One thing about Hawaii — the food. I never appreciated it when I was living there. It wasn’t until I moved away from Oahu that I really learned to appreciate the food and culture. Whenever I go back home, I make it a point to eat at all of my go-to spots so here’s a list of all the things I think you should try when visiting Hawaii:

Hawaiian Cuisine

(obviously)

• Highway Inn Kaka’ako — pork or chicken laulau, squid luau, chicken long rice are my go-to. The kalua pork, lomi salmon, and poi are also classics to try!
• Helena’s Hawaiian Food

Shaved Ice

• Waiola – a classic. they have better ice than Matsumotos imo
• Magic Mountain Shave Ice – if you’re on this of the island it’s a little food truck right next to the Leonard’s food truck in Waipahu
• Shimazu Shave Ice – they have more unique flavors like li hing mui, ube cream, and milk tea! I love getting the haupia cream topping

Poke

• Foodland — i know it sounds odd for it to be in a grocery store, but it’s the best if you want to just get poke by the pound and they have so many different varieties. They have many locations around the island!
• Fresh Catch
• Tanioka’s Seafood
• Ahi & Vegetable Ala Moana – love the poke bowl with sushi rice!

Malasadas

• Leonards Bakery — a classic staple. I love the original or haupia (coconut cream) filled. The line at the main store linked gets pretty long, so depending on which side of the island you’re on they have food truck locations here and here.
• Liliha Bakery — also get the cocoa puffs! The chantilly cream on top is amazing

Spam Musubis

• Musubi Cafe Iyasumi — a hidden spot in Waikiki to grab musubis on the go and have so many varieties. They also have a Ala Moana location!
• 7-Eleven — hear me out, the 7-Eleven’s in Hawaii are on a different level

Local Spots

• Pearl Korean BBQ — it’s a local, plate lunch style Korean place. I always get the meat jun because no one else does it like Hawaii (or i haven’t found one yet, at least)

• Chun Wah Kam — local style chinese food – the baked char siu manapua is my favorite
• Rainbow Drive Inn — local comfort food
• Zippy’s — a local diner that’s open late so it was a place I frequented after a night out in my college years. There’s many locations around the island!

• The Cookie Corner — the second you walk by this you’ll immediately smell the cookies and its heavenly (although I heard the Waikiki location gets the cookies delivered and they dont bake them there, which sucks). I loved the M&M cookie as a child (i got a huge M&M cookie cake for my 13th birthday lol) but the coconut, chocolate dipped shortbread, and oatmeal chocolate chip walnut are also my favorites!

A LITTLE BIT MORE TOURISTY

(But so good and worth going to)

• Island Vintage Coffee — i may be biased because i used to work here but its seriously a must when in Waikiki for a good breakfast spot. I recommend the island latte, peanut butter mango sandwich, and their acai bowls! You can only order food at the Waikiki location but the Ala Moana location still has the acai bowls.
• Monkeypod Kitchen — i used to come here a lot for happy hour. they have the best truffle fries and their mai tai’s with lilikoi foam always hit
• Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck — if you’re in North Shore area this is a must. The line is always so long but the garlic shrimp is so so good and haven’t found a place that does anything like it. I heard they have another location closer to Honolulu which is great if you’re in the area!