Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Yum! We went a couple of times, had shrimp each time but different meals. The bucket of steamed garlic prawns are amazing! The prawn sampler where you get prawns a few different ways is also really good!

We ate here a couple of times & each time food was fresh & beautiful. We tried the red snapper with mash potatoes & veges & mac n cheese. Service was great & friendly staff. Restaurant located on the top floor of Ala Moana shopping centre. Relaxed atmosphere. U can also buy Forrest Gump merchandise as well.

Really cool place to go especially if you love Forrest Gump. Enjoyed all the novelty things everywhere. The staff here were incredibly friendly and defiantly went out of their way to make sure everything was good. The food was better than I expected.

Visited twice before I decided the time was right for a blog, first occasion was a bit of a hit and miss affair but because I know these places to be better and the timing was Christmas Day I thought it better to go again and be fair and boy how happy I was to do so.

Lives up to its reputation as possibly the best shrimp house outside of Louisiana lol

Bubba Gump is located at the Ala Moana Centre right on the top level. The restaurant was extremely busy on the night I came here for dinner, having to wait for a table for about 25 minutes. The service was ok, they were friendly but I've experienced better service before. It was a bit slow. The drink I ordered came with a free souvenir glass that lights up which is pretty cool. For the main I had the Forrest's Seafood Feast which comes with shrimp, fish & chips and seafood hush pups, along with 3 different dipping sauces. This dish was very filling and yummy, I enjoyed the variety of dipping sauces. The prices aren't too bad either.

Right at the top of the Ala Moana Centre, which is Honolulu's massive shopping centre that is renowned as Hawaii's biggest, Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. found itself to be exceptionally popular. Going here with my parents one day in Honolulu, after taking the bus to the mall, one plan was to maybe see a free performance done in the middle of the mall (which never happened - us seeing it) and also find somewhere to eat. This place had been discussed a bit and was told to be fairly good. There are many locations around the world, from Mexico to the Phillippines with the brunt being in the USA.

Getting here, there is a real line up. If you can wait, and this was maybe the one time I actually have done that, just give a name and number of patrons wanted and then just await before it is called. During the time, the gift shop can be perused. What can't be argued with is the view from the top; you can see right into Waikiki harbour and the views are great. Inside is also really big, and when we were brought in there was a whole section that wasn't even apparent from the outside.

Maybe it can be inferred that this is based off the film Forrest Grump. For those who have seen the movie, looking at the decor is like a treasure hunt for finding references to the film. You can bet that if there is a reference to the movie, no matter now small and incidental, they will make sure that there is a way to put it in there. Without boring anyone, a couple of examples include the beverage and dessert menu is in the shape of a ping-pong paddle. Another one is that they have a nifty mode of service, and getting attention for service - using a flipboard sign done in the style of license plates.

Using that to get onto the service, each one had a default "Run, Forrest Run". When you wanted to get attention from your host, just flip it over to "Stop, Forrest Stop" and your queries will be answered. That is after you come in. This place is popular, so when you get there expect a bit of a wait. Give them a name, a number of patrons for a table, and they get onto you when they can.

You are assigned a waiter, them giving you a name to make it more personable, and they are yours for the meal. We got a friendly guy named Chris, who displayed a great level of customer service. He took great care of the three of us, was very chatty with working there and struck up conversation almost naturally and made it more worthwhile. One thing that I wanted to experience in the US was hearing "top that off for ya', hon?" regarding the bottomless coffee. It was the closest I got here, with the coffee being half full when I was drinking it when that came up (he did not use that exact phrase). Close enough.

When it comes to the menu, the biggest chance I thought of for a reference was not made. Unlike the titular Bubba, it was not really possible to rattle off all the kinds of shrimp that they offered (my parents breathed a sigh of relief at that). Make no mistake, shrimp itself makes up quite a fration of the food options on the menu as well as all sorts of other seafoods. It has a real Southern spin on it, with all kinds of goodies from around there to be offered. From time to time, usual suspects in American restaurants are put there for good measure. You won't be short of choices to order here, and there is even a stamp for the all-time best if a recommendation would help.

Starting off the menu is the range of beverages. Hand-shaken margaritas come first, followed up by some stuff for the teetotalers in the midst, then their specialty range of cocktails and a bunch of wines, and beers. Some of them come in a take-home souvenier glass.

When it comes to the food, they start out with appetisers. A lot of these are shrimp served as "peel and eat", and other ones are some of the favourite sides of Southern cuisine such as hush puppies and macaroni-cheese. Twists are often given, adding shrimp into the recipes. Next from that is soup and salad (or both as a combo).

Getting onto the main dishes, they start off with a range of sandwiches - just the norm with burgers, tacos and even a po-boy to boot. Next is shrimp even a meatier treatment and made into actual meals, or one option that is a range of all the kinds offered. If seafood sounds good but shrimp aren't your thing, the Jenny's Catch section ranges from having lobster to fish to crabs legs, or if you are not in the mood for seafood (um... you do know what this place is called, right?) grilled meats makes a small appearence - though most are surf and turf (you just wanted the best of both worlds, right?). Some other classic favourites are on show before it ends with a few choices of sweets.

In getting started, it was the beverages. For me, I went for the "Benjamin Buford "Blue" Berry Smoothie". It actually had real blueberrie in it, and that was about the composition. Some milk, heaps of berries, and yogurt. When it comes to fruit smoothies, to me that is where they start and end - all that is needed. It was cold, refreshing and had the intermittent taste of blueberries in it; by that, I am not sure whether to say blueberries are sweet or tart or whatnot, since they don't really fall into any of those profiles. Just take it on the nose that it tasted good.

What I ordered was the shrimp New Orleans. This was around a dozen broiled shrimp, cooked in a combination of butter, garlic and spices. It was served with some bread and some rice.

My dad went for the Creole classic, Jambalaya. You cannot go wrong with this beauty, and it showed that right here. Blackened chicken, with shrimp and sausage plus a sauteed lot of the holy trinity (capsicum, celery and onion) with spices and rice, made for a taste sensation. To mix it through, it was topped with tomatoes and green onions.

As for my mum, it was a po'boy. I've heard a lot about these suckers from her, and they sound tasty. A warm baguette hugged a handful of fried shrimp, with a few salad garnishes of tomato, lettuce and pickles with a spray of mayonaise. It was additionally served with a handful of fries.

All three of these meals, in their own unique ways, were fantastic. Going backwards, the po'boy was a deliciously simple sandwich (which I could still so go for) that had a buttery and fresh loaf used with a combination of crusty outside and soft, warm inside. The prawns were crumbed and fried really well, with sweet, juicy meat in the middle. As for the salads, meh - just some garnish, though the mayonnaise suited seafood well. Those fries as well, good, crispy and plentiful.

As I said, jamabalaya is an undisputed classic. This was tangy, it was spicy and all the items used were tasty in their own way. Sausage added a bit of smokiness to it, the shrimp was great as usual and the chicken was tender. The holy trinity adds some crunch to it, and is almost caramalised at this point mixing in well. The tomatoes were sweet as well, blending into the steamed rice which had all the spices infused in already. Simply put, this is one of the world's best dishes.

Mine was probably the simplest, but still really good. I reckon you can't go wrong with butter in cooking and simply adding garlic to it is an irresistable combination that always works. The prawns were sweet, plump and juicy and the rice was steamed to perfection. That is basically all that is needed here to say why the dish worked so well.

One sweet my parents like to laude quite a bit from the South (and my mum is not the biggest sweet tooth either) is key lime pie. I noted and made a mention that it was on the menu, and at the end of the meal they thought to go for it - and I did. This is also where the coffee from before came in, and that was a good cup and brew.

Take this down as another place where they give a generous serving of sweets. The wedge was big enough to share between three people, and this was fantastic. What I liked most was the biscuit base that was crunchy and quite sweet with the mixture having the sour taste of lime mixed in with sweet condensed milk. Very simple sweet, but one that it among the world's best desserts - probably because it is not like many others. And that was a good way to finish off a great meal.

Even if you take away the gimmicky nature of the place, strip it back to being a regular location that served hot seafood, it would still stand on its own merit as being a legitimately good place for food. I say without a hint of joshing the audience, that during my stay in Hawaii that this was one of the most memorable and tasty meals that I had in that time. Part of it always has to do with the food, but also circumstance and company really help the matter as well. This is great for families and big groups, and I suggest letting that gimmicky look slide to enjoy the experience even more.

P.S. What is the best thing of all, is that during my trip to the USA, this was the meal that had to happen. An innocuous and off-the-cuff remark about the (coincidental) food choices (all three being based from Louisiana) snowballed into a conversation about the next trip to America (it includes New Orleans). Now, that is in place and it might have been the best thing about this meal; the food was already quite good, so put that into perspective.

Good atmosphere and good service. Food was so-so. The fried food wasn't hot and the fries were chewy. Ribs didn't have much meat to them and most dishes were overpriced for their size. The best dish was the New Orleans Shrimp followed by the jumbaliah. Key lime pie was a great dessert. Root beer isn't great but the Coke is. Burger was pretty good.

Wow, I wish there was a Bubba Gump Shrimp where I live. I have been to several locations and this one is the best. I have the shrimp scampi and the shrimp mac and cheese as an appetizer. OMG, that was absolutely an outstanding dinner and the service was exceptional. Make sure to ask for Ellie because she really knows how to take care of customers!

This is an awesome restaurant & amazingly priceless experience. We went to celebrate my Moms birthday. From the hostess to the our server Jason, the customer service was great. The food was great and the family enjoyed ourselves.

Good fun place to have dinner that you have to try at least once. Great service and food isn't bad. Not cheap though like a lot of American restaurants. But for the atmosphere it's worth it alone.

I'm here first time, and everthink was amazing, food so delicious nevwr eat befor. Soup yammy. Style Forrest Gump. "Run Forrest run" nice perfect place for family