New Interesting Restaurants in Honolulu?
 

I am interested in branching out of my norm and trying some new and different restaurants in Honolulu - looking for suggestions. What has opened recently (past year or so) that is worth a vist? No need for five star or great setting. The food quality is most important. Cusine is open as well. But nothing snooty. Mahalo!

I'm interested in the responses you get. I'm heading there next month and am intrigued by Salt and Whole Ox Deli.

I'll ring up MelissaHI and mari808...our resident <i> 'lulu dining rock stars</i>....they keep their fingers on the pulse!=P~

Kal, thanks for contacting them t get some information. I will keep an eye on this thread as I am starting to feel it is time to return to one of my favorite places.

((Y))

Hi all, and mahalo to Kal for bringing this to my attention! Here's a rolling list of the newest places to open on Oahu. We've been adding to this list, maybe a dozen at a time, for the last 2 years, so many of these places are already open (and sadly, some have already closed).
http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/eating/wereonit/

Here is my list of places to take out of towners, not necessarily new spots:
http://bit.ly/nshaloha

Add to that list:
Prima
Whole Ox
Salt/12th Avenue Grill
Yogurstory
Pig & The Lady (at the farmer's markets)
Miso & Ale (a roving pop up)

Let me know if you need more suggestions! But once you access that website, it's FULL of content—video, blogs, etc. with photos of what we eat. If you are curious about a certain restaurant and I need to wave you away from it, I'll be honest about that, too.

Great resource, thanks, Melissa!

We plan to do some higher end dining a couple of nights and already have reservations at Alan Wongs. What do you think of Azure? Have you been to La Mer since the new chef arrived? How's Mavro lately? Not planning to go to Roys Waikiki or Hawaii Kai as we'll probably go to the one in Ko Olina a couple of times. Speaking of which, any suggestions out that way? I don't think Monkeypod Kitchen will be open by next month, will it?

Hi Patty,
I do like Azure and the view is amazing. They also have a high-end Sunday brunch there now for a limited time that is good. I'm kind of on the fence about whether it's as good as Alan Wong or Mavro's, but then again, the night I went for dinner, I think Jon Matsubara was out of town.

Alan Wong's has no view, but is consistently good (love the onaga and opakapaka). Chef Mavro is also always good, and he is prepping to change over to his fall menu. You can't go wrong with the classic Hawaii Regional Cuisine chefs.

As for Ko Olina....Are you looking for high end, or just food in general? The Aulani Resort has opened, and that's worth a look around. Their high-end restaurant has a fab view, but if you want a more reasonably priced meal, go for lunch. Their 'Olelo Bar is cool because—although they will speak to you in English—the staff is fluent in Hawaiian. At night, my buddy Jody Kamisato performs outside 'Olelo. (The adjacent buffet restaurant isn't something to write home about.)

The Ihilani at Ko Olina has Azul for high-end, and Naupaka for mid-range. Both are good.

I'm looking for anything on the Leeward side. We'll be there for 2 weeks and don't want to fight Honolulu traffic every day ;) After that, we'll be in Waikiki for another 4 nights. Some of those nights my in-laws and our neighbors will be joining us. Other nights it'll be just me and my husband. The 2 of us eat anything but my in-laws aren't too adventurous and don't like fru-fru food (my FIL thought Hiroshi was too weird). Last time we were there Aulani wasn't open yet so we plan to have lunch at Ama Ama and go to Olelo for drinks (interesting about the staff's fluency in Hawaiian). Does Jody play every night? We'll avoid the buffet, thanks. Unfortunately the Ihilani is closed for renos the entire time we're there so that further limits our options. I also thought I'd take my in-laws to Highway Inn, Nico's and maybe Indigo for their lunch buffet.

AW is always a must do for us and someone gave me a gift certificate for my b-day this year, woo hoo! :) I've been to Mavro a couple of times but not in a few years. Anyone else you think is on par with these two? I'll look into brunch at Azure and I was just checking out pics of the view from 53 By The Sea. I'm not usually a "view" person but I was mesmerized. Maybe we can check it out for lunch.

Thanks again!

PS - Sorry megdean I seem to have completely hijacked your thread :p

Melissa, we'll only be in Waikiki two days. One morning to see the Arizona and drive around the island and the other day to just walk the beach. Of all the restaurants you recommend which ones are in the Waikiki area?
We are staying at the Aston Waikiki Circle. Thanks

Azure, Rumfire and Tiki's are in Waikiki. Shokudo is walkable and behind Ala Moana mall. I've walked to the Saturday farmer's market at Kapiolani Community College (Pig & The Lady) which is behind Diamond Head. I'm sure I've missed a bunch.

Speaking of Waikiki, how's Morimoto or should I stick with something I can't get on the mainland?

Thanks Patty

Hey, I love this conversation and hijacking! Good info. We are in HI now and so far have been to the 12th Avenue Grill, which we liked. My favorite place, of course, is AWongs, so I keep comparing meals to there. There is some good information on Chowhound as well. I would like to try Whole Ox tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your trip megdean and please report back again!

Megdean, good to know you are right there now and enjoying good food and all the Hawaiian fun.
Do tell us what all is new there now and have you found any other recently opened restaurants.

Back home now. I was in HI on business, and customer dinner requests got in the way of my "investigation." We ate at Hau Tree Lanaii, which is certainly not new, but was wonderful. Never got to Whole Ox - next time!

We had a really nice lunch at 53 By The Sea. Lunch prices are very reasonable and include complimentary appetizers and dessert. Service was excellent too and you can't beat the view.

Lunch at Ama Ama was disappointing. We really enjoyed the music at Olelo Room.

Whole Ox was great! Got there late for lunch and was initially disappointed that they were out of the sandwich I wanted but ordered a roast beef instead and it was so good. I want to go back and try breakfast.

Good dinner at Salt. Favorites were the pork rillette and tako. Going to try to brave the crowds at KCC tomorrow.

Got there just before 7:30am and the parking lot was almost full but the food at Pig & the Lady was defintely worth braving the crowds for. Tried the pork belly banh mi, noodle soup and pumpkin soup with spareribs. It was all delicious.

Drooling...

To make you guys drool some more ;) I know it's not new but dinner at Alan Wong was excellent last night! We both started with the seared foie gras. My husband had the caesar and I had the tomato salad but found the dressing a little too sweet. They offered to replace it and when I declined automatically took it off the bill and apologized again later. I really wanted the butter poached Kona lobster off of the chef's tasting menu so they served me the tasting portion a la carte (they also offered me a larger portion which I declined). My husband got the shellfish bowl. Everything was cooked perfectly. We shared the 5 brulees for dessert. I think the price is also very reasonable for the caliber of food. With 4 glasses of wine and a tea, it came to just under $200 before gratuity (would've been just over with the salad).

Heading to a bean to bar chocolate making class at Madre Chocolates soon (I tasted their chocolates at the Ala Moana farmers market and OMG) and still thinking about where we're going to have dinner on our last evening.

The bean to bar class was fantastic! Every chocolate lover should take this. It actually ran an hour longer than scheduled but we got a fascinating history and etymology lesson on top of the chocolate making. Plus we tasted 14 chocolates, sampled some hot chocolate and got to try raw bean, roasted bean and cacao fruit pulp.

We ended up walking into La Mer for dinner last night and got seated right away at a table overlooking House Without a Key. I actually prefer the food at Alan Wong but the view, the hula, the music and the service made a wonderful finale to our trip.

Not food related but I was so excited to find they started TSA precheck last Tue at HNL!

Great thread! MelissaHI, I read nonstop honolulu on a regular basis. Great site and I am a huge fan of your articles!

Whole Ox and Prima are on my "to try" list for our next trip. I've been to Yogurstory before and enjoyed the red velvet waffles and the fat pig fried rice. I've also really enjoyed the Pig & The Lady offerings at the KCC farmer's market. Alan Wong's continues to be our favorite "nice" place to go to on Oahu and it's a must-do for us.

Anyone know places for great poke? After discovering Ono Seafood a year ago, we have not looked back, but just wondering if there are any other places which have great poke which are made to order. We've tried the poke from foodland, paina cafe, and a few other places but ono is still our favorite. Have not made it to Tanioka's but plan to on our next trip.

if you have the time and dont mind a scenic, out of the way drive to Kahuku, Romy's Kahuku Shrimp is d' best. i've recommended it to friends and family who went to Oahu, all of them raved about the food. wait time to pay for your order and get your food can be as long as 1.5 hours. if you do go, go early just right around opening time at 11.

flyme2themoon, I had been to Romy's for the first time on our trip in June this year and it was wonderful. My family loved it. Yes the wait is long and it was hot but it was all worth it in the end for fresh fish and shrimp! We liked it a lot more than giovanni's although that is pretty good too. Next trip I'd like to try a few more places!

i have a recruited a few Romy's addicts like myself. glad you liked their food, tifa.

We like 53 by the sea. A little on the expensive side but we know the bartender ;)
The place has a fab view and we always have a great time.

http://www.53bythesea.com/

Aloha!

But our absolute fav is my cousins restaurant(shameless plug) in Niu Valley called Le Bisro. Fabulous food by a very talented chef who's cooking credentials rival the worlds best.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-bistro-honolulu

Tell them Peter and Linda sent you!

Aloha!

That would be <b>Le Bistro</b>

We go back to Oahu in Jan, but this time staying at the JW Marriott, out by Ko'olina. I am not knowledgable about dining options in that area, so any insights on interesting places are appreciated. Thank you.

We had a good dinner at Thai Lao in Kapolei.

Roys at the golf course is probably the best restaurant inside the resort complex. Dinner is better than lunch both in terms of food quality and service. Monkeypod Kitchen will hopefully open by the end of the year at Ko Olina Station.

I was disappointed by all of the venues at Aulani except Olelo Room but I think I enjoyed that one mostly for the music.

The buffet at Ushio Tei at the Ihilani isn't bad but is on the pricey side and is not every day. Haven't eaten at Azul in a while.

Beach Villas has no real food outlet to speak of.

There is a Longboards and a Chuck's Steak House at the Marriott timeshare but neither is worth the walk over ;)

Patty, sounds as I feared. I like the Thai Lao idea. Thanks.