Lani Kai

David, Laura, Ken, and I set out for a nice group brunch a couple weeks ago to catch up on life and to talk about our apartment situation. We met up at Lani Kai, a new-ish Hawaiian spot in Soho:

I purchased some certificates for drinks and sides so we started off with some of their signature cocktails:

Ken and Laura both ordered the same thing – the Pisco punch and David ordered the Queen’s park swizzle (in the center). Laura liked David’s drink more so they ended up switching, but they were all really happy with their drinks. We ended up ordering another Pisco punch (David and Laura drank it after we left).

We started off with some oysters for appetizers:

They tasted a little funky – not super fresh compared to the oysters I had the previous night at Fish. We ordered a bunch of sides, including the duck bacon:

Potato cakes with truffle creme fraiche:

And a side of grits:

We also ordered some entrees, including their Grass-fed burger with cheese and a small side salad:

Baked eggs with truffle oil, leeks, Parmesan, and toast (one of my favorites – so much Parmesan!):

And my favorite, the grilled chili squid:

The squid was actually very spicy and had just the right amount of zest from their vinaigrette. I ate the majority of the squid because I didn’t eat any of the burger or the other sides (shocking!)

Me and Ken:

I liked the restaurant and it had a cute tiki bar near the back where they were preparing all of the cocktails. It’s a nice place to grab a weekend brunch before heading to Soho to go shopping – which is exactly what Ken and I ended up doing!