Oahu Beyond Honolulu?

In a few weeks, we'll be spending about 10 days in a beach house at Haleiwa, which is at the opposite end of Oahu from Honolulu. If anyone knows about the food on that part of the island, I'd appreciate any info you have. I'm sure we'll also be venturing into Honolulu itself, so if you have any recommendations for places the locals eat, that would be great, too.

I grew up in Honolulu and recently got to go back home. We stayed in a house on Sunset beach just down the road from Haleiwa. I was worried about being far from town and all my favorite food, but found some good things to eat.

By far the two best things I ate on the north shore are:

#1 Poke from Kahuku Superette
A cute little general store with absolutely fantastic ahi poke. They seem to be known for their shoyu poke but the limu is great too. You can get a tub of poke on top of a scoop of hot rice and bring it the beach (Malaekahana for example). This might be the best raw fish I had the whole trip (comparable only to Ono Hawaiian in Honolulu). It was so good we went back a second time.

Kahuku Superette‎
56-505 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731

#2 Huli Huli Chicken at the Waialua Farmer's market
We didn't make it to the Haleiwa farmer's market (sundays) but did go to the Waialua one on Saturday. Very cute market next to an old sugar mill with great fruit and produce. But the best part was a huli huli (hawaiian rotisserie) chicken stand. Get it chopped up and try to wait until its cool enough to eat with your hands. I can also recommend the smoked marlin if the fish guy is there and the shave ice from inside the coffee factory (made with fresh fruit puree instead of syrup).

We didn't try many of the sit-down restaurants in Haleiwa because I was focusing on local plate lunch and takeout type stuff (and Haleiwa seems to cater more to hippy surfer type food), but Kua Aina sandwiches is famous and has pretty good burgers and mahi mahi. And the Foodland grocery store at Sunset beach carries locally made Pork Lau Laus (pork and taro leaves steamed with salted butterfish inside a ti leaf) and Poi that will do the trick. One other note; the shrimp truck scene in Kahuku has changed a lot since I lived in HI and I didn't know where to go. We were disappointed with Giovanni's — bitter off garlic flavors, mushy rice and shrimp, no good sear, etc. You may have better luck with some of the other trucks in the shrimp fields. Or just get more poke from Kahuku superette!

And one Honolulu tip: Ono Hawaiian on Kapahulu. It's famous, but rightly so. Get the Lau lau, squid luau (taro leaves, coconut milk, octopus), lomi ahi (hand-torn tuna chunks), poke ahi (chopped up tuna), poi and rice. Also maybe the kalua pig (pulled pork). Then walk a few blocks up Kapahulu and get hot malasadas (Portuguese donuts) from Leonards.

Really thoughtful & informative first post. Welcome to LTH issac. I certainly hope to hear more from you.

isaac wrote:I grew up in Honolulu and recently got to go back home. We stayed in a house on Sunset beach just down the road from Haleiwa. I was worried about being far from town and all my favorite food, but found some good things to eat.

By far the two best things I ate on the north shore are:

#1 Poke from Kahuku Superette
A cute little general store with absolutely fantastic ahi poke. They seem to be known for their shoyu poke but the limu is great too. You can get a tub of poke on top of a scoop of hot rice and bring it the beach (Malaekahana for example). This might be the best raw fish I had the whole trip (comparable only to Ono Hawaiian in Honolulu). It was so good we went back a second time.

Kahuku Superette‎
56-505 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731

#2 Huli Huli Chicken at the Waialua Farmer's market
We didn't make it to the Haleiwa farmer's market (sundays) but did go to the Waialua one on Saturday. Very cute market next to an old sugar mill with great fruit and produce. But the best part was a huli huli (hawaiian rotisserie) chicken stand. Get it chopped up and try to wait until its cool enough to eat with your hands. I can also recommend the smoked marlin if the fish guy is there and the shave ice from inside the coffee factory (made with fresh fruit puree instead of syrup).

We didn't try many of the sit-down restaurants in Haleiwa because I was focusing on local plate lunch and takeout type stuff (and Haleiwa seems to cater more to hippy surfer type food), but Kua Aina sandwiches is famous and has pretty good burgers and mahi mahi. And the Foodland grocery store at Sunset beach carries locally made Pork Lau Laus (pork and taro leaves steamed with salted butterfish inside a ti leaf) and Poi that will do the trick. One other note; the shrimp truck scene in Kahuku has changed a lot since I lived in HI and I didn't know where to go. We were disappointed with Giovanni's — bitter off garlic flavors, mushy rice and shrimp, no good sear, etc. You may have better luck with some of the other trucks in the shrimp fields. Or just get more poke from Kahuku superette!

And one Honolulu tip: Ono Hawaiian on Kapahulu. It's famous, but rightly so. Get the Lau lau, squid luau (taro leaves, coconut milk, octopus), lomi ahi (hand-torn tuna chunks), poke ahi (chopped up tuna), poi and rice. Also maybe the kalua pig (pulled pork). Then walk a few blocks up Kapahulu and get hot malasadas (Portuguese donuts) from Leonards.

One other note; the shrimp truck scene in Kahuku has changed a lot since I lived in HI and I didn't know where to go. We were disappointed with Giovanni's — bitter off garlic flavors, mushy rice and shrimp, no good sear, etc. You may have better luck with some of the other trucks in the shrimp fields. Or just get more poke from Kahuku superette!

We had a good experience at the shrimp truck we went to 3 years ago, but unfortunately I don't remember the name now. Macky's kahuku sweet shrimp truck seems to be getting a lot of love now (66-632 Kamehameha Highway Haleiwa, HI 96712).

We also had a good experience at nicos pier 38 (http://www.nicospier38.com), which is just east of the airport as you are heading toward Honolulu. Just some plastic tables near a parking lot, but the fish is from the auction of that morning's catch and is reasonably priced to boot.

Thanks to all for your thoughts. When we go, I'll try to emerge from my piña colada-induced fog long enough to report back on what we find.
Aloha Oy Vey!

After a nine-hour flight, we fought Friday rush hour traffic out of Honolulu, made our way through driving rain to the house on Sunset Beach, where an 18-hour power outage had just ended. Tired and hungry, we took the suggestion of the property manager and drove a couple of miles down the road to Kahuku Grill. Good call. It's not so much a restaurant as a walk-up with an attached dining room behind a gas station/mini mart. We placed our order at the window, and a friendly young server brought our food to the dining room. Kahuku Grill supposedly is known for its coconut macadamia shrimp and they didn't disappoint. Five huge butterflied shrimp, crisply coated and served with a chunky ginger-pineapple sauce were served over a bed of white rice and plated with a mixed green salad. Also really tasty were a grilled local fish (didn't get the name) and teriyaki chicken. Unfortunately, both other dishes were served exactly the same way as the shrimp. It didn't matter though, as we devoured every bite of everything. The bill came to $43 for four dinners, a real bargain for all that food. Too bad no alcohol is served; at that point I could have really used some beer. As a pleasant little extra, two guitarists, trading rhythm and lead duties, played nicely arranged versions of jazz standards until closing at 9pm. It was a bit too dark to get pics with my phone; undoubtedly we'll be back before we leave and I'll get some proper shots of the food.

Kahuka Grill
56-565 kamehameha
Kahuku, HI 96731

Attracted by the powerful aroma of butter and garlic, we stopped for lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp truck, Kahuku branch:


Limited menu. For most people, no need to look past the first item:


The shrimp are deveined but not peeled. And, as if the dish isn't rich enough, they pour more of the garlic sauce over the rice. By the time I finished peeling, sucking the sauce and eating the shrimp, I had butter and garlic up to my elbows. Deelish! Good thing there's a washing station in back of the covered dining pavilion.