csodjd
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2017
- Messages
- 2,334
- Reaction score
- 1,986
- Location
- So. California
- Resorts Owned
- Hilton Hawaiian Village - Lagoon Tower
Marriott Maui Ocean Club
On Saturday night my wife and I had dinner at Signature Prime Steak and Seafood. On Sunday it was Hy's Steakhouse. These are two of Honolulu's finest and the back to back made for an easy comparison, especially since we had essentially the same meals each night (I know, not too creative).
First, both are excellent. Ambience is very different, however. Signature is 36 floors up in the Ala Moana hotel, overlooking Waikiki beach and harbor. They have live music and a busy bar and happy hour. Hy's is an indoor ground level classic old-school style dark wood restaurant. Felt like Frank Sinatra would be eating in there. Staff wears formal dress, black tux, etc. Hy's is slower and presents more upscale, even a bit stuffy. Signature feels a bit younger. More families and more active. I'd put it this way... you'd drive your Rolls Royce to Hy's and your Turbo Porsche to Signature. (Or, in our case, a Mazda CX-30.
)
Service was excellent at both. Nothing to complain about service-wise at all.
Kudo's for Hy's free valet parking. A small point, but nice in Waikiki.
But "free" is relative. Hy's prices are higher across the board. It's just a more expensive dinner, period. NY Steak was $15 more at Hy's than Signature. Pretty much everything on the menu is more at Hy's. However, the steaks at Hy's come with a vegetable and potato (baked, mash, or fries) or rice. Signature is just the steak. Add a side at Signature and the prices are pretty much the same. Signature also had a dinner salad option at $10. Hy's did not, just the full priced salads starting at $13.50. Wines were about $3-$5 more (per glass) at Hy's, but their Mai Tai was a reasonable $15. So I guess I'd put it this way. You have the ability to spend less at Signature. But for the same amount of food, prices are very close. I ordered a salad at Signature, not at Hy's, so my "steak dinner" at Signature was salad + steak, $63, and at Hy's was vegetable + potato + steak, $68. Not much difference.
Hy's includes a unlimited supply of their "cheezy bread." The bread was good, but there wasn't any cheese on them that we could tell. Nonetheless, we powered through a lot of bread! Signature brought two very tasty warm fresh rolls with salt and butter on them. I'm sure they'd have brought more had we asked.
I had Prime NY Steak at both. Both were very good, prime steaks, correctly cooked (medium). I give Signature a small "win" on flavor though. It just tasted a bit better. Both were very good though and I would not hesitate to order the same thing at either restaurant. I believe $53 at Signature and $68 at Hy's. (But remember the sides.)
My wife had oyster appetizers at each. Six in each appetizer. Prices were similar, I believe Hy's was a few dollars more. But she put the Signature oysters at the top of her all-time list. She said they were hands down better than those at Hy's and possibly the best she's ever had. Not that Hy's were bad. She said they were good, but Signature was better. I believe "excellent" was the word she used.
We didn't have dessert at Hy's. But my wife he had the apple pie at Signature. I think she'd eat that every night and pass on all other food. Said it was the best apple pie she's ever had.
On an aside, we had 5:30 reservations at Signature. By 6:30 it was full. We had 7:15 reservations at Hy's. When we left at 8:30 it was packed. Neither seemed to be suffering from the vaccination requirements in Oahu.
Bottom line: We've been to Signature several times so I wanted to try Hy's. We would probably have a hard time justifying going to Hy's instead of Signature down the road. In fact, I'd say given the Oysters and Apple Pie, if I said we're going to Hy's for dinner I'd probably be going alone while my wife headed over to Signature instead. She preferred the location/view and the taste.
First, both are excellent. Ambience is very different, however. Signature is 36 floors up in the Ala Moana hotel, overlooking Waikiki beach and harbor. They have live music and a busy bar and happy hour. Hy's is an indoor ground level classic old-school style dark wood restaurant. Felt like Frank Sinatra would be eating in there. Staff wears formal dress, black tux, etc. Hy's is slower and presents more upscale, even a bit stuffy. Signature feels a bit younger. More families and more active. I'd put it this way... you'd drive your Rolls Royce to Hy's and your Turbo Porsche to Signature. (Or, in our case, a Mazda CX-30.
)Service was excellent at both. Nothing to complain about service-wise at all.
Kudo's for Hy's free valet parking. A small point, but nice in Waikiki.
But "free" is relative. Hy's prices are higher across the board. It's just a more expensive dinner, period. NY Steak was $15 more at Hy's than Signature. Pretty much everything on the menu is more at Hy's. However, the steaks at Hy's come with a vegetable and potato (baked, mash, or fries) or rice. Signature is just the steak. Add a side at Signature and the prices are pretty much the same. Signature also had a dinner salad option at $10. Hy's did not, just the full priced salads starting at $13.50. Wines were about $3-$5 more (per glass) at Hy's, but their Mai Tai was a reasonable $15. So I guess I'd put it this way. You have the ability to spend less at Signature. But for the same amount of food, prices are very close. I ordered a salad at Signature, not at Hy's, so my "steak dinner" at Signature was salad + steak, $63, and at Hy's was vegetable + potato + steak, $68. Not much difference.
Hy's includes a unlimited supply of their "cheezy bread." The bread was good, but there wasn't any cheese on them that we could tell. Nonetheless, we powered through a lot of bread! Signature brought two very tasty warm fresh rolls with salt and butter on them. I'm sure they'd have brought more had we asked.
I had Prime NY Steak at both. Both were very good, prime steaks, correctly cooked (medium). I give Signature a small "win" on flavor though. It just tasted a bit better. Both were very good though and I would not hesitate to order the same thing at either restaurant. I believe $53 at Signature and $68 at Hy's. (But remember the sides.)
My wife had oyster appetizers at each. Six in each appetizer. Prices were similar, I believe Hy's was a few dollars more. But she put the Signature oysters at the top of her all-time list. She said they were hands down better than those at Hy's and possibly the best she's ever had. Not that Hy's were bad. She said they were good, but Signature was better. I believe "excellent" was the word she used.
We didn't have dessert at Hy's. But my wife he had the apple pie at Signature. I think she'd eat that every night and pass on all other food. Said it was the best apple pie she's ever had.
On an aside, we had 5:30 reservations at Signature. By 6:30 it was full. We had 7:15 reservations at Hy's. When we left at 8:30 it was packed. Neither seemed to be suffering from the vaccination requirements in Oahu.
Bottom line: We've been to Signature several times so I wanted to try Hy's. We would probably have a hard time justifying going to Hy's instead of Signature down the road. In fact, I'd say given the Oysters and Apple Pie, if I said we're going to Hy's for dinner I'd probably be going alone while my wife headed over to Signature instead. She preferred the location/view and the taste.
