A Week In Oahu
So this is not exactly a recipe but a food-centric post. I recently spent a week in Oahu for my honeymoon and loved it. I wanted to remember where we went and what we ate so I decided to create this post.
We stayed at the Hilton Waikiki Beach which was super convenient and a 5 min walk to the beach. We parked across the street at the Waikiki Banyan Center with in/out privileges for only $80 (so much better than hotel valet parking). This hotel was super central, we were able to walk to almost everything in Waikiki and very convenient! We upgraded to the ocean view and it was totally worth it! It was a nice (enough), standard Hilton. It wasn’t anything special but gave us everything we need in terms of beach towels, yoga mats, free bottled water and sodas, water refill station, and 24/7 restaurant.
Overall it was a great trip - we wanted more time there! Husband was very cranky though so only really enjoyed the second half of the trip but I was still very happy.
Flew into Hawaii - Husband had several drinks on the plane and got a little tipsy. Our plane was stuck on the tarmac for an hour so our schedule was pushed behind. We finally checked into the hotel around 4PM and walked around. We were supposed to do the sunset cruise that night but missed it. Instead, we walked about 5 miles around the Waikiki strip and stores. We also walked to the Ala Moana Center for dinner.
Lunch: jack in the box tacos in the car
Dinner: Shirokiya Japan Village Walk at Ala Moana Center - there were dozens of vendors. We tried katsu curry and ramen from Ono-ya. It was delicious! But nothing out of the ordinary. It was cool to see all the Japanese vendors clustered in one location though.
Dessert: We got boba at some place we passed in Ala Moana Center which was very good!
Day 2:
Woke up at 4AM since I’m still on Chicago time. We got some food and drove out to Kauloa Ranch for zip lining. The Ranch is beautiful, the valleys are absolutely breathtaking. I tried to book ATVing earlier but they were booked out 2-3 months in advance. The Zip lining itself is not as cool as what we did in Costa Rica but the views are insanely beautiful.
After zip lining, we got a snack at Leonard’s, which is this Portuguese bakery known for its masaladas. It was great! Filled with asian tourists. We hung out at the hotel pool and hot tub since we were too exhausted to go anywhere. Afterwards, I passed out by 7:30 PM that evening.
Breakfast: Fook Lam Dim Sum in Chinatown - actually very great dim sum, I was surprised by the quality!
Dinner: We had an early dinner at Fresh Catch (recommended by our friend Rachel). We ordered the ahi tuna katsu and the seared ahi. The portion for the ahi tuna katsu was HUGE, a little heavy but delicious. It can easily feed 2 people, and the tuna was done exceptionally well. The seared ahi was delicious as well. I’d come back for the ahi tuna katsu and to try their poke but not worth making a special trip out of.
Snack: Leonard’s donuts - famous and very cheap. I ordered several, but the only ones I truly liked were the Cinnamon Sugar and the Custard Cream one. It’s worth visiting if you’re in the area.
Day 3:
We spent this day roaming around Waikiki Beach. We had our time share presentation at Hilton which lasted 2 hours, then had a luau scheduled but skipped out on it due to the poor reviews.
On our walk back, we stumbled upon a Farmer’s market and bought some fresh pineapple (amazing!) and mango (not bad, not great). We also got a fresh coconut and some sugar cane juice, they were pretty good!
We were super tired from the time change so just spent the night in watching Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Breakfast: I ate leftover Leonard’s donut as husband slept. Still good the day after.
Lunch: Tonkatsu Ginza Barin - arguably one of our best meals this trip. Husband got the chicken katsu curry and the katsu was cooked to perfection, the curry was pretty good but nothing to write home about. It was a well balanced meal that came with a salad and soup. Service was excellent. I also got the chicken katsu sandwich by a recommendation from a nearby person eating there and was blown away by the quality and taste. Definitely recommend coming back to this place and ordering the katsu sandwich and katsu curry. They are known for their fancy pork loin curry but that was nearly $40 when the chicken version was $15. Since I don’t love pork, we opted for chicken and were very happy with it. I’d return to try the pork loin curry. We went for lunch when there was no line but I heard it can be bad during nights.
Dinner: Maguro Brothers - opens at 5:30 and the line starts forming even before that. I would recommend getting there a little bit early to avoid a massive wait. Husband ordered the salmon don with a side of uni, I ordered the Chu-toro with a side of scallop. The fish chunks were HUGE and the side of uni was very large. I usually don’t like Chu-toro but it was great here, huge chunks and not fishy at all. The scallop was subpar, a little chewy. I would recommend this place for a quality sushi bowl with large portions.
Day 4:
We woke up at 3:30AM because husband promised the most beautiful sunrise hike. We hiked the Pillbox hike in the dark, which was very cool. It has a steep incline, overall took about 1.5 hours and has an amazing morning view. However, the sunrise was behind the mountains and not directly over the ocean but the view was great nonetheless. We found pretty easy parking in the residential areas.
After the hike, we went to get breakfast nearby and then returned for Lanikae Beach, which is one of the prettiest beaches in the world. It isn’t as crowded as Waikiki which I preferred and the ocean is calmer. Husband did prefer Waikiki Beach to Lanikae because he thought the sand was softer and like the busier vibe of Waikiki.
We returned to our hotel and then decided to hit up Waikiki Beach. Husband did a last minute 1.5 hr surf lesson. We called multiple places on yelp and they were booked, but found a place called Moku Hawaii and they were able to take him at that instant. It was a short 5 minute walk from where we were. It was a tad pricy, unfortunately I didn’t see the Groupon pricing later ($60 for an hr) so we slightly overpaid. However, husband was very happy with his 1 on 1 lesson, his instructor was a former pro-surfer too!
After the lesson, we went on a BYOB sunset cruise with Mana Kai Catamaran. It was pretty nice! Not really worth the money but since they screwed up our reservation, they comped our ride so it was free.
Breakfast: Cinnamon’s which was a nearby 10 minute drive. Husband ordered the loco moco with hamburger patty and I got the guava pancakes. Husband thought it was the best pancakes he’s ever had. Definitely delicious.
Snack: Musubi Cafe
Lunch: We went to Island Vintage Cafe with every intention of getting an açaí bowl but saw other people with this Garlic Shrimp so instead got the Jumbo Garlic Shrimp. It was phenomenal! Came with a salad as well - probably the best shrimp we had this trip. It was a little pricy but honestly for what we got in terms of size, amount, and quality of shrimp it was worth it. I think this had a *slight* edge to Giovanni’s shrimp truck place. We also got an island latte which was delicious!
Dinner: We were EXHAUSTEd so had dinner at our hotel restaurant called Mac 24/7. Husband ordered the wagyu burger which was overcooked (only way they cook it) and it wasn’t very good. I got the ahi tuna appetizer with taro chips which were delicious. We also ordered a fried shrimp and calamari appetizer, and it was incredibly fresh.
Day 5:
This was our North Shore day. We drove an hour out to North Shore - the drive itself was really cool because it is a different vibe in Hawaii. We did stand up paddle boarding into a little river and saw turtles! Definitely super cool and worth doing. We initially were going to do a well rated company I found on Groupon (Sea Board & Surf) but they weren’t there that day so we found a random truck (808 SUP) and they were great. They gave us a board rental with 20 minute lessons.
After seeing the turtles, the husband was on a nature high so we decided (last minute) to come to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling. You can rent snorkels on the beach, we did get there pretty late and by the time we got our gear, it was 4PM. The rental shop closed at 4:45 but we were still able to see a bunch of fish. Definitely the best snorkeling I’ve done, but husband did get a little seasick and nauseous so had to take some zofran. He was happy we only had 45 minutes there because I don’t think he could have tolerated much more.
Breakfast: Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. We got there early, about 15 minutes before it opened at by 10:30 there was a HUGE line. Again, these asian tourists. Definitely pays to get there a few minutes early. Ordered the full size Garlic Shrimp and the half size Spicy Shrimp. The Garlic shrimp was great - very cheap for what you get, however I thought the garlic shrimp from Island Vintage Cafe was slightly better as the shrimp was larger, juicer, and the seasoning was *slightly* more what I like. The spicy shrimp was not as good - can be passed.
Dessert: Matsumoto Shaved Ice - down the road from Giovanni’s. Ordered the guava, illokai (passionfruit), and yuzu with condensed milk - OMG so good. Ordered the small and it was HUGE. Got the mochi balls as toppings but not that impressed when them (or I’m not a huge fan of mochi balls).
Lunch: Original acai bowl and Hawaiian Honey Latte from Island Vintage Coffee. Husband said it was the best açaí bowl he’s had on the island. It was a great texture and the açaí wasn’t too sweet, the fruit was incredibly fresh as well. Definitely delicious.
Dinner: Sushi Murayama - we got the $75 omakese which came with 8 pieces. It was incredibly fresh and the sushi cuts were HUGE. Honestly, we probably could have shared one omakese. Afterwards, the chef laughed and said his 8 cut pieces were equivalent to 14 pieces at other places. We also ordered the Miso Butterfish, which was probably way too much food. I almost barfed from being too full. The miso butterfish was incredibly flaky and soft, cooked to perfection but the marinade was just okay - I feel like I’ve had better and have made better miso fish at home.
Day 6:
We grabbed some takeout from Musubi Cafe for the plane ride back and got a bottle of musubi sauce for my sister. We got some coffee at Kai Coffee inside the Hyatt Center. It was good coffee.
Some places we didn’t get to try but wanted to:
Ono Seafood
Aloha Kitchen - for the soufflé pancakes
Maragume Udon
Mitsuwa - mainly to check out
Rainbow Drive in
Helena’s Hawaiian Food
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