The Luau

For dinner, our newlywed friends invited us to a luau, an informal gathering for food and entertainment. We’ve never been to one, so we were both excited to attend this Hawaiian tradition.

The Old Lahaina Luau was held near the Lahaina Cannery Mall, a 15-minute drive from the hotel. We saw a beautiful rainbow right after we parked. It was my first time seeing a complete rainbow, both ends visibly in sight.

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As we funneled through the door, we were immediately greeted with kukui nut necklaces and a cocktail.

Finally, I got lei’d in Hawaii! I was surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I imagined as soon as I stepped off the plane, I’d be greeted with an orchid lei—just like the movies. Sadly, nothing like that happened.

With our mai tais in hand, a bare-chested man escorted us to our tables. The large center stage and the number of tables surprised me. We could see the ocean and the sun setting, but I was expecting a different type of luau—what I’ve seen in movies. On the beach, intimate, long table of 50 people, pig roasting in the background, dancing… Twice, my idea of Hawaii has been deceived by the movies.

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As the other guests arrived, we were able to walk around, take pictures and buy local handmade souvenirs.

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Right before dinner, we saw the big kalua pig removed from its imu, underground oven.

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Dinner was buffet style and offered a large assortment of dishes. I saw many familiar traditional Hawaiian dishes, considering we were at Helena’s a couple days prior.

I took a little bit of everything: green salad (had to get some freshness on my plate!), stir fried vegetables, lomi lomi salmon (salmon ceviche), Polynesian baked mahi mahi (too dry), kalua pua’a (not bad) fried rice, crab salad (delicious and full of mayonnaise), taro salad (taro, spinach and coconut sauce) to fresh papaya.

It was all mediocre food. Even the much anticipated kalua pua’a didn’t match my expectations. It’s hard to compare, considering everything at Helena’s was so good. Cocktails were all-you-can-drink and I tried a variety, but they were all very light in alcohol. Probably a good thing, considering our livers needed to rest at least one night.

Soon, the entertainment at the center stage began. It was an enjoyable show of cultural dances and music.

For dessert, we were offered a plate of haupia (coconut pudding), macadamia nut cake tart and luau bar (chocolate and coconut bar). Fresh fruit was a better dessert option in my opinion—sweet papaya, watermelon and honeydew, yum.

Overall, the luau was very commercialized, with hundreds of other tourists, but it was still entertaining and had decent food. Again, I imagined something way more intimate, but I think it’s essential to do any type of luau when you’re in Hawaii—at least once.

Lilikoi

Star Noodle

A little hung over from the wedding, a bowl of hot ramen soup sounded like the perfect cure.

Friends of the bride and groom told us about Star Noodle the night before, so I knew this was the perfect opportunity to try it.

As soon as I saw the nameplate at the door, I could see that this restaurant appreciated design.

And that they did.

From the interior decoration to the simple one page menu and its food presentation, the owner of Star Noodle had a clear, modern and hip vision.

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Now let’s see if the food is as good as this place looks.

We started off with the Star Kim Chee, a pickled mixture of won bok cabbage, ginger and garlic. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t over powering with spice and garlic, like most bright red kim chee’s I’ve had. The cabbage also still had a bite to it, as though it wasn’t pickled for a week or more.

Recommended by our new friends, both Jason and I ordered the Hapa Ramen.

The colorful bowl was filled with roast pork, a poached egg, bamboo shoots, kamaboko (fish cake), baby bok choy, mayu (black garlic oil), spicy aka miso and pork broth.

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It was my first time trying black garlic oil (I think), a blend of sesame, sesame oil and garlic. When I swirled the oil and broth together, the soup base quickly became extra flavorful, but a tad too oily.

There was too much of the roast pork and it didn’t help that the meat was dry. The noodles were mediocre, slightly overcooked to my liking. Basically, I’ve had way better ramen and I didn’t like it, but this sufficed in helping a hang over. I AM in Hawaii, so I shouldn’t expect excellent ramen.

Next recommendation was the steamed pork buns. I mistakenly thought it was one per order (again, not looking at the price) and asked for two orders. In reality, it came with three (!) buns, accompanied by a steamer (details in the design, my friends). Needing to eat all six, they better be good!

These buns reminded me of a food truck back home, Chairman Bao, that creates something very similar. The soft and doughy white bun sandwiched pork, hoisin (Chinese seafood sauce), scallions, shiitake mushrooms and cucumber.

There were a handful of small plastic squeeze bottles filled with different condiments like chili paste and mustard. I liked adding a little bit of mustard to my buns; it gave it an extra kick.

The pork was way better than the one in the ramen, considering it was fatty enough to keep its moisture. The taste was decent, sweetness from the hoisin, saltiness of the pork and some crunch from the cucumbers. 

We ended up taking the remaining half order to-go, which became a perfect snack on the beach later in the day. Luckily, over ordering turned into a good idea.

I was going to get a dessert (their mango pudding sounded good), but after a very mediocre meal, I didn’t want to waste my money on another mediocre dish.

If we’re talking about design, Star Noodle obviously wins in that department in my book. But when it came down to food, nothing blew my mind. Living in the Bay Area and being surrounded by delicious food makes me a hard critic, especially when I’ve had so many ramen bowls.

But I give Star Noodle an A for effort. If you’re in the mood for Asian food in Maui, your options are very slim, so Star Noodle is a nice choice.

Star Noodle

And that they did.

From the interior decoration to the simple one page menu and its food presentation, the owner of Star Noodle had a clear, modern and hip vision.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Now let’s see if the food is as good as this place looks.

We started off with the Star Kim Chee, a pickled mixture of won bok cabbage, ginger and garlic. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t over powering with spice and garlic, like most bright red kim chee’s I’ve had. The cabbage also still had a bite to it, as though it wasn’t pickled for a week or more.

Recommended by our new friends, both Jason and I ordered the Hapa Ramen.

The colorful bowl was filled with roast pork, a poached egg, bamboo shoots, kamaboko (fish cake), baby bok choy, mayu (black garlic oil), spicy aka miso and pork broth.

See the full gallery on Posterous

It was my first time trying black garlic oil (I think), a blend of sesame, sesame oil and garlic. When I swirled the oil and broth together, the soup base quickly became extra flavorful, but a tad too oily.

There was too much of the roast pork and it didn’t help that the meat was dry. The noodles were mediocre, slightly overcooked to my liking. Basically, I’ve had way better ramen and I didn’t like it, but this sufficed in helping a hang over. I AM in Hawaii, so I shouldn’t expect excellent ramen.

Next recommendation was the steamed pork buns. I mistakenly thought it was one per order (again, not looking at the price) and asked for two orders. In reality, it came with three (!) buns, accompanied by a steamer (details in the design, my friends). Needing to eat all six, they better be good!

These buns reminded me of a food truck back home, Chairman Bao, that creates something very similar. The soft and doughy white bun sandwiched pork, hoisin (Chinese seafood sauce), scallions, shiitake mushrooms and cucumber.

There were a handful of small plastic squeeze bottles filled with different condiments like chili paste and mustard. I liked adding a little bit of mustard to my buns; it gave it an extra kick.

The pork was way better than the one in the ramen, considering it was fatty enough to keep its moisture. The taste was decent, sweetness from the hoisin, saltiness of the pork and some crunch from the cucumbers. 

We ended up taking the remaining half order to-go, which became a perfect snack on the beach later in the day. Luckily, over ordering turned into a good idea.

I was going to get a dessert (their mango pudding sounded good), but after a very mediocre meal, I didn’t want to waste my money on another mediocre dish.

If we’re talking about design, Star Noodle obviously wins in that department in my book. But when it came down to food, nothing blew my mind. Living in the Bay Area and being surrounded by delicious food makes me a hard critic, especially when I’ve had so many ramen bowls.

But I give Star Noodle an A for effort. If you’re in the mood for Asian food in Maui, your options are very slim, so Star Noodle is a nice choice.

Star Noodle

And that they did.

From the interior decoration to the simple one page menu and its food presentation, the owner of Star Noodle had a clear, modern and hip vision.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Now let’s see if the food is as good as this place looks.

We started off with the Star Kim Chee, a pickled mixture of won bok cabbage, ginger and garlic. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t over powering with spice and garlic, like most bright red kim chee’s I’ve had. The cabbage also still had a bite to it, as though it wasn’t pickled for a week or more.

Recommended by our new friends, both Jason and I ordered the Hapa Ramen.

The colorful bowl was filled with roast pork, a poached egg, bamboo shoots, kamaboko (fish cake), baby bok choy, mayu (black garlic oil), spicy aka miso and pork broth.

See the full gallery on Posterous

It was my first time trying black garlic oil (I think), a blend of sesame, sesame oil and garlic. When I swirled the oil and broth together, the soup base quickly became extra flavorful, but a tad too oily.

There was too much of the roast pork and it didn’t help that the meat was dry. The noodles were mediocre, slightly overcooked to my liking. Basically, I’ve had way better ramen and I didn’t like it, but this sufficed in helping a hang over. I AM in Hawaii, so I shouldn’t expect excellent ramen.

Next recommendation was the steamed pork buns. I mistakenly thought it was one per order (again, not looking at the price) and asked for two orders. In reality, it came with three (!) buns, accompanied by a steamer (details in the design, my friends). Needing to eat all six, they better be good!

These buns reminded me of a food truck back home, Chairman Bao, that creates something very similar. The soft and doughy white bun sandwiched pork, hoisin (Chinese seafood sauce), scallions, shiitake mushrooms and cucumber.

There were a handful of small plastic squeeze bottles filled with different condiments like chili paste and mustard. I liked adding a little bit of mustard to my buns; it gave it an extra kick.

The pork was way better than the one in the ramen, considering it was fatty enough to keep its moisture. The taste was decent, sweetness from the hoisin, saltiness of the pork and some crunch from the cucumbers. 

We ended up taking the remaining half order to-go, which became a perfect snack on the beach later in the day. Luckily, over ordering turned into a good idea.

I was going to get a dessert (their mango pudding sounded good), but after a very mediocre meal, I didn’t want to waste my money on another mediocre dish.

If we’re talking about design, Star Noodle obviously wins in that department in my book. But when it came down to food, nothing blew my mind. Living in the Bay Area and being surrounded by delicious food makes me a hard critic, especially when I’ve had so many ramen bowls.

But I give Star Noodle an A for effort. If you’re in the mood for Asian food in Maui, your options are very slim, so Star Noodle is a nice choice.

Luke + Yukari’s Wedding

Aloha Maui

Soon, the sun was shining and slowly working its way through the clouds. Phew…

We took a taxi to the airport and almost missed our flight to Maui (inter-island terminal, my friends!).

But got there right when they were boarding the little plane.

Aloha!

As we landed, Maui immediately looked very different from Oahu—fewer buildings, more land and a whole of lot ocean.

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We had 3 full hours before the wedding and we were starving. Our friend recommended Koiso Sushi, but they were unfortunately closed. I didn’t have enough time to research Maui before our trip, so we didn’t have many other restaurant suggestions.

We drove around the island, in our cool bright blue convertible (yes a convertible again, “THE place for a convertible!”), and ended up at Jawz. Yes, Jawz with a Z.

Known for their fish tacos, we ordered two, ono and ahi.  The fish was barely there, considering the tacos were mostly made of cabbage, cheese and a 1000 island-like sauce. They were nothing special and I’ve definitely had way better fish tacos before.

We saw an interesting pineapple fried rice on the menu, but it ended up being not-so-interesting. I could barely taste the pineapple and the rice was overcooked.

Maui’s food was not off to a good start, but that wasn’t our main concern. We had a wedding to get to!

Last Night in Oahu

Bummed, we walked back to our car, knowing we were THIS close to trying Waiola’s famous shave ice. We’re talking about interesting toppings like mochi, condensed milk and red beans; exactly what my co-worker was saying about Ice Garden. We could have even had it after Rainbow Drive Inn, everything’s that close to each other, without us realizing it!

At least I got to try shave ice just a few days ago…and if I really still wanted shave ice, I can probably get some in Maui.

Jason and I walked around the downtown Waikiki strip a little bit and then grabbed a drink at Hula Grill. Remember the very first day we were trying to find a specific beach-side bar in the heat and couldn’t? Well, THIS was it. The Hula Grill, right on the beach. But, sadly, we couldn’t sit at the tables right on the beach because they were reserved for diners only. At least I was no longer in jeans and sweating my ass off.

Beach-side or not, the ambiance inside was nice and it still felt as though we were outside, only several yards away from the beach. We ordered cocktails, a mai tai and lava flow, highly recommended by Jason’s co-worker.

The lava flow was delicious yet very girly.  It was a blend of their pina colada with an “explosion of strawberry puree.” Good, but I would only order one of these and move on to the next drink.

Jason’s fresh squeezed mai tai came with fresh pineapple, guava, orange and passion fruit juices, orange curacao and Diamond Head dark rum. The one we had back at Turtle Bay was so much better, but at least this one came in a really cute cup—one side had a smile and the other, a frown.

Puka Dog (Hawaiian style hot dogs) was on my list, but we savored our mediocre drinks way too long and realized it was just about to close. We were only blocks away, but Puka will have to wait until next time.

We ventured onto Duke’s, a bar right below Hula Grill and this time, right on the beach. The night was perfect, not too hot or cold.

I found a satisfying cocktail, ambassador, a concoction of lychee vodka, coconut rum, passion fruit juice and raspberry puree. It had a nice kick to it, but also a slight sweetness. I’ll have to try to make this back home, seems easy.

As we walked back to our hotel through the Waikiki beach, we couldn’t believe it was our last night in Oahu. We’ve been having so much fun and enjoying the local flavors. Our vacation was already half over and we didn’t want to leave. But, if Maui’s as cool as Oahu, we’ll be in for a treat.

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Malasadas

Onolicious