Oahu, Hawaii - 8/9/10 -8/13/10

Day 1

Checking in hotel

China town

Dinner-Doraku

Day 2

Coffee/Early walk

Hiking-Diamond head

Dole Plantation

Dinner at JJ Bistro

Day 3

Quick tour -North shore

Bishop Museum

Royal Hawaiian

Dinner at Roy's

Day 4

Breakfast

The Aquarium

Paddle surfing

Dinner at Tokkuri-Tei

Dole Plantation

Okay so we know this is going to be a total tourist trap but we decided to check it out anyway because we have a few hours to kill before lunch!

The Dole Pineapple Plantation is located approximately 3 miles north of the town of Wahiawa.  The Plantation includes a gigantic gift shop offering everything pineapple and Dole-related that you could want and everything in there is so expensive.  However, the most popular item is undoubtedly the pineapple ice creams, sorbets, shakes, and pastries that they offer.  The Plantation attracts almost a million visitors each year and is home of one of the world’s largest mazes (it was in the Guinness Book of World records for this accomplishment).  Those wanting to give it a try will have to shell out $5 for the entrance fee.

We did not pay for the tour and we were in and out of the plantation in less than 30 minutes after taking pictures of he pineapples.

 

 

 

 

Okay, so we seen what needed to be seen and then we were out of there and ready for lunch!\

 

Lunch at Ono

After hiking we asked the lady at the front desk where do local go for Hawaiian food so she sent us to Ono Hawaiian food, a tiny whole in the wall restaurant.  "Ono" means "delicious" in Hawaiian and they are known to serve good food for friendly/good service and very reasonably low price. This restaurant serves authentic Hawaiian food, from jerky-like pipikalua to laulau (ti-leaf wrapped steamed packets filled chunks of pork).  Most dishes come as complete combination plates, including a square of haupia (coconut pudding) for dessert. This is not a place for vegetarians, and the drinks are limited to canned sodas.  Once in you have to check out the wall-to-wall autographed photos of celebrity customers. No reservations are accepted.

 

Like I said this is a very popular and humble place.  We got there around 1:30PM and we had to wait to get in...I can only imagine how the line must be around noon time.

Waiting outside..The wait was not bad... maybe 10 minutes at the most!

 

So here is the wall-to-wall autographed photos of celebrity customers in the back ground.

By the way, the restaurant only have about 8 to 10 or so tables, so get there early for dinner.

 


 

More celebrities photos on the wall.

On the window a newspaper clipping of an article about Apolo Ono liking the restaurant.
 

Poi is a Hawaiian word for the primary  staple food made from the corm of the taro plant (known in Hawaiian as kalo). Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) to a highly viscous fluid. Water is added during mashing and again just before eating, to achieve a desired consistency, which can range from liquid to dough-like (poi can be known as two-finger or three-finger, alluding to how many fingers you would have to use to eat it, depending on its consistency).

Since we did not know what to order we asked the owner to serve us their most popular dish.

This is the "Salt Meat Watercress"... I know, weird name!  The broth is very good combined with the tasty pork and raw watercress - DELICIOUS!!!  Toss some rice in there and a few squirts of chili pepper water and finish it off with some crazy yummy poi and then you will surprise how good it is!

Authentic Kālua pork
Kālua is a traditional Hawaiian cooking method that utilizes an underground oven. The word kālua literally means "to cook in an underground oven" and also describes the flavor of food cooked in this manner -Kālua Pig is commonly served at luau feasts.

The Kālua pig has a very strong smoke flavor and it is excellent.

Pork laulau
 Laulau is a Hawaiian dish. Traditionally consisting of pork wrapped in Luau, or taro leaf. The ends of the luau leaf or taro leaves are folded and wrapped again in ti leaf. When ready, all the laulau is placed in an underground oven, called an imu. Hot rocks are placed on the dish and covered in banana leaves and buried again for a few hours until the meat falls off the bone.

Side dishes: beef jerky, raw onion, and tomato salad.  On the right is a coconut dessert.

 

Overview of the food!  This is actually 2 orders but we could not even finish the whole meal between the 3 of us..

I am so glad I had a chance to taste Hawaiian food on the cheap!  Originally we were going to a Luau dinner show for $100/person at the hotel but I am so glad I went to Ono instead.

I can not see spending a fortune on this kind of food but it is perfectly good for lunch.

NEXT... Dinner at JJ Bistro

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