Rounding out the top three Hawaiian foodstuffs I wanted to eat during my vacation, the first two being shave ice and malasadas, is the plate lunch, a combination of an entrée, white rice, and macaroni salad. I tried a handful of plate lunch joints during my one-week trip, my favorite being Monarch Seafoods. More

"You've never heard of crack seed?" asked Kathy. "That's what we call Hawaiian snacks." The first time I ever heard of the words "crack" and "seed" together was when Kathy brought me to Waiola last Monday for shave ice and pointed out that they had a crack seed store. A what-what store? The name first brought to mind something illicit, until Kathy explained that the snacks are based on Chinese dried fruits and nuts. More

In addition to shave ice, one of my "must eat" desserts in Honolulu were malasadas, Portuguese yeast doughnuts. Kathy said the best ones are served during the annual Punahou Carnival in February, but since I couldn't try those, she brought me to the over 50-year-old Leonard's Bakery for malasada-devirginization. More