{image1}Kahuna's Pewaukee Lake Beach Club and Tiki Bar, W279N2221 Prospect Ave., in Pewaukee, is the newest venture for restaurateurs Steve and Mardi Smirl (you may recognize them from the now closed Zyng: An Asian Grill).
Bright colors, tiki drinks and a menu of island-inspired bites dominate at this lake view setting.
If longstanding restaurant theory "location, location, location" has any truth to it, the Smirls have this one covered. Nearly immediately off Highway 94 on Highway SS the dining room offers a breathtaking view of Pewaukee Lake.
Kahuna's offers front room bar seating for happy hour or spirit sampling, or a boisterous, family-friendly back dining room-with-a-view. The food menu focuses heavily on coconut, mango, and Asian flavors, while drinks include tropical favorites like Mai Tais, Zombies and a house specialty, the SS Minnow.
{image2}We were immediately welcomed to Kahuna's by a friendly hostess who led us to our table in the dining area. Dress at Kahuna's is casual, and patrons ranged in age from wee (under three) to long-enjoying retirement age.
Vibrant colors make the inside of the restaurant dance, and fun tiki glasses and bamboo napkin rings effectually promised an experience of vivacious dining. But, the cuisine failed to deliver.
Foods here rank with average franchise foods, and offer little variety in flavor or originality. The taste of pre-packaged sweetened coconut permeated many of our dishes, beginning with the flavored butter provided with our breadbasket and ending with my drink, a hurricane, which for some reason included a considerable helping of Bacardi Co-Co.
{image3}Pupus (appetizers) include Asian egg rolls ($6.99), crisp vegetable rolls with Asian dipping sauce, coconut shrimp ($7.99), which appeared with the same sauce, and tiki tenders ($6.99), duck tenderloins in seasoned breading and crushed almonds. The tiki tenders were our favorite of the three starters, but the mango chipotle dipping sauce did little to accentuate the duck.
For our entrees, we sampled tortilla encrusted chipotle-lime tilapia ($9.99) and mango-ginger shrimp ($12.99). We opted for french fries instead of coconut rice with our entrees, and we also received a healthy portion of calypso slaw, which had a crisp, fresh flavor to it.
The tortilla-crusted tilapia was overwhelmed by the heavy chipotle-lime aioli, and even after scraping it off, the sauce's bitter flavor rang in my mouth. Mango-ginger shrimp fared a little better, although they arrived with the same familiar Asian dipping sauce.
{image4}The exorbitant cost of gas and an underwhelming dinner precluded us from taking the long trek up the Marquette Interchange for a second visit, so perhaps we visited Kahuna's on an off night, but with nothing but the view drawing us back there, we'd rather explore island dining opportunities in Milwaukee proper the next time we have a taste for tiki.
Kahuna's is open Tuesday through Sunday at 11 a.m. Dinner is served until 9 p.m. weekdays, 10 p.m. weekends. Children's menu available.
For more information, call (262) 695-8303. The Web site is kahunasonline.com.
