During our time on Oahu, we ate some amazing food! Find below our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots! For more information about our trip to Hawaii, click here, or see our full itinerary here. Find below our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots:
Table of Contents
10. Noi Thai Cuisine
First up on our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots is Noi Thai Cuisine. One day Alex and I were walking around Waikiki and we began to crave Thai food. So a quick Google search found us Noi. It was only a few minutes walk from where we were and the reviews online seemed good. Obama had even eaten here before!
Noi is an upscale Thai restaurant and has several locations in the Pacific Northwest US as well. We arrived around 3pm and there was a happy hour special going on! So we ordered an array of special-priced happy hour dishes- pad Thai, taro rolls, crab wontons, and chicken satay. Beautifully presented, delicious, and the happy hour prices were great!
Address: 2301 Kalakaua Ave c308, Honolulu, HI 96815
Website: http://www.noithaicuisine.com/
9. Pau Hana Market Waikiki- Fisherman’s Tacos
The Pau Hana Market was only a two minute walk from our hotel and we passed by it several times before deciding to get dinner there one evening. There are several food trucks with picnic tables in the middle for you to sit. In the evening, you may have to wait until someone leaves to find a seat; it gets pretty packed.
The food trucks’ cuisine included shrimp, ramen and other Japanese dishes, burgers, tacos, and more. We went to the truck “Fisherman’s Tacos” and ordered chicken tacos, which were delicious! It was cheap, quick, and yummy!
Address: 234 Beach Walk, Honolulu, HI 96815
8. Shokudo Japanese Restaurant and Bar
This place was recommended to me by a friend who is a Honolulu-native. She told me about this amazing Japanese dessert, Honey Toast, which is toasted bread cut up into squares, drizzled with honey, and topped with ice cream. I decided we had to go and try it!
Shokudo (which literally means dining room in Japanese) is a casual restaurant that offers contemporary Japanese food. For those of you staying in Waikiki, it is about a 10-15 minute drive- located near the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu. For our dinner, we ordered chicken katsu, a few rolls of sushi (including a balsamic beef tataki sushi), and ended the meal with the Original Honey Toast. Everything was delicious! The Honey Toast alone would place Shokudo on our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots!
Address: 1585 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814
Website: http://shokudojapanese.com/
7. Waikiki Beachside Kitchen
Our first morning on Oahu we woke up at 5am (our bodies were still on EST time) and went down to the beach. By 8am we were starving, but we didn’t want to spend much on breakfast and Waikiki is generally pretty expensive. One Google search later, we found Waikiki Beachside Kitchen. It is a few blocks away from the main road in Waikiki and it really is a hidden gem!
We ordered two plate breakfasts (rice, eggs, sausages, and spam) and two drinks- the total for our meal was less than $12!! We choose to eat there and went to sit at some tables. The Waikiki Beachside Kitchen is part of a hostel, the Waikiki Beachside Hostel, which has its own seating for breakfast across the way. Our food was cooked to order and was great! Delicious cheap eats!
Address: 2556 Lemon Rd a101, Honolulu, HI 96815
6. Henry’s Place
Right next door to Pau Hana Market is Henry’s Place, which is a small fruit store that also sells ice cream and sorbet in many tropical flavor varieties. At first look, you may be skeptical about entering, but don’t worry, it is definitely a must try and can develop a crowd in the evening! Easily makes our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots! It was only minutes away from our hotel and we got ice cream almost every night!
The ice cream comes in a Styrofoam container, which is located in a freezer inside the store. The serving size is pretty large and the ice cream is tasty! They use fresh local fruit and have some exotic flavors such as avocado, jackfruit, lychee, and many more. They even have Kona coffee! We ended up trying mango, papaya, pineapple, guava, and vanilla. It was quite unbelievable how the ice cream and sorbets tasted exactly as if you were eating the fruit!
Address: 234 Beach Walk, Honolulu, HI 96815
5. Matsumoto’s Shave Ice
Matsumoto’s Shave Ice is probably the most famous shave ice in the North Shore of Oahu. We stopped there during our North Shore exploration day around 9 am, just when they had opened, and were rewarded by there being no line! There are tons of flavors to choose from, but we ultimately decided to split a Matsumoto’s combo (lemon, pineapple, coconut) and added a scoop of ice cream!
We did have other great shave ice on our trip; however, Matsumoto’s flavors and the texture of their shave ice made them a highlight! Definitely a worthy food pit-stop when driving the North Shore! There is ample parking behind the shopping complex where Matsumoto’s is located.
Address: 66-087 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa, HI 96712
Website: http://matsumotoshaveice.com/
4. Rainbow Drive-In
Another cheap and delicious eat on our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots!!! The Rainbow Drive-In is a classic Honolulu quick-eat place. There seemed to be an equal number of locals and tourists there. There are seats available to dine-in, but parking is quite tight. The location is great if you are going to and from Diamond Head. You can order any of their food at any time of day. We went for breakfast after climbing Diamond Head, but we ordered two cheeseburgers and a Loco Moco plate (rice, hamburger, gravy, egg).
Address: 3308 Kanaina Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
Website: http://rainbowdrivein.com/
3. Leonard’s Bakery
Leonard’s is a famous bakery in Honolulu known for its malasadas, and it’s only natural it makes it onto our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots. Malasadas are Portuguese fried dough, which are pretty popular in our home state of Rhode Island. Hawaiian malasadas are a little different- they are more circular and closer to the shape of a donut. In Hawaii, they also will fill their malasadas with different flavored custards; they are called malasada puffs! You can get custard, chocolate, and coconut.
Leonard’s opens at 5:30 am and is open late to 10 or 11 pm. They also have three food trucks called the MalasadaMobiles. One is parked in the lot at Koko Marina Shopping Center (7190 Kalanianaole Highway, Hawaii Kai), which is on the way to and from Hanauma Bay. We stopped at both the main bakery and the MalasadaMobile. A great sweet treat!
Address: 933 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816
Website: https://www.leonardshawaii.com/home/
2. Kahuku Farms- Farm Cafe
Our #2 pick is actually right across the street from our #1 pick. As we were waiting for a shrimp plate, we spotted a sign across the street that advertised farm-grown acai bowls. We crossed the street and entered a small building that sold a variety of farm-fresh food, and ordered an acai bowl. The farm, Kahuku Farms, grows the acai berries themselves!
The bowl was made of the locally-grown acai, apple banana, mixed berries, haupia, soy milk, and agave, then topped with granola, apple banana, lilikoi butter, and graham-macadamia nut crumble. It was the freshest acai bowl that I have ever eaten, and it was so delicious!! I’m still dreaming about eating this bowl! Definitely worth a stop on the North Shore, and the farm itself is also open for tours.
Address: 56-800 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI 96731
Website: http://www.kahukufarms.com/farm-cafe.html
1. Romy’s Kahuku Prawns Shrimp Hut
And the #1 choice for our top 10 favorite Oahu food spots is Romy’s Shrimp Hut!
On the North Shore, there are tons of shrimp trucks. First, we drove by at least five and then turned around and stopped at Romy’s. There are many famous trucks, and I’m sure all of them are great; however, we heard that Romy’s farms their shrimp right behind their hut- literally pond-to-table. We even saw some workers feeding the shrimp!
We got in line and were told that the wait for food would be about 45 minutes. Alex and I decided to wait and ordered one plate of garlic shrimp. While our order was cooking, we did run across the street to buy an acai bowl (see our #2 pick). While it was a long wait, but when we received our food, it was worth it! The shrimp was some of the best shrimp that we’ve had! Loaded with tons of garlic and flavor, however, surprisingly, not overpowering. As our number one pick, this is definitely finger-licking good!
Address: 56781 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI 96731
