I miss my Hawaii vacation so much already!! One of my favourite parts about travelling is definitely the food. There is a huge Japanese population in the Honolulu area on the island of O’ahu. I was super excited to try some Japanese-American food, as I also miss Japan from my previous trip in May so much! Overall, my food experience was great, so it’s so hard to narrow down my favourite…so here’s five of my “I definitely will go back to” restaurants. I stayed in the Waikiki area, hence these are all the places you can find in that area (plus they’re all in close proximity to each other!)
PAIA FISH MARKET
When vacationing on an island, you know seafood got to be delicious. The fish and chips ($15.95 USD) at Paia Fish Market I had blows any fish and chips I ever had in Vancouver. You get 4 pieces of fish, fries, coleslaw salad, and homemade tartar sauce. To get a 2 piece fish and chips meal in Vancouver, expect to pay around $16-$19 (even though the exchange rate sucks, getting 4 pieces makes it worth it!) The batter was crisp and fried deliciously; while the fish (I had mai tai) was flakey. You can sit in or get take out; the atmosphere is very chill and the service was very friendly!
2299 Kūhiō Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
MUSUBI CAFE
You’re bound to find spam related dishes in many corners of Waikiki. Spam musubi is a popular to go snack/lunch, like an onigri. It is a slice of grilled spam on a block of sushi rice, wrapped with a seaweed. There’s many variations of it at Musubi Cafe, such as eel + spam musubi, radish + spam musubi, egg + spam musubi, avocado + egg + spam musubi . . . the combinations are abundant!! They average around $3 USD and I went back to Musubi Cafe a few times to get musubis to go. They’re so yummy to munch on at the beach, and I brought some with me to the airport before flying back home. SO much tastier than overpriced airport food.
2427 Kuhio Avenue (Pacific Monarch Hotel Ground Floor)
Honolulu, HI 96815
KONA COFFEE PURVEYORS
If you love coffee and pastries, the black sesame kouign amann at Kona Coffee Purveyors is 100% a must get. Then the pineapple almond coconut croissant. But I suggest going back for the black sesame kouign amann again. I have no idea what it is; I got it to eat on the plane ride and I was salivating as I was nomming on this in my cramped seat on WestJet, wishing I was back in Waikiki eating a fresh one. Even on the plane, it still maintained a buttery, flakey texture. Sadly, I do not have a clear photo of this pastry. 🙁
Oh ya, the coffee is pretty delicious too. Everything here is a tad bit pricey, but very delicious!
2330 Kalakaua Ave #160
Honolulu, HI 96815, USA
MATCHA STAND MAIKO
Omg, this little matcha store, Matcha Stand Maiko, was 2 minutes from my hotel (behind Marakume Udon) via walking and I need more of it! It definitely reminds me of Kyoto and I looked online – there will be a store opening in Vancouver too! Much excited. I ordered a medium matcha parfait and my boyfriend got an iced Hojicha, which he said it was refreshing. After I devoured my parfait, I went back for a hot Hojicha tea, because a) I am grandma for craving a hot drink after a cold dessert b) I am a grandma for drinking hot tea in 27 degree Celcius weather and c) I LOVE THIS PLACE!
The matcha parfait was the perfect size ( I actually finished it for once.) The matcha ice cream had the perfect bitterness to it and was topped with matcha powder. Underneath the ice cream was some matcha cake, corn flakes, and some kind of cubed jello. On top was two mochi balls and some kind of green bean ball (I think.) Everything just went so perfectly together and it wasn’t overly sweet! When I go back to Honolulu, this will be inside me again! Roar!
2310 Kūhiō Ave #143
Honolulu, HI 96815
MARUKAME UDON
Every night I walk by Marukame Udon, the line ups are super long. Luckily, when I arrived Honolulu around 2pm, I got to waltz into this udon shop with no lineup. It was my first meal in Honolulu. Size, portion, and price – all met my expectations! The smaller bowls is around $5-$6 USD and the large one is around $7 USD depending on which ones you order! On top of that, you can also get tempura, onigiri, and spam musubi on the side. (However, I will add the onigiri isn’t as good as Japan – too much rice, skip this!) The spam musubis were fresh and warm upon purchasing *insert drooling emoji* ! I had the special udon which was the tan tan one; which had spinach and some spiciness to it. My boyfriend had the Niku udon, which uses the traditional broth, topped with beef and onions. This was simple and flavourful. My only (slightly) negative takeaway was that the soup wasn’t hot enough for me – probably because of the time I went. Which means next time I got to go back for another hot bowl (just the lineups do get crazy!)
Bonus – Matcha Stand Maiko is behind Marukame Udon.
2310 Kūhiō Ave #124
Honolulu, HI 96815, USA
Thank you for bearing with me with my iPhone shot photos. There is abundant of amazing eats on the island of O’ahu and there are probably other infinite places I am missing that others have tried. Especially for those who love Japanese food, there is a huge Japanese population in Honolulu so the Japanese food is legit. So is the poke! If you are staying in the Waikiki area, I highly recommend checking these out and more. Oh, and definitely go for the spam + rice + eggs breakfast in McDonalds too (does anyone else like to try different Mcdonalds meals in other cities? I feel like Vancouver is so boring now in comparison!)
Waiting for my next getaway…
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