OAHU - PART 3 - Honolulu

I think the final part of the trip had overall the best food. Starting with one of the best meals of the entire trip!!

There was a Japanese udon place just behind our hotel that we drive by everyday and there's always a long line out the door...day and night. At first we thought it was some tourist hype but then we looked up reviews online. People RAVED about it. We were getting excited reading about it. Now we HAVE to go!
Marukame Udon
2310 Kuhio Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 931-6000
- Curry Udon (Regular) $5.25~

- Plus Half Boiled Egg $0.50~

- Kamaage Udon (Regular) $3.75~ Hot udon with ginger dipping sauce. This was my fav. It was basically udon in hot water. You can really taste the flavor of the udon and appreciate its texture. The dipping sauce was perfect. Light yet full of flavor. :)

- Bukkake Udon (Regular) $3.75~

- Vegetable Tempura $1.50~
- Eggplant $1.50~
- Fried Chicken $1.50~

- Vinegar Rice & Sesame Seed $1.50~
- Squid-Ten $1.50~

- Croquette $1.50~
- Sweet Potato $1.50~
- Salmon Musubi $1.50~

First of all, they make everything in the restaurant, including the udon! You can see them rolling the dough and cooking it right as you walk in. The place is cafeteria style where you take a tray and walk down the line and pick what you want. They also make the tempura and musubis right there in front of you. Everything looked so amazing. Plus it's super cheap!! Under $4 for udon?!?! That's unheard of! It was by far the cheapest meal we had on the trip. The quality of the udon was amazing. The texture was perfect. Definitely the best udon I've ever had. The different types of tempura were tasty as well. My favorite was the fried chicken and sweet potato. I really wanted to go back again but we didn't have time. :( And the line moves super fast so definitely go check it out.

The next day we were over on the east side checking out Lanikai Beach and Sea Life Park. One of our friends had recommended a place around here. It's his one of his favorite places to eat.
Keneke's
41-685 Kalanianaole Hwy.
Waimanalo, HI 96795
http://www.kenekes.net/
(808) 259-9811
- Pork Adobo Plate Lunch $8.50~ The pork was really moist and flavorful. It was definitely better than Kalua Pig!

- Omlette with Cheese $4~

- Teriyaki Beef Sandwich $5~ It was just a meat patty with some sauce. I didn't think it was a very good deal.

- Mahi Mahi Sandwich $5~ I wanted a light lunch so I ordered this. The fish was cooked perfectly. It was a great sandwich!

- Chocolate Macadamia Nut Ice Cream $3~ This was yum! Rich and creamy and lots of macadamia nuts in there.

It was local Hawaiian fare but they had some other options as well. And it was cheaper than most other Hawaiian food places. I would say out of all the local Hawaiian food places, I liked this place the best.

For dinner, we wanted to get poke from Safeway, which was also a recommendation. No pictures. :( But the poke at Safeway is AWESOME! Especially the spicy poke. The one we got in North Shore was such crap compared to Safeway. YUMMMMM!

Down the street from Safeway was Leonard's Bakery. Malasadas!!! This place has been on my list since the beginning of my planning!
Leonard's Bakery
933 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
http://www.leonardshawaii.com/
(808) 737-5591
- 2 Cinnamon Malasadas $0.90~ each
- 2 Custard Malasada Puffs $1.25~ each
- 2 Dobash (Chocolate) Malasada Puffs $1.25~ each
- 2 Flavor of the Month (Lilikoi Custard - Yellow Passion Fruit) Malasada Puffs $1.25~ each

I totally went overboard and got 8 malasadas. They're basically like beignets or donuts...either filled or plain. I would recommend only getting what you can eat at the moment. Fresh is wayy better than a day old malasada. I liked the filled ones a lot. The plain ones were eh...like a regular donut. I really liked the passion fruit custard. You get the essence of passion fruit and it wasn't too sweet with a hint of tartness. The malasada was warm and pillowy when it first came out. Delicious! The next day... they are not as good...

We hit up a local recommendation the next day for lunch. Multiple people throughout the trip had recommended this place so we went to check it out. And apparently Man vs. Food has been here! Cool!
Helena's Hawaiian Food
1240 North School St.
Honolulu, HI 96817
http://helenashawaiianfood.com/
(808) 845-8044
- Kalua Pig & Cabbage $4~
We have to get this at every meal otherwise there are no vegetables at all!

- Short Ribs Pipikaula Style (Large) $10.40~ They are known for their short ribs. For a large order, it's not very big but I thought the flavor was pretty good. Not the best short ribs ever. But still tasty.

- Fried Butterfish Collar $4.85~
This was my favorite of the meal. I love me some butterfish. And the collar meat is always the most tender. Fried makes it even better! :P

- LauLau $4~
The pork was pretty juicy but the leaves were a little bitter.

- Haupia (comes with the meal)

This is a coconut milk based Hawaiian dessert. It's kind of like a stiff gelatin. I liked it a lot. It's light, not too sweet, and very refreshing after a heavy meal with all the salt and meat. I would say it was a better Hawaiian meal than all the other times I've had on the trip so far...

For dinner we hit up another highly recommended local Hawaiian joint. The place is tiny and normally has a line. We went pretty early so got seated immediately. It definitely LOOKS like a hole in the wall. haha.
Ono Hawaiian Foods
726 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-2275
- LauLau Plate (LauLau, Pipikaula, Lomi Salmon, Haupia, Rice) $16~
The pork laulau was a tad dry in my opinion, but they had the best leaves. It had the best flavor.

- Chicken LauLau $6.25~
This was really good. The chicken was super tender.

- Plain Butterfish (Boiled) $6.25~
Totally NOT worth the money. Tiny little pieces. Kinda bland...
- Kimchee $2~

Theirs was even better cuz it was just a tad sweeter than Helena's. I could just eat a giant block of that!

We met up with a friend of mine that goes to school in Honolulu later that night. She introduced us to this place. I'm still wondering why no one had told me about this place earlier!! It's open late and there's ALWAYS a line out the door.
Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts
1010 University Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96826
http://bubbiesicecream.gourmetfoodmall.com/
(808) 949-8984
- Chocolate Eggnog Mochi Ice Cream

- Chocolate Mint Mochi Ice Cream

- Strawberry Dark Chocolate Chip Mochi Ice Cream - 3 for $2.95~

The strawberry was by far my favorite. I liked how the mochi was really thin. They had a lot of interesting flavors. I tried guava too and that was pretty good!
- Multiple Orgasm Ice Cream Cake (Oreo, Coffee, Chocolate ice cream) $5.45~
Online reviews raved about this cake. It was pretty tasty!! You can't go wrong with 3 different layers of ice cream!

- Bubbies Navel (chocolate chip cookie sandwich with coffee ice cream and dipped in chocolate) $4~
This looked better than it was. It was kinda hard to eat and the middle of the cookie was too doughy. But still not bad. I love ice cream. haha.

Our last day in paradise.... Sigh. :(
We had a great lunch! Found a tiny little Japanese restaurant actually next to the place where we booked our surf lessons! :) It seems to be owned by an old Japanese couple. Only about 4 tables plus a small bar area. And the entire time we were there, only Japanese people came in to eat. That's a GOOD sign!
Hana No Sato
2410 Koa Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 922-9635
- Baked Ginger Pork Set (Ginger pork, salad, miso soup, rice) $6.98~
For the price, this was an amazing deal! Fresh salad, lots of pork. Good flavor and tender. Yum!

- Sea Food Bowl - Regular (Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail, Octopus, Squid, Red Snapper, Shrimp, Egg, and Fish Eggs on rice; with miso soup) $9.98~

I totally wanted sushi during this trip but never really got it, so this'll have to do. For all the different types of sashimi on top, this was also a great deal! The fish was fresh and it made me happy. :)

We ended the trip with happy hour at our hotel later that night and watched the sunset. Sigh... I sooo didn't want to go home.
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Splash Bar & Bento
120 Kaiulani Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
http://www.princess-kaiulani.com/dining/splash
(808) 922-5811
All the drinks were so colorful and pretty!
- Blue Hawaii

- Mai Tai

- Chi Chi
I've never had a Chi Chi before and it's awesome! :)

It's been a great trip. I can't wait to go back to Hawaii. Surfing is so fun!! And I just love the beach... Gotta save more money so I can take more trips!!!

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

OAHU - PART 2 - Honolulu

This next part is during the 2 days we first arrived in Oahu.

The first day we just explored around and went sightseeing. Our first local dining experience was at Ala Moana Center. A friend of mine told me that the Kalua Pig from their food court was the best. So we went to check it out!

We walked into the Makai Market Food Court at Ala Moana and there were lots of different vendors and it was pretty busy. We walked around and only noticed one place that was selling Kalua Pig so I guess that was the one she was talking about.

Poi Bowl Hawaiian Food
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
http://www.alamoanacenter.com/
(808) 949-8444
- Kalua/Lau Lau Plate (served with 2 scoops of rice & macaroni or tossed salad) $8.95~

- Side of Kalua Cabbage (small) $4.25~

First of all, I have to say that the ladies that worked there were all quite rude. They hurried people along and were very stingy. We asked for extra chopsticks and were waved away. WTF?!? She didn't even look at me...and just waved me away like I was some annoying fly or something. Not cool, old lady!! The food didn't look very appetizing. The Kalua Pig was dry, so was the pork in the LauLau. And the flavor wasn't all that great. Fail... :( The Kalua cabbage was ok though. I think that was the only good thing in the meal. I think you can totally skip the food court here...

Walking around the center, I unintentionally discovered this awesome Japanese food court in the 3rd level in front of Macy's.
Shirokiya: Specialty Food Court @ Ala Moana Center
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
http://www.alamoanacenter.com/
(808) 973-9111
- Ebi-Takoyaki (5 pieces) $3.80~ My first time having Takoyaki. It looks and smells better than it tastes. haha. The batter was wayyy to thick and heavy. Not much octopus at all. Apparently that's how it normally is.

- Andagi (red bean, custard, chocolate filling) $4.50~ It's a "Japanese" donut. I liked the custard filling the best. More like a cake donut.

- Shumai

It was pretty cool. They had all different stands and vendors all cooking and prepping ready-to-eat items. Most of the stuff are wrapped and you can just pick it up to go, or eat there. So many different Japanese foods, and they all looked sooo good. We got a few things to snack on since we didn't eat that much at the regular food court. Definitely worth going back to try more stuff!

For dinner, we were walking around all the shops and hotels by Waikiki Beach and we noticed this little ramen place with a constant line out the door. We decided to give it a try.
Ramen Nakamura
2141 Kalakaua Ave, Ste 1
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 922-7960
- House Special: Szechwan-Style Spicy Ramen (topped with fried minced pork, round onion, bean sprouts, and chili peppers) $9.50~

- Ramen Combo (Hakata ramen, small fried rice and 3 pc. gyoza) $13.90~

- Mini Ramen & Small Fried Rice Set (Shio ramen) $10.30~

It's a tiny place...maybe seats about 20-25 people at a time. But they move pretty fast. We didn't have to wait too long. For the price, you get a pretty good quantity of food. The ramen is pretty good. Not as good as Mitsuwa in LA but it was yummy. I really liked the fried rice as well. I would recommend it. :) Cash only though. Most places in Oahu seemed to be cash only...

The next day was Thanksgiving and we were making our drive up to North Shore. We planned on checking out Chinatown since it was on the way. And close to Chinatown... we hit up another great recommendation.
Liliha Bakery
515 N Kuakini St.
Honolulu, HI 96817
http://lilihabakeryhawaii.com/
(808) 531-1651
(From bottom left, clockwise)
- Green Tea Roll $1.49~
- Coco Puff (chocolate filling) $1.29~
- Mini Cream Puff (custard filling) $1.15~
- Chocolate Cream Puff (custard filling) $1.20~

They are known for their Coco Puffs. It's the chantilly frosting on top that totally makes it. I couldn't pinpoint what the flavor reminded me of. But it was pretty awesome. The puffs themselves were light and thing. Plenty of filling inside and weren't too sweet. One of the best cream puffs I've had.

Surprisingly most of the stores and restaurants were closed in Chinatown... What?? Asian people don't close on Thanksgiving?!? haha. But we walked by this dim sum restaurant and decided to get some lunch.
Yee Hong Pavilion
100 N Beretania St. Ste 101
Honolulu, HI 96817
http://yeehongpavilion.com/
(808) 524-9988
- Steamed Shrimp Dumping $2.45~
- Steamed Chives and Shrimp Dumpling $3.15~

- Steamed Pork Hash (Siu Mai) $2.45~

- Steamed Dried Scallop Dumpling $2.45~

- Gai Lan (Chinese vegetable with oyster sauce)

- Beef Flat Noodles

They didn't come around with carts and had really stopped making food since it was after lunch hours. But we were able to order what we wanted. Which is actually better cuz then we get them fresh! The dim sum was decent. The shrimp was really fresh. And it was the biggest plate of Gai Lan I've ever seen at a dim sum place. haha. Not too bad.

Fast forward through the days in North Shore and we're back in Honolulu again. YAY! :) Back to civilization! haha.

For our first dinner back, we went back to Shirokiya at Ala Moana Center. The scene at night is a little different than when we were there during lunch. All the ready-to-eat stands were closed and all the made-to-order counters were open towards the back.
Kohmen @ Shirokiya
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 973-9111
- Pig Bone Broth Ramen of Soy Sauce (full toppings) $10.95~

- plus Grilled Pork Rice Bowl (combo) $3.95~

There were 2 ramen counters. This one definitely had a longer line, plus their pictures looked better. haha. The ramen was pretty good. Again, Mitsuwa in LA is still better but the texture here I liked a lot. The grilled pork rice was pretty good too.

For dessert, I had my eyes on the crepe counter. hehe.
Crepe Harajuku @ Shirokiya
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 973-9111
- Mini Crepe (strawberry, banana, whipped cream, chocolate sauce) $3.95~

- Ice Cream Parfait (2 scoops of ice cream, pineapple, banana, whipped cream, chocolate sauce) $3.75~

The crepe was done well. It had a nice mild flavor and I liked the texture. But the ice cream parfait turned out to be a better deal. It was cheaper and had more fruits and ice cream.

So I realized I'm not a huge fan of local Hawaiian food. I mean, it's fine but I wouldn't crave it. But there's some great Japanese food here. I guess there's no surprise there. hehe. YUM! :)

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~