[3] Poi Dog Pondering used more than 36 different instruments during the sessions; they chose not to rehearse before recording in order to give the songs a spontaneous quality.

[13] The Chicago Tribune considered the album "a bit more focused and folky effort but one that continues Poi Dog's wide-eyed celebration of simple pleasures.

"[10] Entertainment Weekly concluded that Poi Dog Pondering "seem to accept their favorite assumptions much too easily... Long before the end of the album, their music has started to sound just as facile.

"[16] The Los Angeles Times noted that "a panoply of musical styles—Afro-Hawaiian sort of describes some of it—and the multiple pleasures of life make up the world beat trod by Poi Dog.

"[18] AllMusic deemed Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea Review "an irresistible party of an album," writing that "the band's globetrotting instrumental inventiveness was infectious and impressive.