hawaii food

Of course, no travel is complete without a discussion, with photos, of the food consumed while on this brief holiday. Waikiki beach is full of eating opportunities that mirror its ethnic diversity. With the hordes of Japanese tourists present, I suspect, at all times of the year, there are a large number of Japanese restaurants, and snacks available at the local grocery stores. We drank plenty of iced green tea in a can, and I even had fresh mochi - last time I had some of this was on the San Francisco trip about a year ago. I also acknowledge that there is a significant Japanese resident population in Oahu that likely contributes to the Japanese content in the stores.

The food highlights of the trip were ramen, malasadas, ahi poke, and a very intriguing burger. The day after we arrived, after we toured another part of the island, we stopped into the grocery store. In addition to buying some really tasty bananas and pineapple, we stopped at the fish counter and bought some ahi poke by the pound. We first encounterd this stuff in Maui at the sushi place (remember the stack of plates??). The fish counter had at least 4 different types of it; the one I selected had the usual sesame oil, but also had green onions and seaweed. One small container cost me 3.00 and lasted two days as an afternoon snack (maybe with a glass of red wine). This is also the place I bought the mochi.

On Corey's previous visit, he and Andrew had noticed this bakery, called Leon's, famous for maladas and their near constant line up (which discouraged them from going in). When we passed it, early on Friday morning, it was quiet, so we went in. Since the continually make the Portuguese doughnuts, they were fresh (actually, they were warm). They make plain ones (with cinnamon or plain sugar coating), or malasada puffs, with custard (coconut, pineapple, chocolate or plain). How could we really determine if they were good or not if we only had a small sample? In the name of science, we ordered a half dozen. I think we can safely say that they were really good. Good enough to go back for another half dozen a day later.
Perhaps the most astounding food discovery of the entire trip was the Dick Butkus burger. I spotted it on the menu and thought that it might be a bit strange (and since I also don't really eat burgers unless Corey or I make them ), I thought "why would anyone put peanut butter on a burger??" I did wonder a bit about what he was thinking, when Corey went ahead and ordered it. When it arrived it smelled really good. It tasted even better. It tasted so good, that I may even do it at home next time we make burgers. I would encourage you to make it your "new thing I tried in 2006." In case you don't know, brother tells me that Mr Butkus played for the Bears some years ago- however, I don't know if he was a peanut butter fan.