Going to Aulani -- Let's list places to eat

[poohkinandpiglet]

We just returned from 11 days at Aulani. Here's a random list of some of my favorites.

North Shore: Giovanni's Shrimp truck, Woody's corn on the cob and Ted's bakery (loved the mini chocolate chip macadamian nut cookies)
Matsumoto's shaved ice, too.

We ate appetizers for dinner off The Olelo Room menu while listening to the live music. Loved the nightly live music in a beautiful setting! Ama Ama was our favorite on-site restaurant for a nice sit down meal.

Try a Tropical Ginger Lemonade if you've never had one. YUM!

The Swap meet at Aloha Stadium is every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. It's a great place to shop for souvenirs including locally made items.

Electric Beach is a great place to snorkel. The power from the electric company heats the water offshore and attracts all types of fish, eels, sea turtles, etc . . .

Spend an afternoon at the spa and relax in the hydrotherapy garden. Heaven!

Food:

Ko'Olina BBQ across the street from Aulani was good. We liked the BBQ chicken best.

ABC market had good panini sandwiches and other easy lunch options. Portions were large so we shared.

Just Tacos-- food was not great (I'm from Texas so it takes good Mexican food to impress me) but their tequila selection was extensive and the margaritas are worth a try.

Roy's-- good fixed price option

Brick Oven Pizza in Kapolei

Safeway in Kapolei was super expensive ($7 for a box of cereal). Walmart has better prices for basic grocery items. Buy what you can there then splurge on the other stuff at Safeway.

If you geocache, take time to geocache in Oahu. There are some amazing places to discover.

Aloha!

 

[ejw]

where is electric beach?

ellen

 

[podsnel]

We just returned from 11 days at Aulani. Here's a random list of some of my favorites.

North Shore: Giovanni's Shrimp truck, Woody's corn on the cob and Ted's bakery (loved the mini chocolate chip macadamian nut cookies)
Matsumoto's shaved ice, too.

We ate appetizers for dinner off The Olelo Room menu while listening to the live music. Loved the nightly live music in a beautiful setting! Ama Ama was our favorite on-site restaurant for a nice sit down meal.

Try a Tropical Ginger Lemonade if you've never had one. YUM!

The Swap meet at Aloha Stadium is every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. It's a great place to shop for souvenirs including locally made items.

Electric Beach is a great place to snorkel. The power from the electric company heats the water offshore and attracts all types of fish, eels, sea turtles, etc . . .

Spend an afternoon at the spa and relax in the hydrotherapy garden. Heaven!

Food:

Ko'Olina BBQ across the street from Aulani was good. We liked the BBQ chicken best.

ABC market had good panini sandwiches and other easy lunch options. Portions were large so we shared.

Just Tacos-- food was not great (I'm from Texas so it takes good Mexican food to impress me) but their tequila selection was extensive and the margaritas are worth a try.

Roy's-- good fixed price option

Brick Oven Pizza in Kapolei

Safeway in Kapolei was super expensive ($7 for a box of cereal). Walmart has better prices for basic grocery items. Buy what you can there then splurge on the other stuff at Safeway.

If you geocache, take time to geocache in Oahu. There are some amazing places to discover.

Aloha!

Great list- thanks for sharing! Also, very glad to hear you enjoyed Ama Ama- does that mean it has improved?

 

[spleen]

where is electric beach?

ellen

Electric Beach (also known as Kahe Point) is slightly to the west of Aulani. Keep going west on Farrington Highway (the main road/highway outside of Aulani) until you see the big electrical plant on the right - it's the beach across the street. Be warned that break ins are pretty common in cars parked there so I would make sure not to leave any valuables in the car. It's definitely a much better snorkeling spot than anywhere in Ko Olina (where Aulani is). I got PADI certified there ...

http://www.hawaiisnorkelingguide.com/kahe_point_beach_park_snorkeling.html

 

[Figee17]

If you are able, head over to Kaneohe at some point. They have some good restaurants over there as well. Or favorite is Haleiwa Joe's at Haiku Gardens (http://www.haleiwajoes.com/111111_hjoes_kaneohemain.html). Great food, beautiful view, and nice atmosphere. While over there, be sure to visit the Byodo-In Temple (http://www.byodo-in.com/) which is very close by and a beautiful, peaceful spot. Enjoy! I have been to Hawaii three times, but not to aulani yet, I can't wait to go!

 

[rusafee1183]

What a great idea for a thread! I am subbing to this for when I plan my Aulani trip!!

Thanks!

 

[rsjj]

Best shave ice...waiola!! It's a drive away from aulani though...

Burger on the edge...chose ur own burger w/lots of toppings. Huge selection!! Hubby loves burgers, and he really loved this place!! Across from Leonard's bakery. Again, a drive away...

 

[ejw]

Electric Beach (also known as Kahe Point) is slightly to the west of Aulani. Keep going west on Farrington Highway (the main road/highway outside of Aulani) until you see the big electrical plant on the right - it's the beach across the street. Be warned that break ins are pretty common in cars parked there so I would make sure not to leave any valuables in the car. It's definitely a much better snorkeling spot than anywhere in Ko Olina (where Aulani is). I got PADI certified there ...

http://www.hawaiisnorkelingguide.com/kahe_point_beach_park_snorkeling.html

thanks for the info. would like to check it out but don't like the idea of our rental car being broken in to. any chance we can walk there?

 

[knhellesky]

Best shave ice...waiola!! It's a drive away from aulani though...

We call that lady in Waiola "shaved ice nazi"

Make sure you read the rules before ordering

 

[Island Mouse]

My personal favorite shave ice place is Ailana's on Kona street right at Ala Moana Center. It's a hidden gem and near a popular visitor location. I heard they opened another shop in Waikiki, but have yet to try it.

If you venture into downtown/Chinatown my favorite pizza place is JJ Dolan's on Bethel street. They are an Irish pub/sports bar type restaurant with awesome pizza.

Other favorites:
Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin (Waikiki)
Ramen Nakamura (Waikiki)
Honolulu Burger Co. (Honolulu)

 

[rsjj]

We call that lady in Waiola "shaved ice nazi"

Make sure you read the rules before ordering

We just tried this place called shimazu on school st. Pretty good!! They had a "rules" posted there as well!! Hilarious!! I was trying hard to not mess it up!!

 

[spleen]

thanks for the info. would like to check it out but don't like the idea of our rental car being broken in to. any chance we can walk there?

Nah, too far. Plus the area between Ko Olina (where Aulani is) and where Electric Beach isn't the most scenic. If you go, I'd plan on going there, leaving nothing in the car and leaving the doors unlocked/windows open to make it clear that there's nothing in the car. They won't steal the car itself (as long as you don't leave the keys too, lol).

As for shave ice, Waiola is our favorite as well. Though Ailana's is a close second. The Waikiki location for Ailana's is located in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. Waiola also has 2 locations but the original behind the Moilili library is still the best.

 

[mitymott]

Nico's at pier 38, Ono Hawaiian foods,Hukilau cafe, and above all else get a coco puff( or a dozen)from the liliha bakery. We found food to be not all that expensive away from the tourist traps. Awesome places.

 

[haredi]

We went to the taco place across the street, Just Tacos. It was good, but beware that if your family likes the ground beef type tacos, you won't find these in Hawaii. They are steak, chicken and pork. My son was disappointed, we liked it.

We also went to

Duke's in Waikiki and Assaggio in Kapolei.

We were not happy with Longboards at one of the nearby hotels. And Roy's is good, but we have one down the road in FL so we did not go there.

 

[BrianM]

Although there's probably a bunch of places that serve banana/Mac nut pancakes, I really liked this at Moose Mccillicudy's in Waikiki.

 

[Psychodisney]

In Waikiki, we went to Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber. They have free valet parking which was great. Also went to the Shorebird for lunch. Valet parking was only a couple of bucks. Open air looking out onto Waikiki Beach.
Matsumoto's Shave Ice was a big hit for my family. Got there shortly before noon.....no line.
Across from Leonard's Malsadas, we had reasonably priced and tasty burgers at Over the Edge.
Didn't care for the Paradise Cove Luau. Food was very disappointing.
We looked around Kapolei and ended up at Chili's. Outdoor seating was nice. Good service.

 

[gwensgoofy]

bumping this up to see if anyone has any additions to make before we venture there in December!

 

[Skatetigger]

We were there a couple weeks ago and had some good food.

If you make it up to Haleiwa (North Shore) we had some great Thai food that Guy Fieri visited on Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. It's called Opal Thai food, and it's awesome. It's in a little strip mall and you do have to look for it or you might miss it but great experience if you like Thai. Opal is the owner and chef, he took our order and made us some great food. Here's a link to the yelp review

http://www.yelp.com/biz/opal-thai-food-haleiwa

We went to the PCC, and we didnt' do the luau but we did their main meal before the evening show. It was great food.

We miss Leonards but had plenty of shaved ice.


We also ate at a great pizza place on the East side of the island but I wish I could remember the name.

We went to Just Tacos as well and split the appeitzers plate for dinner as we weren't that hungry. The chicken wings were great.

Enjoyed our meals at Ama Ama and Roys. I did the prefix at Roy's and it was really really good.

 

[Carriemel]

I already posted about the ShoreBird but I forgot about this shrimp truck =

http://www.bigwaveshrimp.com/

If it's good enough for Guy Fieri and me...well...

 

[eva]

Really want to do a luau when we go in May. I really love the idea of walking to the Paradise Cove. Has anyone tried the deluxe luau package they have. They say you are served table side, not buffet style, with this package. The list of food was a bit different on the website. Also, it appears that drink orders are taken at the table for this package. Any thoughts or more reviews?

Also, if this is really that bad, are there any more recommendations for luaus?