Reviews
Totoya とと家 Alamoana#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 436 Piikoi St SUITE B, Honolulu, HI 96814
The bowls are tasty and fresh. We came at night time around 6pm. There was a line but it was a quick wait. We got our food pretty quickly too. I love the fact that the menu is simple! Could a great daily place for a quick lunch 😆
Sushi Murayama#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 808 Sheridan St #307, Honolulu, HI 96814
Great food, and coolest chef ever.
We went in for a casual lunch, and the chef welcomed us as if we are their friends - he talked to us about what type of fish they have today, give us some recommendations, showed us what type of mixup they can do. He customized the bowels and sashimi for us. It’s like a light weight omakase experience, but just the next door neighbor dude is the chef today 😆
They are proud of the family business style and we love it as well.
This was also just the day before the marathon and we asked for 1 extra rice today. The chef suggested getting some sushi rice so there is some taste of it for the 4am morning carb loading. Super thoughtful!!!
also there one of his friends brought him Starbucks coffee. That’s some kinda of inner joke that people can bring Starbucks coffee. Next time we’ll bring coffee 😊
This is easiest our best food experience in Hawaii among the many visits.
Ala Moana Center Parking Building#
⭐⭐⭐ 859 Kona St, Honolulu, HI 96814
Not the easiest parking structure to access. I drove around and finally found the Nordstrom side entrance 😂😂😂
As a first time visitor to the parking structure, if you happen to enter from the middle of the parking garage (due to Google map) and stay on 1st level street with the main structure, it’ll be a maze to find the uphill to 2nd level. There are many small intersections and little constructions; they all label “no u-turn” so I ended up exiting the building, turned around and found my way back to the Nordstrom side entrance 🤣
Ala Moana Center#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814
When we live by, we visit every few days. You get everything from this mall - food, clothes, shoes, cat cafe, electronic stories.
It’s usually crowded but reasonable!
Whole Foods Market#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 388 Kamakee St Street 100, Honolulu, HI 96814
Great memories at this place. It’s easily accessible, meet all your Whole Foods expectations, and is a great option to grab some food for the movie next door.
Pro Camera Hawaii#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 98-199 Kamehameha Hwy D2, Aiea, HI 96701
The staff are great and we have overall great experience.
When you look up on uber, make sure to type out the exact addresses. We went to a wrong location using uber when I just typed the store name (maybe there was an old location or something).
The rental gears are a little bit old, as expected: it’s not pricy at all. We rented the 200-600mm lens, simple tripod, and Sony AR74. It’s about $350 for less than a week.
We did had to buy SD Card and a protection screen (they didn’t have in store for rental)
Overall amazing experience!
Public Parking Garage#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ena Rd, Honolulu, HI 96815
Very accessible, and solves the parking concern when we rent car for just 1 day. It’s not a large place, and it’s self served.
Public Restrooms#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 151 Ala Moana Park Dr, Honolulu, HI 96815
A bit dirty at times and smelly - but just a typical public restroom to expect on beach side
Helpful thing: they have bench inside of the restroom so it’s useful to put your stuff when you change. There isn’t many stalls in man’s room so have low expectation for privacy 😂
Volcano House#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1 Crater Rim Drive, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI 96718
Great location to watch volcano from distance. On a rainy day, it’s great to hide out a bit here. They have fireplace so that was awesome to dry out our clothes.
Tempura Ichika#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 434 Piikoi St, Honolulu, HI 96814
Great vibes, super friendly hosts. Some of them speak mandarin so they explained more and gave us recommendation of sake pairing. It is on the pricier side, fixed menu; overall 5/5 dinning experience.
Mitsuwa Marketplace#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2330 Kalākaua Ave # 250, Honolulu, HI 96815
The market itself is great! Love it, and we have been coming back.
Sometimes the experience can be a bit depressing when you notice the pictures of thieves hanging everywhere in the store 😂
The owner calls for customer help to “let them know if they see these thieves”.
5+ years ago during Covid when I first visited the store I saw these pictures, and 5 years later they are still hanging there (maybe different people).
I think it’s the owner’s approach of defensive psychology to prevent people from stealing; it’s the same as “smile, you are on camera”.
I understand the intention, but this passive aggressive approach is a little annoying. When you visit a store, as customers you may prefer a stress free environment. But here I’d be mindful that: hey there may be frequent thieves coming we better watch; are the thieves dangerous and could steal from me; I’m also aware that other customers may be watching me as well which is mildly unpleasant. It’s just giving people the unnecessary tension.
Side suggestion: if stealing is a problem here, besides the cameras, would it be better to hire a guard?
Chengdu Taste#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 808 Sheridan St Ste 209, Honolulu, HI 96814
Can’t imagine that you’ll get authentic Chinese food on the island but there you go! We’ve been recurring customers since Covid time (door dashing) and now finally get to visit. Great place to get spicy Chinese food!
One Ocean Diving#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 66-105 Beach Rd, Haleiwa, HI 96712
Watched Netflix and booked with them, and saw 🦈 sharks!!!!
The crew as super friendly. I had motion sickness and they were super helpful, gave me towels, calmed me down, pointed me to right spot to rest, and shared instructions on where to focus my eyes on. (The trip was like 15 mins so I was just sensitive to ocean sickness I guess)
Our guide taught me how to do a quick dive, he said something around: “curl your body like this (hand curling gesture), and watch what I do”. Then we just did “3, 2, 1” and able to do a quick dive!!! Pretty cool dude and I had a great experience.
I won’t remember their names, or specific shark we saw, or even the ocean slickness - but I’ll remember the feeling of doing something really cool in the ocean on that day 🦈
Earls Kitchen + Bar - Waikiki#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 201 - 2280 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
We’ve been there multiple times for breakfast. Make sure to be there 10 mins before morning opening time and you’ll get a seat. Morning / happy hour is great, just a few dollars cheaper.
Chicken and waffle is the BEST!!!
It’s too popular at night so don’t expect to get easy walk-in. Usually there are lines for dinner
Pavilion#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1925 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
Super accessible to Waikīkī, or Ala Moana. It’s a great spot. Also if you are doing Honolulu marathon, the walk to the starting point is smooth.
Downside is just old building, which is common for Waikiki buildings.
Of course also the honolulu rule of having to stay 30 days for rental, so it’s just part of the deal. Reasonable for 30 days longer stay of local life
Coconut Grill#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 136 Banyan Way, Hilo, HI 96720
I got the grizzling steak and it’s actually grizzling! Pretty good experience for the buck, and it’s close to the hotels. Very good spot for a fast breakfast before the national park visit.
Nāhuku Lava Tube#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ #52, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI 96718
Short hike, a little dark, pretty cool experience. Ideally if less people the better. Also when it’s raining, watch out for the water on ground.
Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2700 S King St, Honolulu, HI 96826
Great food, service, but a little on the pricey side for the whole experience.
Ordering: we sit at the booth, and the belt delivers food; we ordered using the iPad and had to learn how to operate it (it’s not harder just lots of hand gestures, moving slides, and understanding what we are getting). If anything on the ordering system, I’d say the ordering system is a little counter intuitive (which button is clickable, how to return to last page, what’s the typical order sequence, …etc), which makes it a harder process than just looking at a printed menu with pictures.
Vibe: the restaurant was pretty empty when we come for late lunch, but there was a couple in the next booth (we can’t see them) and talk extremely loud and excited. We could have been placed in some other seat so both of us could have some privacy.
Overall good experience, but for the same price range, we could have better overall experience and less ‘work’ for the $$
Ward Village#
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1240 Ala Moana Blvd #200, Honolulu, HI 96814
Fairly good experience!
Only downside is they don’t take smart wallet / phone tap but only cards or cash. We didn’t have wallet with us after swimming so can’t buy food inside the theater. We went to Whole Foods next door and was able to get some food for movie (if you do this too, use elevator, walk 1st floor parking lot to get through the theater building, and then fast access to Whole Foods next door - don’t run around the block which is too far)
Funny part is that the guy smiled at us and said there is a ATM machine for cash; I don’t have my card with me otherwise I would just use it to buy food. So there is that interesting dead lock situation 😆
Patagonia#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 535 Ward Ave, Honolulu, HI 96814
Located on the further side of Ala Moana, friendly crew. You can get not only Hawaii summer gears but also winter gears too for any mountain peak trips
SIXT Rent a Car Kona Int. Airport#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 73-5622 Kaiakoili St, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Pretty fast service, friendly crew, timely airport pickup and drop off.
Foodland Farms Ala Moana#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814
Local version of Whole Foods - having lots stuff, but also some imports. Great poke bar!
Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, a Trademark Collection by Wyndham#
⭐⭐⭐ 71 Banyan Dr, Hilo, HI 96720
The hotel is pretty old, and the room was very underwhelming unfortunately. The wall paper was not flat in our room on 10th floor (wall paper was poorly attached, and there are visible dirt on the wall from old furniture moving). This is the hotel vibes of the 90s or maybe early 2000’s.
I understand that it’s been operated for a long time and that’s the expectation to have.
On the bright side, great location for volcano eruption chasing. It’s 40-50mims drive to the national park and much easier for mid-night chase of volcano eruption.
So it’ll be a trade off: location vs hotel experience.
Waikiki Shokudo#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 355 Royal Hawaiian Ave # 201, Honolulu, HI 96815
Small plates, great for a few friends to have some drinks at night and chat!
Watch for stairs tho (we came after marathon 😆）
Kīlauea Visitor Center#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ National Park, 1 Crater Rim Drive, Volcano, HI 96785
One of the coolest and most shocking experiences of life. Some pictures are not taken at the visitor center but at different area of the park. There are great hikes, great scenes, and volcano eruptions.
When it does erupt, parking can be hard so be ready!
Ala Moana Regional Park#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1201 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814
Chill, local beach, less tourists. Great for swimming, running, and watching sunsets.
There maybe some homeless but that’s just normal day at the park
Mauna Kea.#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mauna Kea Access Rd, Hilo, HI 96720
Amazing sunset!
Be ready with 4 wheel drive car. The ranger will check your car on the way up (4-wheel-drive) and on the way down (check brake temperature).
Buffer more time for the sunset because once sun set, people will have to drive down (peak’s sunset rules). You need at least 30 mins for the last climb to reach peak before sunset. Resting at the mid mountain station will take 10-30mins, so overall maybe buffer additional 60mins after you reach the mid station
TRY Coffee#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1200 Ala Moana Blvd 2nd Floor, Honolulu, HI 96814
We had coffee and stay at their co-working space for the day. Great vibes if you want to find a neat place to get some work done
Cat Café MOFF Ala Moana Center#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1450 Ala Moana Blvd #1207, Honolulu, HI 96814
Wondering around just being a tourist to Ala Moana - you run into this place of sleepy cats. Absolutely loving the environment and the little cats!
natuRe waikiki#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 413 Seaside Ave #2F, Honolulu, HI 96815
Amazing chef menu!
We were just watching the culinary war on Netflix and came to the restaurant right after - the chef cooking meat gave us strong culinary war vibes - I think he made his own temp setup of coal / wood smoke setup, and the result was amazing.
Onkee Korean Grill House#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1000 Auahi St Unit 220, Honolulu, HI 96814
Great food and service. There may be some language barriers with some waitresses, but they are super friendly
Taste#
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 423 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301
amazing place！