Hawaii: Food Highlights Part 1

I arrived in Honolulu (on the island of Oahu) today from the Big Island. I’ve never spent much time in Oahu, usually only stopping here for a night or for a few hours on a layover on the way to another island, but this time around I’m here for 3 days before heading home. While I’ve only been here on Oahu for half a day now, my initial feeling is that I love the other islands I’ve been to (the Big Island and Maui) way more. Honolulu is a city so it’s quite a different feel from the Hawaii that I’m used to. Everything is more crowded, busier, more compact etc. But onto the point of this post! I’ve decided instead of making one long post about all the food highlights of this vacation, I would break it into 2 parts: the Big Island and Honolulu. This is in no way a record of everything I ate, but just some highlights! Hawaii has a large Asian population and a lot of Asian influences from the people and mixing of different cultures so there is a lot of Asian and fusion food found here.

Bamboo Restaurant – Hawi, Hawaii

Left: Hawaiian Stir Fry
Right: I think these mini desserts were called little bites. This was a chocolate cake with macadamia nuts.

Lava Lava Beach Club – Waikoloa, Hawaii – The restaurants is right on the water so we got to watch a beautiful sunset, which I showed a shot of here. The live music also added to the ambiance.

Baby Back Ribs

Kirin – Waikoloa, Hawaii – This was the night of the hurricane. Luckily, we weren’t hit where we were, but that didn’t change the fact that a majority of the restaurants, shops, businesses etc. closed early. We were fortunate enough to snag a reservation at this Chinese restaurant.

Kope Lani – Kailua- Kona, Hawaii – This little ice cream/coffee shop was a nice little place near all the shops and across the street from the ocean. This Hula Mocha Freeze that I got was refreshing and yummy. It is blended espresso, chocolate, and ice cream!

Kona Inn – Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – Seafood is, of course, fresh in Hawaii! The Ahi Tuna Poke was nice and fresh.

Roy’s Waikoloa – Waikoloa, Hawaii – Everything here was amazing! I got the Smoked Paprika Seared Scallops and for dessert I got the Macadamia Nut Tart. The scallops were delicious and the dessert tasted a lot like pecan pie. Everyone ordered different things, but they all thought their food was excellent.

Lam’s Garden – Hilo, Hawaii. I got the Pho with steak, flank steak, and brisket. It was very tasty, but so much food!

Beach Tree Bar & Grill at The Four Seasons Resort – Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – The food here was great and the detail to the dishes was excellent. The restaurant was right on the beach and although our reservation was for a late time and past sunset, the hotel does a very nice job of lighting up the beach so you can see the waves still. I got the Gnocchi with Oxtail Ragout and we shared a dessert of the Batik House Bon Bons.

The Three Fat Pigs – Waikoloa, Hawaii – Another meal of wonderful, fresh seafood. I got the fresh catch of the day which was Mahi Mahi wrapped in Prosciutto di Parma with an olive tampenade on a bed of spinach.

Hope you enjoyed part 1 of my food adventures here in Hawaii! Part 2 featuring some eats in Oahu will be posted when I get home! Sorry about the lighting in some of the pictures. Taking pictures with all this outdoor seating at night can be tricky at times!