Mike's Huli Huli ▪ Honolulu

47-525 Kamehameha Highway
Kaneohe, Hawaii
808.277.6720
website

I had read that while driving to the North Shore, we would encounter shrimp trucks. However, after grabbing a healthy lunch at Whole Foods in Kailua (Whole Foods is a bit of a big deal since we don't have many in Canada), Cee and I didn't need more food. Even though we didn't search for one, we had to pull off the highway when we saw a sign for a shrimp truck.

Mike's Huli Huli.

Getting closer to the truck, we noticed that Guy Fieri had visited. Even when we're not looking for Triple D spots, we run into them! We shared a small order of garlic shrimps. The four shrimps were very large and sat in a pool of butter. There was enough garlic to keep the vampires away for a lifetime. Some lemon slices and hot sauce accompanied the shrimps. While the shrimps were sweet and juicy, the butter overwhelmed the shrimps. So much so, that Cee could only have one, and I was left to eat the three others! You definitely have to get dirty for  these shrimps, as they are shell on. Thoughtfully, there was a sink and soap to wash your hands.

Garlic Shrimps.

If you're driving to the North Shore, it's worth a stop for a bite to eat. That's what that drive is all about anyway: stopping to look at sights, turtles, beaches, etc. If you miss it, just keep driving as we did see other shrimp trucks later on.

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar ▪ Waikiki

2552 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.931.6286
website

While researching restaurants in Hawaii, I stumbled upon a blog post featuring crab ramen at Sansei. It immediately was included on my ever growing long list of foods to try in Hawaii. Sansei is another Waikiki restaurant located in a hotel, the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort.

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.

We decided to get starters. I ordered the seared sea scallops ($10), that was accompanied by local mushrooms and a foie gras truffle sauce (double whammy!). While I'm not the biggest foie gras fan, I do love both truffle and scallops. The starter was delicious but I'm still not sold that the scallops needed such a rich sauce.

Seared Scallops.

Admittedly, I don't remember what Cee and E ordered but clearly there was big love for raw fish. It looks to me like tataki, poke and sashimi. Might as well enjoy the fresh fish while in Hawaii.

Raw fish galore.

I stuck to the dish that got me to Sansei, the Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth ($17.95). Crab ramen is always about the broth and this truffle broth did not disappoint. I also loved the noodles, the slight kick from the chili and Thai basil. My only complaint is that there could have been more snow crab; I would have been willing to pay more for it! A great twist on a classic soup!

Crab ramen.

Sansei is a fun place to eat if you're staying in Waikiki. We noticed there were tables outside, with a perfect view of all the action. The Japanese food is good and they seemed to also offer good sushi. I would definitely recommend the crab ramen.

Nico's at Pier 38 ▪ Honolulu

133 North Nimitz Highway
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.540.1377
website

Another meal inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. This time, Cee and I headed for lunch to Nico's at Pier 38, just outside Waikiki, for fresh fish. Nico's is headed by a French chef. It is set up like a large cafeteria. You order your dish and are buzzed when your food is ready. You seat yourself inside or outside.

Nico's Pier 38.

Cee was greatly disappointed that the opa fish featured on the Triple D video was not on the menu. We had to make do with ahi tuna, more specifically the furikake pan seared ahi tuna steak ($12.95). The dish came with two sides and we went the healthy route with brown rice and a salad.

Furikake pan seared ahi tuna steak.

I absolutely loved the ahi steak crusted with furikake (Japanese seaweed) and sesame seeds. The coating imparted great flavours to the fish. The ahi steak is cooked to order; mine below is probably medium rare. I also loved the dressing on the salad.

Medium rare ahi steak.

While ordering our lunch, we eyed the dessert counter which included cookies and cheesecake. While Cee went for a cookie, I had the passion fruit cheesecake that I enjoyed tremendously. The cheesecake was light and smooth, and the passion fruit topping was so, so fragrant. One might as well enjoy anything passion fruit in Hawaii!

Passion fruit cheesecake.

Nico's at Pier 38 offers fresh, local fish at affordable prices. The food was well executed and tasty. My only complaint is that I cringed when I saw that we were given styrofoam containers. This is actually discussed on Triple D as a good point "You serve fancy food in styrofoam?!" However, seeing such a large room full of diners, my environmental side really wished they used dishes.

Morimoto Waikiki ▪ Waikiki

1775 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.943.5900
website

After discovering that Iron Chef Morimoto had a restaurant in Waikiki, we decided that having dinner there would be our special treat of the trip. (As you will see in future posts, this clearly did not prevent us from splurging further.) After making the reservation, we kept wondering exactly where the restaurant was located while walking around Waikiki. We then realized that it was right across from the condo building where we were staying! Not just that, but there was an overpass on the second floor that led us straight to the restaurant, which is lodged at the bottom of The Modern Honolulu.

Morimoto Waikiki.

Upon our seating, I glanced over to the sushi bar; lo and behold, Iron Chef Morimoto himself was behind the counter making sushi. I told Cee and E, and we are all beyond excited. We inquired with our very friendly and knowledgeable server if we could take pictures with him. She informed us that he was in town for the Hawai'i Food and Wine Festival and that we could definitely approach him for a picture if we saw him walking around. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to take a picture but were so psyched to see him, that we all ordered the Morimoto Omakase, the tasting menu ($120). E and Cee even got the wine accompaniment.

Dining Room.

I wasn't so sure about the tasting menu because I was worried it would all be raw fish, but upon hearing the dishes that were included, I was on board too. The first course was a red and white tartare (toro and hamachi), served in a small recessed plank. In the middle were the condiments: sweet nori, sour cream, wasabi, sweet Maui onion, Morimoto guacamole and rice crakers. We were provided a tool to scrape the fish and were encouraged to drag it across all of the ingredients, then dip the fish in soy sauce. Cee mentioned that she saw a similar dish on Iron Chef. It was a fun and interactive dish. My favourite was the rice cracker balls, even though it was hard for them to stay put. I unfortunately lost a lot of them in the soy sauce.

Toro and Hamachi Tartare.

The second course was a hot seared carpaccio of Kampachi with hot oil, ginger and yuzu soy. The fish was seared but still raw. I think I'm learning to enjoy raw fish, and a bit of sear really helps!

Hot seared carpaccio.

The third course was one of my favourites: a deconstructed bagna càuda salad. A bagna càuda is a hot dip that consists of olive oil, anchovy and garlic. It was served with beautifully coloured local vegetables, blanched rapini and pieces of focaccia. I loved the playfulness of the dish and also the way it looked aesthetically. Dipping the vegetables in the dip with was such a delight. The dip was savoury from the anchovies, garlicky and so smooth. This is definitely my kind of dip and I would love to replicate this.

Bagna càuda.

The fourth course was foie gras chawan mushi, an egg and foie gras custard topped with dashi and duck. The custard was beautifully silky and creamy. I loved the dashi running through the custard, adding a savoury note. There were two thin pieces of duck in case foie gras wasn't decadent enough!

Foie gras chawan mushi.

The fifth course was the sashimi course which include five pieces of fish. I noted down that there were tuna, local moi fish, sea eel and I'm missing two other fish. With my hesitation when it comes to raw fish, this wasn't my favourite dish, which I realize is completely sacrilegious at a Japanese restaurant in Hawaii.

Sashimi.

The sixth course was the surf and turf which consisted of lobster, Kobe beef and pork. The lobster was seasoned with Morimoto 7 spice. The spice was very flavourful with a good kick of heat; this was no bland lobster. The Kobe beef with ginger was so tender and juicy... yum! The pork loin as topped with macadamia nuts. I loved the Maui onion confit that accompanied this dish. I cleaned my plate even though I was completely stuffed!

 

Surf and Turf: lobster, pork and beef.

We made it to the dessert course, which was a squash soufflé, with a sweetened zucchini ribbon and Okinawan sweet potato ice cream. I really liked the mixture of unexpected ingredients in dessert form. Inside the soufflé was a sweet filling (of beans?). It was the perfect way to end the meal on a light note.

Squash soufflé.

Morimoto Waikiki is the perfect spot for a special meal while you're on holidays. If you don't know what to order,ordering the tasting menu is a good choice as you get to sample a wide array of dishes. It was definitely one of the highlights of my Hawaii trip.

Rainbow Drive-In ▪ Honolulu

3308 Kanaina Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.737.0177
website

Cee and I are big fans of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, so we did some of our Hawaii food research by watching clips of Oahu restaurants. Our first triple D spot was Rainbow Drive-In, just east of Waikiki.

Rainbow Drive-In.

Rainbow Drive-In is known for their loco moco, so Cee and I decided we had to try it out. Loco moco is a Hawaiian dish made up of white rice, a burger patty, a fried egg and all of it doused with a gravy. The episode of Triple D shows all of the many ingredients that go into the special gravy, including Asian influenced ingredients such as dried shrimps.

Loco moco.

Both Cee and I wanted to try the dish but were glad that there was a small portion offered, a loco moco bowl ($3.95), because we weren't sure we would like it. It was a very saucy bowl; one couldn't even see the rice or patty. I dug up the thin patty in the picture below.

Beef patty in loco moco.

It was good enough, maybe a bit too much gravy for my liking. Did it win me over? Not quite. Am I glad I got to try a Hawaiian staple at a reknown drive-in? Definitely!

Molokai Drive-Inn ▪ Molokai Island

15 Kamoi St
Kaunakakai, Hawaii
808.553.5655

For our last meal on Molokai Island, our choices were pretty slim on Labour Day. We ended up grabbing a quick dinner at Molokai Drive-Inn (where we were offered something-something while waiting for our food). Not sure if this restaurant would technically be considered a drive-in but it was definitely a diner/dive!

 Molokai Drive-Inn.

Wanting something slightly healthy, I ordered the fried saimin with vegetables. Unbeknownst to me, the saimin also had small pieces of Spam. Well, where else should you have Span but in Hawaii? The simple noodles were accompanied by pieces of cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and eggs. The Spam actually added a nice bit of saltiness to the dish.

Fried saimin.

Cee was still obsessed with fried chicken after the katsu that we had. While it was no katsu, she greatly enjoyed her crispy chicken with a side of salad and rice.

Fried chicken.

The food was just as expected at Molokai Drive-Inn. Simple, inexpensive, no fuss and will fill you up.

Kamoi Snack-n-Go ▪ Molokai Island

28 Kamoi Street
Kaunakakai, Hawaii
808.553.3742 

On Labour Day, we went searching for ice cream. Not much was open but we did discover Kamoi Snack-n-Go.

Kamoi Snack-n-Go.

Not only was the ice cream served at Kamoi Snack-n-Go so, so tasty but we stumbled in when they were having a promotion: 1 scoop, 2nd scoop free. How can you say no to that? This allowed us to taste more of the flavours on hand. Kamoi serves Dave's Hawaiian ice cream, which manufactures local flavours.

Dave's Hawaiian ice cream.

I decided to stick to the local flavours. I ordered a scoop of Kona coffee, and another of chocolate macadamia. While both were good, the chocolate macadamia was my absolute favourite. It was chocolatey with generous chunks of macadamia nuts.

Kona Coffee and Chocolate Macadamia Nut Ice Cream Scoops.

The ice cream was so, so good that we decided to go once again that very night before we had to head back to Oahu the next day. If you visit Hawaii, find a place that sells Dave's Hawaiian Ice Cream, and try out some Hawaiian ice cream!