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Your picks for iconic Hawaii foods

By Catherine Toth Fox • August 11, 2011 • Food

When I was living in Chicago, I got asked once, “So what do you folks eat in Hawaii?”

I paused — not because I didn’t know the answer, but because there seemed to be so many answers.

I could start with the traditional foods of Native Hawaiians — kalua pig, lau lau, pipikaula, haupia.

Then there are those ethnic dishes we can’t seem to live without — saimin, pork adobo, manapua, ahi poke, malassadas, meat juhn, katsu curry, Portuguese bean soup, andagi.

And how can I forget the iconic plate lunch, with two scoops of white rice, some kind of meat-based entree — barbecue pork, chicken katsu, teriyaki beef — and a nice dollop of macaronic salad — heavy on the mayo — and gravy all over? I mean, isn’t that as local as you get?

Then there are the category-less foods: shave ice, guri guri, garlic chicken, dry min, crack seed and, of course, the Spam musubi.

The list goes on.

I was thinking about this recently when a reader from the Midwest e-mailed me, saying she was coming to town — and wanted to know what and where to eat.

Where do I begin?

I would tell folks to hit Rainbow Drive-In in Kapahulu for a plate lunch, Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop in Kailua for deep-fried malassadas and either Ailana Shave Ice near Ala Moana or Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha in Aina Haina for some innovative shave ice.

And if they’ve never been to Hawaii before, I’d highly recommend a Spam musubi. My picks are from Tanioka’s Seafood in Waipahu or any 7-Eleven.

For poke, try Alicia’s Market in Kalihi. For Hawaiian food, visit Helena’s Hawaiian Food in Kalihi. For local-style saimin, go to Shige’s Saimin Stand in Wahiawa.

These must be my picks for iconic Hawaii foods.

So I’m throwing it out there: where do you tell out-of-towners to eat and what do you consider iconic Hawaii foods?

crack seedFoodhaupiaHawaiiHawaiian foodiconic Hawaii foodskalua piglau laupipikaulaplate lunchshave iceSpam musubitravel
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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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36 Comments

  • Reply oldshoes August 11, 2011 at 1:34 am

    mac-nut crusted mahi mahi,chi chi or pina colada with da umbrella & slice of pineapple,2 scoop rice,side poi…..haupia sorbet to cleanse the palet. AND mango cheesecake for dessert. have a nice day.

    • Reply hawaiiobsessed August 11, 2011 at 6:22 am

      that sounds amazing! Where would you find these?

      • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:26 pm

        Haupia sorbet does sound nice!

  • Reply oldshoes August 11, 2011 at 1:34 am

    oops…forgot the sashimi for pu pu.

  • Reply oldshoes August 11, 2011 at 1:37 am

    then of course they’ll want some Maui Onion Potato Chips when they get back to where ever they are staying……

  • Reply 9th island Cuz August 11, 2011 at 1:59 am

    iconic Hawaii foods butter mochi from my auntie (hint Nov. beach house), Leeward Drive Inn, and the list goes on and on…

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:26 pm

      Butter mochi! Too bad I can’t mail you some!

      • Reply 9th island Cuz August 12, 2011 at 7:08 am

        Cuz when I said my auntie its your Mom.. tummy needs input, auntie are you reading this (November beach house) your butter mochi will make my tummy very 🙂

  • Reply MaxMaxMax August 11, 2011 at 2:20 am

    Historically, the most iconic and well known around the world is POI… which I actually happen to enjoy!

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:26 pm

      That’s true, completely neglected poi. It’s not hugely popular among visitors, but it’s certainly iconic. Nowhere else!

      • Reply MaxMaxMax August 12, 2011 at 3:36 pm

        I actually, really and truly enjoy it!

  • Reply D.NAKA August 11, 2011 at 4:02 am

    ono seafood in kapahulu ahi poke with the works /waiola shave ice/kabuki delicatessen in aiea/elena’s or thelma’s in waipahu

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:27 pm

      Kabuki Delicatessen — is that the one across from the old Advertiser?

  • Reply hawaiiobsessed August 11, 2011 at 6:26 am

    love this blog Cat. Can’t wait to hear all the replies to this particular post. I am going to have to save this one! Can I ask you and your readers if you make your own haupia from canned coconut milk or do you like the mix from Costco? Which is better? I would love to try the “from scratch” recipe made from fresh coconut that was in the advertiser a couple weeks ago. Sigh.

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:27 pm

      I could try to make both — that would be a great blog post!

  • Reply M August 11, 2011 at 6:48 am

    Hello Cat, so many choices, so many places to grind I don’t know even where to start. The first place to take out of towners for me would be Ono Hawaiian Food.

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:27 pm

      Ono’s has the best lau lau!

  • Reply Panini August 11, 2011 at 8:22 am

    I would add loco moco and Zippy’s chili (it’s not like the chili you get elsewhere). I know I missed those things when I was on the mainland…oh, and POG or Hawaiian Sun/Aloha Maid drinks.

  • Reply matt August 11, 2011 at 8:34 am

    Anyplace Lounge steak with onions and fried rice

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:28 pm

      Never been there… Shocking, isn’t it?

      • Reply matt August 12, 2011 at 6:28 am

        even with side street getting all the glory, I’m an Anyplace loyalist. I’ll put the fuud up there with any bar in honolulu.

  • Reply M August 11, 2011 at 8:52 am

    Side Street Inn and Happy Days for Dim Sum.

  • Reply M August 11, 2011 at 8:59 am

    Leonard’s for malasadas

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:28 pm

      YES!

  • Reply Paco August 11, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Love the fuud topic! When I think “iconic”, since this is Hawaii, I think Hawaiian food. I like everyone’s examples, but our melting pot culture here includes foods from various ethnic groups which can be found elsewhere. But couple which I would list are: oxtail soup, saimin, shave ice, crack seed, spam musubi, plate lunch, loco moco, poke, mochi/manju, dry min (Sam Sato’s of course!). Mmmmmm…..is it lunchtime yet!

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:30 pm

      It’s hard to decide since so much of our local food culture has ethnic influences. Hawaiian food, though, should rank high, since this is the food of the host culture. After all!

  • Reply David Jackson August 11, 2011 at 10:41 am

    I always send my mainland friends to the same places, Indigo, Haleiwa Joe’s Kaneohe, Aoki’s Shave Ice, Agnes, Rainbow, Duk’s Bistro, Chef Mavro’s, Pho to Chau? River Street, Hale Vietnam, Buzz’s Kailua, Roy’s, 3660, and a coffee and newspaper at Kalapawai. There really are too many to name. I also love Phuket Thai, the one near Waikiki. I think what it is is the variety of what is offered. and sometimes the appetizers are way better than the entrees. Used to go to Haleiwa Joe’s just to eat the appetizers, pupu platters, and have a beer. But in all seriousness I used to love to go to 7-11 and get a small coke and a spam musubi because for $2.00 you could not beat it for a snack. I also love that burger joint near Chaminade but don’t remember the name. There is also something called the Shack in Kailua, on occasion it was great. Most tourists might not liek it but it was pretty good. There is a hole in the wall pizza place near the airport called Big Kahunas that has the most outrageous garlic cheeseballs. Damn I miss those things. Assaggio’s Kailua, Big City Diner. And right now, yes RIGHT NOW, I would give almost anything to be sitting outside at Boston’s North End pizza eating a slice. ANYTHING. all this food talk… guaranteed to make this kama’aina one homesick puppy… gonna go cry now.

    • Reply matt August 11, 2011 at 11:11 am

      W&M

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:31 pm

      LOL! Sorry to bring you back down Food Memory Lane!

      • Reply David Jackson August 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm

        🙂 no worries Cat. At least I know where to eat when I come home.

  • Reply The Chicago Cuz August 11, 2011 at 11:13 am

    Seeing as how the Cuz is from Chicago I guess this is one blog I can’t really participate in. I will say that all of the above sounds good, especially the plate lunch….

    I will take traditional Hawaiian food over Deep Dish Pizzza and Steak any day of the week.

    • Reply Catherine Toth August 11, 2011 at 4:31 pm

      So, question: Where do you take out-of-towners in Chicago? (I’m heading there in November!)

  • Reply guest August 11, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    The food court at ala moana center has every kind of ethnic food you can think of.

  • Reply oldshoes August 11, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    another thought……as simple as it may be is rice.White sticky rice. Mainland folks arent really familiar with it. They mostly have uncle Ben’s, wild rice, or maybe a brown rice of some sort. Charred rare pepper-crusted ahi sashimi is great! And a great way to get a non-raw-fish-eating tourist to at least try.

  • Reply J August 12, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    In more recent times, been taking people to Dean’s in Kaneohe. He has a good veggie selection on the menu. For those who look to eat off the full menu, get the ahi cakes. Call first as they sometimes are out catering.

    Andy’s Sandwiches in Manoa, they get to try his papaya seed dressing and always good fun talking story with him.

    Young’s Fish Market, Zippy’s, Lee Ho Fook, Gulick, Manu Bu, Moke’s Bread & Breakfast, Bogart’s Cafe, Dee Lite Bakery, Lee’s Bakery for custard pie, Waiola, Shimazu…

    Been asked so many times about places to eat, I ended up creating a word doc with my picks, then moved it to xanga, over to a note on Facebook and now it’s a Google doc. Reminds me, I should go update it again. 😀

  • Reply Sandy August 16, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    For the longest time, I searched for the old time wet crack seed and finally found it several years ago at Kay’s Crack Seed at Manoa Marketplace. Now, whoever goes home has to bring back some for me.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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