Big Island Abalone, known for its gourmet product Kona Abalone, is the producer of premium abalone using deep-sea water drawn from off the Kona coast. This 10-acre coastal aquaculture facility, located near Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, has recently launched Kona Barbeque, a new venue in which visitors enjoy barbecuing with fresh seafood and locally sourced ingredients such as Hawaii Island beef. This new leisure experience–unique in Hawaii and the US mainland–is already generating buzz.
Restaurants offering hamayaki, or grilling locally caught seafood on the spot and commonly seen in Japanese fishing ports, are nonexistent in Hawaii. “Hawaii Island offers a wide variety of ingredients such as our abalone, lobster, shrimp, oysters, steak, and vegetables, where you can taste the natural flavors of the ingredients,” states Satoshi Yoshida, the CEO of Kowa Premium Foods Corporation, which operates Big Island Abalone. “However, currently, these ingredients can only be found in restaurants. We wanted to provide a more accessible way for visitors to Hawaii Island to enjoy the wonderful experience of local production and consumption, similar to the concepts of ‘locally produced, locally consumed’ and ‘direct delivery from the source’ in Japan.”
The venue, located on a 2 acres site, features eight canopies, each equipped with a table for 6. Adjacent to each canopy is a grill, allowing guests to cook their own ingredients in a DIY-barbecue style. In addition to offering Kona Abalone, Big Island Abalone sources lobster, shrimp, and oysters from vendors that cultivate or provide seafood within the Hawaii Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) as well as grass-fed beef from Pahoehoe, Hawaii, and vegetables from local vendors at the farmers market, at which Kona Abalone is also a vendor.
“We have put great emphasis not only on the ingredients but also on the selection of seasonings, sauces, and alcohol,” says Mr. Yoshida. “We collaborated with the renowned restaurant ‘Michels’ on Oahu to develop sauces that pair well with seafood and steak. These flavorful and delicate sauces enhance the natural flavors of the ingredients. In addition to local beer and wine, you can enjoy sake from Islander Sake, which recently relocated its brewery to Hawaii Island. All the ingredients are of the highest quality and are on par with those found in top-tier restaurants. Visitors from the US mainland have expressed great satisfaction with being able to enjoy steak and lobster at this affordable price.”
The Kona Barbeque experience is by reservation only. Guests may choose their preferred barbecue ingredients from prepared sets when making a reservation. Reservations are accepted for a minimum of two people, and alcohol and beverages can be purchased on-site.
Kona Barbeque, which has already received favorable reviews from mainland visitors as a new attraction on Hawaii Island, offers a new experience and culinary entertainment that can be enjoyed by families and groups. The current canopy will be replaced with a permanent building (pavilion) by the beginning of next year, with plans to further upgrade the venue as a leisure facility for everyone to enjoy. Yoshida states that the aim is to revitalize the region by providing a place where people can easily enjoy delicious food from Hawaii Island through collaborative effort with local vendors.
Kona Barbeque is located at 73-357 Makako Bay Drive, Kailua-Kona. For motre information, or to make a reservation please call (808)334-0034 or visit https://konabarbeque.com/. Business hours are 11:00 am – 4:00 pm Monday to Saturday.