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.

There was a ton of exotic fruit: papaya, pineapple (Maui Gold as they call it, grown right behind the fruit stand), lilikoi, starfruit and giant avocados. I’ve never seen avocados THAT large!

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I regret not getting any fresh fruit, especially pineapple. We had tried a sample and it was the best pineapple I’ve ever had. It was extremely sweet, tasted like candy. 

There was a truck, Olowalu Juice Stand, right next to the tables of fruit and I got the recommended lilikoi. It was blended with ice and fresh squeezed cane juice—simple as that.

It was my first time drinking fresh lilikoi. I’ve only had it mixed with POG or in malasadas from Leonard’s back in Oahu.

Jason had the first taste and he immediately said, “you’re going to like this.” I surely did. It was an explosion of tropical sweetness in my mouth, with a slight tartness. There were a lot of seeds, but that added to the already icy texture. I absolutely loved it.

Anyone know if I can get fresh lilikoi juice in the Bay Area? It’s such an exotic treat!

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.

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.

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.

To keep the guests busy while the bride and groom were getting ready, we printed our thumbs and signed our names on a hand drawn tree. I thought this was a cute touch and loved the fact that they could have an artwork as their souvenir.

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Everything had a pretty turquoise (Tiffany blue!) and white scheme.

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As soon as the ceremony was over, the real party began with drinks and some delicious hors d’oeuvre.

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Dallas, our VERY friendly bartender, made a drink that quickly became one of my favorite cocktails of Hawaii—fresh POG (passion fruit, orange and guava juice) with some vodka. It’s as easy as that!

We had an amazing dinner (ahi for me) and danced to YMCA (why is it played at every wedding?) The night ended with a jump into the ocean (cold!) and then the Jacuzzi (warm…).

What. A. Night.

Congratulations Luke and Yukari!

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!

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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At only 90 cents each, I got two, knowing I’ll save one for tomorrow morning.

Jason got the original, white sugar, while I got cinnamon and the flavor of the month, lilikoi (passion fruit). The malasadas were warm and doughy, like big doughnuts back home, but without the hole in the middle. Delicious.

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The lilikoi filled one had a bright yellow gooey mixture, a little bit too sweet for my liking and it tasted artificial. I also didn’t like how there was so much filling. Each small bite came with a big ooze of custard, too messy for me.

Leonard’s malasadas lived up to my standards, from hearing my friend’s story just once. If only there was a Leonard’s across the street back home, they would be the perfect start to any morning.

Wild chicken greeted us as we walked towards the Nu’uanu Pali. The northeast view of Oahu was beautiful, but we only enjoyed it for about five minutes, considering it was super windy and cold.

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Eat. Beach. Repeat.

That’s become the routine during our vacation. No complains here! I’ve been appreciating every relaxing minute.

We picked a random beach, Kailua Beach Park, and enjoyed the sun, soft sand and even jumped into the warm ocean. It was mostly overcast and the frequency of rain picked up, so we grabbed our things and continued our driving adventure around Oahu.

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Dinner was approaching and I wanted to try Ono Hawaiian Foods, but they were unfortunately closed. We headed over to Helena’s Hawaiian Food only a few blocks away.

Helena’s looked like a local joint, although it’s been featured by Andrew Zimmerman and is also on most tourists’ lists. Both Ono and Helena are known for their authentic Hawaiian cuisine. There are many great debates on who’s better (Bourdain featured Ono), but I was excited to try some genuine kalua pig, not caring which place it came from.

Jason and I ordered menu C, which included the kalua pig, lomi salmon, and pipikalua short ribs with small poi ($14.95). The waitress also recommended the laulau ($4). The dishes came quickly in small bowls, each offering several bites of their delicacy.

The lomi salmon was like a ceviche, served cold and had a mixture of tomatoes, raw salmon and onions. It had way more tomatoes than salmon, which reminded me of salsa. I felt like I needed chips with this dish.

The pipikalua short ribs reminded me of the ribs we had The Alley, but these had way more meat and fat. The smokiness was delicious and had a crunchy sweet char.

The kalua pig was one of my favorites out of the set menu, which was cooked in an imu, an underground oven. The shredded pork meat was tender, moist and also smoky, with just the right balance of salt. I could eat this in a sandwich any day.

The recommended laulau, a ball of pork wrapped in leaves and also cooked in an imu. The meat was juicier than the kalua, but I preferred the latter for its extra smokiness.

The Polynesian staple, poi, was our least favorite. It’s made out of taro plant and has the consistency of yogurt. I’ve only had poi once and was expecting a sweet taste, but was shocked by its tartness. Tables around us were gobbling this dish up. I guess this is where the enjoyment of authentic Hawaiian cuisine stops for me. I managed only a couple of spoonfuls when I simply had to focus on the dishes I actually liked.

Lastly, complementary, haupia, the highlight of the entire meal for me. This was the best haupia I’ve ever had, incomparable to the one I had back home or even the Chinese versions they serve at dim sum restaurants. The haupia were thick blocks of rich coconut pudding, but soft and melting in your mouth. They were so good; we had to order another serving ($2.25). I wished I could have taken this home with me. I’ll have to try to make it one day!

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Helena’s is a bit hole-in-the-wall, but that’s what I also liked about it. No frills. The focus is on the onolicious yet affordable food. I’ll have to try Ono, if I ever come back, and compare the two.