oahu, hawaii

[Xericx]

If you're in Waikiki, the food is generally horrible...Eggs and Things is kind of a tourist trap but its a pretty solid breakfast and they can do the spam and portugese sausage dishes nicely. long lines though.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by Xericx

$13.45 for a kalua pig meal. only included these small plates....one order of kalua pig, some rice, some lomi lomi salmon, some kind of dried-type of beef (pipikalua), and some haupia (coconut gelatin dessert). honestly the only thing that stood out was the haupia. The Kalua pig was not very good, the dried rubbery beef didn't knock me off my seats either...so what was good here? Not sure. I thought it would be more comfort food....but it was very underwhelming.
Fair enough... if you didn't like it, to each his own... I think it's one of the better plate lunches available (and I like plate lunch)... although, the former owner of Trio (Henry Adaniya) left to open a plate lunch spot in HA. Not sure where, or if it still exists. I would still say that for a sit-down lunch, $13.50 is not exorbitant.

 

[makushin]

rent bikes and ride the trail around kaena point.
rent kayak in kailua and paddle out to the mokes.
that whole windward coast is a disaster though if the weather's poor. plan accordingly

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

Also, Ninikuya garlic restaurant is off the beaten path and pretty good

I wasn't really impressed. I'd rather go a few more blocks towards Koko Head on Waialae Ave. to get the maguro rib teishoku at Maguro-ya.

If you're going to be in the Kaimuki-Kapahulu area near Rainbow Drive-In, Ono's, etc., try Leonard's Bakery on Kapahulu for some fresh malasadas (portuguese donuts done local style, now can get them with li hing mui flavored sprinkles). I also kind of disagree with xericx's description of the area as "sketchy"--it's full of tasty, reasonably priced restaurants and safer than the real tourist hub areas on Oahu. I've eaten at the Sam Choy's Diamond Head a couple of times, but I actually prefer the food at his Breakfat, Lunch, and Crab over on Nimitz Hwy.

I just ate at Alan Wong's King Street a couple of weeks ago. The service is very good, but I found the sauces and dressing were very heavy and overwhelmed the other ingredients. It was a disappointment compared to my past visits, which were a few years ago. I left wondering whether it would have been better to eat at Chef Mavro's just down the street.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

I wasn't really impressed.
I said "pretty good", not so much spectacular, but I really enjoyed the ambiance and thought the food was good enough.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

I said "pretty good", not so much spectacular, but I really enjoyed the ambiance and thought the food was good enough.

Sorry, didn't want to sound like I was attacking your opinion. Just wanted to point out that right up the street is some damn good food (better IMHO than Ninniku-ya) at Maguro-ya.

 

[LeatherSOUL]

Tell me what you want to eat and I'll recommend the right spots.

 

[LeatherSOUL]

Originally Posted by a-rock

Go to Helena's for some real Hawaiian soul food. Pipikau short ribs!

I second this. Their pipikaula is awesome.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

There are many Asians on this forum, perhaps one of them can explain to me the Asian obsession with

(or maybe that one is just hawaii?)

I think it's just Hawaii. Hawaii consumes the most Spam in the world. It's comfort food here, everyone grows up eating it. I know it's pretty much dog food all over the US, but we here love it.

Originally Posted by Xericx

It was expensive for what I got. We got little side dishes of items....I'm just more used to hawaiian food being really cheap and especially since this was "homestyle" food in a divey spot in a somewhat sketchy party of town, I thought it was overpriced and the quality was not really that good for what we got.

I've heard a lot of hype about Ono, it did not live up to it.

$13.45 for a kalua pig meal. only included these small plates....one order of kalua pig, some rice, some lomi lomi salmon, some kind of dried-type of beef (pipikalua), and some haupia (coconut gelatin dessert). honestly the only thing that stood out was the haupia. The Kalua pig was not very good, the dried rubbery beef didn't knock me off my seats either...so what was good here? Not sure. I thought it would be more comfort food....but it was very underwhelming.

I understand where you're coming from however Hawaiian food is pretty much "expensive" where ever you go. When I say expensive, I mean you can get a plate lunch for about $7.00 but if you were going to get a Hawaiian plate from the same place it would probably be about $11.00.

Ono's is pretty much a tourist trap so to be honest, I've never eaten there.

Oh, and Kapahulu isn't sketchy at all. There's a lot of great restaurants and hole in the wall shops. It's maybe a little surfer hippy, but not sketchy.

Originally Posted by lee_44106

+ soyu + two fried eggs (sunny-side up) + big heaping pile of rice = YUM

I second this as well.

Originally Posted by Xericx

If you're in Waikiki, the food is generally horrible...Eggs and Things is kind of a tourist trap but its a pretty solid breakfast and they can do the spam and portugese sausage dishes nicely. long lines though.

There's actually a lot of great places in Waikiki now!

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

Fair enough... if you didn't like it, to each his own... I think it's one of the better plate lunches available (and I like plate lunch)...

although, the former owner of Trio (Henry Adaniya) left to open a plate lunch spot in HA. Not sure where, or if it still exists. I would still say that for a sit-down lunch, $13.50 is not exorbitant.

He opened a gourmet hot dog stand near Downtown Honolulu. It's pretty good but not worth visiting for tourists I'd say.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by LeatherSOUL

He opened a gourmet hot dog stand near Downtown Honolulu. It's pretty good but not worth visiting for tourists I'd say.
I would go just because I know who he is. We met once, but I'm sure he would not remember me... I am always intrigued when someone walks away from something like Trio on his own terms. (although his last iteration w/ Dale from Top Chef was already kind of a departure from the legacy... he had said he wanted to get ketchup and mustard back on the tables)

 

[LeatherSOUL]

Here's his website (which my friend's company made!): http://www.hankshautedogs.com/

He'll be on a future Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives that was filmed a couple weeks ago.

 

[stickonatree]

haha this has turned into a food thread. i love food in general though, i feel like i should eat at least 5 meals a day while there. what's sad is that the gf eats more than i do. i've gotta fit into those SF clothes somehow...haha.

anyone wanna meet up this weekend in honolulu?

 

[JohnGalt]

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

I just ate at Alan Wong's King Street a couple of weeks ago. The service is very good, but I found the sauces and dressing were very heavy and overwhelmed the other ingredients. It was a disappointment compared to my past visits, which were a few years ago.

Interesting - I was last at Wong's a couple years ago and it was wonderful. In fact, was going to recommend dinner there in this thread.

 

[JohnGalt]

Originally Posted by stickonatree

i'll be going to honolulu soon for a few days. i like really nature-y stuff, not so much of the malls and touristy things within the city. this will be my first time.

Do you have the option to catch a flight to LIH for a couple days?

 

[zippyh]

Originally Posted by JohnGalt

Interesting - I was last at Wong's a couple years ago and it was wonderful. In fact, was going to recommend dinner there in this thread.

Wife and I ate at Alan Wong's a few weeks ago and had the tasting menu.
Other than a nasty ass green tea panna cotta, everything else was pretty good.

To the OP, sunset drinks at the Halekulani will win points with the wife/girlfriend.

 

[alexei]

There is a waterfall that people climb to the top of and dive off. I want to say it's on the southern side of the island. I can't remember the name of it. It's about a two mile hike to the waterfall. It's very popular, someone surely knows the name of it. You can climb to a small point, a medium point, or the very top and jump off. I enjoyed it. It was a nice hike.