In early February I wrote a post called Kauai Hawaii - Part One: Adventures. Megan and I had just returned from an amazing six day adventure to Kauai, Hawaii and in that post I talked about some of the cool things we experienced. As I was writing that post I realized that it would have been double the length if I had included all of the amazing food we tried. I quickly concluded that I would need to write a new post devoted solely to the food we experienced. Here is my attempt at reliving the meals we enjoyed the most.
Kauai Food
In Kauai, there are a diverse set of restaurants ranging in style, price, and ambiance. There wasn’t a restaurant that we didn’t enjoy but some stood out as our favorites. When I say that writing this post was very difficult, I mean it. It even caused a little writer’s block as I didn’t want to decide on my favorite spots for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. With that being said, here is how I’m currently feeling 🙈.
Favorite Breakfast Spot
In my opinion, choosing the Tip Top Motel, Cafe, and Bakery as the number one breakfast spot was the easiest choice. This spot has been around for 107 years (as of writing this blog post) and was originally founded by a plantation manager named Denjiro Ota in 1916! It’s an unassuming hole-in-the-wall attached to a motel and has both charm and character. I shit you not, this place had two of my favorite dishes that I had on the entire trip.
The first is their homemade banana macnut pancakes. This recipe was created by the son of Denjiro named Mitchell after he took over the business in 1925. To this day, they still serve the same recipe.
The second is their oxetail soup. This dish had a incredible mix of flavors. The oxtail was tender, fresh, and delicious.
Favorite Lunch Spot
Our favorite lunch spot had a little more competition than our favorite breakfast spot. The Koloa Fish Market came out ahead by a thread. This spot boasts the best poke bowls I’ve had in my life. Founded by the Matsuoka family 25 years ago right after Hurricane Iniki, you can tell they really care about quality. The location is off of Poipu Road and is a simple walk-up counter. They have a great selection of ahi tuna, salmon, marlin, and shrimp poke. Below is my ahi tuna poke bowl with edamame, ginger, ocean salad, and cucumber. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
Favorite Snack Spot
When we weren’t eating meals like breakfast and dinner, we were eating snacks! Kauai Kookie was my favorite go-to snack on the island. Founded in 1965 by Mabel Hashisaka with humble begginings, the business now bakes around 50,000 cookies and specialty items every single day! That’s a lot of goodies… My personal favorite was the OG Chocolate Chip Macadamia and the Kona Coffee Shortbread!
Favorite Dinner Spot
The last on our list of favorites was Tidepools at the Grand Hyatt Resort. To start, this resort was insanely huge and impressive. It reminded me a lot of a Las Vegas resort where you have everything you’d ever need for an incredible vacation all on the resort grounds. Although the resturant was booked out for months, our concierge called in a favor and got us a reservation for two for my birthday dinner 🥰. The resturant sits on a floating structure above a koi-filled lagoon at the base of a waterfall. They had an incredible menu with fresh fish and steak.
Honorable Mentions
Of course, I’d be crazy not to bring up all the other amazing food we were able to experience. Here is an expansive list of all of the places we tried.
- Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co
- Hamura Saimin
- Red Salt at Ko’a Kea
- Holey Grail Donuts
- L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
- JoJo’s Shave Ice
- Tahiti Nui
- Pat’s Taqueria
- Keoki’s Paradise
- Puka Dog Hawaiian Style Hot Dogs
- Da Crack Mexican Grinds
- JO2 Natural Cuisine
- Eden Coffee
- Kenji Burger
- Kiawe Roots
- Duke’s Kauai
Until next time Kauai! 🤙