Category: Hawaii Accommodations & Dining

“Do you like Hawaiian pizza?” I was at a famous Waikiki Beach restaurant on assignment recently, Duke’s Waikiki, and the question would later send me into an existential tailspin. It was a simple and innocent yes-or-no question asked by a child on vacation with their parents. Sitting at the bar of my neighborhood pub days […]

If you coming to the islands chances are you’re going to want a cocktail so here are some ideas for Hawaii’s tropical drinks. There are lots of them, and innumerable variations of each, depending on the hand that mixes them. Adult beverage culture and practice have evolved over many decades, with new ingredients, methods, and […]

There are countless iconic attractions for visitors to Hawaii. From Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head to Waimea Canyon Kauai to Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii Island to Haleakala Crater on Maui, many of these attractions are known and marveled at by people all over the world. All have been covered over the years in pages here […]

Deeming Yakiniku Sizzle “Oahu’s best yakiniku” restaurant may be hyperbolic but considering our small sample size of one (1) such non-chain Japanese barbeque establishment in the past 10-or-so-years, we are sticking with our assessment and our enthusiastic recommendation. Also, it’s close to the HAT Blog Home Office, it’s quite reasonably priced, and it’s run by […]

A recent visit to Kona Brewing Company in Hawaii Kai at Koko Marina Shopping Center on Oahu was remarkable for a few reasons. First among them was realizing it was just my second time at the brewpub since its opening in 2003 (I grew up in Hawaii Kai, but I have been a Honolulu Downtowner […]

As July approaches, so does the peak of Hawaii mango season. With it comes an endless supply of mango bread, mango chutney, pickled mango, mango salsa, mango smoothies, and every other imaginable culinary iteration of the sweet tropical fruit. It’s also harvest season for a variety of other endemic Hawaii fruits. Hawaii is a tropical […]

My wife and I headed into Waikiki a couple of Saturdays ago for the grand opening of the new locally owned and operated Sunny’s Local Grind. It’s a coffee shop and breakfast/lunch joint located on the western “edge of Waikiki”. It’s about a mile and a half from the Honolulu Zoo at Waikiki’s eastern end. […]

We wrote about the famous Liliha Bakery here at the HAT Blog a decade ago. We’ve been back many times since, and, frankly, nothing has changed (it opened in 1950). That is a wonderful thing. Much has been written over the years about the venerable old diner, many fawning and cutesy local news segments produced […]

A friend of the HAT Blog, Chef Adam Gilbert, opened Monarch Poke in Pearl City in November 2022. Located in a nondescript strip mall near Pearlridge Shopping Center, the dishes on offer belie the workaday tedium of shoe stores, auto body shops, and plate lunch joints that typify the area. A recent Friday lunchtime visit […]

The wind and rain continue to howl and lash here in Honolulu, and throughout most of Hawaii, with no sign of letting up any time soon. It’s fine, though, except perhaps for my wife’s new clutch of doomed houseplants and the Aloha State residents who’ve been inundated by turbid floodwaters or had their property whipped […]

One of the most common concerns we hear from visitors regards tipping in Hawaii. Who should be tipped? When? How much? Food and beverage industry workers should be tipped, certainly. Parking valets, too. Leaving a few bucks for the cleaning staff at your hotel/resort/vacation rental is also a fine way to express your aloha for […]

For our 13th wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to forgo our tradition of dining out at a fine dining steakhouse and opt for something different. We were after something more casual, and with a more eclectic selection of appetizers and entrees than the often-predictable menus offered at traditional steakhouses. Moku Kitchen at SALT […]