If you booked Sunday brunch at The Kahala this weekend, which room would you walk into? A year ago the answer was simple. Brunch at The Kahala Hotel & Resort meant Hoku's, and Hoku's had been in the same place since 1995. That room now belongs to Alan Wong's. Today the resort's own website lists the Sunday buffet in two different restaurants, at two different times and two different prices.
Since the chef's return, the resort's other restaurants have kept shifting around the new one.
Same Room, New Kitchen
The handoff came in stages over about seven weeks. The resort laid out the schedule in a February 5, 2026 news release:
- February 15: Hoku's last Sunday brunch.
- February 20: Hoku's last dinner service after 30 years. The Veranda closed temporarily on the same day.
- February 23: Reservations opened on OpenTable for dinners on or after April 8.
- March 25: Alan Wong's opened to guests booked on the resort's Legacy of Aloha package, and The Veranda reopened to in-house guests with a limited menu.
- March 29: Sunday brunch returned, and the release promised "no changes to the current menu."
- April 8: Alan Wong's opened to the public, with reservations required.
The release talked about continuity: the same brunch with the same favorites, back in about six weeks. What it didn't say was whether brunch would stay in that room for good.
Alan Wong's had been gone from Honolulu dining for a while. KHON reported in November 2020 that the King Street restaurant, closed temporarily since that August, would not reopen. In its opening-day story, HONOLULU Magazine put it this way:
"One of the most anticipated restaurant openings of the year is actually a reopening."
The magazine noted that the original restaurant ran for 25 years on King Street, and that Wong was one of the 12 founders of Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine.
What Came Back From King Street
The opening menu is a reunion. HONOLULU Magazine's preview listed the whole tomato salad with li hing mui ume dressing at $14. The Soup and Sandwich, a chilled tomato soup with a kalua pig and foie gras sandwich, was $18. Da Bag, the foil pouch of clams and kalua pig cut open at the table, was $22. The Dungeness crab and shrimp cake was $16, and the Sumida Farm leko kalua pig Caesar was $20. Those are April 2026 prices, so expect the current menu to differ somewhat. Spencer Yamanaka is chef de cuisine.
The magazine also described who filled the room at first. It said the restaurant was booked for two months after opening, partly with Kāhala Resort guests and partly with regulars waiting for Wong's return. That split between hotel guests and neighbors matters for brunch. A Sunday buffet built for both crowds has to fit somewhere, and the resort seems to have been testing where.
Brunch Now Has Two Listings
Here is what The Kahala's two restaurant pages say as of mid-October 2026.
| Listed at Alan Wong's | Listed at Plumeria Beach House | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Sundays, 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. |
| Adult price | $115 | $97 |
| Keiki price, ages 6 to 12 | $55 | $49 |
| Setting described | Prime rib carving station, live music 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Open-air, beachfront |
| Reservations | Required | Highly recommended |
| Linked menu file dated | March 20, 2026 | August 30, 2026 |
The Alan Wong's page describes the buffet as returning "now at Alan Wong's," which matches the March 29 restart. The Plumeria Beach House page, updated in early October, calls its version a "new Sunday Brunch Buffet." Its menu file is dated five months after the other one. The resort's events calendar also listed the October 18 brunch at Plumeria Beach House.
The newer dates point toward Plumeria Beach House, but the resort hasn't announced a move. Until it does, the table is the clearest picture of what each page says. The practical differences are real. The Plumeria Beach House listing starts two hours later, ends half an hour later, runs three hours instead of four and a half, and costs $18 less per adult and $6 less per child. For a family of four with two keiki, the listed buffet prices add up to $292 at Plumeria Beach House and $340 at Alan Wong's, before tax and gratuity.
The simplest fix is a phone call. The Alan Wong's brunch listing gives 808-564-6990 for reservations. Ask which room you're booked in, the start time and the price before Sunday. That way you won't show up at 9:00 a.m. for a buffet that opens at 11:00.
Booking a Dinner at Alan Wong's
Dinner is more settled. The resort lists Alan Wong's for dinner only, Tuesday through Saturday, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The direct restaurant line is 808-739-8760, and the email is [email protected]. The page also shows an OpenTable Top 100 Hotel Restaurants 2026 badge.
A few details are worth knowing before you book a birthday or anniversary dinner:
- When reservations open: An August 2026 OpenTable feature says reservations open daily at 9:00 a.m. for the next 90 days. If you have a fixed date in mind, set a reminder for the morning it falls inside that window.
- Holding the table: The restaurant's OpenTable listing requires a credit card and asks for cancellations at least 48 hours ahead.
- What to wear: The resort asks for evening resort wear, dress shorts, aloha wear, and shoes or dress sandals. Sleeveless T-shirts and athletic wear aren't appropriate, and children 12 and under are exempt.
- Which days: Sunday and Monday aren't on the dinner schedule. Sunday is when the brunch listings come into play.
The Kamaʻāina Offer Still Lists Hoku's
The resort's kamaʻāina offer page, updated in late August, advertises 20% off food and nonalcoholic drinks for Hawaiʻi residents who mention "Timeless Luxury." It names three restaurants: Hoku's, Plumeria Beach House and The Veranda. Hoku's served its last dinner on February 20. The page doesn't mention Alan Wong's.
The same pattern shows up again. A restaurant changed in February, and the pages around it are still being updated. Kāhala residents who used the discount at Hoku's should ask, when they book, whether it applies to Alan Wong's, and whether it covers the Sunday buffet in either room. Plumeria Beach House is the one restaurant that appears on both the kamaʻāina page and a current brunch listing.
For a neighborhood whose special-occasion restaurant sat in one room for 30 years, all this moving around is the news. The Hoku's room now serves King Street classics five nights a week. Sunday brunch appears to be moving toward the beachfront. And the resident discount still lists a restaurant that closed in February. Booking ahead and asking a couple of questions on the phone will get you to the right room.
Christy Aiwohi grew up with Hawaiian roots and has spent two decades helping people settle into neighborhoods like Kāhala, and changes like this are part of what she follows. If you're new to the area, or hosting family who want their first Alan Wong's dinner since King Street, Christy P Aiwohi is happy to share what she knows about the neighborhood. You can also learn more on her Kāhala neighborhood page. Let's Connect.
