Spirit of Aloha | Features | July/August 2007

Bites of Paradise

Eating Waikiki
By Joan Namkoong


All the flavors of Hawai‘i in one place

PHOTO: COURTESY OF YARD HOUSE PHOTO: COURTESY OF HOTELS AND RESORTS OF HALEK¯ULANI PHOTO: COURTESY OF RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROY’S RESTAURANTS COURTESY OF SANSEI SEAFOOD RESTAURANT.

As an unabashed foodie, I know that one of the best ways to get to know a place is by doing what we all love to do—eat! Food tells you so much about a locale: Its geography and climate, for example, are seen in what it grows and what people eat; ethnicity, history and culture are seen through the cooking tech­niques and flavors that transform ingredients into delectable bites. Ha­wai‘i Regional Cuisine, the label given to Hawai‘i’s contemporary food, reflects all of this through its emphasis on fresh local ingredients and preparations that mirror the array of ethnic people who came to settle in the Islands. Hawai‘i’s food is unique on this Earth and a delicious adventure for savvy foodies.

Hawai‘i’s local food can be found through­out the state, even in Waikīkī, where the ever-expanding number of chain restaurants have found this popular visitor destination a lucrative place to be. If I were dining in Waikīkī, here’s what I’d be looking to taste and where I’d go to find Hawai‘i on the plate.

What to taste

Fresh ingredients are key to every good culinary preparation, even more so in Hawai‘i. We are, after all, an is­land state and 80 percent of our food is imported from the U.S. mainland and other points around the world. Fresh is a relative term here: It sometimes takes a week for food to get to Hawai‘i’s chefs and consumers from the West Coast. But Island-grown farm fresh means a day or two of travel time from farms with­in the state. Thus, looking for fresh items on menus, especially vegetables and fruits, is an important key to tasting the Islands.

For a sweet taste of the Islands, you can’t beat the pineapple and papaya, available year round. Or a short, fat ap­ple banana, a luscious, ripe mango or a delicate, juicy lychee. The Saturday Farm­ers’ Market at Kapi‘olani Commu­nity College (7:30 to 11 a.m.), a long walk or short taxi ride from Waikīkī, offers a wide array of fruits, plus a variety of vegetables that you’ll no doubt find on many a fine restaurant menu. It’s the place where savvy residents shop to get the freshest and best products of the Islands.

Fish is perhaps the most obvious and important fresh protein you’ll find on menus. An active and prolific long-line fishery ensures fresh fish are brought to the daily Honolulu Fish Auction and to restaurants and markets every day, es­pecially in Honolulu. ‘Ahi, or tuna, is Ha­­wai‘i’s premier catch (the plentiful supply is exported, too), served as sashimi (raw), blackened or seared or sometimes grilled to perfection. Kampachi, Ha­waiian yellowtail, raised in open-ocean cages off the western shores of the Big Island, is succulent, often prepared just like ‘ahi. Mahi­mahi is an Is­land favorite; opah, monchong and shu­tome (swordfish), too. Prized fish like onaga and ‘öpakapaka are excellent, but they have become very dear due to a sea­sonal ban on fishing. Restaurants proud­ly serve fresh-caught Island fish, but I suggest you ask about the variety’s origins when you order.

Ethnic foods in the Islands are ubiquitous and are often eaten in combination with other ethnic foods. For example, Por­tu­guese sausage, a garlicky spicy pork sausage introduced by Por­tuguese immigrants who came to work on the su­gar plantations, is served with eggs and rice, a contribution of Chinese plan­­tation workers. Find this classic Ha­wai‘i breakfast combination in many a Wai­kīkī restaurant—even McDonald’s. Kālua pork, the traditional smoky roast pork of the Hawaiian lū‘au table, will find its way into salads, breakfast hash, quesa­dillas, spring rolls and other savory prep­arations in many dining rooms, at­testing to its delicious flavor and importance in Island cuisine.

Ingredients and ethnic dishes on Island menus point to a wide variety of flavors and cooking styles that are distinct to Hawai‘i’s cuisine. See something on a menu you don’t recognize? Undoubtedly, your server can explain the tasty local dishes that find their way onto the menus of even the biggest chain restaurants.

‘Ahi a must

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, there’s nothing like a little cool liquid refreshment accompanied by pūpū, or hors d’oeuvres. The favorite pūpū among residents is fresh raw fish, and make that ‘ahi, please. ‘Ahi sashimi, poke or seared ‘ahi are perhaps Ha­wai‘i’s best tastes.

Fresh-caught, yellow-fin or big-eye ‘ahi are Hawai‘i’s prized catches, best eaten raw, simply sliced into bite-sized morsels and dipped in a little soy sauce and wasabi (Japanese horseradish). Top-grade ‘ahi sashimi won’t be inexpensive, but every bite will please the palate.

Poke is the ubiquitous pūpū in the Is­lands, morsels of seasoned raw fish that pair well with a mai tai, cold beer or glass of wine. Just about every restaurant serves poke, usually made with fresh ‘ahi, each with its own signature flavor enhancement. In the new Wai­kīkī Beach Walk district, you’ll find poke at the Yard House, stacked be­tween crisp won ton chips and seasoned with a pungent wasabi and soy sauce mix. Nearby, the Holokai Grille seasons its poke more gently with soy sauce, but maintains a spicy note. Rare­ly will you find a poke preparation that’s just like the one you had before.

Seared or blackened ‘ahi is another noteworthy ‘ahi preparation found at many restaurants. At Ruth’s Chris Steak House, classic Cajun seasonings surround each slice of ‘ahi, which is seared in a very hot cast iron skillet and accompanied by a Chinese mustard, soy sauce and beer dipping condiment. It’s such a tasty preparation that it’s become a stan­dard menu item in Ruth’s Chris res­tau­rants nationwide. Like poke, seared ‘ahi takes on many delicious flavors and styles.

Three places to dine in Waikīkī

If I had but a day or two in Waikīkī and tasting the flavors of Hawai‘i was a priority, there are three places I’d go for some adventure and delicious fun. I would start my day at Orchids at the Halekūlani Hotel, where oceanside views enhance an elegant dining experience. Chef de cuisine Darryl Fuji­ta never forgets his Honolulu roots and punctuates the contemporary menu with Island-grown flavors. For breakfast I’d have a hard time deciding among the Portu­guese sweetbread or haupia (coco­nut) French toast, poior maca­damia-nut pan­cakes or the kālua pork hash and eggs. I would definitely have the signature pop­overs with pohā (cape gooseberry) jam, a glass of liliko‘i (pas­sion fruit) or guava juice and Kona coffee, of course. If dinner were on the sched­ule here, I would absolutely opt for the fresh fish, Oriental style, steam­ed and topped with soy sauce, green onions, ginger, cilantro and sesame oil, a classic presentation that is the epitome of Hawai‘i’s cuisine.

At the other end of Waikīkī, at the Waikīkī Beach Marriot Resort and Spa, I’d settle in to Sansei Sea­food Res­tau­rant and Sushi Bar. Here, chef/owner Dave “D.K.” Kodama shows you how we like to eat in Ha­wai‘i: tantalizing little plates meant to be shared, each one flavored with the tastes Ko­dama grew up on in Ha­wai‘i. Sushi here can be traditional, yet extraordinarily different: the Sansei Special Roll, for example, has spicy crab, cilantro, cucumber, avocado and furikake (seaweed), and is accompanied by a sweet Thai chili sauce.

Like­wise, the mango crab salad hand rolls, seared foie gras sushi and noodles in a black truffle Dungeness crab broth are distinctive to Kodama’s culinary style, which reflects the Islands’ food heritage in a contemporary way. The biggest problem at Sansei is choosing from the extensive menu, but I’d gladly give it a try.

If I had but one night to dine in Wai­kīkī and wanted to experience a taste of Hawai‘i, I’d go to Roy’s Restaurant. One of more than 30 restaurants—yes, it’s a chain—Roy’s was founded in 1988 by Roy Yamaguchi in the east Honolulu neighborhood of Hawai‘i Kai. Hawai‘i is now home to seven Roy’s Restau­rants, with the newest on Waikīkī Beach Walk.

Hawaiian fusion is the defining term for Roy’s Restaurants, a con­temporary blend of Eastern and Western in­gredients, techniques and flavors. It’s a cooking style that evolved from the childhood summers that Yamaguchi experienced with family on the island of Maui and his early years spent in Japan. Yama­­guchi is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York and the first of three James Beard Award-winning chefs in Hawai‘i. He is also one of the original Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine chefs, a group of top chefs that changed the way Ha­wai‘i eats, showcasing local farm products and the ethnic flavors of Ha­wai‘i in fine restaurants throughout the state.

Committed to the fresh and local theme, Roy’s Restaurants’ menus are peppered with names like Nalo Farms, Hau‘ula tomatoes and Hāmākua mushrooms, recognizing the farmers that supply the restaurants. Ninety percent of all the vegetables used on the menu at Roy’s are grown in the Islands.

Roy’s Restaurants’ chefs are mostly homegrown, too. In Waikīkī, executive chef Jason Peel was born and raised in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i, Mark Pomaski, who presides over the sushi counter, is from Hilo. Both think like the restaurant’s founder: fresh ingredients, bold flavors reflecting Hawai‘i’s cultural diversity and unlikely combinations that marry deliciously and perfectly.

So how does Hawaiian fusion translate to the plate? Roy’s classic grilled short ribs, for example, are glazed with a honey-mustard sauce and served with lomi (chopped and seasoned) tomatoes and fresh poi, the starch staple of the Native Hawaiian table made from taro. Fresh Island fish is crusted with mac­adamia nuts, ‘ahi is blacken­ed with zes­ty seasonings. At the sushi counter, cured kampachi is garnished with lomi salmon and drizzled with a sauce of balsamic vinegar and mushroom soy sauce. Classic desserts are updated at Roy’s, where warm pineapple upside down cake, maca­damia-nut tarts and haupia-pudding brownies are not to be missed. The ingredients are fresh, the flavors alive and Roy’s never disappoints.

In Waikīkī, amid the hustle and bustle of souvenir kiosks, art galleries, fashionable boutiques and the dozens upon dozens of chain eateries and restaurants, food-savvy folks can certainly ex­perience the flavors of Hawai‘i. As we say in the Islands, it’s ‘ono—delicious.

Hawai‘i-born and -raised, JOAN NAM­KOONG is a foodie, a free-lance writer and an organizer of farmers’ markets and food events. She is the author of Food Lover’s Guide to Honolulu, Go Home, Cook Rice and Family Traditions in Hawai‘i.

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