Here are the foods we experienced on Oahu:
Leornard’s malasada 3x. We were told this is a must have. I agree. It’s worth it. I was so excited to stumble upon their mobile truck, only to find that they only offer 3 flavors – custard, chocolate, and coconut. The special flavors are only in their full bakery. I settled for one coconut malasada, but the lady must’ve sensed my disappointment. When we opened our bag, we found 2 malasadas! That’s Hawaiian hospitality, it made my day. I have to think of a way to pay it forward.
The next day we made our way to the actual Leonard’s bakery after dinner. The flavor of the month was pineapple. I was told the ube was best, but they didn’t have it. The line was not too long. We ordered the flavor of the month one pineapple, no extra this time. The flavor was ok, the coconut was better.
The day before we left, we passed the mobile truck again. Couldn’t resist our last fix of malasada – chocolate, my husband’s choice. Since I’ve cut sugar and wheat from my diet, it’s got to be really worth it for me to eat something like that. It was worth the half that I ate of each malasada. Half is my limit. My husband is along for the ride to eat the other half of whatever I want to try. He’s not complaining.
I want to see for myself if Leonard’s malasadas are really superior to others. We saw a random place with a sign “hot and fresh malasadas”. I had to try. That was not worth it. No filling, and not as light. I took 2 bites and my husband ate the rest. Now I can say Leonard’s is the best.
Side Street cafe. I asked Lorin, my friend from Hawaii to give me a list of restaurants that she recommends as a local. Side Street was on her list. And the guy I sat next to on the plane also recommended it, now I’m really excited to go. He’s travels 3-4 times a year to Hawaii for business so he must know. And it happens that Side Street Cafe is walking distance from our Airbnb, so we hit that on our first day. The portions are huge so it’s better to go with a group to get a variety of dishes, family style. We ordered the 2 most popular dishes – pork chops and boneless kalbi. It was good, but I wouldn’t say it was fantastic.
To be continued…