Get ready and prepare yourself for completely new culinary highlights with that certain Aloha feeling! Traditional Hawaiian dishes, sweet pastries, the best shrimp food truck, macadamia nuts and pretty cafes. Welcome to the taste of paradise!

First things first: Traditional! My first Hawaiian dish was one of the famous poke bowls. This fish salad is one of the national dishes from Hawaii and is also a trend food in various variations in Germany. Traditionally, poke is usually served on warm sushi rice with ingredients such as spring onions, sesame oil, soy sauce and various toppings like avocado and ginger. And the raw fish (often tuna or salmon) shouldn’t be missing at the top! #Yummie!
There are poke bowls in different price ranges on every corner of Oahu. I recommend Ono Seafood — depending on the size and toppings you pay between $8 – $20.

Shrimp marinated in olive oil with freshly chopped garlic in lemon butter — this delicacy made Giovanni’s famous around the world. You will find the small food truck on the North Shore of Oahu including a long queue of people standing in front of it and waiting for their order. Despite the many people, the ordering process is super organized. We got our food after 15 minutes and found ourselves in the garlic heaven immediately!
If you don’t like garlic (shame!), there are of course portions without garlic. (:

It’s always the right time for Kono’s Northshore! The Hawaiian restaurant has three locations on Oahu. You should definitely stop here on your day tours and happily fall into the food coma after one of the famous breakfast bombers. All breakfast bombers consist of eggs, potatoes and a mixture of shredded Jack and Cheddar cheese in a warm tortilla. And you can choose more toppings! Even if the menu is really huge and varied, I definitely recommend you to try a breakfast bomber.

Fun Fact:

In the logo of Kono’s there is a pig on a surfboard. The pig Kama! Kai Holt has trained Kama and his offspring for surfing over several generations and has become famous every summer in an annual competition at the Duke’s OceanFest in Waikiki.

As soon as you stop by Sunrise Shack, your Aloha feeling is complete! All smoothie bowls are vegan, the granola is also vegan and at the same time gluten-free and without nuts. Those who are not satisfied with a bowl can choose salad, sandwiches or wraps on the menu. The banana bread is also very, very tasty!
If you are a real Sunrise Shack fan, you can spend a lot of money in the shop: There are coffee, t-shirts, mugs, bowls and cool accessories.

Enough healthy! Malasada is a Portuguese donut, but without a hole. The balls are deep-fried until golden brown and at the same time light and fluffy from the inside. They remind us Germans of our “Quarkbällchen”. Leonard’s Bakery even has small food trucks in some places!

The malasadas are filled with pudding, macadamia, chocolate, coconut or guava. However, the originals are not filled, but simply sprinkled with sugar — I chose a cinnamon / sugar one and immediately fell in love with this dessert!

Let’s stick to the sweet seduction! The Honolulu Cookie Company cookies are incomparably delicious. Checked by me as an official hobby baker and sweet eater. Because of the different flavors everyone will find definitely the right cookie: Butter Macadamia, Chocolate Chip Macadamia, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Kona Coffee, Pineapple Macadamia, Mango Macadamia, White Chocolate Coconut … You can test the entire selection of all flavors in all stores. If you do a few test rounds in a row, you will be smiled at by the lovely staff and encouraged to continue testing. #challenge #accepted

The cookies are perfect as a small souvenir for your loved ones who stayed at home. You can put together a box of different cookies yourself or pick an already packaged version. The highlight: The biscuit boxes are super nicely decorated with flowers or in a pineapple shape. (:

At the small store Banán you can get variations of frozen yoghurt, which consists of banana or acai, for example. As toppings there are many fresh fruits, garnola, chocolate, honey and much more! Perfect for a cold snack on the beach. It’s particularly great that Banán focuses on the local agriculture and all ingredients come directly from the farms. At the same time, the waste, like the banana peels, is collected again and then distributed to the farms, for example to feed the pigs. #likeit

I was looking for a nice café with a good WiFi connection and ended up at the Hawaiian Aroma Caffee. Wow! How beautifully tropical is this interior design?! And if you crave a balanced and delicious breakfast, you’ve come to the right place. Bowls, bagels, waffles, panini — savory or sweet food and of course a huge selection of coffee and juices. Guaranteed a great breakfast when you spend your morning in Waikiki.

They are all over Oahu: Macadamia nuts! As a flavor in coffee, in cakes and biscuits, sweet or salted, roasted or natural. The popular nuts are available in all varieties and that’s why you should definitely take a short stop at the Macadamia Nuts Farm. And don’t worry — no souvenirs are imposed on you. There is free coffee to try and macadamia nuts in different flavors until you drop.

Including these tips I wish you a successful food tasting! By the way, it’s not worth counting calories on Oahu. Just enjoy it!

Lots of Love ♥