May 2022: Our Top 3 Most Viewed Posts About O‘ahu’s Food Scene
A Puerto Rican food truck, a roundup of new openings and where a dining editor really likes to eat.
No. 3: First Look: Puerto Rican Menu Twists Pop Up in Windward O‘ahu
Happy Rico. Photo: Robbie Dingeman
Published May 11, 2022
Has O‘ahu ever had enough Puerto Rican eateries? Robbie Dingeman’s discovery of Happy Rico and its pork pastele quesatacos had her hunting down the Windward side food truck two more times—it splits its time between Kāne‘ohe behind Windward Mall and the edge of Waimānalo—enough to try other Puerto Rican mashup dishes and interview chef-owners Richard Figueroa and Loretta Tsang, whose backgrounds give their food a unique fusion twist.
No. 2: 14 New & Coming Restaurants to Watch for on O‘ahu: May 2022, Part 1
Tight Tacos. Photo: Thomas Obungen
Published May 12, 2022
If you’ve ever wondered why some eateries end up in our New & Coming Restaurants updates and others don’t, the answers often come down to uniqueness (a first Indian restaurant for Ala Moana Center? a truffle-centric menu?), excitement (are we excited about it? Will our readers be?) and roots. A local Instagram business that graduates to a brick-and-mortar, a longtime hole-in-the-wall reborn in a new spot after its original home is razed for a new development: The small local businesses that shape the character of our food scene are often the most fragile. That’s why famous national and global chains may be missing from our updates—openings that often come with large marketing budgets, social media followings and name recognition. In this May 12 post, at least 12 of the 14 eateries have local roots.
SEE ALSO: 17 More New & Coming Restaurants to Watch for on O‘ahu: May 2022, Part 2
No. 1: My Top 5 Favorite Restaurants on O‘ahu Right Now
Yakiniku Seoul. Photo: Martha Cheng
Published May 2, 2022
Where does a dining editor really like to eat? The answers are more telling than you might think. More than a decade of covering the city’s food scene means HONOLULU Magazine’s Martha Cheng has tried everything from dive bar fare to high-end tasting menus. Her look at the places she’s drawn to again and again reveals a penchant for unchanging, everyday fare: pizza, bowls of naengmyeon and roast duck noodles, freshly grilled chicken skewers, more noodles. Our biggest takeaway: Martha really likes noodles.
