Hidden Gem Honolulu Local Restaurants and Cafes

I’m in Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hapalua-Half-Marathon, and I’m so excited to share all the hidden gems of Honolulu’s local restaurant and cafes I’ve found this trip. These local spots range from the best prime rib I’ve had in a while, to more of Hawaii’s amazing Acai bowls in the area. If you’ve already tried all the tourists spots, you might have new favorites after these well-loved local eats!

Finding Hidden Gem Honolulu Spots During Marathon Prep

I’m back in Honolulu! This time, we are here to run the Hapalua-Half-Marathon. With a a half marathon to prep for, it’s my perfect excuse to taste test all the delicious food Hawaii has to offer. The climate and the local food culture makes it easy to find simple, but healthy foods that suits my body as I’m preparing to run.

I’ve got some must-try restaurants I always visit in Honolulu, but this trip I was able to find some hidden gems that tons of locals love. I know if you go to Hawaii often, you might have heard of some of these places already. But, these are all spots I wished I knew about earlier. So, here’s some of my top spots I think you have to try next time you’re in Honolulu!

Casual Neighborhood Favorites in Oahu

Hawaiian Japanese Comfort Foods

Asahi Grill is a local favorite we actually stumbled across while dodging the rain. They are the ultimate Hawaiian-Japanese comfort food restaurant, with tons of familiar options likeramen and curry. We ordered a plate of Chicken Cutlet ($15.50), with Chicken Katsu topped with brown gravy and served with rice and macaroni salad. Their eggplant tempura curry ($12.95) was also super comforting and flavorful.

I highly, highly recommend the oxtail soup ($23.95) here, which you can also enjoy as a ramen. It’s served with a little dish of ginger soy sauce for dipping your oxtail meat. The soup itself is super rich with oxtail and aromatic flavor, and made the meal even more comforting. The portions here are massive, so it’s amazing value! If you’re in the neighborhood, come by to Asahi Grill for a comforting meal!

Authentic Local Ceviche

Da Seafood Cartel is a family restaurant started off as a farmer’s market stand, and now serves authentic Mexican beach foods like ceviche, aguachile, a ranged of different tostadas, and seafood cocktails. You can choose between their sit-down menu options, or grab a to-go bucket of their ceviche topped share. We came back here 3 times this trip, and each time we wished we ordered more! They have 2 branches, one in Aiea and one in Haleʻiwa, so don’t miss out when you’re in the area!

Their Sonoran style ceviche here was unreal, packed with cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and the freshest shrimp, fish, or octopus in every bite. I also really love their crab tobiko dip, made with chunks of real blue crab. Both of these were ridiculously addicting. What makes it better is their freshly fried tostadas, which were so crispy but not oily at all! I could eat this every single day! You have to try their ceviche!

Hawaiian-Inspired Giant burgers

Seven Brothers Burger is a family-owned burger restaurant that started in Kahuku and has grown to have multiple branches around the US. Known for their massive, freshly made burgers, their menu focuses on classic American burgers with a Hawaiian touch, as well as salads, sandwiches, and fresh seafood plates.

We ordered 2 burgers: Cheeseburger ($10) and Shez’s Paniolo ($14), both drizzled generously with their house-made burger sauce. Their Shez’s Paniolo burger was super tall! It has 2 onion, bacon, and a slice of pineapple all stacked on top of each other.

Definitely also get an order of their home fries. They cut potatoes into thick slices and then deep fried until crispy, and are absolutely delicious. You can also order them smothered in toppings like caramelized onions, grilled pineapples, melted cheese, and more. It’s a great price here for high quality food. I personally also really loved their mom’s bakery, which is at a separate location. You definitely have to try their brownie and banana cake!

Top Quality Onigiri

Nana Musubi is my new favorite place to get onigiris. They’re located inside Waikiki Shopping Plaza’s Stix Food Hall, selling various flavors of onigiri/musubi. They offer musubi meal sets with drinks or soup as well. They have a ton of different flavors, from traditional Japanese ones like mentaiko, to more Hawaiian staples like spam.

I came here so many times this trip, I got 18 onigiri total, and loved every single one! They only use organic rice directly from Japan, so the quality of each bite is unreal. The onigiris are packed with so much filling, and honestly, they’re all delicious. They sell the crispy seaweed to wrap around your musubi separately. If you prefer that crunch from fresh seaweed in your rice ball, I definitely recommend adding it on! Nana musubi is the perfect beach snack or breakfast if you’re in Honolulu!

New Favorite Garlic Shrimp

Tanaka Kahuku Shrimp might be my new favorite spicy garlic shrimp spot in Oahu! This simple shrimp shack has seating area to enjoy your food, but many people take it to-go. They have a fairly simple menu of garlic shrimp plates in various flavors, and chicken katsu plate, at about $18 each. The plate comes with massive portions of protein and 2 scoops of white rice generously topped with spicy garlic sauce and steamed corn.

Their chicken katsu was ok, but what was really delicious was that spicy garlic shrimp. They were plump, and well seasoned. But, te trip MVP is their spicy garlic sauce, with big chunks of garlic inside. On top of white rice and steamed corn, it is EVERYTHING. Even with the massive portions, I still wished i asked for extra rice and garlic sauce. Those two alone were worth it for me.

Local Fine Dining

Orchids Sunday Seafood Buffet

To celebrate finishing our half marathon, we tried the Sunday All You Can Eat Buffet at Orchids. This oceanfront restaurant Is inside the Halekulani Hotel, and typically serves Italian and Mediterranean-inspired dishes with fresh local seafood. However, their Sparkling Sunday Brunch buffet is well known for their high quality and vast food options at $115 per person.

This buffet had all the breakfast items you can think of, and more. The amount of fresh seafood offered at the buffet was so impressive, was packed with everything from crab claws to fresh oysters. But, the meat options are also quite substantial, starting with a proper Sunday roast with carrots and potatoes on the side, with gravy and horse radish. But, there’s tons of different serve-to-order stations like Honey Ham, make-your-own omelette, and eggs Benedict. My favorites out of everything was the cocktail shrimp, Sunday roast, and poke!

Orchids is definitely a pricier fine dining experience, but I felt like the price really matched the value. Everything is served to you, so it was very clean and comfortable dining experience, with beautiful beach views. It’s reservation only, so make sure you plan ahead of time!

Best Prime Rib

At our Airbnb hosts’ recommendation, we visited Lei Lei’s Bar and Grill inside the Ritz-Carlton for our final dinner in Oahu this trip. Even thought it is located inside such a high-end hotel, it’s actually still a locally owned and operated business, serving American and Hawaiian favorites with fresh ingredients, cooked to perfection.

We stared with a warm crab dip ($28), and it’s immediately an absolute must order. It was creamy and umami-packed in the best ways, with Parmesan and chunks of artichoke hearts. We ordered three different mains: stuffed salmon, prime rib, and seafood scampi. The Crab Stuffed Salmon ($48) was unreal, with rich chunks of crab, artichoke, and spinach drizzled with a refreshing dill beurre blanc. And, wow, they had the best prime rib (starting at $54) I’ve had in a very, very long time. The warm cookies with ice cream at the end were the perfect ending to this amazing meal.

Lei Lei’s Bar and Grill was the perfect ending to our Hawaii vacation. But, you can also enjoy Lei Lei’s food during their breakfast or lunch hours, where they serve take-out only breakfast bentos, croissants, scrambled egg plates, and coffee.

Cafes and Acai Bowls

Da Cove Health Bar and Cafe

Da Cove Health Bar and Cafe is tied for me for best açaí bowls in Oahu! This popular local health food cafe is known for their unique ways of incorporating local ingredients into popular health food favorites. On the menu is a range of juices, salads, sandwiches, and rice plates, all made with fresh ingredients like ahi tuna and salmon.

But, the acai bowls are an absolute must-try thanks to their creative, locally-sourced toppings. The fruit here is super super fresh every time, so they are always good. What is unique is their use of Paʻiʻai, a thick, pounded taro paste, in their Hawaiian Bowl ($17.35). Another interesting topping for their bowls is the local raw honey and bee pollen. The honey here is also so delicious! With all these fun toppings and a pretty reasonable pricing, I would come here every single day if I could!

Kona Coffee Purveyors

For a quick coffee break, we really enjoyed stopping at Kona Coffee Purveyors. Located at the International Marketplace in Waikiki, this cafe and roastery uses coffee beans that are 100% produced in Kona for their drinks. You’ll also have the option to choose between Kogu (Japanese-style pour-over) or Aeropress method for your coffee. I know everyone comes here for the coffee, but as someone who’s not that into coffee, i personally found it just ok.

However, their pastries are delicious! Kona Coffee Purveyors collaborates with San Francisco bakery b. Patisserie for their full range of pastries. We got to try their signature Kouign Amann, a flaky croissant pastry with a range of flavors like sesame, Maui pineapple coconut, and more. Their sandwich and cookies was also super good!

Acai Bowl with Full Topping Bar

Waffles and Berry is one of the açaí bowl places I am sad I didn’t discover sooner! This family-owned breakfast shop is located inside Waikiki Shopping Plaza, serving piping hot waffles, eggs, and delicious Acai bowls. We had to try their Golden Waffles, completed with an extra plate of eggs and sausages. Their waffles are definitely an 8.5/10. They’re fluffy, but just the right amount of crispy.

I think their must try is actually their açaí bowls. The best part is their toppings bar! For $18, you can get a base and add as many toppings as you want. They have all the best healthy options like coconut flakes, hemp seeds, cacao nibs, granola, and honey, as well as a range of fresh fruits. I loved their açaí base so much, the texture was super smooth, and definitely delicious. This is a 100/10 açaí bowl!

Best Value Acai Bowls

Banzai Açaí Bowls is my favorite açaí bowl here in North Shore. It became our go-to snack after swimming all day and we went back three times this trip! Each of the bowls on their men has a different smoothie blend made with your choice of pitaya (dragon fruit) or açaí bowl base, and different combination of granola and toppings like fresh fruit, cacao nibs, and bee pollen.

I just cannot get over the value here, because you get a massive açaí bowl for only $14. It is literally a tub! We tried as many as we could, and they were all delicious! Here’s some of the bowls we got to try:

• Shoyu Bowl: Apple Juice and Acai blend topped with granola, bananas, and honey
• V-Land: Coconut, pineapple juice, pitaya, bananas, strawberries, mango topped with granola, bananas, strawberries, pineapple chunks, honey
• Diamond Head: Apple Juice, Acai, bananas, blueberries, celery, spinach topped with granola, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, honey

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