Everything about Hawaii (Oahu)

[Obsideon]

*sigh* I saw that, I'll be heading there next week.
Hopefully they will have it cleared up by then. Tourism is by far their #1 economy driver so they should get on it immediately.

[Edison_Chen]

Has anybody heard positive things about the Modern Honolulu hotel? I'm looking to good down to Honolulu/Waikiki in Nov. 11-18 or Nov. 12-19.

[yray]

^ I went there for three days, book through their website to get hotel credit.

Paid for 2 days valet parking and a dinner at morimoto. Its a bit far from Wakiki but close to Ala Moana Center. Close to a 10min walk through the Hiltons before you get to the shopping strip of Waikiki. I got a corner suite facing the road, it was a bit noisy but it wasn't too bad.

[Obsideon]

Hawaii Keeps Close Eye on Hurricane Ignacio

I'll be heading there this Sunday, fingers crossed this misses the island.

[ForbiddenX]

I'm here as well weather's been good so far. I came from Maui though and it started to rain hard as we left on Sunday.

Looks like the Hurricane is moving more away from hawaii though which is good news: Hurricane Ignacio Rapidly Weakens, Moves Away From Hawaii - ABC News

[Obsideon]

Just got back!
Thank God the weather turned out ok, there were 2 hurricanes that were heading towards the island but both veered north before they hit.
All the food recommendations from Revscene were spot on! Thanks everyone for the contributions! I read through every page here.

Personally wasn't a huge fan of the traditional Hawaiian food. Poi was funky, I prefer rice.
The plate lunch at Rainbow was delicious. Great flavours on all the meat and fish.
Ono Seafood was AWESOME, loved the Spicy one.
Nico's Pier was really good, huge slab of grilled Ahi Tuna.
Masaladas guilty pleasure haha... ate 4 in 1 sitting.
Roy's was "ok", overpriced. North Shore shrimp, ate at Fumi's and Giovanni's. Fumi's tasted fresher and bigger.
Waiola shaved ice was better than Matsumoto's.

Tried surfing but the waves were way too rough and strong (the effects from the off-shore hurricane) so I was really bad at it. I was bombarded by waves and couldn't really get the hang of it. Managed to get on a few waves though.

Snorkeling was fine although I was burnt like a lobster lol

[Obsideon]

Murakame Udon was great for lunch. Also went to 3 ramen spots, they were all bad.

[dat_steve]

I just got back Monday and i'm SO happy the weather held up for most of the time we were there. We had to shift our car rental days around because of the rain but it all worked out in the end. Thanks for the hike recommendations, folks. We ended up doing:

- lilikai pillbox, easy hike with awesome views
- makapuu tidepools, wtf that descent lol super cool to experience the tidepools so it was well worth the sketch climb down
- makapuu lighthouse, finished up the trail after coming up from the tidepools. nicely paved, very scenic walk.
- koko crater, i was super excited for this one because all the blogs said it was a super hard hike. however, compared to the grind this is a walk in the park! it was well worth it in the end with the mindblowing view.

[Obsideon]

The Pillbox descent was wtf too lol ... too much loose gravel and dirt. I was slipping and sliding on the way down, almost face planted a tree.

[kev1n9121]

Went to Honolulu with the gf back in mid august for about 5 days. Stayed at the shoreline hotel which was super close to everything I thought. Favourite restaurants that we checked out were Buho (Mexican), Heavenly, Murakame, and Morimoto. Rented a car for about 2 days from enterprise (which cost us about 200 US but charged extra 50 US each for being under 25 ) and got a Nissan Versa lol but that thing was a tank on gas so I didnt mind it at all. Pretty much drove around the whole island looking for spots that the gf wanted to check out. All in all I loved my first honolulu experience. I loved that it was super busy all day cause I could still walk around at midnight and make most of my day. Will probably go back next time for a few days then fly over to Maui to spend another few days

[MeowMeow]

Has anyone tried staying at vacation homes in oahu? Or know any hotels that offer two separated bedrooms in one room?

[Sentinel]

Came back from Oahu and Maui last week.

Went to Marukame twice for breakfast (10am), no lineups. Pretty good and cheap. Walked by around 8:30pm and there was a huge line up.

Ramen Nakamura was pretty good, but service wasn't as great. Only one server can speak some English... Slow service, but the food came out fast and was delicious. Had the Ox Tail Ramen and 3 gyozas

Giovanni's Shrimo Truck - damn that was awesome!

[Edison_Chen]

We also came back from Honolulu last week, and it was pretty fun. We stayed for a week. The weather was warm during the day, high 20's to low 30's.

We went shopping (Ala moana center/Wailkele outlets/ Kalakaua ave).
We also went to Pearl Habor, Polynesian Cultural and the north shore(north side of Oahu). We did not do a lot swimming or laying on the beach.

We ate at Murukame once for lunch during the weekday. There was minimal lineup. I really like the concept of ordering and picking, similar to a cafeteria line. The food was pretty good, and it wasn't too expensive too.

Side notes:

1. A lot of people (tourists) on Kalakaua ave. There are a lot of Korean and Japanese people tourists.

2. If you plan to eat at a restaurant on Kalakaua ave, make sure you go early or see if you can reservations.

[Obsideon]

Originally Posted by Sentinel

Ramen Nakamura was pretty good, but service wasn't as great. Only one server can speak some English... Slow service, but the food came out fast and was delicious. Had the Ox Tail Ramen and 3 gyozas

I (regrettably) went to 3 Ramen shops around Waikiki: Nakamura, Ezogiku and this other one inside the King's Village. They were all pretty bad, couldn't even finish it.. Much better in Vancouver.

[3klipze]

Booked 9 Days in near Waikiki Beach at the end of March. I know it may be too much, but didn't want to fork out a few hundred more for Maui. Hopefully the Canadian dollar is stronger when I head over.

[areyez]

going in a couple weeks. any updates on must-dos must eats?

[racerman88]

For authentic Hawaiian food check out Ono's family diner at 726 Kapahulu. They are up the street from Rainbow drive inn which is good for a quick take out meal. Our favourite is the BBQ mix plate.
Leonard's bakery on the same street makes fresh malasada's if you like donut like pastries.
We go to these every time we are there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ch28]

Ono Seafood also has great poke!

Marukame Udon is usually busy during lunch and dinner but they have a cafeteria style approach but pumps out good Udon at decent prices.

[Traum]

Personally, I think Marukame (Udon) is a bit over-rated. It isn't that their stuff doesn't taste good, but considering their lunch and dinner line ups, it was totally not worth the super long wait. My friends tell me that in the past, they were very good, but the quality has since gone down quite a bit.

Personally, I'd say Marukame is still a place I'd visit, but I'd go there at the non-prime hours. I went there for an early dinner, and there was basically only a handful of people in front of me. But during regular lunch and dinner hours, the line up is really insane.

[supafamous]

Just spent 4 days in Oahu (Waikiki), a few notes:

Stayed at the Coconut Waikiki for a shade over $200/night - very solid 3 star place. Very friendly staff, good location. Book directly to avoid the resort fee.

Places I ate in rank order:

Doraku - A-, hit it for Happy Hour. Good Japanese.
Loko Head Cafe - A-, eclectic brunch place just north of Waikiki. Very cool menu.
Sam's Kitchen - A-, hole in the wall with awesome garlic shrimp. Loved the atmosphere.
Karai Crab - B+, oddball Japanese seafood place with a great space and service.
Murakame - B, cheap, good enough, and fast enough.
Giovanni's - B-, In light of Sam's garlic shrimp I found this underwhelming.
Polynesian Cultural Center - B-, dinner buffet included in package. Exceeded my expectations due to good fried chicken.
Cuckoo Coconuts - C, just landed, needed something that was open. Meh.

In Maui now eating my way across the island.

[Renthal]

mamas fish house in maui is pretty damn good, pricey, but good.

[fliptuner]

If you're in Lahaina and want something quick and tasty, check out Best Places To Eat In Lahaina | Maui Local Food

Cheap, local fare in Kihei, check out DaKitchen

Not sure if they still party at Little Beach on the weekends. Ask a local.

[mikemhg]

DEFINITELY go to Little Beach on Sundays, still a party, we went earlier this year.

+1 on Da Kitchen, portions are MASSIVE

[beatdownvictim]

sam's kitchen was garbage last time..dinky shrimp and took so damn long for them to make it

staying at HGVC next month, going to hit up MW and Alan wong's, so good the last time we were there hmm

[Tapioca]

There's a Da Kitchen in Kahalui too, so you can always grab some food on the way to and from the airport.

Ive always enjoyed Star Noodle in Lahaina when I'm in Maui