Mystery Critic

If you ever visited Hawaii and you are reading this website, chances are you were disappointed by what Hawaii has to offer in terms of cuisine.  You probably tried some of those hotel restaurants and felt like you were robbed at tiki point.

I'm not a huge fan of Hawaii but I've been there a few times (5 days in Oahu, 5 days in Maui and a day-trip to Hilo/Big Island).  I was fairly disappointed in Maui, but with the right expectation I had a reasonably fine experience in Oahu.

Rule of Thumb: Just like eating out in any big city, there are plenty of options in Honolulu.  And just like eating out in any remote resort town, you need to know what you want and where exactly to find it in the other islands.

Here's a brief summary of my experiences in Oahu, Maui and Big Island:

Oahu

Think Japanese - In Honolulu, think to Japanese, who make up the 3rd largest ethnic group and more than half of the tourists.  Decent Japanese food is found everywhere - but not all the othem are decent.  Avoid those close to the beach or heavily-touristy spots.  Look for those with Japanese (or at least Asian) guests and modest decoration.  We had an amazing ramen experience which you can read about in my ramen coverage.  There's also a great hot-food stand inside Marukai Market Place near Ward Center that offers quality bento food that you won't even find in California.  There are also izakayas and ramen houses that we wanted to but didn't have time to try.

Wanna Go Native?  Besides luau, which can be quite a disastrous gourmet experience, good native Hawaiian cuisine experience is hard to find.  Keep an open mind and try their roast pork and other meats (see section below), pupu (Hawaiian-equivalent of tapas - don't say it to a child), poke (marinated raw fish - most Asians don't like it because to them it's like wasted sashimi), and fruits (see section under Big Island).

Remember BBQ!  Similar to other tropical native culture, native Hawaiians are into BBQ.  One will very quickly find that the luau-style roast pig is not exactly daily stable, but you can find roast chicken or pork in many place including shopping center food courts.  I found the best one in Ala Moana Shopping Center called Lahaina Chicken.  It's a tiny local chain with couple other locations.  Chicken is good but roast pork is done super succulent - definitely NOT the mainland way (always dry and overcooked).

So You Are Adventurous....  Think small and far if you really want to go out of the city to have a unique gourmet experience in the countryside.  Oahu doesn't grow much, but there are many shrimp farms around the island, thus shrimp shacks and trucks have become fashionable.  We tried Romy's in North Shore and it was a great experience!  I think I cook shrimps better (BTW it's asian style shrimp), but no one can beat their freshness.  Be sure to try the marinated pineapples too - yummy!!

Yes there are grocery stores....  In Honolulu, if you stay in a condo-hotel with a kitchen, you should consider purchasing grocery and do at least breakfast.  Honolulu is a big city and you can find Safeways in the suburbs.  While there are no Safeway in or close to Waikiki (note - I read about one being build 1 mile from Waikiki beach), there is also the local chain Foodland that you can pretty easily find.  We went to one that is close to H-1.  Prices are obvious a bit higher than mainland, but it's better than having Burger King every morning.  For Asian grocery, a must-visit is Marukai Market Place near Ward Center.

SPECIAL NOTE: How can I forget CostCo.....  No not the one next to your office.  In Honolulu the CostCo has some local products, perfect for gifts at discounted price.  Even better - it has sashimi for GREAT price!  Forget those California rolls that you'd get in California - this is real stuff, so do remember to bring chopsticks, soysauce and wasabi!!

Lastly, thinking about luau?  Be Cautious!!  Read my warning note below.

Hawaii (Big Island)

Fruits!  In any island, fruit is the king.  It's not exactly like California, but the state of Hawaii still exports lots of fruits.  I'm not sure about Oahu, but at least in Big Island you'd see fruit stands even outside of Walmart, so it's easy to find great fruits in season all the time.  Besides the usual pineapple and papaya, try the other exotic fruits (not native) that you are supposed to be able to find in all islands.

Pleaseant Surprise....  I bet you've never eaten beside a dormant volcano - literally looking at the crater at the bottom of your feet.  Neither have I, so we tried this restaurant near the visitor center of Volcano National Park.  It's the restaurant in the ancient and rustic Volcano House Hotel (call me conservative, but why on earth would anyone want to stay beside a smoking crater??).  And wow, the food is actually not bad, considering it's $15 for lunch that comes with a great beef pot roast and mahi!! 

Maui

Connoiseurs Beware!  My dream is to open a restaurant here - you can cook any crap and people will come and pay $60 for a lousy dinner with a piece of dry grilled Mahi with canned mexican mango sauce.  Unless they have drastically improved their gourmet landscape in the last few years, I'd say Tony Romas is your best bet for a nice dinner there.  Having said that, there are plenty of super fancy restaurants opening up in Maui all the time, so they might be worth trying if you are prepared to unlimite dining budget.

One highlight - in the lack of other gourmet alternatives - in Maui and any other island is to load yourself up with a good buffet breakfast brunch and starve / stuff yourself with snacks for rest of the day.  I recall having a great brunch at Hyatt Regency in Maui, but I actually don't remember at which restaurant and what type of cuisine was it (I only remember the papayas and sashimi).

WARNING: MUST AVOID - Low-price or discounted luau MUST be avoided!!  I went to one in Sheraton Maui (like $80+) and one in Oahu - Germaine's ($50+ after discount).  They cannot even be compared - Sheraton was far superior!!  Both are "beachfront" luaus, but in the case of Germaine's it means no beach view, tons of mosquitos AND, worst of all, a scenic drive thru the most industrialized part of Oahu.  Germaine's food was also served like the worst outdoor cafeteria setting possible.

I don't even want to get into details on the Germaine's food because after almost two months it's still making me sick.  I was thinking, ok, they'll at least have fruits, right?  WRONG!  The only fruit we got was a 1/4 of a pineapple - to be shared amongst four people!!!

While the performance was decent (as long as someone big guy swallows fire, I'm happy), Germaine's was more a nightmare than an experience.  My wife has been to the Polynesian Culture Center luau, and I've heard good things about Paradise Cove.  Moral of the story - There are no bargains in Hawaii - you get what you pay for!!