I’m going to be in Honolulu over the weekend for a conference and would love to hear if anyone has recommendations for particularly good wine shops, good restaurants, or anything else that is a “don’t miss” thing to do! I’ll likely be dining alone most nights and so any place with a particularly strong wine-by-the-glass program or half bottles would be great!
Michel’s at the Colony Surf has a decent menu in a beautiful setting. Ask for a table at the water. The wine list is acceptable but we bring our own bottles. Alan Wong’s has a great menu, not so great location and a decent wine list. All that said, I am unimpressed with Honolulu’s wine selections in general. Here’s some photos of Michel’s:
Tamura’s for wine and poke … http://www.tamurasfinewine.com . Alan Wong’s on King Street(make reservation in advance). Lucky Belly in downtown Honolulu. Near Lucky Belly is a new restaurant, Senia, I have not tried but it is getting very positive reviews… http://restaurantsenia.com . For cheap eats I like South Shore Grill and Nico’s Market/Nico’s Pier 38. A place that most chefs go and their food is awesome, especially the pork chop, is Side Street Inn.
+1 on Alan Wong’s. Also, when were were there several years ago, they allowed BYO with a reasonable corkage fee.
Ashish,
For wine stores, I would go to Fujioka’s, Tamura’s is good as well. Decent selections, but not great prices. I think you may find you will not want to drink great stuff on island. I used to drink very well on island and realized I just wasn’t in the mood and it was wasted wine oftentimes. Exceptions for finer dining situations like Alan Wong’s. I end up drinking crisp tank fermented whites, rose, and beer while on island. (Family lives there so 1-2 visits a year for 35 years there). Both of those places will have intelligent selections in those genres. Fujioka’s probably has a little higher scaled stuff more so than Tamura’s if you want it. Tamura’s has a small room with better stuff that you need a key to get to, make sure to do that. Vintage Wine Cellars has higher end stuff. I’ve bought high end Burg, GKA Germans, Giacosa, etc from there in the past. Much more eurocentric wines there. Prices range from good to awful. Probably the most in tune store on island for what I would drink if I were on the mainland. I haven’t been to Vintage or Tamura’s in 3 years or so. I now just load up at Fujioka’s after leaving the airport and then head up north nowadays.
I’ve eaten less in Honolulu the last few years as we stay up in Haleiwa up on the north shore, and don’t get downtown as much. So my info may be outdated.
Alan Wong’s is solid food, with a decent wine list. Sometimes some very high end burgs at expensive but not egregious pricing. A couple years ago they did have '04 Coche CC at a stupid good price. It is a place that I would not eat at every month if I lived there full time, but love eating at when we visit.
I like Town quite a bit, more casual but well done food and you can do corkage there. Thoughtful food.
Michel’s is fancy beach side dining. I’ve eaten there many times, beautiful view. My father’s favorite restaurant, older school feel. Good to very good if not inspired food with a great view. I think you can do corkage there as well.
Casual food: Side Street Inn. Has a new location near Alan Wong’s, but if the old one is still around, I think it has more character. Casual table style Local/ Korean. I really enjoy this place and it is cheap. You can do corkage, and one of the palces you can drink ahearty red in addition to more white/ off dry options and wil lgo well with food.
If you head up to the North Shore at all, eat at “Dat Cajun Guy” food truck, and at Kono’s both in Haleiwa. Delicious casual (flip flops +/- shirt kind of casual). Unsolicited opion here, the North Shore shrimp trucks for me are some of the most overrated things you can eat on island.
Ice cream at Scoop of Paradise. Very solid ice cream.
You should eat a Leonard’s Malasada at Leonard’s once.
Hope that helps.
Enjoy the trip!
+1 on Fujioka’s which imho is better then Tamura’s
Alan Wong’s pineapple room at the Ala Moana located on the 3rd floor of Macy’s is always excellent for lunch or dinner
Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar in HNL (500 Ala Moana Blvd) home to Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya (10th person in the US to pass the test)
One of the top sushi restaurants in Tokyo is staging at the Ritz-Carlton. They specialize in aging fish different lengths of time to bring out the best flavors.
Sushi Sho
+2.
Food at Alan Wongs last year was very good, wine list just OK, but some reasonable priced options (from memory).
Best food we have had in HL by a fair margin…
Thanks all for the great suggestions! Sounds like I’m in for a good time. =)
We just got back tonight after a week split between North Shore and Waikiki. Opal Thai up in Haleiwa was just great Thai food; some of the best I have had outside of Bangkok.
We went to Wong’s for my dad’s 80th and left wholly unimpressed. 35 minutes before any of our food arrived on the table (kitchen was not slammed as there were a few empty tables) and the wine service simply sucked. We ordered a second bottle of the same white and the somm came over with a fresh glass for me to taste. Started talking to my dad and look up to see the somm pouring the new bottle straight into everyone’s glasses which still had fair amounts of wine from the first bottle. Very poor.
We were there in October, mostly in Kaui/Princeville eating unbelievably good sushi, but in Honoulu we ate at Azure in the Royal Hawaiian, right on the Waikiki beach. It was good. Great atmosphere- sunset, the beach, people. Not too impressed by the wine list as I recall, but it was passable.
I enjoy the Roy’s Restaurants and have eaten with success at the one at Ko Olina but there are other ones on the island. For casual lunch type fare on the North Shore, Haleiwa Joe’s has a great appetizer- the Blackened ahi sashimi, get that along with a couple of mai tai’s and its smooth sailing until dinner. Will be there the end of February and hopefully surfs up!