Just like that, it was our last day in Hawaii! I really wish we had more time (especially to island hop) but as they say, all good things must come to an end. We had a red-eye flight to catch in the evening, so we had the rest of the day to finish exploring.
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I'm actually not a big coffee drinker so I was more interested in their pastry side. The pastries provided are in partnership with b. patisserie, a San Francisco-based bakery with one other international location in Seoul.
The lineup at Kona is pretty constant (especially in the morning) so we didn't bother waiting for a table and grabbed our pastries to-go. We ordered two ham & cheese croissants ($6.95), a black sesame kouign amann ($6.50), and a pineapple coconut almond croissant ($6.00). The pastries were oh-so-buttery and super flaky. The black sesame kouign amann is a flavour that only comes around once or twice a year in SF, but in Hawaii, it's available everyday! Yay!
We dropped off our luggage in hotel storage, and then made our way over to Chinatown.
We decided to split up from our parents and meet them after lunch at The Pig and the Lady.
Chef/owner Andrew Le (born in the year of the "pig") opened the restaurant as an homage to his Vietnamese heritage. Using recipes inspired by his mom (the "lady"), the food is given a twist with modern techniques and presentation. As someone who eats Vietnamese food on the daily, I was excited to see the cuisine elevated and spun in a new light.
We started with an order of le fried chicken ($14.00) with shallot, peanut, and Kaffir lime leaves. Their signature appetizer, the "LFC" wings are served whole and twice-fried. It's coated in a sticky, sweet glaze that has a strong punch of fish sauce.
We also tried their banh bot chien ($13.00), one of my favourite Vietnamese comfort foods. The rice cakes are nestled in a scrambled egg omelette and served with pork lardons, cilantro, mixed pickles, and a garlic soy vinegar sauce. They were a bit stingy with the rice cakes so I was hoping for more!
My brother ordered the classic banh mi ($15.00) for himself. A toasted baguette filled with crispy pork belly, steamed ham, pate, fried eggs, spicy hoisin sauce, Vietnamese pickles, jalapeno, and cilantro. It was basically bursting at the seams.
My sister and I shared the pho French dip ($17.00). Out of all their menu items, I would consider this as their most "fusion" dish. The baguette is layered with slow-roasted beef brisket, spicy hoisin, Thai basil chimichurri, sauteed bean sprouts, onions, and cilantro.
The sandwich is served with a side of their classic beef pho broth. Like a French dip, you dunk the sandwich into the broth to soak it up. It really did taste like pho in a sandwich!
We reunited with my parents after lunch and then spent the next couple of hours walking around Chinatown and parts of downtown.
Our last Chinatown stop was Wing Ice Cream Parlor. It's not the most polished space, but the flavours coming out of this place are crazy unique and whimsical! The flavours rotate quite often and there's almost a 1:1 ratio between dairy and non-dairy flavours. To those who are lactose intolerant, rejoice!
Unfortunately, they don't offer samples before ordering, but the next best option is getting the wing flight ($5.25) which is three mini scoops (the perfect amount). I chose hojicha, strawberry supreme (malted strawberry) and sunburst (lemon basil with strawberry swirl). The ice cream was slightly icy but the flavours were all really delicious!
We took a bus back to Waikiki and ended up taking a small break at the Royal Hawaiian Centre. I wasn't up for more shopping but I remembered from my research that Dean & DeLuca was nearby. Dean & DeLuca is an American gourmet grocery chain. Although they have closed their locations on the mainland, the two stores in Honolulu are thriving! It's strangely popular with Japanese tourists.
I bought a 4-pack of Uber Factory tarts ($6.00). Little bite-sized butter shortbread filled with ube custard. Creamy and delicious!
I had another food item to cross off my list and that was Hula Dog! It's a funky little food truck parked in the middle of Waikiki.
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We also ordered one of their freshly-squeezed lemonades. The lilikoi lemonade ($3.50) was equal parts sweet and tart. Perfectly refreshing under the hot sun.
We ordered just one hula dog ($6.99) to pass around. Our hot dog consisted of: bacon taro bread, polish sausage, original garlic lemon secret sauce, mango relish, and guava mustard. The sauces seemed to blend well together, despite being different flavour profiles. It was sweet, creamy, tangy and tropical. My only criticism is that there was too much bread and not enough sauce to compensate.
When it was time for our last dinner in Hawaii, we planned on going to Paia Fish Market, a seafood restaurant that came highly recommended by a friend. Unfortunately, they were booked out for a private party. It caught us off guard because we didn't really have a plan B.
My parents suggested checking out Waikiki Yokocho and choosing from one of the restaurants in the food hall.
We walked around the entire place, checking out all of the menus posted out front. Group consensus was for Umami Teppan Kingyo, which specializes in teppan-style cooking and okonomiyaki.
My sister and I shared one of their special combo meals ($24.00), which came with miso soup, rice, two main dishes, and side dishes. For our first main dish, we opted for the beef ribeye steak which had an extra surcharge of $5.00. It came on a sizzling plate, with a side of sweet garlicky sauce.
Our second dish was a chicken cutlet, which was juicy and fried well.
The food was alright but service was pretty mediocre. If you're a planner like me, always have plan B!
We had some more time to kill before heading to the airport so dessert it was! International Marketplace really became our second home since it was in such close proximity to the hotel. We headed to the second floor to find Magnolia Ice Cream & Treats.
Magnolia specializes in Filipino flavours and desserts, including halo halo ($7.49). Halo-halo, or mix-mix in Tagalog, is a layered dessert consisting of crushed ice, sweet beans, jelly, coconut, evaporated milk, ice cream, etc. It totally reminded me of chè ba mà u, or Vietnamese three-colour dessert.
We also tried some of their more unique ice cream flavours -- including mango, ube macapuno (ube coconut), and mais queso (corn cheese). Corn cheese sounds weird for ice cream but don't knock it until you try it!
It was kind of a nightmare coming home, with our flight being delayed and having to sprint through the airport to catch our connection. Our luggage full of souvenirs was lost on top of that! But thankfully, everything worked out in the end.
Hawaii was really a trip to remember! I now know why people call it addicting. I'm really going to cherish these memories because who knows when we can travel next...
Until next time!
- CT
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