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When our family travels we like to eat all. the. things. It’s part of the experience for us, whether in Canada, or Malaysia, or Hawaii! Back in the day, I would research must-try restaurants and snack stops prior to every trip. A few years ago, my husband convinced me to, well, let it go, and use Yelp on the fly instead. It has worked really well for us, and it saves me time in the planning process. In regard to Hawaii, we do have some favorites that we’ve revisited. However, Yelp helped us with some new faves. Check out our best food finds on Oahu!
Grab Your FREE List of the Best Food Finds on Oahu!
From authentic Hawaiian fare to snacks and the real deal shave ice…this list has it all!
Highway Inn
We found this authentic Hawaiian food restaurant last time we were on the island, but they’ve been around since 1947. We remember there being quite a few empty seats on our last visit. This time, on a Saturday night, the place was hopping with locals, and we had a short wait for a table. It’s worth the wait though!
Kalua pig, rice, amazing mac salad, pipikaula (salted & dried beef), and the ever-present square of haupia (think coconut Jell-o Jigglers).
Or, chicken lau lau, rice, salad with lilikoi (passionfruit) dressing, pipikaula, and haupia.
No matter what you choose, it’s authentic Hawaiian eats, and it’s delicious!
Koa Pancake House
This is another place that locals love, and we found that out on a Sunday morning. The line was out the door, but it didn’t take very long to place our order and find a seat.
A quadfecta of breakfast foods…mac nut pancake, mac nut waffle, Hawaiian sweet bread French toast, and bacon!
Our list of best food finds on Oahu would truly not be complete without listing some grocery stores…yep seriously, grocery stores! We stayed in a condo, with the intent of eating (or at least preparing) the majority of our main meals there.
Foodland
Foodland was one of our main stops for groceries. The cashier even signed us up for their “locals” deals, and we saved a little money.
These amazing avocadoes were as big as my hand!
All the Hawaiian coffee!
We’re on vacation, so yeah, POG, please!
This locally grown corn was delicious grilled!
Have you ever had an “apple banana” or pink guava bread? Foodland’s got ’em!
And then there’s our favorite Hawaiian ice cream brand…Roselani. Of these three flavors, Classic Macadamia Nut was our fave.
Grab Your FREE List of the Best Food Finds on Oahu!
From authentic Hawaiian fare to snacks and the real deal shave ice…this list has it all!
Costco
Besides investing in a youth-size snorkel set, Costco also provided some of our best food finds on Oahu. It was here that we bought two kinds of fresh fish to grill, chosen from a wide selection. Costco in Hawaii also sells many flavors of macadamia nuts for a good price.
If Hawaiian sweet bread rolls are your jam, Costco has you covered with this pillowy goodness!
Costco often entices us to make some “impulse buys,” and this shopping trip was no exception. These impulse buys, however, were of the Hawaiian snack persuasion. These two items ended up being some of our favorite snack foods of our entire trip!
I had never heard of Furikake Party Mix before. It’s kinda like a Hawaiian Chex Mix. It’s a little bit sweet and a little bit seaweed. It might be an acquired taste, but I ate the majority of this giant bag in 2-week’s time!
The other impulse buy was Island Lava, which is a cookie brittle sprinkled with dried tropical fruits & macadamia nuts. Our kids were especially fond of this snack.
Matcha Green Tea Stuff!
One of the places I had scouted out prior to our trip was Matcha Cafe Maiko. Matcha is something else that is an acquired taste for some. I love it! The deep green color of Matcha Cafe Maiko’s soft serve ice cream is so lovely, and it’s taste is even lovelier! They also have locations in Fountain Valley, CA, San Francisco, and Las Vegas for those staying in the continental U.S.
We happened upon another matcha-flavored item when we were getting our milk tea fix at Teapresso (their Signature Milk Tea is amazing!). As an alternative to boba, I chose matcha crystals. They’re similar-ish to boba, except they’re green & have a slight matcha flavor. Totally unique!
Hula Pie
Duke’s Restaurants (as well as their family of restaurants, including Hula Grill) serves Hula Pie, which is a chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, toasted mac nuts, and whipped cream. It’s one of our long-time favorites, and there’s hardly anything left on the place when we’re finished with it. I had never noticed before, but they provided specially marked Hula Pie sporks for our free-for-all this time.
Banan Bowls
This was a new find for us on this trip. Dairy-free, fruity goodness in a bowl.
Grab Your FREE List of the Best Food Finds on Oahu!
From authentic Hawaiian fare to snacks and the real deal shave ice…this list has it all!
Leonard’s Malasadas
Malasadas are Portuguese donuts, and Leonard’s malasadas are the best. Like ever! We visit Leonard’s in Honolulu, as well as their Malasadamobile in Waipahu.
Why, yes! I did just take a bite of this malasada!
Shave Ice
Like, the real deal Hawaiian shave ice! We went from standard deliciousness this time to out-of-the-ordinary. It was all tasty and refreshing. Mountain Magic Shave Ice (in contrast to Magic Mountain theme park) is located right next to Leonard’s Malasadamobile in Waipahu. How handy! Malasadas and shave ice at the same time. I should confess that this has actually been our dinner a time or two!
Yelp also helped us find Ice Garden. This was our out-of-the-ordinary shave ice. From their many unique combinations, we chose this strawberry shave ice with red beans and “pudding.” Yum!
Plate Lunch
Meat, rice, macaroni salad. Plate lunch of champions. Thanks yet again to Yelp, we found M&M BBQ. It’s a hole-in-the-wall place that mainly focuses on catering, but we were glad they also have a quick-service storefront. Besides teriyaki beef and short ribs, thinly filleted and fried mahi-mahi filled our tummies. Rice is rice, and the mac salad is some of the best we’ve tasted (and we’ve tasted a lot!).
Island Vintage Coffee
This is a great addition to Ko Olina. A coffee shop was greatly needed in the Ko Olina Center/Station area. Our new favorite is their Island Latte…a latte accented with macadamia and coconut flavors. Hawaii in a coffee cup!
They even have these cute little reusable 2-drink carriers!
Grab Your FREE List of the Best Food Finds on Oahu!
From authentic Hawaiian fare to snacks and the real deal shave ice…this list has it all!
Boots & Kimo’s
Technically, it’s Boots & Kimo’s Homestyle Kitchen, but Boots & Kimo’s is just easier to say. I’m sure the entire menu is great, but we’ve only ever eaten one thing here: Banana Pancakes with Kimo’s Macadamia Nut Sauce.
Pro Tip: Avoid the long lines and wait times at Boots & Kimo’s by calling in your order to-go. Walk right past all the people waiting outside, pick up your order, and take it to one of the local beaches for a seaside breakfast (or like us, second breakfast!).
Second breakfast with Lanikai Beach in the background!
Marukame Udon & Tempura
Our flight back to the mainland was mid-afternoon, so after checking out of our lodging, we had a few hours to spare before heading to the airport. We ended up in Waikiki and took to Yelp to find a lunch place. We chose Marukame Udon (partly because it had good reviews and partly because it is near Matcha Cafe Maiko, so I could get another matcha soft serve for the road). We started walking the couple blocks to Marukame Udon, and on the way, we saw a line of people snaking down the sidewalk. Out of curiosity, we wanted to know what they were waiting for. As it turns out, it was the line for Marukame Udon. We had found our lunch destination.
The line moved quickly, and on your way to placing your order, you can actually watch the udon noodles being made. These noodles couldn’t be much fresher. You are quite possibly watching your actual udon noodles being prepared.
Flavorful is an understatement. Besides the freshly-prepared udon noodles, the soup broth is made in small batches to maximize quality. After placing your udon order, there is a large selection of tempura and other items. We chose tempura sweet potato, pumpkin, asparagus, and zucchini.
Phew! That was a lot! And to think…we ate most of our meals at the condo. This only scratches the surface of the amazing food finds on Oahu. Still dreaming of that matcha ice cream!
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Wowza! So much fabulous food and Holy AVOCADO! I love them! I’m also going to be creating a matcha ice cream recipe! Very timely. 🙂
I can’t wait to see your matcha ice cream recipe!
I live on Oahu so it was wonderful to read about your adventures! Come back!
Marukame is my favorite!
FYI, instead of orange juice, use POG in a mimosa! So ono!!!
Love it! We definitely want to make it back to Oahu some day!
Oh my goodness. I love Hawaii. Great post.