We spent a week on the big island of Hawaii. It truly is paradise, as well as a throwback in time. During our time there, we had a little bit of everything - fine dining, simple eats, and old school hawaiian. Here's our recommendations:
Sam Choy's Kai Lanai
Just south of Kona, Sam Choy's serves up a modern spin on Hawaiian fare. Sam Choy is a native Hawaiian who owns restaurants on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. The restaurant sits up the hillside, with sweeping panoramic views of the Pacific. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We went for breakfast our first day here, and started off our trip right. MM ordered the loco moco, a traditional hawaiian dish, but with a Sam Choy spin with pork and served over fried rice (or as our waitress said when the options of rice, fried rice yum...)
I went with the pineapple, papaya, and macadamia nut upside down pancakes. Check out those mac nuts!! Loaded!!
We noticed this juice on several of the tables, and asked our waitress, and it is the native POG juice - papaya, orange and guava juice. This meal was a great start to our culinary adventures for the week.
We stopped in for pupus (appetizers) and mai tais later in the week (when in Rome...), and we had the brie fried wontons. Beautiful presentation and even beltter flavor.
Kona Brewing Company
Located in downtown Kona, Kona Brewing's home base is a small beer operation, as they only brew beer for kegs that are distributed throughout the Hawaiian Islands. (Anything you get in a bottle or draft on the mainland is made in Oregon, in case you were wondering...).
They do have a beautiful restaurant on premises with pupus, pizzas and pub fare. I went Hawaiian with the Kalua Pork Tacos. MM had a BBQ chicken sandwich, where the BBQ sauce was made with the brewery's Black Sand Porter and served with housemade black pepper chips.
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| Black Sand Porter BBQ Chicken Sandwich w/Housemade Black Pepper Chips |
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| Kalua Pork Tacos |
The entire menu is not really Hawaiian, but the beer makes up for it. The Pacifier IPA was my favorite, and MM enjoyed the Vanilla Thrilla Porter. They do offer brewery tours twice daily, but get there early enough to sign up - max is 15 people per tour.
Da Poke Shack
Usually we like to mix it up and only go to a restaurant once on a trip. We went here 4 times. A small storefront along Alii Drive, Da Poke Shack makes fresh daily poke bowls, as well as Huli Huli Chicken, which is a half rotisserie chicken Hawaii style. This place was always busy with people coming in and out, and we quickly learned why we would be back again. And again. And again. We actually bought some poke for the trip home, and when we ate the last of what we bought when we returned to North Carolina, we were immediately homesick for Hawaii.
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| Shack Special Poke with Crab Salad |
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| Huli Huli Chicken with Crab Salad |
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| Dynamite Poke with Avocado Aioli with Kim Chee Mussels |
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| Octopus and Kim Chee Cucumbers |
We met the owner Albert on one of our stops in, who showed us the cooler with 2 - 40lb. yellowfins he had caught that morning, and which we ate the next day.
Teshima's
An old school Japanese bento-style restaurant. The formica on the walls matched the countertops from my grandparents' house. The food is legit. Teshima, who is now 105 years old, still works and cooks in the restaurant. We were disappointed we didn't see her when we stopped in....the quality and the QUANTITY of the bento boxes were insane. I could barely finish mine...and MM had ordered extra ahi.
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| Beef Teriyaki and Shrimp Tempura w Rice, Miso Soup, Tsukemono, and Sumomono |
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| Sidecar of Sashimi Ahi |
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| Deep sea trio combo - Shrimp Tempura, Sauteed Ahi and Sashimi |
Manago Hotel
This is a locals place, but people on the hunt for top notch food will find there way here. It is an old-style hotel about 10 miles south of Kona near Captain Cook. Rooms are still available for nearly $40 a night.
The restaurant is a complete throwback to your banquet rooms. The only menu is one peg board in the middle of the room (which I did get some flack from locals when I walked over to check it out).
Prior to our meal, the sides are brought out for us to share - sesame broccoli, mixed vegetables, macaroni potato salad, and rice. I loved the rice, which was like a sushi rice, but not sticky. By far the best white rice I ever had. MM had the pork chop, which is what the Manago is known for, which was smotherered with onions. I had the butterfish, which was a little bony, but so rich and delicious.
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| Famous Pork Chop |
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| Butterfish |
The Coffee Shack
On the way from Kona to the volcano in Captain Cook, sits the Coffee Shack, surrounded by coffee plants that run right up to HI-11. Inside this small restaurant with two rooms of 10 tables each (if that...), serve breakfast, lunch and are known for their macadamia nut pies. I had the papaya special - a 1/2 papaya filled with yogurt and topped with coconut, served with scrambled eggs and a pastry, which was a papaya banana muffin. The papaya muffin was my favorite, as it was so moist, and the yogurt with coconut was great before a hike in the volcano. MM got a special - the ahi tuna eggs benedict.
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| Ahi Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise, Grilled Onions, Capers and Potatoes |
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| Papaya Special - Yogurt with pineapple and coconut in a papaya, scrambled eggs and a papaya banana muffin. |
Big Island Brewhaus and Tako Taco Taqueria
Their claim is to fame is being Hawaii's highest brewery, as they are in the town of Waimea, which stands at 2,764 feet above sea level. The restaurant is tiny and funky, but the lack of space doesn't limit the number of beers they have available - they had at least 12 different drafts available in both pint and half pints (which allowed us to sample most of the menu). My favorite was the mandarin gold, a seasonal beer made with mandarin oranges!
One would not think that mexican food in Hawaii would be good, but the food is just as good as the beer. MM had the Sloppy Jose - beef and local cabbage in a house made tortilla and house made chips. I had a chile relleno and enchilada combination. Seriously - best chile relleno I ever had. Looking at you, Bobby Flay. This was worth hour drive from Kona, and got to see some of the lush countryside of the northern side of the island.
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| Sloppy Jose |
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| Enchilada and chile relleno combination |
Brown's Beach House
Since we were celebrating an anniversary, we had to find a special place to celebrate this special occasion. About 40 minutes north of Kona on the Kohala Coast, is the Fairmont Orchid Hotel, a 4 star resort. Their signature restaurant is Brown's Beach House, which sits just along the water. We arrive for our dinner about 45 minutes prior to sundown, so we can watch the sunset from our table. We had the corner table - best table in the house. This was our view from our table:
The food was just as wonderful as the view. We started the meal with a small canape of cucumber, heirloom tomato, and goat cheese, which was presented with the breadbasket - sourdough honey wheat bread with raisins & pistachios, served with butter and a sundried tomato spread. I normally don't focus on what is in the bread basket, let alone indulge, but both the bread and the sundried tomato spread were amazing.
I started with the apple, banana and kabocha squash bisque, which was served with a banana creme and toasted mac nuts. Kabocha squash is most like a pumpkin, so the squash with the sweetness of the banana was very comforting. Would love this on a cold day, but just as good as a summer soup.
MM had the Kona coffee braised short ribs, served with grilled portabello over risotto and a Tia Maria sauce. The short rib was so tender and flavorful, and again - coffee - when in Rome.
For entrees, MM likes his steak....so he went with the filet mignon, but it was not your typical filet, as it was served with a truffle foie gras demi, alongside a Kabocha mash and organic arugula. Being huge macaroni and cheese fans, we couldn't say no to truffle, bacon, potato mac and cheese. Yes, that all was in one dish, and was delicious.
I had the osso buco served along Kabocha mash, carrots and bok choy. I am still talking about the marrow from the osso buco to this day. Best meal I had not only in Hawaii, but definitely in the top 5 in my life.
Amazingly, we still had room for dessert, and we ordered a macadamia nut snickers bar. By the sound of it, it would be extremely decadent, but it was very light and airy. This dessert was just an experiment by the head chef and drew such rave reviews when served as a special, that it was added to the menu.
The big island has so much to offer, and from what the locals told us, less of the "hustle and bustle" of the other islands. While the views, flora and scenery are memorable, the food is as well, and look forward to my return for a seat by the pool with a mai tai and a poke bowl.
