Kahiki Moon, Burlington, VT (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

D dogbytes Tiki Socialite seattle, wa Joined: Mar 24, 2002 Posts: 2243	D dogbytes Posted posted on Sun, Oct 17, 2004 10:31 PM Kahiki Moonies ~ James and his wahine Bridget Kahiki Mooniacs! Todd & elicia a Ken Pleasant carved tiki greets you walk downstairs to roomy booths and tables, draped with tablecloths and fishnets topped with bamboo placemats. The lighting is perfect, overall it looks dark and mysterious, downlights directed onto the table makes it easy to read the menu and see your food! Exotica and Hawaiian music plays softly in the background. The dining room has wonderful acoustics, you can hear your dining partner, but its difficult to eavesdrop on others.. swizzle stick display ~ lovingly glued and velcro-ed into shadowboxes by hand by Monique and James' mom view of the fishtank super sized puffers the bar giant fork n spoon Its hard to believe that Kahiki Moon has only been open for 3 months ~ the staff and kitchen work together perfectly. The drinks were outstanding ~ fresh, tart, garnished ~ Todd had 2 each time we visited! The staff is attentive, but not overly so. Never did we have to endure the obligatory "Hi, my name is blahblahblah" (we had 3 different waiters) No hard sells on the appitizers or drinks, none of that corporate lingo ~ just regular folks serving incredible food. They get all the little details right too.. crusty warmed rolls with served with softened pats of unsweetened butter. The food arrives piping hot and perfectly presented. This is Hyatt Resort food in the Green Mountain State! I can't think of a restaurant that i like better. the only one that comes close is the Hyatt on Kauai ~ and yet, in early fall, the Kahiki Moon gets vegetables as fresh as those grown in hawaii.. either way, i now have to travel 3000 miles from home to get to Kalua Nachos. Kalua Pig Nachos ~ Worth the 3060 mile trip from Seattle. Vermont Cheddar and Jack Cheeses melted onto tortilla chips, with plenty of smokey-sweet Kalua Pork, perhaps a hint of chipolte peppers..fresh salsa..sour cream..scallions. Huge portion at an incredibly low low price of $8. Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura ~ Served with ponzu sauce, drizzled with a maple-hot mustard glaze. Teriyaki Chicken Breast with grilled pineapple, ginger noodle salad and soy-wasabi vinigarette. Our second visit to the Kahiki Moon ~ Kalua Pig Nachos! Crispy Duck Breast ~ with vegetable lo mein, tempura scallons and pinapple papaya relish. absolutely the best duck. not a hint of fat, just an outstanding crisp skin, and meat cooked to order, a delicious medium. Grilled Ahi Tuna~ beautifully plated with a pyramid of jasmine rice, wok seared vegetables in a chinese chili sauce. Third visit ~ decided that dessert was more important than the Kalua Nachos. it arrived and we dug into it before taking a picture ~ warm chocolate cake, soft dreamy molten chocolate center, dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with raspberry-manog coulis ~ ours arrived with raspberries, blueberries and creme anglais (im alergic to mangos, so the kitchen made that substitution!) Grilled Angus Sirloin with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables and kentucky bourbon sauce Todd had the hawaiian BBQ center cut pork chop with sweet potato puree and green bean & beet salad This was the culinary highlight of our 2 week trip! elicia edited because Primo's girlfriend's actual name is Bridget, not Monique as my addled brain had imagined! [ Edited by: dogbytes on 2004-10-31 12:29 ]

Kahiki Moonies ~ James and his wahine Bridget

Kahiki Mooniacs! Todd & elicia

a Ken Pleasant carved tiki greets you

walk downstairs to roomy booths and tables, draped with tablecloths and fishnets topped with bamboo placemats. The lighting is perfect, overall it looks dark and mysterious, downlights directed onto the table makes it easy to read the menu and see your food! Exotica and Hawaiian music plays softly in the background. The dining room has wonderful acoustics, you can hear your dining partner, but its difficult to eavesdrop on others..

swizzle stick display ~ lovingly glued and velcro-ed into shadowboxes by hand by Monique and James' mom

view of the fishtank

super sized puffers

the bar

giant fork n spoon

Its hard to believe that Kahiki Moon has only been open for 3 months ~ the staff and kitchen work together perfectly. The drinks were outstanding ~ fresh, tart, garnished ~ Todd had 2 each time we visited! The staff is attentive, but not overly so. Never did we have to endure the obligatory "Hi, my name is blahblahblah" (we had 3 different waiters) No hard sells on the appitizers or drinks, none of that corporate lingo ~ just regular folks serving incredible food.

They get all the little details right too.. crusty warmed rolls with served with softened pats of unsweetened butter. The food arrives piping hot and perfectly presented. This is Hyatt Resort food in the Green Mountain State!

I can't think of a restaurant that i like better. the only one that comes close is the Hyatt on Kauai ~ and yet, in early fall, the Kahiki Moon gets vegetables as fresh as those grown in hawaii.. either way, i now have to travel 3000 miles from home to get to Kalua Nachos.

Kalua Pig Nachos ~ Worth the 3060 mile trip from Seattle. Vermont Cheddar and Jack Cheeses melted onto tortilla chips, with plenty of smokey-sweet Kalua Pork, perhaps a hint of chipolte peppers..fresh salsa..sour cream..scallions. Huge portion at an incredibly low low price of $8.

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura ~ Served with ponzu sauce, drizzled with a maple-hot mustard glaze.

Teriyaki Chicken Breast with grilled pineapple, ginger noodle salad and soy-wasabi vinigarette.

Our second visit to the Kahiki Moon ~ Kalua Pig Nachos!

Crispy Duck Breast ~ with vegetable lo mein, tempura scallons and pinapple papaya relish. absolutely the best duck. not a hint of fat, just an outstanding crisp skin, and meat cooked to order, a delicious medium.

Grilled Ahi Tuna~ beautifully plated with a pyramid of jasmine rice, wok seared vegetables in a chinese chili sauce.

Third visit ~ decided that dessert was more important than the Kalua Nachos. it arrived and we dug into it before taking a picture ~ warm chocolate cake, soft dreamy molten chocolate center, dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with raspberry-manog coulis ~ ours arrived with raspberries, blueberries and creme anglais (im alergic to mangos, so the kitchen made that substitution!)

Grilled Angus Sirloin with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables and kentucky bourbon sauce

Todd had the hawaiian BBQ center cut pork chop with sweet potato puree and green bean & beet salad

This was the culinary highlight of our 2 week trip!

elicia

edited because Primo's girlfriend's actual name is Bridget, not Monique as my addled brain had imagined!

[ Edited by: dogbytes on 2004-10-31 12:29 ]

Post #120051 by dogbytes on Sun, Oct 17, 2004 10:31 PM