X

A Dining Hideaway

A La Carte Columns

January 19, 2016

Story By: Yu Shing Ting |

Banana Pecana Pancakes ($9.95). Anthony Consillio photo

Banana Pecana Pancakes ($9.95). Anthony Consillio photo

As its name suggests, Treetops Restaurant at Paradise Park in Manoa will give you the feeling of being in a treehouse in the middle of the rainforest. The spacious 10,500-square-foot restaurant is perched 60 feet in the air, with surrounding glass walls, nine lanais and a full bar.

According to chef and co-owner Bobby Rabesa Jr., Treetops opened in the 1980s and changed ownership a few times throughout the next three decades. The iconic restaurant then closed for a couple of years before reopening in 2015. Now it’s owned and operated by chef Rabesa and Patrick Delaney.

Guests can enjoy breakfast and lunch daily, and soon (within the next month or two) a new hula show on the weekends. The menu features tasty local-style dishes with influences of Rabesa’s Portuguese background, Mediterranean culinary training and time spent in California. The restaurant also is available for private dinner parties of up to 324 people.

Rabesa adds that Treetops recently was used for two films, and the historic Paradise Park, which was a filming site for ABC’s hit show Lost, is expected to reopen this summer.

HAVE YOUR PANCAKE AND EAT IT, TOO

A lunch buffet ($15.95 per adult) is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily and includes a couple of salads, 10 cold bar items and 10 entrees, such as Rabesa’s signature pork adobo and vinha d’alhos (a Portuguese-style pulled pork dish).

There also is a breakfast menu available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. offering a variety of breakfast favorites, including homemade Pancakes with Vanilla Bean Creme Anglais ($9.95) — available in Plain, Banana Pecana or Chocolate Chip; and served with warm New England maple syrup.

A lunch menu is added to the mix at 11 a.m., and recently was updated with a new dish: Ahi Salad ($13.95). It consists of grilled ahi with honey wasabi aioli, ‘Nalo greens, fresh spinach and cantaloupe, along with a ginger vinaigrette dressing.

Treetops Restaurant

3737 Manoa Road, Honolulu
988-6839
Daily, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Honolulu, HI 96822

Ilima Awards
Hawaii's Best