Liholiho Yacht Club is the sister restaurant to Good Good Culture Club, although, technically, Liholiho has been around a lot longer (even though it was closed until recently due to the pandemic). It’s a place I had heard great things about, but for some reason, never really put the effort into going. Thankfully, because they enjoyed their meal at Good Good Culture Club so much, my parents got us a voucher. Since it was good at either location, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to try out Liholiho. While Good Good Culture Club focuses more on Filipino food and is slightly more casual, Liholiho has a bit more of a Pacific Rim vibe to it, encompassing food from a few different areas.
While Liholiho does offer a few walk-in tables a night, I highly recommend a reservation, which isn’t too difficult to get if you plan ahead. We had to wait a few minutes when we arrived, but we definitely were seated before some people who had been waiting there longer (thanks reservation). We took the time to peruse the wine menu, and it turns out, they have a pretty decent bottle list which we were incredibly happy about. Their savory menu consists of three sections, with small bites, small plates and large plates, and of course, they recommend everything to share. Or they offer a chef’s menu for $85pp where they provide a selection of items from the menu, and a couple of off-menu special items for you to try as well. We of course chose the chef’s menu to make it easier, although there were quite a few things on the menu that ended up not being included on this menu that sounded absolutely amazing. They also provide a drink pairing, but we found some wine we really wanted, so went that route instead.
Some of the highlights from the menu were definitely the small bites. There was a duck liver mousse served on banana bread, and it really was a revelation (and I will probably be serving duck liver at home with it in the future). The poke on a nori cracker was excellent, and the empanadas were flaky and delicious. Another course that really wowed us was the gulf shrimp with corn as it was packed with flavor and the shrimp was perfectly cooked. The house-made spam was phenomenal and had a real kick of flavor to it.
Of course not everything was one-hundred percent to our liking. We probably would not have ordered the two tomato dishes off of the menu, but the candy stripe tomato salad with aged gouda was actually quite tasty. The swordfish katsu with cherry tomatoes, Thai basil aioli and red pepper fondu was a bit lacking for us, but the swordfish was actually one of the best cooked swordfishes I’ve had. I think the dish could have just used a bit of heat to really bring it all together.
The dessert on the menu was their signature: Baked Hawaii. Imagine Baked Alaska but with tropical flavors of an orange chiffon cake, coconut sorbet and passionfruit sauce. It was a nice burst of freshness, and I can see why it’s their signature. They also gave us a couple of shortbread cookies dipped in white chocolate and garnished with lime zest which were delicious as well. They even have a nice selection of dessert wines so we paired both with a delicious Riesling.
Liholiho was definitely as good as, if not better than, Good Good Culture Club. There was a tremendous amount of flavor in almost every dish we ate, and providing us with a bottle list definitely gave them a leg up. The service was also really fantastic, with everyone coming to our table being ready to help out with whatever was needed. They also charge a service charge in lieu of tip, which is, in my opinion, a better way to approach the whole thing. Liholiho is definitely staying in our rotation, and I can’t wait to get back and try some of the things on the menu that weren’t on offer with the chef’s menu!
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: Go for the chef’s menu if you like, but make sure to get the pate with banana bread!
Liholiho Yacht Club
871 Sutter Street
San Francisco 94109
