Eating Oahu

I love food. I mean, who doesn’t? So to me, traveling means getting my fill on local grub and exploring the culinary hotspots. My first post about our trip to Oahu is rightfully dedicated to food. This is truly the first trip that we took that we had pretty clear ideas on what we must and want to try to eat.

Oahu’s food scene is incredible. At the height of Oahu’s plantation days, laborers from China, Japan, Russia, Korea, Puerto Rico, Portugal, and the Philippines brought with them their unique culinary traditions, thus resulting in a very diverse food culture. Having grown up in the Philippines, I was looking forward to the flavors that one can only naturally enjoy in the tropics like guava, coconut, mango, and pineapple.

So here are some photos from our gastronomical adventures while visiting the island of Oahu:

Malasadas from Leonard’s Bakery: soft and squishy fried donuts brought to the island by the Portuguese

Chirashi Bowl at Morimoto Waikiki: like having a party of the freshest fish in a bowl. AMAZING Iron Chef quality.

The town of Kahuku at the northern end the island is known for their shrimp farms. They grow all the shrimp and supply all of Oahu’s restaurants. Shrimp trucks and shacks have boomed in recent years, and based on our research, we had to stop and try the famous garlic butter shrimp.

Butter Garlic Shrimp from Romy’s Shrimp Shack served with spicy shoyu. I’m drooling right now as I write just looking at this photo.

Another North Shore establishment is Ted’s Bakery. Apart from their amazing baked goods, they also serve some legit local faves.

Loco Moco at Ted’s Bakery: a hamburger patty on a bed of rice topped with a fried egg then slathered with savory gravy. Ono!

Guava Smoothie at Ted’s Bakery: no doubt about it — guava flavor through and through!

Chocolate Haupia Pie at Ted’s Bakery: I’m not the biggest pie fan, but this one is out of this world! These layers of heaven is comprised of chocolate, coconut pudding, and whipped cream. You owe it to yourself to have a slice… or have the whole pie! Photo courtesy of Foodspotting.

In Hawaii, small plates and appetizers are what they call pupus. I know, right? You might question the edibility since it sounds like something you would find in the toilet. But hey, don’t worry, when someone mentions bringing you a pupu platter; it is a tray of Hawaiian style hors d’oeuvres. Here’s a couple of pupu photos. 😉

Panko-breaded Calamari Steak at Lei Lei’s Bar & Grill: it’s like calamari katsu served with tangy and mildly spicy cocktail sauce.

Ahi Poke at Lei Lei’s Bar & Grill: it’s melt-in-your mouth, lightly seasoned ahi tuna. WANT!

After a long day of beach bumming, there’s nothing like a giant helping of Shave Ice. It’s the Hawaiian take of  snow cones. We went to Matsumoto’s General Store, a North Shore institution famous for their shave ice. Although we heard that Aoki’s, which is spitting distance from Matsumoto’s, is also comparably good.

Stuart and his Rainbow shave ice. — Yes, I had to make fun of his choice. It’s actually a cocktail of strawberry, lemon, and pineapple.

This is my shave ice from Matsumoto’s, which I believe has passion fruit, lilikoi, and guava flavors. Quite festive and yummy!

SPAM and rice for breakfast is a Hawaiian thing, and we love it. We admittedly were excited to go back to a place where the local McDonald’s has rice, SPAM, and eggs in the breakfast menu. (Don’t judge!) Of course, we didn’t have that every morning for breakfast. I knew I had to have some breakfast staple with a Hawaiian twist to it: Macadamia Nut French Toast.

Macadamia Nut French Toast: warm and rich french toast sprinkled with toasted macadamia nuts.

Let’s not forget the fruit stands peppered around the island. While on the North Shore, I made my husband stop by one, so I could buy some fresh mango, pineapples, and star apples.

Kahuku Land Farms Fruit Stand: Wished I had multiple stomachs. Being there sent me back to my childhood visiting my grandparents’ farm in the summer time.

And these are what I got: a mango, three star apples (known as kaimito in the Philippines), and pineapple.

I apologize for the photo quality. All of these were taken with my iPhone. Some of them I left out for this post because they were too blurry and wouldn’t give the food any sort of justice. But as you can see, Stuart and I ate our way around the island of Oahu, and we are quite pleased with the damage we’ve done. 🙂 Every time we think of this trip, remembering all the great food we had always brings smiles to our faces. Mahalo!