Crackin’ Kitchen

This place was amazing and such a cool atmosphere. Not to mention you ate with your hands. Clam chowder poutine is a must try!

First off, my friend and I went on a busy Saturday night. So I tried to be resonably understanding. The host seemed new or very confused. My friend had made reservations but they were having trouble finding them. Another host assisted her and in 7 minutes, we started walkimg to our table. After we ordered, we did end up waiting for our food a little longer than reasonable. I saw tables who sat down and ordered after us get their food before us. I want to say we waited around 30 minutes for our food. Not sure if this is the average? I did not bring this to the attention of our server. Although he was very friendly and polite, I could see he had his hands pretty full that night. I was surprised at his level of Japanese skills though.
My friend ordered a side of taro rolls and I ordered a side of french fries. Said fries didn’t arrive until I brought it up to the attention of a busser. We’ve already finished ¾ of our meal by then. He went to check on them and promptly brought the fries out to me. Having worked in a restaurant, I’m pretty sure the initial server put in the food order late and forgot about the fries.
The food did taste delicious but I had expected it to. Because of the Waikiki location, prices were also a bit on the ridiculous side. A total tourist trap, but my friend was a tourist and she did pick the venue, so I did not argue. Also, mention kamaaina of you are. There’s a manini discount.

We were pretty excited about trying this place and got a last minute reservation for Father’s Day. Sadly we were disappointed in the food. Our potatoes were raw, the shrimp was undercooked, and some of the crab legs were dry. BUT the oysters were delish! The service was pretty good and our server was attentive and nice. Darn and I really wanted to like this place!

Don’t come here if you have been to a similar style restaurant in California. I’m disappointed and frankly sad that I wasted my time here. If your going to imitate something amazing like Boiling crab or Crab Hut at least get the seafood right??? The crab was too salty and shrimp too small. Great so you thru in spam now it’s island style please. If your the owner do some research at least. Try to serve something you would want to be served. On a positive note the black sauce was great.

I was disappointed in my last visit to Crakin Kitchen. Last time I was here (Sep 15) I had a wonderful meal here. I didn’t do a review but I would have given it a 4 star review. Something changed because the quality of the seafood is not nearly what it was before. The service was ok, not the greatest. This time my husband and I shared the king crab combo with red and white sauce. The flavor of the sauces were good, but the seafood wasn’t that great. The king crab was totally soft, so the crab crackers were totally ineffective. I’ve never had king crab where the shell was like that. The meat inside was mealy as a result. The shrimp in the mix was medicore and the sliver of corn they give you was a joke.

We visited Crackin Chicken on the tail end of my Hawaii trip. My friend and I split one of the combos, half with red sauce and half with white sauce. The shrimp were small, they gave you too much spam, one tiny corn on the cob for each person, and really skinny king crab. Even smaller than what you would see at a Chinese buffet. You might as well just pay less and get the blue crab, but our waiter kept describing that as «stringy» which kinda forced us to go with the king crab. Also, the crab was really hard to get the meat out of, as the shell was too soft for the cracker and they didn’t provide any other tools/​scissors.
They also provide sides for $ 5. We went for the taro rolls, but it was just two small rolls. Definitely not worth the $ 5.
The place is definitely a touristy joint, and not worth it IMO.

Horrible.
Even 1 $ is too expensive for such a food. We take 4 apetizer: — shrimp: no taste wonder if fresh. — chiken dips: no taste — cesar salad: grilles and no taste — à patatoes mix more Than horrible.
U may Ask Ramsey to help you guys !!! After apetizer we decide to leave. 55 $ for these place of s…

Not my idea of Louisiana Cajun or of Japanese Cajun fusion. Prices very high for what you get.

One of the best in waikiki for seafood. Ordered a spicy seafood combo. Bag of seafood was dumped on our table and I was startled !! (In a good way) Unique experience of my life. Seafood was amazingly delicious and spicy as ordered. We were provided with an apron and gloves to wear so that clothes don’t get messy. Eating the lobster/​crab was a messy ordeal but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope they open branches all over US.
This is a must visit restaurant in waikiki.
Tip: Do not forget to reserve a table in advance.

A cleaner option to some of the other Cajun restaurants in Honolulu. But still expect to get dirty. We started off with the child or fries and the lobster dip. I’ve never been disappointed with the lobster dip. The chips are always fresh, I think they’re freshly made in the kitchen. This was the first time I tried the chowder fries and they were good as well but if I had to choose one, it would be the dip! For main course we went with the snow crabs in the black cocoa sauce on a level two and the red sauce level 2. if you don’t like spice go with the regular level one. Level two is spicy and I heard level 3 is unbearable. If you order the restaurants combo you get to choose two sauces, it’s more than enough for two people. This time around we went with the snow crab option. It comes with a bunch of things inside like corn, potatoes, clams, oysters and spam. Yes I said spam! Some people might be turned off on this but it goes great with the sauce. Plus everyone in Hawaii loves Spam! This is actually my first time getting the snow crab legs, I would suggest paying a few dollars more and getting the king crab legs. It’s worth it! Don’t worry about ordering sides if you got an appetizer. There’s lots of goodies in the bag and you can use the excess chips from the dip in between bits to cool your pallet.
This is my third time dining here, and I always get the ginger drink. If you like ginger it’s perfect. It’s fresh ginger and it spicy as if you’re eating ginger root. If you’re not into ginger I’d suggest getting the Guava drink. It’s sweet and refreshing and also fresh.
After all of that spice you might be looking for dessert. They have a very creative artistic option at the restaurant, but I would opt to find something else on your walk back to hotel. The restaurant only has one option for dessert and it is a creative display that is made on your table top. 3 fruit purées are poured across the table like a rainbow, with fruit and mini donuts to create a cute island mural. You can use the fruit and donuts to dip in the purée. It’s cute, but my sweet tooth wasn’t satisfied. I’m a simple girl and would prefer a scoop of ice cream instead.
I’d recommend this if your looking for a different option from the usual finds in Waikiki. it has a great outdoor atmosphere that is off of a not so busy street, but you’ll still get the cars and tour buses occasionally passing you. Still very relaxing and fun atmosphere.
They also have a lunch menu so you don’t have to go with the Cajun bag of surprises.

When you want to eat seafood in style, come here! It’s good for special occasions with the family & friends.
I went here for a birthday dinner and it was an upscale version (because it’s located in Waikiki) of a Cajun/​creole restaurant you would see on keaumoku street. The price was reasonable and the workers were very attentive. I could tell they were very patient with my Filipino family. They helped us choose what we ordered too.
We wanted to order the whole menu but instead we tried the ultimate combo which came with the three sauces, seafood, and some sides. My favorite sauce was the white sauce which was pretty much the garlic. The next favorite was the Hawaiian Chili (red sauce). The garlic rice is so good too!
Dessert was pretty cool and different! One of the main attractions of this place. They make dessert art! Must see for yourself! After they complete their masterpiece you can eat it.
Overall, I would go again. It’s always fun with a group and I cannot go wrong with seafood!

Fun-​but-​messy dining experience.
Server was helpful in advising us how to order. Each «combo» is served in either 2 or 3 bags depending on the type of combo. Each bag can hold a different kind of sauce. There were 5 of us at the table, so we got one 3-​bag combo and one 2-​bag combo — so we each had one bag per person and each person could choose their sauce: white (non-​spicy), black (black pepper), or red (spicy) sauce. Warning: the spicy gets hotter with each bite, so proceed with caution even if you like spicy. Luckily for me (I can’t take spicy), the white sauce was a great option.
Bags are spilled out onto the paper-​covered table. Everyone gets a plastic bib and plastic gloves, but the king crab has thorny spikes on the shell that can poke through the gloves if you are not careful. You get a few crab-​cracker tools and a few plastic picks to share. Some of the shells were a bit soft so were not easy to crack, but I was able to manage, heh heh. All combos come with other shellfish like shrimp (with heads and shells still on), mussels (most of mine were closed so couldn’t eat those), and clams. Mixed in with the shellfish are chunks of potato, a small cob of corn, and (weirdly) a few cubes of spam. The potato is tasty because it is soaked in the sauce.
Side dishes cost extra, and the taro rolls (2 rolls per dish) are a good option to absorb the grease from the white sauce, or to calm down your tingling taste buds from the hot sauce.
Restaurant had open tables at 5:30 on a weeknight (we made a reservation), but quickly filled up. As it got busier, it got harder to flag down a server for help, extra sides, drink refills, the check, etc.
It ended up being a fun time and we weren’t too concerned about how long it took because we were on VACATION. Yay!

Ate here for dinner. Was seated right away but iy was a party for 2. However very busy. I would not recommend coming here while hungry or hangry. It took awhile to get the food.
We ordered the Dungeness crab combo with red and black seasoning.
–Black seasoning was peppery
–red seasoning was a great cajun flavour
–seafood was great
–garlic butter rice was rich and tasty too
–overall good feast.
–but slow.

Absolutely amazing! I’m a huge seafood fan and they killed it! Wished they would have showed up on Unilocal sooner on our trip super cool experience we are going back for lunch before the airport tomorrow!!! Must go! Better than Crabby Bills or Hooters!

We had the Ultimate Combo costing $ 70 but what a disappointment! As you can see from the photos, the Crab shells had little meat inside (even though the shells were not small), and some were even empty. $ 70 for low quality seafood. We’d had crab legs at different cities on our US trip but this was by far the worst. I am currently sitting at the restaurant veranda with my family, feeling very ripped off.

We chose this restaurant because the location is so close to our Airbnb suite. The service was great, and we ordered king combo with black and white sources. The price is a little bit high but it’s okay considering the location.

To be honest, I’ve had my fair share of seafood houses and this one isn’t on the top of the list.
The sauces are great, but I wasn’t really a fan of the seafood.
My family loved it since there was such a large variety and they got a lot of «bang for their buck».
It’s great for family gatherings, but there is better out there in the world!

Great service. Our waiter saw that we were from the 206 and told us that Michael Bennett plays bball at a park nearby.
The food was great. We only ordered appetizer but the lobster dip was amazing and the chowder fries as well.

Just happened to be walking by, so we decided to stop in for a little snack — the lobster dip. A very tasty avocado dip, topped with lobster, and served with house made chips.
We were very lucky to get the last two spots at the bar. Or, we were looking at having to come back after 9pm, as they were booked up with reservations.
This place got packed! And, quick. According to our server, he said this place was featured on a show in Japan, and they’ve been slammed ever since.
FYI: you’ll want to save up your appetite and order full on bags of seafood… to be dumped out in front of you, where you can dig in, and chow down, while wearing the requisite plastic bib and… plastic gloves. The gloves are genius! You’re gonna NEED them. And, you’re gonna need lots of time to get interactive with your meal.

Honestly with some of the bad reviews I was kind of worried about coming here. To my surprise it was not that bad at all. No wait to be seated, short wait for the food, our waitress was awesome, and the food was good. Yes it’s a bit pricy, but what do you expect for waikiki? It was like a totally different restaurant than I expected!
Thanks!

I wanted to love this place and although I liked their food their prices are crazy.
I would believe that a sea town would have more affordable fish and seafood but they sale a pound of shrimp for $ 30 when they just put the shrimp in the sauce that you choose.
In California, the same pound of shrimp with the same sauce and restaurant is $ 11.

There were 7 in our party. Our Japanese friends saw a piece about Crackin’ Kitchen on TV in Japan and so, we went. I barely go into Waikiki anymore but this place was hoppin’. It’s a bit hipster but service was great. We started off with the Maui Onion Salad and Chowder Fries… yummy! Then onto the bags of smothered in sauce Snow Crab in Black Spicy and White Sauces, King Crab in Red Spicy and Black Mild and Lobster in White. That Black Sauce rocks! Kinda like a mole sauce. The White sauce was yummy with garlic and ginger. All bags came with Shrimp, Clams, Mussels, Potato, Corn on the Cob and instead of Sausage… get this… SPAM! Super yummy. I want to try the Dungenes next time.
Park at Ross, it cost us $ 4 for almost 3 hours!

Food is ok. Nothing I would come back for. Shrimp was overcooked and sauces were meh. Service is worse (pale white guy with glasses was very condescending). Overpriced and overrated. Oh and did I mention NO REFILLS on their $ 3/​$ 5 sodas??? If you’re in California, go to Boiling Crab or Firehouse in Sacramento.

Service was alright. My husband and I called in for a takeout order… We showed up 30 minutes after our order was placed like instructed… We ended up waiting an additional 40 minutes to get our food… Even though our food was in a bag behind the counter and all that was missing were the French fries… We paid $ 70 for our takeout order. The quality of the food was not bad, I will definitely order from their place again based off of their menu. However, next time, I will show up 30 minutes after the time they requested that we show up, maybe then we won’t have to wait again.

This place only deserve a 2 star. I read the reviews of what people recommended the black sauce so we got that. Black sauce was way too salty.
We ordered the ultimate, so it also came with 2 other sauces — both red and white not that salty but flavors just average.
Quality of the food is average also. Compared to boiling crab, the shrimps here are tiny.
Level of service is what I rated lowest. The server who took our order did not smile the entire time, she seemed like she didn’t enjoy working there. Also, I don’t get why they are charging $ 3 for soda while the glass is filled up more than half cup with ice — and does not do refill!!! Come on, are we still in US?!
Not only that, the server will not come and ask you if you need more water. Since the food is salty, I drank up my soda and my water fast, but throughout the dinner, no one offered if we need more water— all of our water glasses are empty.
On top of that, the server only showed up 3 times, 1^st take your order, 2^nd bring your drink out, 3^rd get your credit card! I called it no service at all!
We had to wait for more than 10 minute just to get a server to come (we had to asked for check several times).
This is not a happy dining experience, if the service is better, I would maybe go back there again. But too bad, they need to improve their service.

Just like the Angry Crab, in Phoenix. Good and spicy. I’m not sure why the negative reviews, we found the service quite good

I love the food but the service was kinda bad because I think they forgot about us we was waiting for 20min to food to come and I asked for water like 5 to 7 min it never came.

It’s my second visit and won’t be my last. Servers are super friendly and patient in explaining the menu and how the combos work. We ordered the pound of shrimp with Hawaiian cacao and cracked black pepper flavor. They use paper as tablecloth and bring the shrimp out in bag and place it right on the paper. It’s a messy, but no worries as you get your own roll of paper towels plus gloves and bib!
The garlic butter rice was good, just didn’t expect THAT much butter… rice practically swimming in it.
We couldn’t pass up dessert, of course. It’s a deliciously fun presentation they create right at your table. I think it was called «Sweet Art» and they started by pouring 3 – 4 different fruit purée as the rainbow, Mac nuts for beach, blue sugar for sky and ocean, then added seasonal fruits and their homemade malasadas, and ended with chocolate sauce drizzle.