Oahu - Honolulu Food Recs

[FoodMan]

It's been a couple of years since one of those posts have been updated here. We'll be there for a wedding this weekend. Anything new worth checking out? We'll have a car and have two kids. So, mostly we need middle of the range eats, some Ramen or Udon joints, local favorites, some good breakfast places and bakeries.... For higher end, is Chef Mavro the place to go? 

 

A couple of places on my list so far include 

Ethel's Restaurant

Marukame Udon

Alaina Shave Ice

[jaynesb]

I was there in 2012.

 

http://www.legendseafoodhonolulu.com

I went off in search of a vegetarian place and it ended up being closed. It was in a complex that I think was the Chinese Cultural Center but there were tons of people across the hallway trying to get into a place with large tables. There was a man who kept trying to put up a sign that said "closed" to try to discourage more people from walking in but it wasn't working. My husband and I were the only non-Asians in there. People really were enjoying what they were eating and we had to work to convince our server that we wanted strictly vegetarian food. In the end, we had an amazing meal. Almost all tables were for large families but there were a few smaller tables. Lots of drama and celebrations and families did have their kids there.

 

I believe that this is where it was. It helps to have a car because we had to get taxi service and in the later evening, there weren't so many cars on the road so you couldn't hail a cab or anything.

 

For higher end, we enjoyed Alan Wong's restaurant. 

 

Have a wonderful time!

 

Jayne

[Catherine Iino]

My sister-in-law and her spouse spend the winter in Hawaii each year, and I'd like to send them a gift certificate to a good restaurant in Honolulu. They are not foodies, but they both just had big birthdays worthy of a festive celebration. Any recommendations?