EAST HAWAII - RIDICULOUSLY LONG

[KaimukiMan]

I just returned from 4 days on the wet side of Hawaii Island (the Big Island) with 4 great but not food focused friends. I spent some time planning our visit there, various things to see and do, and of course places to eat. As an ordained friend likes to remind me, if you want to hear God laugh, make plans. We did manage to see, do, and eat about half of what was planned. The rest was unplanned and unscheduled, but worked out pretty well for the most part. And yes, I said wet side, not West side. Arriving at oh-dark-thirty on Thursday morning, we saw the snowy tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa looming above Hilo in the early morning light. That was the last time we saw both of them at the same time, if at all. The clouds closed in and the rain began. Off we headed to:

KEN’S HOUSE OF PANCAKES. Ken’s is Hilo’s oldest 24 hour ‘coffee shop/diner’ dishing out the grinds since 1971. The 5 of us had a pretty broad sampling of the breakfast menu, including pancakes, omelettes, loco moco, and pork chop & eggs. In spite of large servings we pretty much demolished the food in short order (pun intended), with very little left on our plates. I had the Fresh Banana Pancakes, made the traditional way, with the banana mashed into the batter. The pancakes were almost a banana bread, with the rich banana flavor fully infused into every bite. I had a combination of maple and coconut syrup (the coconut is so thick it is almost a batter consistency, lots of coconut flavor) so good with the banana in the pancakes. From here we headed up the highway to:

KTA, the local supermarket. We got stuff to pick on at lunch, as well as fixings for steak and salad that night for dinner. Local produce, fish, and beef are featured at KTA, at relatively reasonable prices compared to Oahu where local grown is often 20-30 percent more than mainland food, except at the Diamond Head farmer’s market where it is generally 30-50 percent more. But back to KTA. The produce was wonderful and the steaks, roasts, etc. looked great. Ended up with some nice New York strip steaks for under $6.00/lb. We also got two or three kinds of poke, very good quality, very fresh. (Later on one of the guys found a place called “Poke to Your Taste” that was also very good.) After picking up the bulk of our groceries we headed over to the:

HILO FARMER’S MARKET. Although open every day, Saturday and Wednesdays are the big days, so it was pretty limited on Thursday morning. We ended up with some pineapple and papayas, considered some avocado, but decided we had enough food already. Our cheese, crackers, salami, poke, and sliced fruit along with some chips and pork rinds made a great lunch, sitting on the front porch of a house that someone was letting us use in Volcano Village. There are several cottages available for rent the Volcano area, its a nice way to stay up there. That afternoon we visited the main attractions in the park, the hotel is still closed. After that we stopped by the:

VOLCANO WINERY. They offer a sampling of their varieties,and I have to say I was both surprised and impressed. The first time I tried the wines there, almost 20 years ago they were amazingly bad, and much of it was not from the grapes grown there. This time I found most of the varietals quite palatable, even if some of them were too sweet for my personal taste. I particularly found the Pino Gris, the Symphony, and the Pino Noir entirely drinkable. I’m not going to say they were the best I’ve ever had, and for the prices they could have been better, but I did buy a bottle or two, and over the next couple of days we drank them. The “infusion” which incorporates locally grown Tea leaves (Tea - Camellia Sinensis, not Ti - Cordelyne Fruticosa) was oddly engaging, but somehow less satisfying than green tea ice cream. I think the most disappointing was the Macadamia Nut Honey wine, even our sweet wine lover wasn’t impressed by that one. Still a worthwhile trip if you are in the area.

I almost ruined dinner that night by overcooking the steaks (it was almost dark, it was raining, and i wasn’t used to the grill. The trip to the winery had nothing to do iwth it - that's my story and i'm sticking to it) They were quite charred on one side - but not burnt, and although the pink was gone, they were still juicy. More a tribute to the quality of the steaks than my grilling talents. I did better on the grilled pineapple. And the locally grown red leaf lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes made a great salad with the Tropics papaya seed dressing. We spent the rest of the evening sitting in front of the fire listening to the rain on the corrugated metal roof (tautung in pidgin.) Remember that Volcano Village is at 4,000 feet, and it gets cool in the evening, especially for us locals who are used to nighttime lows of 70 in the winter, not the low to mid 40's.

Saturday was our long driving day. 4 of us were supposed to go, but a golf tournament was rained out, so it turned out to be 5 of us. Fortunately the 4 of us decided to have breakfast in Volcano as we figured the heavy rain would not be good for the Hilo’s farmer’s market, and according to a friend, we were right. We ate at:

LAVA ROCK CAFE, surprisingly good breakfast as this place get’s mixed reviews. My fried rice was excellent, and the pancakes, omelette, loco moco and breakfast sandwich that others had were good too. Prices for Volcano were reasonable, about $8 each plus beverages. In the meantime we found out the tourney was postponed, so we started a bit late while #5 drove back up the mountain to join us. From Volcano we headed back through Hilo, and up the Hamakua Coast. Beautiful even in the rain. We eventually stopped in Honokaa for lunch, eating at:

BLAINE’S - a popular Big Island drive-inn. In Hawaii the specialty of drive-inn’s are plate lunch, that ubiquitous local creation consisting of some kind of protein, often gravy covered, two scoops of (white) rice, and one scoop of macaroni salad. Blaine’s special that day was Chicken Katsu, and Blaine’s wasn’t bad. On the way out of Honokaa, we passed:

TEX’S DRIVE-INN. Tex’s is renowned for their Malasadas, a portuguese ‘donut’ without a hole. Because of the way the roads are routed I had never seen Tex’s before, but the other road out of town back to the highway was being paved, so this time I did see it, and although we just had lunch, we decided we had to stop. On Oahu, malasadas are generally nerf or baseball size spheres of deep fried dough, covered in sugar or sugar and cinnamon. The newer variety is filled with a flavored custard. The malasadas at Tex’s are cut from a large sheet and left rectangular, about 3”x4” and an inch and a half thick or so. They were good, but being from Honolulu I think i prefer Champion or Leonard's. No doubt Big Island residents would be happy to teach me the error of my ways. I have no idea what ‘authentic Portuguese malasadas’ look like. These also seemed heavier, more bread like than the raised donut texture of the Oahu variety. Still we each had at least one (we bought a dozen, including 4 filled) for the 5 of us.

The original plan was to have lunch in Hawi and an early supper in Waimea, but we were hours off schedule, so instead we headed down to Kawaihae to see the culturally/historically significant and beautifully restored Pu’ukohala Heiau. Back up the hill and through Waimea and across to Saddle road, up to the:

MAUNA KEA VISITOR CENTER for sunset and stargazing. So that this stop is justified in Chowhound, they sell freeze dried fruit and dehydrated ‘astronaut ice-cream’ in foil packets. The astronaut ice cream was especially fascinating. At room temperature with a semi cookie/cracker consistency it was surprisingly reminiscent of ‘real’ ice cream, which i suppose it is. It is very cold up there, maybe 50 at sunset and goes down from there, but the view of the stars, and looking through the telescopes is truly amazing through the thin air at 9,000 feet. We didn’t do the summit as we didn’t have a 4wd vehicle. The gift shop also sells cocoa packets, coffee packets, tea bags, and cup noodle and has two large hot water dispensers. They do a land office business. We got back to Hilo around 10pm that night and headed back to:

KEN’S for a late dinner. I don’t remember what each of us had. Some burgers, some saimin, a plate lunch. All of it was fine, but Ken’s does better on breakfast type foods. We snacked on this and that (including real ice cream which survived the trip from Hilo to Volcano without melting - inside joke) with our next real meal being lunch at:

KIAWE KITCHEN early on Sunday afternoon. 4 of them had sandwiches of various types, I had a pizza. Sadly the thin crispy crust on the pizza was kind of soggy, really disappointing considering how good it used to be. The sandwiches looked very good and I regretted my choice. Once they finally got to us (10 minutes) the service was pretty good. Sunday evening was the meal I had been waiting for. The five of us along with a friend who now lives in Hilo had dinner at:

KILAUEA LODGE. For all the usual reasons this is my favorite restaurant anywhere. The food is great, inventive yet classic, featuring local foodstuffs. The ambiance is wonderful, a 40x40 room with a peaked beamed ceiling, a huge fireplace on one wall, it is a former scout lodge and has achieved a true casual elegance that can only develop with time and care. The servers know the menu, are prompt but not overbearing, and obviously enjoy working there. And I’ve had at least a dozen good meals with various friends there over the years that the room is full of happy memories for me.

In addition to the regular menu that night two of the specials were Duck L’Orange, which I had the first time I ate there many years ago; and Antelope Schnitzel, pounded from antelope leg. I was really torn. I love the duck, but I’ve never eaten antelope before. I was asked to order first, so I was brave and ordered the schnitzel. Fortunately the friend sitting to my left ordered the duck, so I got a taste, and it was as good as I remembered. My schnitzel was excellent, the breading just enough to give the schnitzel the crisp texture, but not overwhelming. The antelope was good, a nice meaty flavor, a lot like venison according to one of my other friends who hunted when he lived on the mainland. It was served with an interesting german cabbage preparation - not sauerkraut, and a vegetable medley (meh.) I think everyone got one or the other special. Half of us started with soup, I had the potato leek, two others had the hunter soup which was a rabbit base with root vegetables. As always the soups at Kilauea Lodge were great. The other three had the starter salad, local grown greens (some grown on premises) with house made dressing. One had blue cheese, the other two had the papaya seed - much better than the tropics papaya seed, even though it is pretty decent. They said they wanted to lick their plates. Yes, I’ve gotten my courses out of order, but I’m not going to re-write it.

We skipped the appetizers so we could enjoy our desserts. Although the entrees weren’t huge, they were very satisfying. One friend and I had bread pudding, very very good. Two had the chocolate mousse with brownie, one had chocolate cheesecake, and one had a Grand Manier custard. The custard was probably the only underwhelming of the bunch. No one opted for the key lime pie or the raspberry-apple crisp. Only two of us were wine drinkers, and since we had split a bottle of wine in the hot tub before dinner we decided not to drink at dinner, lest we pass out at the table. They had a fairly decent (if pricy) wine list. They offer bottles and half bottles, but except for champagne, nothing by the glass. The wine prices surprised me only because for the quality of food the prices at Kilauea Lodge are not high. The 6 of us ate for about $360.

Monday morning was leftovers meal. A fruit platter (papaya, pineapple, rambutan, grapes, bananas) crackers, cheese, chips, ice cream. Whatever was in the fridge or on the counter it got eet. After wandering around the park for a while we returned to Volcano Village for lunch (the Volcano House is still closed for a few more months for a long overdue renovation, there is no food service at all inside the park.) We ate again at:

LAVA ROCK CAFE, this time sandwiches, burgers, a plate lunch, and wraps. The crab and shrimp wrap was the winner this time, although my hamburger steak plate lunch was good. They had just started serving a tour bus when we arrived, but the hostess explained that their food was all pre-ordered and ours wouldn’t take long, and it didn’t. This is a very casual spot, a bright clean greasy spoon type place. Late Monday afternoon we were supposed to join the friend who lives there at the:

IMILOA SKY GARDEN RESTAURANT for dinner before we got on the plane. It is on the UH Hilo Campus, but it is closed Monday, and only open for dinner Thursday through Sunday. Hilo friend was properly chagrinned when we pulled into the empty parking lot, but thinking fast and knowing what omnivores we are, he took us to his favorite plate lunch place:

K’S DRIVE IN. It’s one of those places with an ever expanding menu, along with about a dozen or more ‘specials’ every day. Some of the specials are just a discount on the regular price, others are different menu items. Wouldn’t say it was the best Kalua and Cabbage plate I ever ate, but it was good with plenty of meat, and the mac salad was good, not too much mayo and some chopped vegetables (carrots? peas?) to give it some body. Good prices. Clearly a long time local favorite. Sometime on Monday afternoon we did manage to stop at:

BIG ISLAND CANDIES. Famous for their chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, this place has grown tremendously since it opened in 1977. A good place to pick up some last minute gifts on the way to the Hilo Airport. We spent about twice as much as we planned when we were there, and since each of us bought a package of something or other to share between then and dinner, its amazing we ate any dinner at all. Thank goodness one of my friends took the chocolate bark away from me before i went into a euphoric trance. If you managed to read all this way, you really need to find a hobby. Hope bits and pieces are helpful to other hounds. THE END

[Bill Hunt]

Mahalo, and glad that Volcano has "gotten it together." When we were last there, Randall Grahm, of Bonny Doon fame, had just visited and hosted a tasting. Whatever one might say about Grahm, they can never claim that he is not a "character," or "not a good winemaker." We talked a lot about that visit, and I got some interesting info, though some was not all that direct. It appears that they listened, and learned. Unfortunately, Volcano Winery is rather caught in a "trick bag." If they get serious about their wines, they have a lot of competition on the Mainland, and on the European Continent, and if they cater to the pure, non-wino tourist, they cannot explore their potential. Tough call, but seems they made it, and for me, it's the right call - get serious. OK, you can produce gallons of "tourist wine," but glad to hear that they ARE doing some serious wines. Over the decades, I have had many versions of the Symphony grape (a hybrid), and all were dreck, but Volcano Winery did the best, and with the correct food, it was a great example of that varietal.

Glad that you had a great trip, and your reviews are greatly appreciated.

Hunt

[INDIANRIVERFL]

It is posts like these that make me rethink my thoughts on not traveling to Hawaii. The caribbean is closer and cheaper, but now you've got me checking Orbitz.

A stunner of a trip report.

[KaimukiMan]

Living in Hawaii I never understood why people from here would vacation in the Caribbean, but people I know who have say that it is so different, yet so much the same, making it even more fascinating. Certainly from a food persepective they are very different places. Lots of asian influence here, perhaps less exotic in some ways. And here every island has it's own unique characteristics - although how apparent that is to a visitor I'm not sure, aside from Oahu being largely urban and the neighbor islands far more rural. Hawaii island is very large, lots of travel time required to see things.

[Joebob]

Hawaii is different from places I've been to in the carribean. More Asian influence certainly, more American too, and with more pretty brown girls.

Really just gentle kidding for your local weaknesses. Like I could be kidded for my resistence to trying Zippy's.

[Joebob]

Thanks KMan. I will pass this on to my daughter and son-in-law, who will be on Hawaii in April, because I know I can trust it all. (No stops at Zippy's?)

[killersmile]

You mean to tell me there is now a Zippy's in Hilo?

[KaimukiMan]

To the best of my knowledge there is one Zippy's on Maui, and used to be one on Kauai, all the rest are on Oahu. No Zippy's on the Big Island. Ken's is more or less a cross between Zippy's and LikeLike. Tonight I was told the saimin at Ken's isn't so good. Thanks for the vote of confidence - or is it a vote of sarcasm...so hard to tell sometime. But I do hope 'the kids' have a great time over there.

[manomin]

Excellent report! Made me want to go again! Even with all that driving! I too have enjoyed Kilauea Lodge love all the pennies and coins in the fireplace. Beautiful atmosphere. When I went to Mauna Kea we stopped where the astronomer's live and ate some snacks and regrouped in their cafeteria. I only say this because their big deal is how many flavors of ice cream they have there and our host kept insisting we help ourselves to as much as we wanted. After that we did go to the summit and had a private tour or Subaru. I like the biscotti at Big Island Candies, delicious! Your report made me hungry and that is my hobby! Love your ending line! Thanks we can always count on you for detailed wonderful reports!

[KaimukiMan]

sounds like you had a great trip too. how long ago was that manomin?

[manomin]

2002 I think. I was guest of the Japanese govt. due to my (sad, unfortunate) association with the Ehime Maru. I remember eating at the Subway on the way up, they stopped and got us lunch. He kept asking us if we could breathe and pointed continually to the onboard oxygen tanks! Did you not go to Cafe 100? I haven't been there in ages but always liked pulling up to it in anticipation of some great local food. I hear Hilo Bay Cafe has some killer food and great jalapeno martini's from a friend of mine that lives in Hilo. Do you know where the antelope came from? Sounds wonderful. I think the cold misty air and all of the lehua make the food taste better! That is too bad about Kiawe Kitchen. Again, you did an amazing job so detailed and mouth watering!

[KaimukiMan]

Hilo Bay Cafe was on one of my possible lists, but schedule changes etc. didn't allow for that, not much open in Hilo after 10pm... LOL. Not famiiar with Cafe 100, but I will keep it in mind for next time, hopefully won't be another 5 years till I go back again. Surprisingly the waitress didn't know where the antelope came from, I'm guessing Molokai, but that is just a guess. The 4 guys who had sandwiches at Kiawe Kitchen really enjoyed them. It must have just been the wrong day to order pizza. We really have to find some opportunity to go eat together one of these days!

[killersmile]

I liked Hilo Bay Cafe the few times I had the chance to go for lunch. Slightly more refined food than the norm for Hilo. I didn't care for Cafe 100. I feel it is at the same level as K's Drive Inn. Long time local favorite, not as good as Blaine's Drive Inn which if I had to compare it to someplace on Oahu would be like Richie's. It sounds like you had a better experience at Tex's Drive-inn than I had. The malasada that I had was basically a piece of bread coated with sugar. It didn't look or taste like it was fried at all and the sugar didn't even stick to the malasada. Tasted like a dinner roll. Very disappointing and nothing near to what we have on Oahu.

[KaimukiMan]

i actually saw them being fried, and maybe ours were a little better than the ones you had, but they weren't what I think of as a malasada. of course nothing can compare with the ones you stand in the rain and the mud to get at the Punahou Carnival - but the last two years it hasn't rained so I didn't go. I think they must have applied for a presidential pardon or something - two years no rain... really???

[manomin]

Yes, we must. And, as you know Cafe 100 is the home of the loco moco.
Have you been to Heeia Pier yet? So looking forward to the opening of Whole Ox Deli (By Hawaii for Hawaii) in March, they've got their smoker now and it's a beauty!

[KaimukiMan]

ashamed to admit i haven't made it to Heeia Pier (oh those townies - so difficult to get them to drive over the hill) and Whole Ox was not even on my radar. No doubt it will be duly commented and criticized in Chowhound once it opens it's doors. Looks exciting, how many times have I wished I could get a real deli sandwich here in Honolulu (yes Andy's is nice, but its not a 'real' deli.)

[manomin]

Bob is doing tail to snout whole animal deli using only local beef, pork, lamb and probably goat it is going to be fantastic! My hope is that he gets to buy some of his breads (hopefully a rye if they make one) from Prima to really intensify this experience. I am so anxious for him to open!
Yes, no doubt it will get duly commented and also criticized but I also hope they tell him personally positive and areas of opportunity rather than just whine online. I know hard to get townies here and vice versa hence, my lack of often eating places "over the hill"! :-)

[killersmile]

I too am looking forward to the Whole Ox deli. Hopefully he managed to pick the brains of the peeps in SF when he was over there the other week. On another note, every time I try to make it to He'eia Pier, there has been no parking spaces available so I just end up passing it up. Hopefully i'll get to try it soon enough.

[manomin]

He had a great and inspirational time. There is lots of parking however many spots not right "on top" of the place you've got to walk even from the other side of the area, try it - you'll see! Good to walk after lunch!