Kauai recommendations?

Thanks Plumeria! Much appreciated. We have chef friends that like Bar Acuda too.

Bar Acuda is good…
Red Salt and Keoki’s are my go to in Poipu…

Make sure you swim with my baby turtles at Poipu beach…

Off to da islands in a couple of weeks…
Any new food trucks this sista should check out in Princeville or Poipu area?
Gotta find a suitcase big enough for the RB Hound familia. . :sunrise::family_man_woman_girl::palm_tree::hibiscus::pineapple:

Mahalo
:rainbow:

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Aloha. . .
Run down on eating in paradise.
As soon as the plane lands in Lihue, most everyone that is on da plane, heads their ass out to Costco.
(Ahi poke, Vodka, Anejo Tequila, Ancient Grains salad, Pom juice, Aloha Water, Dark Choc Macadamia nuts)

Stayed up in Princeville. .

Tiki Iniki for drinks at Todd Rundgren’s bar and lounge for mai tais…excellent and Patri, the bartender rocks!
Hamura Saimin for lunch in Lihue for Shrimp Saimin and lilikoi pie slice…da bomb!
Happy Talk Lounge in Hanalei…went several times for drinks and dinner…love this old school place.

Words of Aloha wisdom…do NOT wear flip flops when hiking down a trail on a cliff to the beach after a rain…
Eat shit in mud and get banged up with lots of bruises, cuts and crushed ego…

My Hawaiian Angel, Jonah, who helped me to the ocean with DH to clean my muddy ass up, while crying like a chick with blood everywhere and Jonah went to get Ti leaves and crushed them on my body and wrapped them around my leg/ankle with prayers to the spirit Gods of Ancient healing.
Thank God I didn’t have to be airlifted…2 more Angels in a Jeep drove me up to my resort from the end of Anini Beach.

Aloha :hibiscus:

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Very late correction, Plumeria, but Hamura is in Lihue.

And now I see you corrected your earlier ref to Kapaa …

Aloha Will…
I’m confused…tried to find where I said Hamura’s was in Kapaa?
:hibiscus:

'Way back up there in 2015 – very top of the thread. You can just take my word if your scrolling finger is sore! It’s way the hell up there.

Holy crap Batman…you are right Will!

My sincere apologies and will edit that now.

I know damn well its not in Kapaa…hell, the Kapaa traffic jam makes me never want to stop there for fear of being in traffic hell for hours.
Many Mahalos to you…

I had trouble re-finding it twice, so you are certainly excused!

I had forgotten how tough it was getting through there – omigod, it was eleven years ago – and how it was only being in the right place, when someone was pulling out, that scored us a parking space. On the other hand, isn’t that kinda the story of Kauai in most popular areas? Old Koloa Town is easy just because it’s so tiny you can just park on the edges and walk, Hanalei is much the same, and Lihue isn’t too bad either. But I do remember people parking clear down on the highway and walking to Kapaa … or did I dream that? Damn, we have to get back!

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Here are some notes from a trip last week. We stayed in Poipu. Overall, I thought the food in Kauai was mediocre.

JO2. Pretty good. Well below Michelin 1* level. Nothing memorable.

Tidepools (Grand Hyatt). What I expected. Average resort food posing as fine dining.

Kiawe Roots. Disappointing. Their signature “tinono” dish was bland and pointless. An amateur home cook could improve it on first try.

Garden Island Barbecue & Chinese Restaurant. Basic but good Chinese food. Seafood and vegetables tasted fresh. Perhaps the best food we ate on Kauai.

Tortilla Republic. Bland Mexican food. Lifeless guacamole. Tangy entrees with no depth of flavor.

Pho Kauai. Decent Vietnamese food.

La Spezia. Breakfast was enjoyable. I suspect that dinner may also be better than nearby options. The wine shop next door has a great selection for Kauai, and I think this restaurant may be related.

Aloha Roastery. Good coffee. By far the best option I saw in the area. The roasted nut shop next door is also good.

Koloa Fish Market. Okay. A little disappointing to me. The poke dishes were salty and unexceptional.

Yeah can’t compare to Oahu. Although I did enjoy the fresh fruits and very cheap too.

Headed here in a few months so just watching the thread. Likely staying in Popui. I’m surprised nobody mentioned Lapperts and Merrimans.

Any updates over the last year? @js76wisco did you end up going?

I’m headed to Kauai for the first time this fall, starting to look into restaurants and such as we decide on where to stay and things.

(Not the purpose of this board, I know, but also open to general tips!)

@Srsly we ended up changing our plans and we are going to Oahu in November instead. My friend who was there recently said the beaches are nicer in the south near Popui. She stayed north in Princeville which was beautiful but more remote.

Food wise I think you’ll probably need to temper your expectations. Laepperts and Merrimans are the only places I could recommend.

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Thank you! It’s definitely a natural beauty/relaxation first and food second (or third or fourth…) kind of trip, but hoping to find some cool/interesting local stuff anyway. Have marked those two spots down, thanks!

I’m from Kauai, go back there to visit family regularly, and have to concur with @js76wisco that you shouldn’t get your hopes up, food-wise. I usually eat at home when I’m back there!

That said,

Hamura Saimin is a real Kauai institution that I can recommend if you’re looking for local flavor.

Kintaro’s is a local’s favorite Japanese place, but it’s more popular for it’s longevity and because it’s known as a local’s kind of place (they hook regulars up), and not likely to impress someone coming from anywhere with great Japanese food.

In lieu of Lappert’s, which for me is mediocre and overpriced, I’d recommend getting a white pineapple frostie from the smoothie place that replaced Banana Joe’s in Kilauea.

As for general tips: South shore has less chance of rain, beaches that are good for lounging. North shore has more scenic beauty, more rustic, and more dramatic beaches.

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I stayed here too during my trip. I actually preferred being away from the hubbub and this was perfect. Overall I liked it, only negative is the rooms need updating. Very 80, 90s. i.e green marble in the bathrooms.

+1 temper your expectations for food. Although the local fruits sold by the side of the roads and farmer’s markets are not to be missed - EXCELLENT!!!

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We visited for the first time beginning of July. We weren’t great at taking pictures but some highlights were:

Kauai Boba and BBQ in Lihue


We stopped by this little truck after landing because we were too early to check in to the hotel. On top are all three musubis they offer (spam, bbq chicken, chicken katsu) while below is their Hawaiian plate with lau lau, kalua pork with cabbage, mac salad and rice. The broken musubis are my fault, I was not gentle taking them out of the bag but they were decent. A good rice:meat ratio although the chicken wasn’t noticeably better than spam. The lau lau was probably the best of a few we tried on the trip. Good porky flavor and the greens were similarly savory and a perfect creamed spinach texture.

Not pictured, Mrs. Wiremonkey had loco moco that she liked but the boba was too sweet.

Isihara Market in Waimea


Clockwise from the top are seaweed salad, albacore [?] poke, Korean shrimp poke and snow crab poke. We’d had a lot of albacore and salmon poke at that point so we wanted to try a few others. Overall we thought this place had generally better poke than everywhere else we tried in terms of freshness and balanced salty/sweet flavor. However, while incredibly well priced and featuring big meaty chunks the crab poke was just a tad too salty. Surprisingly, the Korean shrimp was our favorite poke of the trip. Judicious use of soy, sugar and sesame and somehow PERFECTLY textured despite being shell on. I’m really curious if they pre-cooked the shrimp or some how the marinade penetrated the shell but either way, impressive work.

The Dolphin in Hanalei


We were on our way to lunch elsewhere but had heard of this place so we dropped in and tried the softshell crab roll. I’ll be honest, it was only okay but I wish we’d saved room because everything else looked great and it was kind of cool you could buy just half a roll if you wanted. Also, “only okay” at this point would still be pretty kickass in LA.

Finally, we tried The Butcher and the Fisherman in Lihue after checking out but before heading to the airport. No pictures because we were in a hurry but we got the loco moco and a grilled fish sandwich (I think ahi tuna). The loco moco was a bit overseasoned but still my favorite of the trip with really rich, thick gravy complementing the hamburger steak which wasn’t too firm of a patty. The sandwich was just a plain slab of fish with lettuce and tomato but it was all I was looking for on my way out: decently chewy roll, nicely cooked slab of fish, fresh produce and condiments on the side to add to your taste. They’d also just moved locations, I think, so I believe they have a lot more options now.

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Thanks for all of the responses @WireMonkey @Sgee @clone @js76wisco!! Have a ton of bookmarks and lowered expectations for everything except fruit + nature.

If we get some good coffee, shave ice, poke, plate lunches and casual stuff mixed in with the beach and some tropical forestry I’ll be more than thrilled. Thanks all!!

One other question - anyone have thoughts on the alcohol made on the island? Looks like there are two breweries (Kauai Island + Kauai Beer Co), one meadery (Nani Moon), and one rum distillery (Koloa Rum). Once again, expectations low, and there’s a decent chance we’ll visit 'em all anyway, but curious about impressions.

¡THX!