Aloha Honolulu Restaurant Highlights!

🏝️ From fun to fancy, where and what I ate on my January 2024 trip to the island

Hello! Hello!

Hope your week went well. Two items before jumping into Honolulu eating.

Thanks to many of you, the Ever-Green Vietnamese herb tote bags sold out in 8 hours on Tuesday. I shipped them all so they’re making their around the country.

This coming Tuesday, I’ll be teaching a virtual cooking class with Milk Street Kitchen. Hundreds of people have already signed up. 😊 If you haven’t registered for the flexitarian class (you can make steamed banh mi with or without meat!), here are event details, including discount codes for PTFS subscribers.

Honolulu Restaurant Highlights

Judging from my recent report on grocery shopping in Hawaii, you may wonder, “Does Andrea only spend her time grocery shopping and cooking ?” Not really. We do go out to restaurants. I always have a little hit list wherever I go.

Kauai didn’t have many dining options for us but Honolulu was full of opportunities. There are food trucks galore but we stuck to sit down spots for comfort and leisurely eating. Where and what we enjoyed most:

Lunch for a Cause: Waioli Kitchen and Bake Shop

Tucked into a serene residential neighborhood is a Salvation Army mini campus dedicated to offering job training to people recovering from substance abuse. Originally opened in 1922 as The Waioli Tea Room, the Waioli Kitchen and Bake Shop is a place for friends to gather for healthy food and long conversations.

On the day we lunched in the sprawling craftsman style building, a group of ladies celebrated a birthday. A man dined alone, reading a book. John, me and my husband Rory were just chilling. The food is simple and good. We enjoyed the BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) sandwich, arugula and beet salad, bacon hapa fried rice (made with a 50/50 combo of brown and white rice), and curry chicken salad in 1/2 a papaya. I bought a loaf of multigrain bread for our breakfast. The setting is relaxing and away from the Honolulu buzz. John chose Waioli Kitchen and Bake Shop to introduce us to a different side of the city. It’s low key, un-hip, un-touristy Honolulu.

Maserati Sushi enCounter: Amaterasu Sushi

Honolulu is busting with sushi options and I’d read a Wall Street Journal story about hidden sushi spots for those in the know. My sister mentioned eating sushi in a car dealership so I poked around and landed on Amaterasu Sushi, a six-seat counter in a Maserati car dealership, located in Velocity Honolulu (a luxe lifestyle shopping hub where you can check out cars and high-end boutiques).

Amaterasu Sushi sits quietly in one small corner of the Maserati area (enter through Artizen). Getting a seat means making a reservation. There’s only omakase (set menu determined by the chef daily) and it’s wonderfully delicious and intimate.

Lunch was $79 per person plus tax and gratuity. The fish is fresh, flown in from Japan or locally harvested in Hawaii. Hideo Omiya, the skilled Japanese chef, cooked in Florida and San Francisco. He prepared the meal with thoughtfulness, intention, and delicacy. Each sushi morsel was perfectly sized, like what I had in Tokyo long ago. The bite-size gems weren’t too big with a modest amount of well prepared rice and gorgeous seafood.

You’re seated just a few feet away from Omiya so there’s a bonus sushi making lesson. The other diners included a Japanese woman who shared that she is a server at Sushi Sho, one of the fanciest and best sushi spots in Honolulu. “I work there, but I come here to eat,” she said. I knew we were in the right place.

Amaterasu is a pop-up so who knows how long it’ll be there. Keep Omiya’s name in mind and the Maserati dealership location too for your next time in Honolulu. We parked on the street by the music center.

Local Fix: Mud Hen Water

My friend John knew that I wanted to explore local ingredients so he reserved us a table at Mud Hen Water. The restaurant prepares casual-nice, modern dishes using ingredients such as kahala (Hawaian yellowtail), pohole (fiddlehead fern) and ulu (breadfruit). Pasta and polenta were respectively served with local venison ragu and meatballs featuring local veal and pork. Named a best dish by the New York Times, the chicken long rice curry croquettes were on every table. I thought they were alright but not as exciting as the other dishes. There were a number of vegan options, including an unusual type of tofu made with peanuts.

There’s a positive vibe at Mud Hen Water, which is located in Kaimuki, a historic neighborhood, John pointed out. There are lots of hip small shops but also empty storefronts waiting to be turned into something vibrant. Old timey Okata Bento dishes up plate lunches with Hawaiian laidback charm (their signage above) and the 2024 James Beard nominee Breadshop are on my list for the next visit.

If you have restaurant tips, please share them below!

Splurge with a Classic: Azure at Royal Hawaiian

John treated us to a special sunset dinner at Azure, located in the iconic Royal Hawaiian hotel on Wakiki beach. You can just valet park and have a drink at the bar but the tasting menu at the restaurant is swankier. John reserved a prime cabana-like table right by the sand. His partner, Mike, had just flown in from the mainland so it was a nice welcome home event.

With Diamond Head in the background and the sea and sand right there, the experience at “The Pink Palace” was classic Honolulu. Now owned by Marriott, the Royal Hawaiian is well maintained with friendly, professional service.

Azure’s tasting menu ($130 per person) was designed by a Japanese chef, the waiter told us. It’s available in Japanese and English so the hotel knows its clientele. I opted for the scallop and yellowtail and they were well executed by chef Danny Chew and team.

The beverage options are pricey so instead of ordering cocktails or wine by the glass, we chose a bottle of rosé to pair well with all the savories. Built in 1927 to facilitate Honolulu’s tourism boom, the Royal Hawaiian is historic and at the center of Wakiki Beach’s transformation. It’s worth spending time at, if only for a drink at the Mai Tai bar. (The hotel offers free validated parking for 4 hours. 😉 )

Modern Vietnamese Hawaiian: The Pig and the Lady

Hawaii is about melding global traditions with local sensibilities. Native, Filipino and Japanese culture dominate much of the island Asian food landscape. But, the Le family behind The Pig and the Lady (PL) have built a vibrant, hospitable and delicious experience to showcase Viet foodways.

Founder and chef Andrew Le was born and raised in Honolulu. His food presents traditions from his mom, Loan Le (the Lady) alongside what stimulates him and his crew, which includes his brother, Alex, who runs PL’s front of the house. They run a smooth operation. The Le family has multiple PL operations at Honolulu farmers markets plus an outpost in Tokyo.

We sampled about a quarter to a third of the menu. I particularly enjoyed the clever playfulness of dishes like the canh chua shrimp cocktail, venison tartare with laughing cow grilled cheese sandwich, smoked beef tongue banh xeo with a mustard nuoc cham, and escargot in puff pastry. The Hokkaido scallop played up local ingredients like seaweed, which I adore for its piscine flavor. The bò kho (star anise beef stew) pappardelle was very creative and reminded me of a recipe that I want to share with you soon.

The Le brothers and staff showed us a terrific time. They said former President Barack Obama and his daughters recently came for dinner (there is a private dining room upstairs) and then I showed up. They included me among their highlights. 😊 I was happy to personally thank the kitchen staff for the meal. 🤙

Make a reservation at PL because on a Tuesday night in January, the restaurant was fully booked and turning people away. We parked in a lot nearby. Chinatown, like other Honolulu neighborhoods, has homelessness. At night, things can seem sketchy but we had no issues coming and going to our car.

This week, the James Beard Foundation included The Pig and the Lady among the region’s 2024 semifinalist contenders for best restaurant. Given that, remember to book in advance. And when you go, do not miss visiting their bathroom, which is decorated in an unusually entertaining way.

That was a lot of food to try during our seven-day visit but we took lots of walks and ate family style to share dishes. I only had to go on a mini diet afterwards.

🐲 The Year of the Dragon starts on Saturday, February 10 so mark your calendars!