menu conveyed and she was very attentive. We ordered appetizers and an entree. I want to say we waited maybe 10 minutes or less to receive our orders which I didn't mind. Also the waitress expressed to me that they only had regular lemonade, but she was able to make me a strawberry lemonade by mixing in some strawberry syrup for me. I was so happy!!! It tasted delightful and it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet at all.
Appetizers --> 5 out of 5 stars
I sadly didn't get any pictures of the appetizers from Kona Grill because I was hungry and I completely forgot about it while I was devouring the scrumptious food. However, I definitely recommend the spicy shrimp tempura. The shrimp was tossed in this spicy citrus aioli sauce which tasted amazing and it did have a slight tang of a citrus taste. My boyfriend also wanted to try the kona calamari which also came with the spicy aioli sauce.. It was my first time having octopus and it tasted pretty good. Although to be honest if it wasn't fried, I probably wouldn't have even ate it. I didn't ear the ones with the tentacles. (laughs)
Dinner
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| Jambalaya - Kona Grill review |
I had the jambalaya which is very spicy or I should say the sausage within the jambalaya is very spicy. In the jambalaya there was crawfish, chicken, andouille sausage, jambalaya sauce, and white rice. It did have a weird taste though. I am not sure what it was. That was my first time having crawfish and it was pretty good, but something about the jambalaya did taste weird to me. I am pretty sure it was the sauce itself and not the actual add ins. I feel like there was an extra spice that set off a certain tangy taste on my tongue. I am not saying it was bad, but it personally wasn't something I would eat again.
Jambalaya --> 3 out of 5 stars
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| Atlantic Roll Sushi - Kona Grill |
I also has an order of one of the traditional sushi rolls. I had the Atlantic roll which had baked salmon, spicy aioli, cucumber, tempura flakes, and eel sauce. I loved being able to taste the salmon and the cucumber flavors together. I absolutely love cucumber and salmon. It was pretty good, but I could have did without the tempura flakes. I ended up scraping it off because I didn't like the texture. I really appreciated the baked salmon option because I do not eat raw fish. Kona Grill actually has some other sushi that is cooked. So if you guys want to try sushi and you don't eat raw fish, you definitely can get some from this restaurant.
Atlantic roll --> 4 out of 5 stars
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| Kona Churrasco - Kona Grill review |
My boyfriend had the Kona Churrasco. The dinner came with option of having a half or a whole flank steak, chimichurri sauce, house mashed potatoes, and seasoned vegetables. He let me try some of his string beans and steak. Let me tell you guys that those were some of the most flavorful string beans I have ever tasted in life and the steak tasted wonderful.
Kona Churrasco --> 5 out of 5 stars
What food do I want to try at Kona Grill the next time I go?
There are a lot of foods that I would love to try. I will just list them in a random order below.
Appetizers
potstickers
Entree
miso-sake sea bass
chicken & broccoli stir fry
lemon-garlic shrimp penne
pad thai noodles
Dessert
snickers ice cream pie
fudge brownie
I would definitely recommend for you guys to checkout Kona Grill if you would like to try something new, want a romantic date night, or if you would really love some sushi.
