Date nights are the best night of the week! There are many things to do but you can't go wrong with dinner by sunset, especially if it's a sunset by the sea. So we decided to go to Longhi's at Ko Olina for some food, wine, and ambiance.
The first thing we had to do was figure out what time the sun sets. So we simply googled it and saw that the sunset would be at around 7pm. We called and made reservations for 6pm and requested a table on the side of the restaurant with a view rather than a table deep inside the restaurant. (Another thing to do, if you're a couple with young kids, is to arrange for babysitting.) With those details taken care of, it was time to head out to Ko Olina.
If you are driving out from Waikiki, expect the drive to be about 40 minutes. If you are heading there straight from the airport, the drive is about half an hour. Check with your Google or Apple Maps to get the estimated drive time as there may be traffic due to construction or accidents.
Driving in Calla Lily purple Magnum PI Hawaiian shirt
As always, we recommend getting to your restaurant a little early so you can enjoy a glass of wine or your cocktail of choice at the bar. It sure beats being stressed about running late! As an added bonus for us, the bartender gave us a generous pour since there was only a little left in the bottle.
Thumbs up for the generous wine pour!
To get a better view of the sky as it turns golden at sunset, we made sure we got a table on the ocean side of the restaurant. The actual location of the sunset varies throughout the year but no matter the month, you should be able to enjoy the romantic sunset lighting (unless it is a very overcast evening). When you call to make reservations at your restaurant of choice, see if they'll accommodate your request. If not, feel free to call another restaurant that will work with you.
Cheers and Aloha!
Golden hour!
Longhi’s has various seafood, meat, poultry etc menu items along with different salads and appetizers. We chose the Shrimp and Scallop Longhi’s and the Seared Ahi with cracked black peppers and shiitake mushrooms. We also got extra bread to dip into the sauces for both dishes. The food and experience was made even better by the warm golden glow of the sky as the sun went down. As important as quality of food is, we think quality of service is even more important. We can easily tolerate okay food if the service is good. But excellent food will be ruined by poor service. So when choosing your restaurant, be sure to choose one that has a reputation for good service. The service at Longhi's was excellent.
Shrimp and scallops
Seared ahi with cracked black pepper and shiitake mushrooms
After dinner we headed out to the beach to catch the final stages of the sunset. We have staycationed here a few times and watching the sunset from this cove never disappoints! At other restaurants, we might finish dinner after the sun goes down completely. That's fine. But since we were at a beachside resort, we wanted to save a little time to walk around and soak in the tropical evening breeze.
We never get tired of catching a beautiful sunset!
On the drive back to town, we started craving malasadas! (Malsadas are a Portuguese donut without the familiar center hole that is coated in sugar.) Maybe it was because we saw the Leonard’s malasada truck at the Waikele Shopping Center on the way to Ko Olina. So on the way back, we stopped at Leonard's and got a box of these tasty round treats. This little side trek added to a sense of adventure on spontanaity to the evening. It was the perfect way to cap off a nice and relaxing sunset date night experience. Aloha!
Dreaming of malasadas from Leonard's Bakery
Yay! Malasada run at the Leonard's truck in Waikele Shopping Center 😋