Oahu

Oahu is a gem. A diamond. A ruby. A sapphire. It is special and perfect and I love it here. As a food (and history) enthusiast, Oahu has been a big big joy to learn about and explore since moving here in 2020.

The food culture is the best in Hawaii because it has been created from a mega mix of cultures coming together: Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Okinawan, Filipino and Portuguese (to name a few; there are even more!). A whole entire new cuisine (now called “local food”) started being created here as early as the 1850s when the first immigrant workers came to work at the sugar cane and pineapple plantations — and started mixing their foodways together bit by bit. Nowadays, we have things like: shave ice, poke, saimin, spam musubi, loco moco, manapua, plate lunch, mochiko chicken, malasadas, garlic shrimp, meat jun, butter mochi, crack seed and loads more of this beautifulness. (I’m currently writing an ebook guide to describe all these foods for you and more!).

Below are (just about) all of my very favorite places on this gorgey porgey island. The guide includes food spots, viewpoints, a couple hikes (not my biggest passion, sry!), some shops, beaches and snorkel spots as well! I’ve included everything on THIS GOOGLE MAP LIST so feel free to use that while you’re bopping around.

I have a loooot more wonderful spots that I didn’t include in here — so email me if you want more recommendations for a certain area or activity.

ENJOYYYY!!!

Very Top Favorite Food Spots

• Palace Saimin: Get a beautiful bowl of saimin (a local noodle soup that features chewy Chinese-style noodles with a Japanese-style dashi broth) and a teri (teriyaki) beef stick on the side. Dip your noodles into a mix of shoyu (soy sauce) + Chinese hot mustard bc that’s how we do. Located in the Kalihi neighborhood of Honolulu.

• Rainbow Crackseed: First off, crack seed is a category of snacks and treats based around dried fruits — namely li hing mui (an intensely sweet/salty dried plum that can be turned into a pink-ish powder). Li hing mui-covered sour watermelon gummies are a favorite of mine. As are lemon peel-covered gushers. And in the case of Rainbow Crackseed, the adorable + sprinkled Rainbow Delight cookies they sell there. I suggest you go into every crack seed store you see because the vast selection is different at each one. Baldwin’s Sweet Shop, Lin’s Hawaiian Snacks, Chris’ Peanut Shop 2 and Koolau Snack Shop are some other faves. Rainbow Crackseed is located in Kaneohe on the east side.

• Sekiya’s: Imagine a diner. Now imagine it in Japan. But then it came to Hawaii. This place exists in Honolulu — just north of Waikiki. Go there, get saimin, get anything! It will be good and it will be cute (bc you’re in an old school Japanese diner and there is a koi pond in the back).

• Nisshodo Candy Store: Fantastic mochi but the chi chi dango (also a mochi but softer and sweeter) is one of the top things I’ve put in my mouth ever. Located in Kalihi.

• Zippy’s: A great go-to for local food. I love their fried chicken, saimin and orange bang drink but they’re famous for their chili and the Zip Pac. There are locations all over the island.

• Kahuku Superette: This is the best place for shoyu poke on the whole island IMO. It’s so soft it melts in your mouth. You barely have to chew. But I’m not into their spicy poke here FYI (that’s the other super popular flavor of poke on the islands). Located in Kahuku (top right of the north shore).

• Waiola Shave Ice: Loadssss of fun syrup/flavor options to top their super soft shave ice. Milk tea and Calpico are consistent favorite flavors for me. And I like that they have a small size here because the sizes at the famous north shore shave ice shops (like Matsumoto’s) are too big for me! Plus this place is old school and cute as hell. Located in McCully neighborhood of Honolulu.

• Musubi & Bento Iyasume: A very sweet little to-go spot to grab musubis of all varieties. Located in Waikiki.

• Waialua General Store: My spot for good poke on the north shore. Plus they have plate lunches with a Filipino tilt. Plus they sell local-favorite butter mochi (aka when cake met mochi) and they sometimes layer biko (a Filipino sticky rice dessert) underneath it, which is truly a magical thing when put together. Located in Waialua.

• Fukuya Ramen: Get the mochiko chicken curry rice. It’s all the good feels you get with the OG Japanese dish (chicken katsu curry rice) but with a wayyyy better sweet/savory/lightly crispy chicken on top. Like, way better. Located in Wahiawa (middle of the island).

• Kahuku Land Farms (now called Kuilima Farm Stand): Go for the banana lumpia (the stand called Virgil’s sells the best ones), strips of fresh coconut and baggies of star fruit/dragon fruit/lychee — stay for the tupig (a sweet and chewy Filipino treat made from sticky rice + sugar, wrapped in a banana leaf). Located in Kahuku.

• Liliha Bakery: A solid spot for local food (plate lunches and more!) but I go for the coco puff: a small choux puff pastry filled with a milky chocolate pudding and topped with a thick caramel-colored chantilly icing (chantilly in Hawaii means an insane whipped mixture of sugar, butter and egg yolks). They have 4 locations in Honolulu but the OG is the one in Liliha.

• 7/11: Just go in and explore the insane, beautiful, delicious selection of local food available for purchase in the open fridge section and in the hot food section. This is where I get the vast majority of my spam musubis. Decent manapua (char siu bao), too. Plus they always have fun, local slurpee flavors like haupia (a Hawaiian coconut pudding) or ube (Filipino purple yam). Locations all over the island.

• Waiahole Poi Factory: Try any of the Hawaiian dishes like kalua pig (slow-cooked pulled pork), lau lau (leaf-wrapped pork + butterfish), luau (taro leaf stew) and chicken long rice (a soupy vermicelli noodle dish) but my favorite thing to get there is the “Sweet Lady of Waiahole,” which is kulolo (a firm yet squishy steamed taro + coconut pudding) with haupia ice cream on top. Located in Waiahole on the windward/east side.

• Giovanni’s shrimp truck: This is THE SPOT for garlic shrimp on the north shore. They have two locations (Haleiwa and Kahuku) and both serve up perfect garlic shrimp but there is nearly always a big line. Eat it with shell on or shell off (I go with the latter).

• Malai Thai: A food truck with incroyable mango sticky rice and very very good everything else. Located in Haleiwa.

• Rainbow House: Another lovely shave ice spot where the ice is soft and the flavors are perfect. Located in Kahuku.

• Pho To Chau: Cool, old-school spot for bun cha gio, pho or many other Vietnamese dishes. Located in Chinatown.

• Paalaa Kai Bakery: Get the snow puffy. It’s a small brick-shaped, thinly-layered, crispy, light puff pastry filled with vanilla custard. On top is a swirl of chocolate fudge icing and a heavy sprinkling of powdered sugar. Located just outside of Haleiwa.

• More poke spots: I only mentioned Waialua General Store and Kahuku Superette above so here are a few more good spots for poke on Oahu: any Tamura’s location (their grocery OR liquor store locations both have poke counters, I love their ginger ahi poke), any Foodland location, Maguro Brothers (two locations), Ono Seafood, Fresh Catch (multiple locations), Poke on Da Run and Off the Hook Poke Market.

Views, Hikes, SUP, etc.

• SUP on the Anahulu River: You can rent SUPs at Blue Planet and paddle right onto the river from the shop. Go an hour before sunset to see the most sea turtles (they sleep at night on the banks of the river). I live on the river so hit me up if you come around these parts! Located in Haleiwa on the north shore.

• Ka’ena Point Trail: Go see the albatross! And Hawaiian monk seals! And whales if it’s winter! Bring water as there is no shade on the walk out to the point but it is flat so yay! Located on the western tip of the north shore.

• Nu’uanu Pali Lookout: You drive right up to it and it’s one of the very best views over the windward side. The turn off from the highway comes quick so go slow when approaching the exit.

• Makapu’u Lookout: A beautiful view of some mokes (little offshore islands) and body boarders down below. Again, you drive right on up to it, get out and have a looksy. Located on the southeast corner of the island.

• Halona Beach Cove: A super cute tiny beach smudged in between sea cliffs. Better for pictures than for swimming as it’s always quite wave-heavy there. Located on the east side (aka windward side). Not far from Makapu’u Lookout.

• Tantalus Lookout: Same kinda drive-up vibe as the other lookouts except with views over Honolulu.

Cute/Fun Shops I’ve Enjoyed

• Chinatown: In it’s entirety. Walk around. Check out all the markets, shops, food stalls, ALL OF IT. It is one of the coolest Chinatowns (and the oldest!) in the country. Favorites include Single Double (for vintage clothing), Maunakea Marketplace, Chau’s Fresh Fruit, Lam’s Kitchen (for look fun noodles), Oahu Market, Maguro Brothers (for poke + sashimi), Kekaulike Market, Royal Kitchen (for manapua), the lei shops, Tin Can Mailman (for Hawaii antiques), Kim Trading (for beads), Bas Bookshop (for artsy books) and so. much. more. Also, Daiso (a glorious Japanese dollar store chain) just opened up down there so maybe pop in there, too.

• Hau’ula Gift Shop / Ghing Jong Leong Store: Such an adorable, kitschy, beachy roadside shop to stop off at when driving up/down the east coast. Shells out front, batik dresses and sarongs inside. Don’t leave without a bottle of the pikake perfume made in Maui. Located in Hau’ula.

• Bookends: A great book store with new and used books. I go for the amazing selection of food-related books and old Hawaiian cookbooks (I got a book on Japanese cooking here from the 1940s, published in Honolulu!). Located in Kailua on the east side.

• Marukai Wholesale Mart: The honey pot, gold medal, very best Japanese grocery + homegoods store of my dreams. I have spent hours and hours exploring every aisle of this place. And maybe you should, too. Located in Kalihi. If you don’t want to venture out of Waikiki though, check out Mitsuwa for a different but still lovely Japanese grocery experience.

• Don Quijote: Similar to Marukai but different. I love both equally I think. Don Quijote is also Japanese primarily but they stock lots of other goods from across Asia. There are three locations (Waipahu, Pearl City and Honolulu) so it’s easier to come across on your travels around the island. The Waipahu location has more Filipino items than the others since Waipahu is a heavily-concentrated Filipino community.

• Coco’s Trading Post: The mega load for chic, beachy home-stuffs that are really quite cute and fun. Located in Haleiwa and Kailua.

• Haleiwa shell stand: A very adorable shell shop in the middle of Haleiwa. It’s not on google maps so look up Crispy Grindz and it’s right by there. You won’t miss it bc of ALL THE COOL SHELLS that are on display in front of their little hut. I have one of their incredible shell chandeliers myself.

• Number 808: Hawaiiana kitsch, vintage clothes and surf style. Located in Haleiwa.

• Third Stone: A surf shop with boards for sale + lots of fun, sketched t-shirt designs. Located in Waialua but they also own Haleiwa Surf Shop (which carries all their t-shirts and other surf-style gear).

• Goodwill: Go to any location you pass by and entertain yourself with the massive selection of Hawaiian shirts and muumuus you’ll come across inside. This goes for any thrift store on the island really.

Da Best Beaches

• Waimea: Famous and rightly so. Parking is a bitch though so go early if you can. Waves are mega in winter so beware. Fun cliff jumping. Located on the north shore.

• Sunset: Same as Waimea re: winter waves but it is truly stunning for sunset / really any time of day. Great for surf watching in winter. Located on the north shore.

• Ali’i: This is my local beach and I love it with all my heart. You can watch the surfers surf the good stuff from late fall to early spring (but they’re really here all year, even when it’s flat in the summer).

• Lanikai: Crazy clear turquoise water here. It’s always v busy but it always feels worth it to me for the beautiful views of the mokes (little offshore islands). Park in the neighborhood streets. Located on the windward (east) side.

• Sherwood: Gorge clear water, lots of shade under pine trees and you can camp here like basically anytime for free I think. Located on the windward side.

• Polo Beach: A lovely naked beach on the north shore. I’ll leave it at that.

• Kawela Bay: I almost don’t want to include this one bc it’s the only perfect sweet calm little bay that I can swim at any time of year on the north shore. But here it is. I’ve said it.

Snorkeling Spots

• Three Tables: My favorite spot on the north shore to snorkel. Only snorkel here when the water is flat. Located in Pupukea.

• Sharks Cove: It’s just a half mile down from Three Tables but is usually a lot busier with tourists. Enjoy the shallow area on the left side if you want to lounge with a drink. Good snorkeling on the right side in the deeper water (not in winter).

• Kahe Point aka “E beach”: Called that because it’s right in front of the electric plant. There is a huuuge pipe that lets out hot water maybe a quarter-mile offshore where LOADS of fish love to hang out. Dolphins are spotted out here a lot, too. Only go out with good fins, a good mask and if you’re a good swimmer. Located on the west side.

MORE!

• Skull & Crown Trading Co: A very cool tiki bar in Chinatown. Make a res.

• Honolulu Museum of Art: A large, varied collection of art (especially Asian art) that is worth going to more than once or twice — which I feel is saying something for an art museum. Located in the Makiki neighborhood of Honolulu.

• Valley of the Temples: There is an incredible Japanese Buddhist temple called Byodo-In at the very back of this beautiful memorial garden. Go to there. Located on the east side.

• Ala Moana Mall: A massive mall that I only go to for the Barnes & Noble and the insane food courts (there are multiple). I always go to a Malaysian spot called SingMaTei for curry laksa and curry look fun rolls.

• Bishop Museum: If you want to know more about Hawaii’s history, this is where you gots to go. The collection of Hawaiian royal family artifacts is vast and incredible and mind-boggling. Located in the Kalihi neighborhood of Honolulu.

• Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden: Gorgeous views at the base of the Ko’olau mountains. Good walks and it has a cute lil lake. Located on the east side.

• Longs: It’s our CVS (literally, it was bought by CVS) but with WAY better snacks. Like a whole aisle for local snacks. Get a bag of the Kalakoa Krunch (freeze-dried skittles) if you see it. Located all over the island.

Hope this helps you better enjoy your time on Oahu! KISSES + SUCH! xoxo Susu