Martha Cheng

Martha Cheng is the former Dining Editor for HONOLULU Magazine. She also writes for publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Food and Wine, and Eater. In past lives, she was a line cook, food truck owner, Peace Corps volunteer and Google techie and has degrees in Computer Science and English from Wellesley College. She really likes listing things. More than a decade ago, she came to Honolulu for a boy and stayed for the people and ocean. She was born in San Francisco but prefers surfing in Hawai‘i.

Articles

Hamada General Store

Hamada General Store: A New Plate Lunch Spot by the Chefs of Home Bar & Grill

Find a kim chee reuben and a Spam-and-egg sandwich with tonkatsu in it.

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Expanding Tastes: Roy Yamaguchi is Cooking for the Kailua Community at Goen Dining + Bar

It would be perfectly poetic to say that the local chef’s newest restaurant, Goen, which opened last fall, conjures the past just as Kailua’s developers are erasing it.

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Expanding Tastes: Chinese Food in Hawai‘i Wasn’t the Same Without Chengdu Taste

This Sichuan mini-chain restaurant is back, bigger and bolder.

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Expanding Tastes: What You Should Order at Rangoon Burmese Kitchen in Chinatown

Explore tribe dishes and other traditional tastes from Myanmar.

La Vie Mont Blanc

First Look: La Vie at the Ritz Carlton Waikīkī

Dusty Grable and Shaymus Alwin lead the crew at a new, modern-French restaurant.

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11 Restaurant Openings and 3 Closures on O‘ahu

A monthly update on new arrivals (including Texas barbecue and Spanish-Italian by way of Japan) and what’s gone (Watanabe Bakery).

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Blades of Glory: 6 Hawai‘i Chefs Tell the Stories Behind Their Favorite Knife

The knife is the most important, and often the most personal, tool for chefs.

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10 Things You Can Only Get in Waikīkī

From 3 dollar whisky sodas to 300 dollar omakase.

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50 Shades of Yellow: This Man Runs a Banana Library on a Farm in Waialua

Gabe Sachter-Smith stalks bananas around the world and builds a banana library of Hawaiian cultivars.

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Taste Test: We Tried (Almost) Every Flavor at Via Gelato in Kaimukī

14 gelato and sorbetto flavors change daily. Which ones won out?

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Let Someone Else Grill: Honolulu Skewer House and Yakitori Ando

Meat sticks at a northern Chinese skewer spot and a yakitori speakeasy.

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The Best Honolulu Shave Ice You’ve Probably Never Tried

Island Vintage Coffee’s açaí bowl and shave ice may be one of the best-kept secrets for locals.

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CakeM and Miss Chen’s Cake: Pieces of Cake at 808 Center

Find chocolate and caramel domes at cakeM and durian everything at Miss Chen’s.

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Travel the World Through 5 Shave Ice Spots

Where to find shave ice from Mexico to Taiwan on O‘ahu.

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First Look: TBD… Pop-Up Restaurant at the Diamond Head Edge of Waikīkī

Vikram Garg, formerly of the Halekūlani, returns to the public with a restaurant whose name is TBD… literally.

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Amina Chau Runs the Only Restaurant in Honolulu Serving Halal Italian Food

Exploring restaurants by the Islamic community on O‘ahu means tasting flavors from Uzbekistan, Iran, Morocco and ... Italy.

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Moroccan Spot, Casablanca, is One of the Longest-Running Restaurants in Kailua

And it has hardly changed in the 25 years it’s been open.

Bar Koko And Persian Restaurant Kebab

Bar Koko and Persian Restaurant on Pi‘ikoi Street is All About the Meat

As one of the oldest cuisines in existence, which spread as the Islamic Empire grew, Persian food can taste familiar even if you’ve never had it before.

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Silk Road Café in Honolulu Is One of the Closest Places to Eat by ‘Iolani Palace

Uzbek food feels primal.

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Maui-Raised Alana Kysar Shines a Spotlight on Local Hawai‘i Food in Her New Cookbook

Cook the book.

Vermicular Cast Iron Pot Japanese Honolulu Chef Obsession

What Are Honolulu Chefs Obsessed with Right Now?

A Vermicular Musui pot, screwpine and rose syrup, and more.

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8 Top Spots For Soft Serve Desserts in Honolulu

It’s a swirl world after all.

Masa Corn

Masa Hawai‘i, a New Tortilleria, Grinds Heirloom Corn for its Handmade Tortillas

Find freshly made blue corn tortillas and more from Masa at the Saturday Kaka‘ako Farmers Market.

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Best of Honolulu

8 We Tried: We Search for the Best Public Swimming Pool on O‘ahu

From Wahiawā to Kāne‘ohe, from the hidden to the new, we searched O‘ahu for the best public pool.

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Black Sheep Cream Co. Brings Its Unicorn Poop to Wahiawā

A 23-year-old opens her second ice cream shop.

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Mānoa Chocolate’s New Chocolate Factory Opens with a Drink Lab and Gelato Bar

Taste everything from 100% cacao bars to a drink made with cacao fruit.

Where Are They Now Hawaii Top Chefs

Where Are Hawai‘i’s Top Chefs Now?

Updates on nine chefs who cooked at some of Hawai‘i's favorite restaurants, with one crew opening a new place this summer.

Barrio Café and Taqueria El Ranchero: Two Reasons Wahiawā Has Great Mexican Food

A Taste of Oaxaca dinner, a Cinco de Mayo party, and mechanical bull for Taco Tuesdays.

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Penny’s Malasadas in Lā‘ie and Kahuku Fry the Lightest Malassadas on the Island

Surprise: the best malassada is on the North Shore.

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Dine on a Farm and Shop a Celebratory Farmers Market This Week

The annual Parade of Farms in Wai‘anae and Kokua Market’s Celebration provides opportunities to meet farmers and learn the origins of your food.

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Hale ‘Aina Happenings: From Prima to Hooters, and Other April Restaurant News

Moké’s Bread and Breakfast opens in Kaimukī; Cattleya, a new wine bar, opens inside Orchids at the Halekūlani; and Prima closes.

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King Restaurant and Bar Introduces New and Rare-to-Honolulu Chinese Dishes

Sensing a shift in tastes and demographics, the owner and chef team depart from their previous menus at Hung Won and Legends Seafood.

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The Historic Wai‘oli Tea Room Reopens as the Wai‘oli Kitchen and Bake Shop

The new Wai‘oli restores its original mission by employing people from Salvation Army’s drug and treatment center and those transitioning out of prison.

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5 Reasons to Shop and Eat at the New Wednesday Night Kaka‘ako Farmers Market

Stock your fridge and stomach with everything from a rainbow of veggies to jumbo, deep-sea shrimp.

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Learn an Exclusive Vegetarian Recipe From “Chef’s Table” Star Jeong Kwan

The Buddhist monk from South Korea known for her moment on the hit Netflix show recently taught temple food philosophy and techniques at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific in Honolulu. Here's a recipe for you to try at home.

What’s New with Hawai‘i Restaurants in March 2019

Back at Town; whiskey, wine and charcuterie, oh my!; and a new monthly cooking class.

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First Look: Liliha Bakery Opens at Ala Moana Center

The third, and biggest, outpost of the beloved Liliha Bakery offers a bar and more central location.

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Why McDonald’s Hawai‘i Has the Only Fried Apple Pies in the Country

Everywhere else in the U.S., they’re baked.

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4 Hawai‘i Chefs and Restaurants Announced as Semifinalists for the James Beard Awards

Lineage, Michelle Karr-Ueoka, Ed Kenney, Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush make the first cut.

First Look: Seoul Tofu House

Warm up to roiling hot and spicy soondubu at this new Waikīkī spot.