| |
Doug's
Restaurant Preferences
Doug travels extensively looking for ideas for the Lodge, and enjoys good food. In each place we visit we seek out that special restaurant, or one recommended by friends or guidebooks.
Hilo Bay Cafe (near Wal-Mart) is the winner in a sense, in that it always has a good crowd, seems to be doing one or two turnovers and the food and service remain good. We see occasional glitches in meeting and greeting incoming guests but that aside you can expect good service and excellent food in a cheery atmosphere. Hilo Bay Cafe is Doug Arnott's current favorite. And remains so...If you order the heirloom salad with olive oil and have either the Fresh catch, scallops or shrimp on top you have a winner healthy meal. They even have a button on the computer for the "Doug Salad".
Cafe Pesto (downtown Hilo), if you drive around and do a covers count each evening, is obviously the hands down winner in Hilo, it is way bigger than Hilo Bay Cafe and does multiple covers each evening. I don't personally care for the new paint job, taking it from bright white to Government Railway, and the perpetually unfinished kitchen revamp (still unfinished as of Jan 2010) takes away from sitting at the bar, but table service and the food are good and they have a good selection. They also have a branch at Kawaihai on the west side...
Ohana Grill (downtown) . This new start in the premises formerly occupied by Kaikodo is doing well with a good inexpensive menu and enthusiastic staff if a little in need of more training. The venue is beautiful and the live music is great. This is definitely the value winner hands down.
Ponds,formerly Harrington's now taken over by Rick and Debbie of Kens, very popular with local diners, actually the closest to our Lodge, of our recommendations. On Kalanianaole near Banyan Drive this long established restaurant has a cocktail bar and dining overlooking the famous "Ice Pond" a natural spring, fed by waters of Mauna Loa mountain. A full bar and reasonable wine selection.
There are two Thai Restaurants, our favorite which is also BYOB is Naung Mai Thai Kitchen located at 86 Kilauea Ave, in a somewhat confusing location BEHIND Garden exchange which is opposite KTA Market on Kiawe St......just up Mamo from the Farmers Market. The food is worth the search, it is a tiny restaurant and the staff will recommend dishes to the uninitiated in Thai food. BYOB no corkage.
The second Thai Restaurant is the Royal Siam at 70 Mamo St. just a few yards from the Farmers Market, the food is good but it lacks the intimate atmosphere of the other and has a liquor license limiting you to a rather droll wine selection or a HUGE $6 corkage..
Of course if you followed Doug around you would have to conclude that his ALL TIME favorite is Kens House of Pancakes which is the 24 hour 50's style diner right at the main intersection leading to or from the Lodge. It has a huge menu, 24 hour breakfast, massive omelets and every permutation of "Good Ole" American food with a lot of "LOCAL" favorites......If you are VERY hungry try the "SUMO" where they ring a ships bell and all staff cry out "Sumo" in unison as it is served !! It has the BEST coffee in Hilo, bottomless. No alcohol is served or permitted..
No spy following Doug, would fail to notice his visits to Bears Coffee Shop on Kiawe St, one Street back from the Bayfront. Bears has recently changed hands although old customers would not notice any difference. Although for a coffee shop the regular coffee could do with improvement, the espressos and breakfast selections are excellent. Try the FRESH papaya followed by the "Big Bad Buster", Ham, cheese and spinach mixed in with eggs in a bowl. For lunch the Tuna stuffed Tomato is hard to beat. Some prefer the Lox and Bagels and waffles with "Fresh fruit only".
Before we leave Hilo for Volcano Village we must give honorable mention to one of the FUNKIEST Stores with an unbelievable wine selection. Kadota's is an institution in Hilo.
Located on Hualalai a turn inland from Burger King on Kilauea, this store has an incredible selection of wines, liquors, presentation bottles and beers. If you are a REAL wine freak ask to see the climate controlled "Back Room" where Rothschild and Margaux among others all the way up to $400 and $500 a bottle exist side by side with lesser brands in the $100 range..
There is one more special Restaurant located at Volcano Village and that is Kilauea Lodge on the "Old" volcano highway just before arriving at the Volcano National park at about the 25/26 mile marker. Turn in on one of the three highway exits, the Lodge is set back but has a large sign out front. Excellent food by the German chef/owner with a big hearty fireplace/waiting area. Cool at night in Volcano take a Cardigan or light jacket. The Lodge also has accommodations if you don't want to drive 28 miles back to Hilo after good food and wine..
There are literally dozens of "other" restaurants in and around Hilo......but the above selection are our favorites and will keep you busy for the average stay of a few days..
On the "West", Kona side there are many fancy Hotels, Four Season, the Hilton, The Mauna Lani, Princess and Mauna Kea Beach. We are local residents and don't hang out at these expensive Hotels. If you are coming to our Lodge it is probably because you travel like us, saving money on your room to spend on Tours, Cars and Food. We really only recommend one restaurant on the whole Kona side and that is Roy's at Kings Village by the Hilton and Outrigger Marriot at the 76 mile marker. Roy's is a very successful Hawaii based chain with excellent food. Normally reservations are a must, but we prefer to sit at the bar and chat with Ryan the affable barman who will take superb care of you. You need no reservation for the bar and we rarely have to wait to get a seat. If you want a sit down dinner or have more than two, reservations are a must and say Hi !! to manager Arnie and tell him we sent you. MAKE SURE to order the CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ as soon as you sit down as it takes time to prepare and is a popular dish. One between two is death by chocolate !! Roy's has restaurants on Oahu and Maui....try them all !! Jan 2010 update.....Kings village is expanding and they added Queens village, a larger complex across the road where other nice restaurants have opened......walk around and make your own selection.
There are two additional Restaurants in Waimea.. Merriman's which is highly recommended by many people, we found the food good but the service left something to be desired, specially in the price range. Parker Ranch Center which also has Waimea's only Starbucks has a food court with all the option of local and ethnic food one would expect.
If you spend time on Oahu, there are hundreds of Restaurants but again we go frequently to Yanagi Sushi on Kapiolani toward downtown near Cook Street. Recently on Lewers Street in mid Waikiki a whole incredible revamp has taken place and an extraordinary mix of good restaurants, Nobu's (expensive but great) Roy's (always good) and Ruth Chris (a bit pretentious for my taste). In Waikiki we would recommend the beachside restaurant at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel for Breakfast or dinner. This is also a more local beach with nice protected swimming and rarely as crowded as Waikiki. On Kalakaua Ave the main drag through Waikiki keep going straight for about 800 yards, just past the Aquarium after passing the last Hotels and entering Kapiolani Park. As a footnote, after a long absence we went to Michel's at the Colony Surf which was, as always, superb with excellent service and a view second to none....make sure to get there ahead of sunset.
Copyright © 2010 Arnott's Lodge & Hiking Adventures.
Guests of Arnott's Lodge or Tours and others may freely use pictures or links on this website for non professional purposes.
Website SEO and Updating by Marcus Interactive
|
|
