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Doug's
Restaurant Preferences
Doug travels extensively
looking for ideas for the Lodge, and enjoys good food. In each place we visit we seek
out that special restaurant, or one recommended by friends or guidebooks.
We have therefore begun this page on 12/2/03 and will update it frequently as we find
new places to eat and enjoy good food and wines. Updated 8/14/07
At this point in Hilo in August 2007 we have seen the shoot out between the new Christmas
2004 additions to our restaurants, Kaikodo and Hilo Bay Cafe and the established Cafe
Pesto.....Cafe Pesto and Hilo bay won, Kaikodo just closed......the reason, the manager
and staffing....the owners are nice people and tried hard, but placed their trust in the wrong people.
By contrast the owners of Hilo Bay Cafe seem not to care very much but have incredible
staff who make it a delight to dine there.
Hilo Bay Cafe
(near Wal-Mart) is the winner in a sense, in that it always has a good crowd, seems
to be doing one or two turnovers and the food and service remain good. We see occasional
glitches in meeting and greeting incoming guests but that aside you can expect good
service and excellent food in a cheery atmosphere. Hilo Bay Cafe is Doug Arnott's
current favorite. And remains so...If you order the heirloom salad with olive oil
and have either the Fresh catch, scallops or shrimp on top you have a winner healthy
meal. They even have a button on the computer for the "Doug Salad".
Cafe Pesto
(downtown Hilo), if you drive around and do a covers count each evening, is obviously
the hands down winner in Hilo, it is way bigger than Hilo Bay Cafe and does multiple
covers each evening. I don't personally care for the new paint job, taking it from
bright white to Government Railway, and the perpetually unfinished kitchen revamp
(still unfinished as of 8/14/07) takes away from sitting at the bar, but table service
and the food are good and they have a good selection. They also have a branch at
Kawaihae on the west side...
Kaikodo
(downtown) Well as of 8/14/07 Kaikodo has finally closed its doors and I would totally
blame a manager who walked around and could not even acknowledge his most regular
customers nor retain loyal staff. The owners were delightful people who put their
heart and sole into a beautiful Restaurant but their trust in inept and inexperienced staff.
Harrington's, very popular with local diners, actually the closest to
our Lodge, of our recommendations. On Kalanianaole near Banyan Drive this long established
restaurant has a cocktail bar and dining overlooking the famous "Ice Pond" a natural
spring, fed by waters of Mauna Loa mountain. A full bar and reasonable wine selection.
There are two Thai Restaurants, our favorite which is also BYOB is Naung Mai Thai Kitchen
located at 86 Kilauea Ave, in a somewhat confusing location BEHIND Garden exchange which
is opposite KTA Market on Keawe St......just up Mamo from the Farmers Market. The food is
worth the search, it is a tiny restaurant and the staff will recommend dishes to the uninitiated
in Thai food. BYOB no corkage.
The second Thai Restaurant is the Royal Siam at 70 Mamo St. just a few yards
from the Farmers Market, the food is good but it lacks the intimate atmosphere of the other
and has a liquor license limiting you to a rather droll wine selection or a HUGE $6 corkage..
Of course if you followed Doug around you would have to conclude that his ALL TIME favorite is
Kens House of Pancakes which is the 24 hour 50's style diner right at the main
intersection leading to or from the Lodge. It has a huge menu, 24 hour breakfast, massive omelets
and every permutation of "Good Ole" American food with a lot of "LOCAL" favorites......If you
are VERY hungry try the "SUMO" where they ring a ships bell and all staff cry out "Sumo" in
unison as it is served !! It has the BEST coffee in Hilo, bottomless. No alcohol is served or permitted..
No spy following Doug around, would fail to notice his visits to Bears Coffee
Shop on Keawe St, one Street back from the Bayfront. Bears has recently changed
hands although old customers would not notice any difference. Although for a coffee shop
the regular coffee could do with improvement, the espressos and breakfast selections are
excellent. Try the FRESH papaya followed by the "Big Bad Buster", Ham, cheese and spinach
mixed in with eggs in a bowl. For lunch the Tuna stuffed Tomato is hard to beat. Some prefer
the Lox and Bagels and waffles with "Fresh fruit only".
Finishing up with Hilo we must give good mention to
Uncle Billy's
on Banyan Drive, not far from Harrington's. The restaurant attached to this Hotel has a
nightly Hula Show provided by different "Local" groups from cute kids to budding
professionals. They serve regular menu food and the show is essentially free. I had an
excellent New York strip for $18 and Kathy had the scallops for $17. We thought it excellent
value, with friendly staff and dancers.
Before we leave Hilo for Volcano Village we must give honorable mention to one of the
FUNKIEST Stores with an unbelievable wine selection. Kadota's is an
institution in Hilo.
Located on Hualalai a turn inland from Burger King on Kilauea, this store has an incredible
selection of wines, liquors, presentation bottles and beers. If you are a REAL wine freak
ask to see the climate controlled "Back Room" where Rothschild and Margaux among others
all the way up to $400 and $500 a bottle exist side by side with lesser brands in the $100 range..
There is one more special Restaurant located at
Volcano Village
and that is
Kilauea Lodge
on the "Old" volcano highway just before arriving at the Volcano National park at about
the 25/26 mile marker. Turn in on one of the three highway exits, the Lodge is set back
but has a large sign out front. Excellent food by the German chef/owner with a big hearty
fireplace/waiting area. Cool at night in Volcano take a Cardigan or light jacket. The Lodge
also has accommodations if you don't want to drive 28 miles back to Hilo after good food and wine..
There are literally dozens of "other" restaurants in and around Hilo......but the above
selection are our favorites and will keep you busy for the average stay of a few days..
On the "West", Kona side there are many fancy Hotels, Four Season, the Hilton, The Mauna Lani,
Princess and Mauna Kea Beach. We are local residents and don't hang out at these expensive
Hotels. If you are coming to our Lodge it is probably because you travel like us, saving money
on your room to spend on Tours, Cars and Food. We really only recommend one restaurant on
the whole Kona side and that is Roy's
at Kings Village by the Hilton and Outrigger Marriot at the 76 mile marker.
Roy's
is a very successful Hawaii based chain with excellent food. Normally reservations are a
must, but we prefer to sit at the bar and chat with Ryan the affable barman who will take
superb care of you. You need no reservation for the bar and we rarely have to wait to get
a seat. If you want a sit down dinner or have more than two, reservations are a must and
say Hi !! to manager Arnie and tell him we sent you. MAKE SURE to order the CHOCOLATE
SOUFFLÉ as soon as you sit down as it takes time to prepare and is a popular dish. One
between two is death by chocolate !! Roy's has restaurants on Oahu and Maui....try them
all !! 8/14/07 update.....Kings village is expanding and other nice restaurants have
opened......walk around and make your own selection.
There are two additional Restaurants in Waimea..
Merriman's
which is highly recommended by many people, we found the food good but the service
left something to be desired, specially in the price range. Parker Ranch Center which
also has Waimea's only Starbucks
has a food court with all the option of local and ethnic food one would expect.
If you spend time on Oahu, there are hundreds of Restaurants but again we go
frequently to Yanagi Sushi on Kapiolani toward downtown near Cook
Street. Recently on Lewers Street in mid Waikiki a whole incredible revamp has taken
place and an extraordinary mix of good restaurants, Nobu's
(expensive but great) Roy's
(always good) and Ruth Chris (a bit pretentious for my taste). In Waikiki we would
recommend the beachside restaurant at the
New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel
for Breakfast or dinner. This is also a more local beach with nice protected swimming and rarely
as crowded as Waikiki. On Kalakaua Ave the main drag through Waikiki keep going straight for
about 800 yards, just past the Aquarium after passing the last Hotels and entering Kapiolani
Park. As a footnote, after a long absence we went to
Michel's at the Colony Surf which was, as always, superb with excellent
service and a view second to none....make sure to get there ahead of sunset.
Copyright © 2004 Arnott's Lodge & Hiking Adventures.
Guests of Arnott's Lodge or Tours and others may freely use pictures or links on this website for non professional purposes.
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