Saturday, December 29, 2007

Good Eats

I am a firm believer in trying local cuisines when visiting new places. However, the cruise didn't offer much of Hawaiian food and since we (okay, I) craved Chinese food and ramen since we got off the ship, we didn't get a chance to sample authentic Hawaiian food until today.

I found out about Ono Hawaiian Food in my Lonely Planet Hawaii. According to the book, it is the place to go for a local meal. I later did some research online and found excellent reviews and ratings. So today, on our last day in Hawaii, we trekked off the beaten path and enjoyed a great lunch at Ono. We didn't know what to order, but the old lady who took our order gave great recommendation. She also suggested ordering just one plate to share, instead of ordering two. I am glad she did because otherwise, it would have been way too much food.

The storefront is unpretentious and inviting. There is a sign on the front that tells customers to wait outside to be seated. They provide benches though.


Our Combination Plate included laulau, rice, pipikaula, onions, haupia, poi, kaula pig, and lomi salmon. My favorite was laulau. The pork wrapped in taro leaves was steamed to tender and had just enough fat. It was so delish! For locals, poi can be substituted for rice. It had a bitter taste so I didn't like it much, but Luke ate it with all the other fixings and said it wasn't bad.


Laulau unwrapped. I could eat laulau with rice all day long. *chomp chomp*


Luke and I posing with our food in this little restaurant. I thought the decor was homey and provided a charming atmosphere. The pictures on the wall are of their customers, some famous and some just regular folks.

Mahalo Ono! We shall return!

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Ono Hawaiian Food
726 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808)737-2275

posted by sugarlens

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1 your words:

  1. Eating is important, eating local style is the proper way to do it. This was hard to do on the boat because it was the usual western stuff, but on the island, our choices opened way up. Why Joyce wanted ramen all week long is a mystery to me. When we're at home, she refuses to touch the stuff, so much so that she doesn't even want me to eat ramen at home. But this week, she couldn't get enough of it.

    Ono was definitely a nice place and the service was very homey and friendly. The food was good and our real first taste of regular Hawaiian food. I'm not a picky eater but this stuff was actually good stuff. It wasn't anything far out there (save for the gooey poipoi stuff) and was stuff I have tasted before, but putting it all together in one meal made all the difference. For those looking to reach Ono from Waikiki, bus #13 is the way to go!
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