Restaurants

For three and a half days, I was a lone traveler on Oahu without a kitchen.  These are my stories.

((bong bong))

Tourist Food:

The first place I stopped at once I got out of the airport was Cheeseburger Waikiki.  It was right on my way to the hotel, and I was starving, and there was an open parking space.  A trifecta of good conditions.  It was after lunchtime, so the place was fairly empty, and I sat at the bar, and ordered an island burger.  And a locally brewed beer.  When a tourist, eat like a tourist eats.

I haz cheezburger

The bartender was friendly and patient, answering all of my first-timer questions about the beach, Diamond Head, and Pearl Harbor.  And he bought me a drink!  Now that’s a good welcome.  The burger itself, island style, was served with pineapple and teriyaki sauce.  It was tasty and satisfying, but nothing I couldn’t find at, say, Chili’s.  Also, it didn’t come with fries.  What burger doesn’t come with fries?

Shave Ice:

There is a famous shave ice place in Haliewa on the North Shore, but I did not go to that place. 

I did drive by it, but the line was out the door and down the block.  However, I did make it to Tropical Iceland at the mall in Waikiki.  A big bowl of shave ice (plain or milky) topped with fruit, topped with sorbet.  I’m told this is the Asian version of shave ice.  Although I love me a good old fashioned Hawaiian shave ice, I’m no purist.  It was delicious.

Mango shave ice

Hotel Food:

Breakfast on day two was served courtesy of Outrigger Hotels and Resorts at Kani Ka Pila Grill at the new Outrigger Reef Hotel.  For the most part the food was standard breakfast fare, but the fruit was fresh and the Filipino sausage was salty and smoky and greasy, kind of like kielbasa.  And everything was garnished with orchids, which made the presentation so much more island-y.

Sausage and orchids

Fresh fruit and orchids

Noodles:

Most of the research I did before traveling to Oahu from Los Angeles was crowd-sourcing.  I contacted friends who have been to the island more than once, enough to have favorite eateries.  I also asked Twitter while I was on the road looking for places to eat.  Two great-sounding places were Asian noodle restaurants.  The first was Yotteko-Ya, described by one foodie as “the best ramen I’ve ever had.”  I love ramen, too, but I’ve never actually ordered it in a restaurant, and I was feeling adventurous.  Good thing, because Yotteko-Ya turned out to be the most memorable place I dined in.  The pork broth-based vegetable paitan was perfect, and I had a choice of noodle texture, which was nice.  From the service to the food to the ambience, Yotteko-Ya was a delight.   I was only sad that I didn’t have time to linger, as I had stopped for a quick lunch between activities.

Vegetable paitan

I definitely looked at least two days younger afterwards.

Interior of Yotteko-Ya

On another occasion, I turned to Twitter because I had been chasing down the elusive Giovanni’s shrimp truck in Haleiwa, only to find it closed.  So with my trusty peanut gallery as a guide, I made my way into the town of Wahiawa, home of Shige’s Saimin Stand.  A local storefront restaurant, Shige’s is a no-frills, often waiting-room only eatery that specializes in two styles of the homemade noodles.  I bellied up to the counter, since there were no open tables, and I was served right away, a big hot bowl of “whatever’s good.”  I must confess I’m not sure exactly what I ordered, only that it was incredibly tasty.

Bowl of delicious, including Spam!

As a meat-eater who is not afraid of Spam, and a noodle lover, I was delighted by this enormous bowl of noodles.  I must also confess that I watched the locals eating it and tried to mimic their elegant noodle-chopstick method, but I was so hungry that I just resorted to slurping.  As daintily as possible.

Hello, says an army of waving cats

Local Food:

The noodle places can surely be considered local food, but for traditional Hawaiian fare I made my way to Kapahulu Blvd. on a Friday night to stand in line in the rain at Ono’s.   Talk about standing room only.  I hadn’t seen a crowd like that lined up in inclement weather outside a steamy, old-school restaurant since the last time I went to Sally’s Apizza at  Wooster Square in New Haven.  But the reviews and recommendations were so glowing, and I had to sample the kahlua pig, so I ordered takeout and brought the meal back to my hotel.

Maybe it was the lack of atmosphere, but I wasn’t blown away.  The pile of pork was savory but filled with gristly unidentified  animal bits, so I couldn’t finish it.  The salsa had fish in it, which I did not expect, so I skipped that. Can’t go wrong with white rice, unless you have nothing with which to flavor it, and the red sauce was too spicy.

Kahlua pork plate from Ono's

In short, maybe I’m not as adventurous as I needed to be to enjoy this meal.  Anthony Bourdain I am not.  I would go back the next time I visit Honolulu to try something else.  The one surprise was the haupia (the white square in the upper right of the box), a traditional Hawaiian dessert made with coconut milk.  It has the consistency of Jell-O, but much with just a hint of sweetness.  It was a good consolation for the rest of the plate, for me.

As far as pushing the envelope of my palate goes, I think I did pretty well on this trip.  Most of my restaurant visits were done on a completely empty stomach, so I was good and hungry and everything tasted that much better.  And of course, I did have to stoop to such ordinary fare as Denny’s and Starbucks a couple of times, but that was out of sheer necessity.  One can go to Oahu for the food alone.