Family Restaurant Review: Restaurant 604

Panoramic views of Pearl Harbor and huge pancakes for keiki make for a relaxing weekend brunch.

Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub

Editor’s Note: We’ve launched a new series, “Family Restaurant Review,” featuring local eateries that welcome kids. We hope these will enhance your family’s experiences around the food table. Food you don’t have to cook, of course.

We will begin every review with our “Family-Friendly Checklist,” six items parents want to know before deciding if the restaurant is a good fit for their little ones. Then, you’ll read reviews from HONOLULU Family and HONOLULU’s dining teams. 

OUR DINING CHECKLIST:

• Ambiance: Comfortable, open-air seating that overlooks a beautiful marina, Pearl Harbor and Ford Island. Casual and friendly atmosphere. Great for families and pau hana get togethers.
• Parking: The restaurant is located at the far end of the parking lot at the entrance of the USS Arizona Memorial. Lots of free parking.
• Bathrooms: Restrooms are clean with a diaper-changing station in the women’s bathroom.
• High Chairs/Stroller-Friendly: High chairs are available for toddlers. The restaurant is on the second floor of the building with no elevator. If you have a stroller, you would need to carry it up two flights of stairs. There is room to navigate a stroller within the restaurant.
• Keiki Menu/Takeout Option: The keiki menu’s prices range from $6 to $8 and is for ages 12 and younger. Coloring sheets and crayons are given to younger children to keep them busy. Takeout is available, but there is no delivery service. Mondays are “Keiki Eat Free” day with the purchase of an adult entree from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• What to Know: “Aloha Hours” feature 50 percent off select drinks and pupus from 3 to 5 p.m., with live music from Monday to Friday. There is a lot of parking for persons with disabilities in the front of the restaurant, but there are no elevators for wheelchair access. If someone in your party has a wheelchair, call in advance to make reservations in the banquet hall on the ground floor. We recommend families make reservations in advance to secure a nice table near the wall or close to the terrace. The brunch menu is limited. Ask for the regular menu (after 11 a.m.) for other options if you’re not a huge brunch fan. The banquet hall can accommodate up to 120 people – perfect for baby showers, grad parties and other family-friendly events.

Our little foodies:

• Leah, 10, loves all things from the sea. The adventurous foodie’s favorites include grape leaves, kibbeh (Lebanese raw meat with spices) and sushi.
• Jaffer, 8, loves fruit and vegetables. His favorite place to eat is Down to Earth; he has a weakness for sweets and his favorite foods are spam musubi, chocolate chip pancakes, pears and mussels.

Sunday morning in our household usually involves three things: laundry, Netflix and brunch. We already did the laundry, and binge-watching TV at 9 a.m. didn’t seem like a good idea, so we woke the kids up and took them for a drive out to Pearl Harbor.

Quietly tucked away at the base of Ford Island bridge is Restaurant 604, which came highly recommended for brunch served between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Located on the second floor above the banquet hall, the restaurant has been serving up American cuisine and island-style favorites since 2016.

Easily accessed from the main entry to the USS Arizona Memorial, the restaurant is at the far end of the parking lot with loads of free parking. We made reservations for five at 10:15 a.m. since we heard it got busy on weekends.

Rightfully so, since it started to fill up just before we arrived.

Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub

Photo: Wendy Awai-Dakroub

As we were escorted to our dining table, all we noticed was the calm and relaxing view of Pearl Harbor from the terrace. The spacious, open-air dining layout and casual attire of the servers gave the place a very laid-back atmosphere. The relaxed “surfer” vibe also set the tone for our visit.

With a mixture of locals and a few walk-ins from nearby USS Arizona Memorial, the place was nearly full.

Our server handed each of us a one-page, easy-to-read brunch menu that was filled with comfort-food favorites. To make things even easier, the keiki menu had just three items: buttermilk pancakes with regular or guava whipped butter ($6); “604 Kids” ($6), which comes with a scoop of rice, two pieces of bacon, Portuguese sausage and one island-style egg; and poi pancakes ($8) with regular or guava whipped butter.

We decided to choose a variety of items so we could share and sample different things. I also ordered a Bloody Mary ($12) after seeing a very large banner that read “Hawaii’s Best Bloody Mary.”

I just had to try one.

The kids chose the buttermilk and poi pancakes from the keiki menu. The rest of us went for kalua pork eggs benedict ($11), seared ahi eggs benedict ($15) with crab relish, and country fried steak ($14) served with sausage gravy, two eggs and hash browns.

My Bloody Mary was the first item to arrive.

Garnished with one large prawn, a piece of smoked meat, piece of cheese, pickled onion, green bean, olive, celery stick, banana pepper and a pineapple (whew), it was a meal all by itself! 

Photo: Wendy Awai-Dakroub

I wouldn’t say it’s Hawaii’s “best” since I have yet to find my perfect blend on the island, but it’s up there on my list of top five Bloody Marys. As we waited for our meal, the kids and I walked up to the terrace and took in the view of Pearl Harbor. It was just what we needed on a Sunday morning to recharge ourselves for the week ahead.

Just gorgeous and lovely.

Our food arrived quickly (within 15 minutes), hot and ready to be devoured. The portions of the egg benedict and country friend steak were good.

My only gripe was the hash browns that were served as a side dish. They were not crunchy or hot, but soggy, tasteless and looked a bit sad on our plate.

The keiki pancakes were huge! I could have easily fed both kids with one piece. Jaffer liked the poi pancakes and said it tasted like a very big mochi donut because it was so thick. He stuffed his pancakes into the guava whipped butter and guava syrup and gulped it all down with his glass of milk. Big smiles. Leah’s buttermilk pancakes also were huge, and she had a hard time finishing it. She said it was light in taste still very good. 

Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub

Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub

As I took the last sip from my Bloody Mary, I thought to myself how I would love to come back here one day for happy hour with my classmates. It’s a wonderful place to gather for “Aloha Hour” or for dinner with friends who are visiting Oʻahu for the first time.

The view in the evenings must be spectacular! We plan to return by the end of the month to catch a glimpse of Pearl Harbor at sunset.

We left full and satisfied with our meals and thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience. The service was friendly, attentive and quick – perfect for a nice, quiet Sunday morning outing with the family.

Restaurant 604 is located at 57 Arizona Memorial Drive, Honolulu, 96818.  It is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; and from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday. The brunch menu is served from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. (808) 888-7616. restaurant604.com