2 Weeks in Paradise - DebitNM Hawaiin trip report part 2 FOOD!
Oct 20th, 2006, 10:58 AM
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2 Weeks in Paradise - DebitNM Hawaiin trip report part 2 FOOD!
2 weeks in Paradise!
Part 2 FOOD & Restaurants –
I’ll start off this one by saying we both gained almost 5 lbs despite being very active! You'll see why...
By island:
Maui -
Dinners -
We had dinner our first night at Leilani’s on the Beach {lower level} at Whalers Village. We were exhausted from a long day that started at 4:30 am Mountain Time. We started off with fried calamari which was delish! It was a very different kind of calamari than we are used too – no little rings and squiggly parts. It was long, meaty chunks that were oh so sweet. They were no the least bit greasy and came with a nice spicy dipping sause. We had fish chowder that had all sorts of great things in it and very little potatoes which is how we like our chowder. It was creamy and tasty! I had a nice salad and we called it a night.
Drums of Pacific luau was next dinner {more on that in next report}.
We used our Entertainment book for dinner on the next dinner and had a stunning meal at Chez Paul, just south of Lahaina. We saved $39 on entrée. The restaurant is small and really looks like something you would find in Paris. The wait staff was attentive but not overbearing and we dined royally on escargot for DH, lobster bisque for me, DH had a seafood in parchment called “ménage a trios” with so much seafood and fish that he had a big grin on his face the whole time he consumed it. {Not sure if it was the fresh fish which we can’t get in SW or the name of the dish!} and I had a delicious duck. DH had a chocolate flourless cake and I had a pineapple tartan. Truly this was an excellent meal.
We had dinner in Lahaina the next night after our sunset catamaran cruise with Paragon{more about that next report}. We ate at BJ’s Chicago Pizza. We love pizza and needed a fix, but we aren’t that crazy about deep dish. But we had stopped in a couple of stores and asked employees where to get the best pizza and this was the hands down favorite. It comes with very little sauce and chopped tomatoes on the top. I guess a lot of people don’t like that and don’t know it and it comes as a surprise. We sat at the bar to avoid a long wait and the bartender did tell us this. It was okay pizzy, doughy as Chicago style can be [hey, we are originally NYer’s so we like our pizza thin – what can I say???]
Last dinner on Maui was at Warren’s and Annabelle’s {more on that in next report}. We had prepaid for drinks and pu-pu platter and dessert and it was all surprisingly tasty!
Breakfast
The Gazebo. It was everything everyone on here said it way and more! We had mac- nut bananas with creamy white coconut syrup – YUM! We were tempted to order fried rice along with it and when we saw the size of the orders, we were glad we didn’t get the rice! The pancakes were the size of a large plate and a short stack brought 2 of these babies each!
We had bagels and coffee and pineapple from Whaler’s Village a couple of mornings that we wanted to get out to the beach fast. There’s a kiosk place in the middle of the village and price was reasonable.
We had breakfast twice at Westin at the café self-serve place again for convenience. We also used this towards our $75 credit. It was expensive of course and nothing special. We had croissant sandwiches, fruit, juice and coffee.
Had lunch at the Sea House next to Napili Bay the first full day because we had made an early start and wanted to get to beach ASAP and didn’t want to bother going to Safeway. It was good and convenient.
Has lunch at Westin Villas next day as we were there using the beach. It was expensive, good and again went towards our $75 credit.
By this time we had gone to Safeway and gotten stuff to make sandwiches for lunch for other days.
Big Island –
Got to Hapuna Beach Prince mid-afternoon and grabbed some sushi from their little café. We got a bottle of wine from the hotel for DH’s birthday which went well with the sushi. We ate on our lanai looking out over the ocean. Very nice….
Dinner
We did some fine dining here. We had dinner at Roy’s in Waikoloa. Again, we had calamari as an appetizer and fish entrees – opah and opakpaka which were both moist, flakey and light tasting. We had their signature chocolate soufflé that we shared and it was too die for!
On the way back to hotel from VNP, we stopped in Hilo and happened upon Harrington’s. It was late and we really didn’t have a place picked out. We saw that there were a lot of car’s in the parking lot at 8:30 pm and thought that was a good sign. We had a really good meal and were surprised that we had lucked out with our random choice. DH had a spicy thai shrimp dish and I had opah again. Nice wait staff and a pretty location overlooking the Ice Pond although it was dark when we were there. Lots of locals eating there, always a good sign to me.
Our last dinner was DH’s birthday dinner. It was so difficult to pick a place…lots of good suggestions from everyone on here. In the end it was Pahu i’a at the Four Seasons. We had a table right by the edge, nearest the beach which had large spotlights on it and the ocean was a bit rough so the waves were breaking and foaming while we ate…so pretty. We had excellent service and food, as I had expected. A note – while the entire meal was expensive and we don’t mind paying for good food, I would pass on ordering appetizers. They were very expensive {I had coconut fried shrimp 2 for $20 and DH and Duck spring roll which I think was $1
and while tasty, certainly not worth the money. DH had the moi which was melt in your mouth and I had mac crusted mahimahi which was crispy on top and flaky tender inside. We split a banana trilogy which had Banana Lumpia, Banana Vanilla Chiboust, Banana Cake and Ice Cream and was yummy. Then they brought over some chocolate truffles on a special plate for DH with Happy Birthday written in chocolate on the plate!
Breakfast
This was part of our hotel package, so we had scrumptious buffet each morning.
Lunch
We stopped on the way to VNP at a supermarket, KTA, which was south of Hilo and got a 2 scoop plate with teriyaki beef.
Other lunches were fruit and yogurt.
Ohau
Dinner:
We arrived mid- afternoon and grabbed some sandwiches from the Marketplace shop at Marriott.
We had dinner at the Kolohe's Beach Bar & Grill at the Marriott as it was there and we hadn’t had time to explore yet. Had burger, salad and soup. Okay.
Saturday night found us celebrating our anniversary so it was off to Alan Wong’s in HNL.
The restaurant is located in a residential area and would not have been spotted if we didn’t have excellent directions. While it doesn’t have an ocean view, the view from the lanai where we were seated had a lovely view of Manoa Valley before the sun set and had city lights twinkling after sunset.
We had the 8 course chef’s tasting which we both agreed was THE BEST MEAL we have EVER had!! Opihi shooter with raw limpet, soup and sandwich [red and yellow chilled soup and pork, mozzarella and foie gras grilled cheese sandwich { it was the first time I’d ever had foie gras and I was bothered because of the incorrectness behind it}; seared foie gras with cutney; steamed egg flan in an egg shell with truffle oil; Big Island lobster and abalone [both farm raised]; maui beef tenderloin and shrimp crusted moi. This was followed by dessert sampler with sorbet, cookies, cake, and pudding. And an anniversary plate of truffles.
The top of our menus had “Happy Anniversary “and our names printed on it and it was signed by everyone in the restaurant. We were given the menus to take home which was a nice touch.
We cooked in 3 nights, using the bar-b-ques provided by hotel and the in room microwave.
Lunches
The only lunch we did out was at the shrimp trucks on North Shore. We passed on Giovanni’s and ate at “Holy Smokes” instead. The owner was a super friendly guy and convinced us to try his food. DH had hot and spicy plate of shrimp 1# for $14 and I got short rib plate which was $11. Since he only had ½ order of ribs left, he gave me a teriyaki steak too. Meals came with corn on cob, rice and salad; they were very tasty.
Breakfast
We did these in our room here.
So I guess we were lucky to only have gained a few pounds…it could have been way worse!
Next up, activities!
Debi
Part 2 FOOD & Restaurants –
I’ll start off this one by saying we both gained almost 5 lbs despite being very active! You'll see why...
By island:
Maui -
Dinners -
We had dinner our first night at Leilani’s on the Beach {lower level} at Whalers Village. We were exhausted from a long day that started at 4:30 am Mountain Time. We started off with fried calamari which was delish! It was a very different kind of calamari than we are used too – no little rings and squiggly parts. It was long, meaty chunks that were oh so sweet. They were no the least bit greasy and came with a nice spicy dipping sause. We had fish chowder that had all sorts of great things in it and very little potatoes which is how we like our chowder. It was creamy and tasty! I had a nice salad and we called it a night.
Drums of Pacific luau was next dinner {more on that in next report}.
We used our Entertainment book for dinner on the next dinner and had a stunning meal at Chez Paul, just south of Lahaina. We saved $39 on entrée. The restaurant is small and really looks like something you would find in Paris. The wait staff was attentive but not overbearing and we dined royally on escargot for DH, lobster bisque for me, DH had a seafood in parchment called “ménage a trios” with so much seafood and fish that he had a big grin on his face the whole time he consumed it. {Not sure if it was the fresh fish which we can’t get in SW or the name of the dish!} and I had a delicious duck. DH had a chocolate flourless cake and I had a pineapple tartan. Truly this was an excellent meal.
We had dinner in Lahaina the next night after our sunset catamaran cruise with Paragon{more about that next report}. We ate at BJ’s Chicago Pizza. We love pizza and needed a fix, but we aren’t that crazy about deep dish. But we had stopped in a couple of stores and asked employees where to get the best pizza and this was the hands down favorite. It comes with very little sauce and chopped tomatoes on the top. I guess a lot of people don’t like that and don’t know it and it comes as a surprise. We sat at the bar to avoid a long wait and the bartender did tell us this. It was okay pizzy, doughy as Chicago style can be [hey, we are originally NYer’s so we like our pizza thin – what can I say???]
Last dinner on Maui was at Warren’s and Annabelle’s {more on that in next report}. We had prepaid for drinks and pu-pu platter and dessert and it was all surprisingly tasty!
Breakfast
The Gazebo. It was everything everyone on here said it way and more! We had mac- nut bananas with creamy white coconut syrup – YUM! We were tempted to order fried rice along with it and when we saw the size of the orders, we were glad we didn’t get the rice! The pancakes were the size of a large plate and a short stack brought 2 of these babies each!
We had bagels and coffee and pineapple from Whaler’s Village a couple of mornings that we wanted to get out to the beach fast. There’s a kiosk place in the middle of the village and price was reasonable.
We had breakfast twice at Westin at the café self-serve place again for convenience. We also used this towards our $75 credit. It was expensive of course and nothing special. We had croissant sandwiches, fruit, juice and coffee.
Had lunch at the Sea House next to Napili Bay the first full day because we had made an early start and wanted to get to beach ASAP and didn’t want to bother going to Safeway. It was good and convenient.
Has lunch at Westin Villas next day as we were there using the beach. It was expensive, good and again went towards our $75 credit.
By this time we had gone to Safeway and gotten stuff to make sandwiches for lunch for other days.
Big Island –
Got to Hapuna Beach Prince mid-afternoon and grabbed some sushi from their little café. We got a bottle of wine from the hotel for DH’s birthday which went well with the sushi. We ate on our lanai looking out over the ocean. Very nice….
Dinner
We did some fine dining here. We had dinner at Roy’s in Waikoloa. Again, we had calamari as an appetizer and fish entrees – opah and opakpaka which were both moist, flakey and light tasting. We had their signature chocolate soufflé that we shared and it was too die for!
On the way back to hotel from VNP, we stopped in Hilo and happened upon Harrington’s. It was late and we really didn’t have a place picked out. We saw that there were a lot of car’s in the parking lot at 8:30 pm and thought that was a good sign. We had a really good meal and were surprised that we had lucked out with our random choice. DH had a spicy thai shrimp dish and I had opah again. Nice wait staff and a pretty location overlooking the Ice Pond although it was dark when we were there. Lots of locals eating there, always a good sign to me.
Our last dinner was DH’s birthday dinner. It was so difficult to pick a place…lots of good suggestions from everyone on here. In the end it was Pahu i’a at the Four Seasons. We had a table right by the edge, nearest the beach which had large spotlights on it and the ocean was a bit rough so the waves were breaking and foaming while we ate…so pretty. We had excellent service and food, as I had expected. A note – while the entire meal was expensive and we don’t mind paying for good food, I would pass on ordering appetizers. They were very expensive {I had coconut fried shrimp 2 for $20 and DH and Duck spring roll which I think was $1
and while tasty, certainly not worth the money. DH had the moi which was melt in your mouth and I had mac crusted mahimahi which was crispy on top and flaky tender inside. We split a banana trilogy which had Banana Lumpia, Banana Vanilla Chiboust, Banana Cake and Ice Cream and was yummy. Then they brought over some chocolate truffles on a special plate for DH with Happy Birthday written in chocolate on the plate!Breakfast
This was part of our hotel package, so we had scrumptious buffet each morning.
Lunch
We stopped on the way to VNP at a supermarket, KTA, which was south of Hilo and got a 2 scoop plate with teriyaki beef.
Other lunches were fruit and yogurt.
Ohau
Dinner:
We arrived mid- afternoon and grabbed some sandwiches from the Marketplace shop at Marriott.
We had dinner at the Kolohe's Beach Bar & Grill at the Marriott as it was there and we hadn’t had time to explore yet. Had burger, salad and soup. Okay.
Saturday night found us celebrating our anniversary so it was off to Alan Wong’s in HNL.
The restaurant is located in a residential area and would not have been spotted if we didn’t have excellent directions. While it doesn’t have an ocean view, the view from the lanai where we were seated had a lovely view of Manoa Valley before the sun set and had city lights twinkling after sunset.
We had the 8 course chef’s tasting which we both agreed was THE BEST MEAL we have EVER had!! Opihi shooter with raw limpet, soup and sandwich [red and yellow chilled soup and pork, mozzarella and foie gras grilled cheese sandwich { it was the first time I’d ever had foie gras and I was bothered because of the incorrectness behind it}; seared foie gras with cutney; steamed egg flan in an egg shell with truffle oil; Big Island lobster and abalone [both farm raised]; maui beef tenderloin and shrimp crusted moi. This was followed by dessert sampler with sorbet, cookies, cake, and pudding. And an anniversary plate of truffles.
The top of our menus had “Happy Anniversary “and our names printed on it and it was signed by everyone in the restaurant. We were given the menus to take home which was a nice touch.
We cooked in 3 nights, using the bar-b-ques provided by hotel and the in room microwave.
Lunches
The only lunch we did out was at the shrimp trucks on North Shore. We passed on Giovanni’s and ate at “Holy Smokes” instead. The owner was a super friendly guy and convinced us to try his food. DH had hot and spicy plate of shrimp 1# for $14 and I got short rib plate which was $11. Since he only had ½ order of ribs left, he gave me a teriyaki steak too. Meals came with corn on cob, rice and salad; they were very tasty.
Breakfast
We did these in our room here.
So I guess we were lucky to only have gained a few pounds…it could have been way worse!
Next up, activities!
Debi
Oct 20th, 2006, 02:01 PM
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How could I forget??
Oahu - Dole Plantation for Pineapple Whip [used entertainment coupon 2 for 1]
Malasadas from Leonard Jr's truck in shopping center exit 7 off H1 in nears Lowes and close to Waikele Premium Outlet Center. Also had pizza in Kapolei at Boston North End, more like NY style thin crust. HUGE slice, really 2 normal sized slices.
Debi
Oahu - Dole Plantation for Pineapple Whip [used entertainment coupon 2 for 1]
Malasadas from Leonard Jr's truck in shopping center exit 7 off H1 in nears Lowes and close to Waikele Premium Outlet Center. Also had pizza in Kapolei at Boston North End, more like NY style thin crust. HUGE slice, really 2 normal sized slices.
Debi
Oct 20th, 2006, 05:30 PM
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Bill, it was incredible! And the service impeccable. As they served each course, they told what is was and how it was made. They do it with a wine pairing as well -- a different wine with each course! We passed on that as we don't drink that much!
I did have a very good tropical drink called an Erup Sean [pronunced "eruption"] that had light rum, banana liquor, bananas, strawberries are whirled together. A grown up smoothie that was oh so smooth.
We are Fodorite foodies for sure!
Debi
I did have a very good tropical drink called an Erup Sean [pronunced "eruption"] that had light rum, banana liquor, bananas, strawberries are whirled together. A grown up smoothie that was oh so smooth.
We are Fodorite foodies for sure!
Debi
Oct 21st, 2006, 07:17 AM
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I meant to include this --
before making the reservation at
Pahu i’a at the Four Seasons I was concerned because their website indicated that men needed to wear closed toe shoes and I wasn't sure DH was going to even bring shoes with him.
I made sure he brought shoes, only to find that on the night of our wonderful dinner, many men had sandals on and a few even had shorts on! {khaki type}
I looked at the restaurants site yesterday to find that it now says...footwear required! Oh well!
And no more note about Pahu i’a. My DH was wearing navy blue slacks and the person who sat us commented that their white dinner napkins leave fuzz on dark slacks, so he went and got DH a dark napkin to avoid this issue!!! How is that for service!!
Debi
before making the reservation at
Pahu i’a at the Four Seasons I was concerned because their website indicated that men needed to wear closed toe shoes and I wasn't sure DH was going to even bring shoes with him.
I made sure he brought shoes, only to find that on the night of our wonderful dinner, many men had sandals on and a few even had shorts on! {khaki type}
I looked at the restaurants site yesterday to find that it now says...footwear required! Oh well!
And no more note about Pahu i’a. My DH was wearing navy blue slacks and the person who sat us commented that their white dinner napkins leave fuzz on dark slacks, so he went and got DH a dark napkin to avoid this issue!!! How is that for service!!
Debi
Oct 31st, 2006, 05:26 PM
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Fantastic detailed report Debi
.. I think I gained five lbs. just reading it.. the smoothie sounds great!
I'd rather gain a few and have the wonderful memories than have so-so "just like home food" with nothing special.. J.
.. I think I gained five lbs. just reading it.. the smoothie sounds great!I'd rather gain a few and have the wonderful memories than have so-so "just like home food" with nothing special.. J.
Oct 31st, 2006, 08:29 PM
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Hi lynnejoel
Use tiny url below--
http://tinyurl.com/ykdjbx
then click View Album as Guest and then
click SLIDESHOW [you need to scroll down to see some of the captions].
Debi
Use tiny url below--
http://tinyurl.com/ykdjbx
then click View Album as Guest and then
click SLIDESHOW [you need to scroll down to see some of the captions].
Debi
Nov 5th, 2006, 08:30 AM
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Hapuna Beach Prince is wonderful and was not damaged by quake. It's sister hotel, Mauna Kea, however did suffer quite a bit of damage. But that should not effect a stay at Hapuna Beach.
I just topped part 1 of my TR with a report on HB. Feel free to ask me any other Q's on Price Hapuna Beach.
Hope this helps...
Debi
I just topped part 1 of my TR with a report on HB. Feel free to ask me any other Q's on Price Hapuna Beach.
Hope this helps...
Debi
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