Food in Oahu

Last post on food from our Hawaii vacation! There were SO MANY food options in Waikiki. Since we were only there a few days, we didn't plan ahead too much and ate whatever was convenient. Mommy tried to only go to places that we can't get back home, but we did end up having pizza and burgers a few times. Here are some of the more notable places we visited.

Marukame Udon:
An exciting new discovery! This was a cafeteria style restaurant serving nothing but udon and tempura. The udon was so slippery and fresh, and it was neat to pick out whatever tempura pieces we wanted, down to a tempura soft-boiled egg! There was a line out the door, but it moved fast. Mommy was a huge fan and it was one of her favorite things about Waikiki. She loves her udon. Seeing how Colin slurped up his noodles, he was a fan too.

We've never seen Colin so serious about eating his noodles.

Another plus: they open at 7am so Daddy even went to grab breakfast on our last day! 

Rainbow Drive In:

A popular spot for plate lunch. We stopped here for breakfast before our day trip around the island. Daddy had beef curry with rice and mac salad. Yes, this was breakfast.

Haleiwa Food Trucks:

After driving to the north shore, Mommy wanted to stop at the famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Except the line was a mile long so she settled for the Korean shrimp truck next to it instead. The food took soooo long, she would have been better off waiting at Giovanni's! Anyway, the garlic shrimp was tasty, and me and Colin ended up eating more of it than she did.

For some reason Acai bowls are really popular in Hawaii.

Leonard's:

Leonard's was another popular food stop, famous for their malasadas. They were made fresh to order and came filled with various fruit or custard fillings. We got chocolate, mango, and coconut and enjoyed them back by the hotel pool. It was a perfect way to top off our last day in Hawaii!

Finally, the one thing that Mommy and Colin couldn't get enough of - spam musubi! Colin ate them everywhere - by the pool, in bed, on the plane ride home. Good thing they're not as easily available back at home!

And so ended another fun family vacation!

More Maui Food

We always need to do a separate post about Maui food! Mommy just needs an outlet for all the food photos she took. Most of the places we visited were the same as last time, but we also discovered a few new favorites.

Joey's Kitchen: A new find at Whaler's Village. After playing in the fountain, we didn't feel like waiting an hour for sit-down dining, so headed to the food court for a quick bite. While Colin and I ended up at the pizza stall, Mommy opted for the Filipino-influenced local cuisine, which also had rave reviews on Yelp. It did not disappoint - the braised beef short rib plate was amazing!

Paia Fish Market: An extension of the original Paia Fish Market in Paia (north end of Maui), which Mommy and Daddy visited long time ago (on their babymoon before they had me!). They were happy to see that a second location opened up in downtown Lahaina, much closer to where we were staying. It was dee-licious! Fast, casual, and so fresh. The fish tacos were awesome, and Colin and I inhaled the seafood pasta.

Joey's Kitchen Napili: Mommy and Daddy liked Joey's Kitchen at Whaler's Village so much, that they found another restaurant by the same owner, appropriately also named Joey's Kitchen. This one was in Napili, about ten minutes north of where we were staying. The food was made fresh to order, and it really felt like we were getting a home-cooked Filipino meal. From prawns to crispy pata (pork leg) to chicken chow fun and Filipino fried rice, everything had a unique flavor and we left stuffed.

Aloha Mixed Plate: Food with a view. It's not a trip to Maui without a visit to Aloha Mixed Plate!

Slappycakes: Oh yeah, and can't forget Slappycakes, the place where we create and cook our own pancakes. 

Heart of Te'fiti and Maui hook pancakes

Ululani's Shave Ice: Yet another visit.

Zippy's: Always our last stop before the airport.

Breakfast of champions

All these places were good and all, but nothing beats eating Lunchables in the comfort of our own kitchen!

More food photos from the Oahu part of our trip to come!

Obligatory Maui Food Post

Here are the last few photos left from our vacation...of food of course! This trip was not much different from our previous trips. We went to all our favorite places and this time ate a lot of meals at home, which was so much easier than making Colin sit still through a long dinner.

Not a bad way to start the day. Fresh lox bagel and iced coffee.

Da Kitchen: The last time we tried to visit the restaurant was closed for remodeling. Mommy has waited four years to go back for their deep fried spam musubi. It did not disappoint. However, she was a little disappointed to see that they changed their menu. While the options were still delicious, they no longer offered all the loco moco options or miso butterfish.

Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman: Where we celebrated Mommy's birthday. It was a forty-five minute drive to Wailea, but we could see why it was so popular. It's a casual yet upscale restaurant with lots of good island food and yummy drinks. We also appreciated their keiki menu with pizza and free buttered noodles for kids.

Raw bar mixed plate (poke and ceviche); Bulgogi pork tacos; Macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi

Me and Colin finishing up Mommy's birthday coconut pie.

Slappycakes: Make your own pancakes! Every table has a built-in griddle and you order the batter and toppings of your choice. While we were waiting for our table there was a TV screen showing pictures of pancakes that previous customers had made. There were all kinds of shapes and characters and we were inspired to make something cool. Turns out that it's much harder than we thought, or we need to make pancakes more often. Surprisingly, the pancakes actually tasted great!

Colin not so impressed with Mommy's Mickey Mouse pancake

Clockwise from top: Mommy's attempt at a palm tree shaped pancake; Kahlua pork benedict; deep-fried bacon; Daddy's attempt at a Snoopy pancake.

Ululani's Shave Ice: Always a favorite!

Poke: Some of the best meals were eating in the comfort of our condo. Colin and I always enjoy mac n' cheese, and Mommy and Daddy could eat poke and rice everyday. There was a fish market nearby that served fresh poke, but they also discovered that the local supermarket had the best poke options.

So many choices!

Duke's: The restaurant at our resort. The best part about it was the patio dining room where they played live music every evening. We came here a few times for dinner, and one time just to eat their famous hula pie - macadamia ice cream with an oreo cookie crust, topped with hot fudge, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream.

Zippy's: Junky and delicious breakfast! Yum. This was near the airport so it was our last meal before heading home.

Loco moco with chili; Chili and rice and fried chicken

Until next time Hawaii!

Rainy Day Rainbow Cake

It was a rainy Sunday and I was milling around at home in my pajamas. Then I spontaneously decided that I wanted to make a Unicorn Rainbow cake, just like the one I saw on an episode of Nerdy Nummies (and like the one from my third birthday). Mommy said there was no way she was making a six layer rainbow cake with me, but she helped me make this single layer rainbow cake. It was just as fun, and kept us busy for a few hours.

By the way, I spent the entire day in my pajamas.

We didn't have a unicorn figure, so the unicorn cake ended up being a princess cake instead.

Also, we couldn't make a cake for no reason. I made up that it was my pet Beagle's birthday, and we were throwing him a huge birthday party. It was so exciting! We even used real candles and sang "Happy Birthday."

Here's the finished cake. Turned out pretty good, and tasted delicious too. Not a bad way to spend a rainy day! Happy birthday Beagle, you lucky stuffed dog.

Homemade Apple Pie

Mmm...homemade apple pie. After our apple picking trip, I couldn't help but make one (or three). It turns out my parents have a pretty good apple tree in their backyard as well (which made them wonder why would we drive another hour away to pick apples somewhere else?), so we've had a steady supply of apples the past few weeks. Here are two recipes that I've tried. Both came out fantastic, but you really can't go wrong with apple pie, no matter what recipe you use.

Apple Pie by Grandma Ople: This takes an extra step as you have to cook the filling before pouring it over the apples. It's basically like making your own caramel sauce, which is delicious! I could just make the filling itself and dip raw apple slices in it. I cheated on the crust in the picture above and used a store-bought Pillsbury crust. It looked good but really didn't taste that great (the crust, that is). Make your own crust!



Apple Pie by Smitten Kitchen: The filling was simple and quick. The crust was simple and not-so-quick, but worth the extra effort. I omitted the lemon juice and zest (most of the comments said it was unnecessary) and probably could have used less allspice. I wanted to be all farm-to-table and use whatever apples I had on hand, but ended up going to the store and adding in some granny smiths, which retain a firm texture even after being cooked (the fujis I used in the previous two pies got too soft). No wonder all recipes tell you to use granny smiths.

Really the biggest pain about making an apple pie is peeling all those apples! But if you have a really good peeler (not like the dull vegetable peeler from the 1970's that my mom still uses, ahem), it's not so bad. Kaitlyn enjoys helping to make them too. We could easily just pour the apple slices directly from the bowl onto the pie crust, but she insists on arranging each slice one by one, which keeps her busy for awhile. As long as it makes her happy.

Yum! Don't forget the vanilla ice cream!