Second time in Oahu?! Made a week’s long trip out of a destination wedding that we planned to attend.

Our group’s demographic this time included to me, B, B’s mother, his aunt, and his mother’s best friend. With the various food preferences at stake, we had to make careful restaurant choices in order to take care of everybody’s taste buds.

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Nico’s Pier 38

My last impression of Nico’s was that they served a wide range of dishes, from land to sea, meat to veggies, Hawaiian to French. It must offer something for everyone. Plus, it was so conveniently located near the airport, it became our first food stop of our trip.

From the dinner menu, I chose Fisherman’s stew and pork belly with lomi tomato.

This was a swordfish and clam chowder served in a toasted sourdough bread bowl. Personally, I don’t care for swordfish much because it has a dense, meaty, and dry texture. The chowder was creamy and delicious. I do wish they could include more noticeable clams into it. The bread bowl was warm and chewy. I don’t normally stuff myself with bread, but boy, I would have finished it if my stomach was bigger.

These squares of pork belly were nicely fried with a slight crispy coat. The fat ratio was on the high side for the pork belly. The sweet savoury lomi tomato sauce complemented the pork belly so well.

B ordered the red wine braised short ribs. The short ribs were tender and pulled apart effortlessly. Amazing sauce and execution of this dish.

I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of the rest of the group’s dishes, but everybody thoroughly enjoyed what they ordered. My only complaint would be that the dinner portions were significantly smaller than lunch with the prices slightly higher. Therefore, if you want the best bang for your buck, lunch is the time to go!

Nico’s Pier 38
1129 N Nimitz Hwy, Honolulu, Hawaii

Fisherman’s stew – 10 usd
Pork belly with lomi tomato – 12 usd
Red wine braised short ribs – 27 usd

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Cinnamon’s

Cinnamon’s was of the more popular brunch locations on Oahu. We decided to come here for brunch on Mother’s day post our Lanikai Pillbox Hike.

We watched the sunrise around 6:30 am. Cinnamon’s opened at 7 am, but we decided to hurry over because we overheard other hikers talk about going to Cinnamon’s as well.

Sure enough, there was a long line outside the restaurant when we arrived, right at 7 am. Luckily, we managed to get the last table for four✌.

B chose the same thing he got last time (boring ?), Kalua pig eggs benedict. He enjoyed it just as much as the first time.

I picked the Moe Moe moco. Loco moco is a Hawaiian comfort food made with rice topped with a meat patty, an egg and smothered in gravy. The Moe Moe moco upgrades the toppings to Hawaiian signature dishes – homemade beef stew, kalua pig, and lau lau. The over easy egg was buttery. The kalua pig was juicy and tasty. The beef was tender and the stew was delicious with the rice. I substituted my white rice with brown rice. There was also a scoop of creamy macaroni salad on the side, except I don’t like olives.

I didn’t care for the lau lau, pork wrapped in taro leaf. The taro leaf added a unique taste but the pork was dry inside.

This was as far as I could go. There was just wayyyy too much food stuffed into that bowl. Apparently, “moe moe” means “sleep”. So, if you manage to finish it, it means you’re going into a food coma right after.

Cinnamon’s
315 Uluniu Street, Kailua, Hawaii

Kalua pig eggs benedict (full) – 14.25 usd
“Moe Moe” moco – 14.75 usd

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Steak Shack

This was and still is B’s favourite delicious cheap eat. He would eat here for every meal if he could. Last time, we both ordered a plate. This time, he ordered the largest steak plate – 14 oz steak plate.

Steak was well done to B’s liking. Their teriyaki sauce was so good, you could finish a whole plateful of rice just with that. I guess because there was so much steak, they put the side salad in a separate plate box. So, I enjoyed a salad out of B’s meal. Bonus?.

Steak Shack
2161 Kalia Rd, Honolulu

14 oz steak plate – 18.50 usd

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Hibachi

This was MY favourite convenient store eatery and go-to spot for quality fair-priced poke. I took my whole group here last time.

Their poke always had the perfect amount of seasoning and sauces, fresh and mouthwatering. You can order plain poke or make it a meal in rice or salad bowl.

O, habanero poke was spicy! I love it!

Hibachi
515 Kailua Rd, Kailua

Kalbi plate – 14 usd
Assorted poke – 20.95 usd/lb