Wanted to share my foodie thoughts since I have benefitted so much from others!
Fri Feb 15: Our flight got in at 2:00pm so we stopped at Safeway on our way to the resort and bought groceries for Breakfast, lunch, drinks, and snacks, yowie, the total was $165!
I hadn't made any dinner plans for this evening in case of travel snafus but I was able to snag a ressie at Monkeypod across the street. This place is convenient and easy for when you haven't made plans but want a decent sit-down meal. The food is pretty good, the prices fair for the area and the service is decent. What a welcome addition to the Ko Olina area! We tried
the pizza, raw bar mixed plate, Beet salad, and the Bulgogi pork tacos
Sat Feb 16: The next morning we got up and drove to the Dole Plantation for Dole Whips, walked around a bit, fed the fish, and bought a
pineapple.Then we drove to the east side of the Island on H3 and then up the coast to visit a few beaches and then back down
to Kaneohe to Fresh Catch. The lady behind the counter was really friendly and encouraged us to try many samples of the poke
which was awesome. They don't just have poke, we also had a great BBQ pork platter and garlic shrimp. We didn't have dinner plans again so went back into Kapolei and ate at PHo808 (Same shopping center as Safeway)
Not the best pho but okay, reasonably priced, quick service
Sun Feb 17th: Sunday night we had a "Date night" and our DD12 had a hamburger and fries from counter service and DH and I went to Roy's at
the Golf Course. Really great food and service, awesome butterfish and sushi, had to have the chocolate souffle. I was impressed with how reasonable the prices were.
Mon Feb 18th: We drove up to the North Shore and visited the beaches there and visited Waimea Falls Park. This is a beautiful
botanical garden ending in the falls which you can swim in if you want. We had dinner reservations in Honolulu but were tired from our excursion so we cancelled them and ended up going to Azul at the Ihilani next door. From my Tripadvisor review: What a shame - this elegant hotel should have a
first class restaurant to match. Azul is set on the edge of a pond filled with Hammerhead sharks and Manta Rays. It's sad that this is the main attraction to eating here. The menu is a tired litany of cliched italian dishes. I had the caprese salad which was nothing more than ordinary beefsteak tomatoes and sliced grocerystore mozzarella. The lobster in the lobster fettucini was mushy and dry, and the sauce was watery and tasteless. My husband's Spaghetti Bolognese was also nothing to write home about - I was fuming when I saw the $230 check at the end of dinner.
Tues Feb 19th: We went on the Hole-in-the-Wall food tour of Honolulu (
www.hawaiifoodtours.com) with Matthew Gray and his charming
assistant, Rachael. Be sure and use the zipper lane when coming from Aulani - it will REALLY save alot of time getting to the pick up spot, the Ala Moana Mall. This was really fun - be sure and book in advance, we visited a variety of authentic Hawaiian and asian eateries and chinatown and ended with a visit at Leonard's for Malasadas. Matthew and Rachael did a
wonderful job of entertaining us and providing history and culture information - this is great whether you are a foodie or
not, and these guys are great eating and entertainment resources.
I wasn't sure how we would be feeling about dinner after our tour so I had not made reservations so we ended up at Monkeypod
again, and had poke tacos, pizza, and peppercorn steak. Again, the food and service were reliable.
Wed Feb 20: We went on Wild Side Ecoadventures (SailHawaii.com) Morning Wildlife Cruise which was $115 per person, for 3 hours on water. This is about 40 minutes North in Waimea. We got to do some Whalewatching and snorkle with the Turtles which was fun. One of the tour highlights is
supposed to be getting to swim with the spinner dolphins but the boat was not able to locate any for us to swim with, but it sounds like from reviews that this does not happen often. Our crew did an excellent job and I don't think I have ever had a better experience snorkeling.
This evening we had reservations at Ama Ama. I had made this reservation with trepidation - last year when we were at Aulani we had eaten there and really had not been impressed - What a vast improvement from last year! The menu and food were excellent and the service was great! We had the big-eye Tuna and Sea Asparagus poke, heirloom tomato salad, Hawaiian Snapper,
Grilled Striploin, and the desserts were fantastic!
Thurs Feb 21st: We saved our last night for Nobu in Waikiki - this was the dining highlight of the trip! The food here is awesome, I had the $125 omekase menu which was amazing, and the service was so attentive and friendly - I can't say enough about this restaurant and can't wait to go back!
Fri Feb 22nd: Firday morning we decided to go to the Makahiki Character Buffet which was surprisingly good. As you are waiting to be seated
you have your picture taken with Mickey and then the pictures are available for purchase for $33. The buffet is pretty good with traditional western and Japanese breakfast foods, and really great character interaction - I don't know if it was because the restaurant was not very full but the characters seemed to take alot of time at each table and the "Emcee" who was playing
games with the kids and singing seemed to do a great job.
I will have to order more wisely next time.
