13 Reasons Why You Should Go to Restaurant Week Hawai‘i This Year
Our picks of this foodie event’s special menus for every kind of eater.
For seven days, restaurants across the island give us more reasons to eat out. This year’s Restaurant Week Hawai‘i (which actually runs 10 days, but who’s quibbling?) is Nov. 15 through 24. That’s when we can take advantage of special prix fixe menus and dishes with proceeds going to The Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.
We’d love to hit them all, but with more than 75 places participating, that would require us eating more than seven meals a day. Still, it’s worth trying as many as you can pack in. Here are a few lineups for every foodie that caught our attention.
You’re a Meat Eater
Photo: Courtesy of d.k. steak house
The menu at d.k. Steak House’s menu is just what you would expect (or hope for) at a steak house. The four courses include an herb-whipped burrata and marinated beet salad, pan-seared scallops, your choice of seafood scampi with Hāmākua Ali‘i mushrooms or filet mignon, and creamsicle panna cotta for $68. Add wine pairings for $14.
2552 Kalākaua Ave., (808) 931-6280, dkrestaurants.com
You Like to Taco, Alone or Not
Photo: Steve czerniak
Encore Saloon beats its $2 taco Tuesdays by adding its crispy chips with a flight of salsa, rice and beans, and coconut cream flan to a trio of tacos for $14.50. For an even better deal, take a friend and go duo for $26 all day.
10 N. Hotel St., (808) 367-1656, encoresaloon.com
SEE ALSO: 12 Tasty Ways to Satisfy Your Taco Cravings in Honolulu
You’re Heading West (and need groceries)
We can’t guarantee the crowds have yet died down, but the new Foodland Farms Pearl City is in on Restaurant Week. In the Pau Hana Bar, order the fried ‘ahi belly done Chinese-style with Chinese parsley and ginger (a Frolic Hawai‘i favorite), and a draft beer for $12.99.
1150 Kuala St., Pearl City, (808) 453-1850, foodland.com
Other participating restaurants not in town:
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Big City Diner locations
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Cajun King Kāne‘ohe
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Roy’s Ko Olina and Roy’s Beach House
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Shiro’s Saimin Haven
SEE ALSO: Things That Made Us Go Mmmmm at the New Foodland Farms in Pearl City
You Want to Go Veggie
You can skip the smoked ‘ahi spread (or not, at least three restaurants have it on the menu for Restaurant Week) at Fête and opt for Greek salad with Sweet Land Farm feta and arugula, a vegetarian version of its bucatini with blistered tomatoes and kale, and end with the Butter Butter Budino, a butternut squash and white chocolate cheesecake with a pepita brittle. Don’t worry carnivores, the menu also has options including cioppino, Kaua‘i Ranch tartare or New York strip. There is also a lunch menu available.
$38, 2. N. Hotel St., (808) 369-1390, fetehawaii.com
photo: Robbie dingeman
On the Windward Side, Goen has comforting vegetarian options. For lunch, cucumber and avocado maki or a butter leaf salad leads into a mushroom soup and grilled cheese sandwich combo followed by a pumpkin crunch dessert. At night, a beet-and-pickled-onion flatbread with horseradish brie is on my list of must tries. For an entrée, there’s a risotto with carrots, cauliflower, mascarpone and pistachio. Salmon with a kalbi glaze and short rib on polenta with a mushroom glaze are also offered as well as the mini halo halo for dessert, all for $39. Make sure to a get a signature cocktail; one of our favorites was the Ko‘olau Sour with liliko‘i, rye and lemon pepper garnish.
$29 for lunch, $39 for dinner. 573 Kailua Road, Kailua. (808) 263-4636, royyamaguchi.com
SEE ALSO: First Look: Goen Dining + Bar in Kailua
cauliflower risotto at pai honolulu
photo: Courtesy of pai honolulu
At Pai Honolulu, the no-meat dinner and lunch menus include baby beet salad with hazelnuts and tangerine, a fall-inspired kabocha soup with pepitas and cranberry, cauliflower risotto with maitake and a fudge brownie or liliko‘i matcha tart.
$39 for lunch, $69 for dinner. Harbor Court, 55 Merchant St., (808) 744-2531, paihonolulu.com
Other vegetarian options:
You’re Eating at 1 a.m.
M.A.C. 24/7’s special menu is available 24/7 but its fully loaded bacon cheeseburger (or Beyond burger) and donut split sundae appeal most to our after-hours hunger pangs.
$24, Hilton Waikīkī Beach, 2500 Kūhiō Ave., (808) 921-5564, mac247waikiki.com
You’re Kouign Amann Crazy
photo: catherine toth fox
We’ll go to Waikīkī just for Kona Coffee Purveyor’s B. Patisserie kouign amann sundaes. Available after 3 p.m., choose from Dirty Chai Pie, pumpkin hazelnut, and peanut butter and jelly versions featuring Kona coffee, pumpkin and fruit jelly kouign amann (respectively) combined with ice cream and toppings.
$10 each, International Market Place, 2330 Kalākaua Ave., Suite 160, (808) 450-2364, konacoffeepurveyors.com
SEE ALSO: This Hard-to-Pronounce French Pastry is Now in Honolulu
You Just Want a P and PBR
That Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer is just $1 to go with Hank’s Haute Dogs’ 1/3-pound-of-beef-piled Pastrami Hankburger.
$9.95 for the burger, 324 Coral St., (808) 532-HANK, hankshautedogs.com
You Want to Wear a Bib
Crab wontons or coconut shrimp come with the order at Kickin’ Kajun, but really, it’s all about the lobster or crab boil, along with a pound combined of shrimp, clams and mussels along with the prerequisite potato, corn, rice and sausages. The fried Oreo and ice cream dessert is the messy topper for your finger-licking meal.
$37 for the snow crab, $49 with whole live lobster. Samsung Plaza, 655 Kea‘aumoku St., Suite 101, (808) 744-2599, kickin-kajun.com
You’re All About Dessert
photo: Steve czerniak
Yes, the signature mochi-crusted kampachi is one of five dinner options, but you can’t go to MW Restaurant and not want dessert. You can choose from four. The MW Candy Bar is always a winner, but the Kō Hana Rum Mochi Baba with caramelized pineapple and butter mochi ice cream has us intrigued, as do the other choices. So, we say take a friend and double up on dishes.
$55 for dinner, $25 for lunch options. 1538 Kapi‘olani Blvd., (808) 955-6505, mwrestaurant.com
You Want a Deal with a View
In Waikīkī, four courses for $59 is quite a deal once you add in the ocean view. Orchids at Halekūlani’s prix fixe dinner menu doesn’t offer options, but with carpaccio, seafood pappardelle, branzino with truffle and cauliflower, and Kona espresso tiramisu, we don’t need any.
$59. 2199 Kālia Road, (808) 923-2311, halekulani.com
SEE ALSO: First Look: Halekūlani Bakery & Restaurant
You Want Options
The Street is knocking $10 off the $36.99 seven-item party pass all day. It’s good for your choice of small dishes or a drink at various eateries.
All day. International Market Place, 2330 Kalākaua Ave., (808) 377-4402, thestreetsocialhouse.com
See all the menus at restaurantweekhawaii.com
