Sunday Dinner Options In Waikiki

[Elyssa]

My boyfriend and I will be staying at the Ocean Resort Hotel Waikiki (located at 175 Paoaklani Ave) in October for one night. We fly in around 3pm and will probably want get a fairly early dinner and go to bed (loooong day of traveling).

Looking for some recommendations around the area...walking distance to the hotel would be prefered. We are willing to spend upwards to $30-$40/a person or less. I think we are near the zoo off of Ala Wai Blvd and Kalakaua Blvd.

Also if you know of any cheap, quick breakfast spots in the area that would be great as well. We will be getting up early and heading over to Pearl Harbor for a day of sightseeing and then flying out at around 7pm.

Annnnd one more question...is there anywhere to grab lunch around Pearl Harbor. We won't have a car so we will be depending on the bus or something.

THANKS!

[hopkid]

Get traditional Hawaiian at Ono Hawaiian Foods up Kapahulu from Rainbow Drive In. Very homey and great food and inexpensive.

Another option and more on the nicer side but definitely with the Island feel will be to go to the Halekulani and have drinks and pupus (small plates) at the outdoor restaurant/lounge, The House Without A Key. You get a nice view of the ocean, great sunset views, and live Hawaiian music and hula. The coconut shrimp is great.

And if you're in the mood to spend a few more bucks, Nobu (contemporary Japanese) will be open by then in the Waikiki Parc Hotel. That's bound to run more like $75 and up per person though.

Roy's (Pan Asian fusion) is also open now in the new Embassy Suites at the new Beachwalk development on the airport side of Waikiki. You could perhaps get out of there for $40 per person if you don't drink alcohol.

And yeah, another set of votes for Leonard's and/or Wailana Coffee House for breakfast!

[TanQ10]

Tiki Grill is very close to you. Ok for food, good drinks and views.
Sansei - decent, if you like sushi.
Lulu's - for breakfast, if you are early enuf, you may not have to deal with the lines.

As you've probably gleaned, Waikiki is very touristy, ie big bucks, mediocre food. The above places I think are just ok, considering you will be walking and won't have car to drive out further.

[ciscolopez]

lulu's lunch is also very good, and reasonable for the area. i just had lunch there and i'm posting just hours after eating there. the atmosphere is also very welcoming (no problem going in shorts and flip flops in that place!)
the only thing that really ruined the experience for me was a native server, my girlfriend and i asked about some of her tatoos, which she obviously didn't want to talk about and made some remark about them earning their tatoos and that they were to sacred to talk about with us.. whatever we didn't bring them up for the rest of the service.
she only checked back with us once after that and didn't even bring the check or the change back to us. she also didn't run the food out or clear our table...we were very tempted on stiffing her. gave her 10% but i know most wouldn't have even done that.

other feed back. don't have the nachos at tiki's... they come out covered in very bland cheese sauce.. not real cheese at all. we paid like $14 and were very disapointed. awesome place for drinks at night, live bands everynight.

[kinipela]

if you want walking distance from the hotel, you're pretty much in waikiki, so everywhere is walkable.. the problem is, the dining choices are not as good... although i just posted on the same board about fine dining.... =) hy's in waikiki and is walkable as it's on kuhio towards your end.... if you're by the zoo... if you wanted to cab, you can also cab, everything is fairly close by....

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/400024

if you want good chinese food in waikiki, there's a place called seafood harbor village or something that is on the bottom floor of the hyatt regency (right across from the duke statue).... it's very filling and really ONO. if you want something with a stereotypical hawaiian feel, something out of the 1960s old hawaii movies, you may want to try tiki's bar and grill... it's at the aston wakiki (or i dunno what they call the hotel these days)... it's also toward diamondhead side of waikiki.... they have a live band on most nights, the restaurant overlooks the beach, and the food is more enjoyable than at dukes (where i don't enjoy eating).... i had some ribs there with a really nicely done steamed rice and furikake...

you could also take the bus up kapahulu and go to rainbow drive inn.. popular with the locals, but i'm not sure with the mainlanders... and for breakfast you can slo grab some malasadas over at leanards... i like the creme filled ones =

)

a good spot to get breakfast would be wailana coffeehouse on the airport side of waikiki.. they have these killer macadamia nut pancakes... yum! it gets pretty packed though and the service may be spotty.. but those pancakes make for it =)

i'm not sure i remember anywhere near pearl harbor to eat... i'm sure there are places... i think that as long as you take the bus back towards waikiki you can find places in honolulu, etc... i would say to venture off more, but the thing with the buses is that they don't necessarily run on schedule.... so if you are waiting for a less travelled bus, you may have to wait longer, as opposed to the #2 or the #8 which come around more frequently due to its high traffic...

happy travelling =)

[coastie]

the Wailana coffeehouse is my favorite diner type breakfast >>>>> I have found the service pretty good and the food great. It is what it is, its not gourmet- its solid breakfast.
Have some pog(juice) and enjoy the grilled banana, go for the sticky rice side instead of potato its more "local". The mac pancakes are very good and Leonards is a major tradition.
Cheap interesting dinner ,walk to the international market and eat from the carts. ( I'm not sure of the market's location in relation to where you are. Take bento boxes to pearl harbor

[Elyssa]

Good call on the bento boxes. We can probably have a fun picnic! :)

[Elyssa]

Thanks so much Kinipela! This is very helpful!!! I can't wait to check it all out.

[kinipela]

no worries! =) i'm so excited for you =)

and the service isn't really bad at wailana.. it's just some folks from the mainland aren't used to the island pace of life... and they may think it's spotty... i actually think it's just right.. who wants to have a hurried breakfast in paradise anyway???

oh yes... you must have a POG =) duke's has a good POG =) (and remember NO FOOD AT DUKES hahah) i don't remember if tiki's has it...

and the international marketplace is pretty central in waikiki...

oh and i reread your posting, so when you land grab one of those oahu gold/this week in oahu booklets at the airport (they are also all over waikiki in little kiosks)... they often times have the coupons in there, and you will benefit because they have coupons for early dining (before 6 pm) or buy one get one free. and don't be embarrassed to use it... i mean it's there to bring in foot traffic =) people who are embarrassed to use coupons perplex me...

[Elyssa]

Thanks again...so helpful!