This Oahu travel guide is by no means a comprehensive list top ten list of all the amazing things to do, see, and eat in Hawaii, only the places I mentioned in the past zillions of posts. One day I would like to combine all of this info into a mini downloadable guide… One day…

If you’re in Oahu, my number one tip is to leave the Waikiki area. The food in the more residential, non-touristy parts of town is some of the best I’ve ever eaten. And the rugged beauty of Oahu really shines the further you get away from the touristy parts of town.

Honolulu / Waikiki Area

EATS

Sansei Seafood Restaurant + Sushi Bar | Fusion Sushi | Moderately Expensive | Fancier fusion sushi with creative rolls aimed towards a decidedly tourist Waikiki crowd. The food and service were good, so no complaints there, but it’s definitely not the most authentic sushi we have ever eaten. Sansei is a really popular spot so get there early or make a reservation.

Leonard’s Bakery | Malasadas (Portuguese doughnut w/out the hole) | Inexpensive | Why the hell didn’t we eat here the last time we were in Oahu? WHY? The malasadas from Leonard’s (my faves were plain, haupia-filled, or custard-filled) were probably some of the best baked goods I have ever eaten. Holy crap they were that good. I know that they sell a wide array of other baked goods, but after biting into a malasada I fear I’ll never be able to order anything else. 

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers | Burgers | Inexpensive | Omg we totally overdid it at this place. The menu is a bit confusing with all the add-ons and I swear we got every single thing on our burgers (and fries…we are pigs) that they had to offer. We ate so much I seriously thought I was going to burst on our walk back to the hotel. If you like classic, American style burgers in a retro atmosphere, you’ll love this place.

Izakaya Torae Torae | Japanese Izakaya | Moderate | I didn’t realize this izakaya even took reservations because had I known I would have made them. We arrived early-ish and saw only two people waiting outside. When we inquired as to the wait, the hostess told us it would only be 15 minutes. Score. OVER ONE AND A HALF HOURS LATER we were finally seated. While it was our fault for not making reservations, it was pretty messed up for the hostess to tell us 15 minutes when she really meant 1/1/2 hours. Certainly she knew that it wasn’t even close to a 15 minute wait. Anyway, we were pretty pissed by the time we sat down (I’m not sure why we didn’t just leave), not to mention starving. But then the food came out and washed all that anger away. The food was great – interesting, bright, bold, different. We loved it. So we’ll forgive Torae Torae, just not the hostess. Moral of the story: get there right when it opens, make a reservation, or go during their 10pm happy hour. 

MW Restaurant | Asian Fusion / Hawaiian | Expensive | When I read that two former chefs of the famed Alan Wong’s (which we loved) opened a restaurant I knew we had to try it as the one “fancy meal” on our trip. For the most part, the food was solid as you would expect of a restaurant with that sort of pedigree, however, Sly’s fish came out completely raw and cold in the center, which would have been fine if he ordered sushi, but…he didn’t. There have only been two times in our entire lives when we sent food back and both times it was because the food was raw to the point of being inedible. This was one of those times. Sly notified our server who immediately apologized and replaced the dish with a new one so it wasn’t a huge deal but you just don’t expect that kind of mistake at a fine dining establishment. My favorite part of the meal was the cookies they sent us home with in a little goody bag. Those were some damn good cookies. 

Via Gelato | Ice Cream | Inexpensive | The appeal of this gelateria is the unique flavors that often sell out daily. They usually have some tropical Hawaiian flavors like haupia, lilikoi and guava, as well as a few odder mixes like cucumber sorbetto and frosted flake (which I ended up ordering). Of course there are a bunch of ‘normal’ flavors as well. On a weekday evening the place was absolutely packed, parking was nearly impossible to find, and a line snaked out the doorway. The gelato was good, and I’d eat it again if I were in the area, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way find parking or wait in line. Maybe next time I’ll run in and grab a pint or two to take back to the hotel. 

Yoshitsune | Japanese | Moderately Expensive | Sly and I really wanted sushi for our last meal in Hawaii, but not fusion Waikiki-tourist sushi (which we like), rather, something a little more traditional. I don’t know how we found Yoshitsune, but I’m glad we did. If you didn’t know it was there, hidden within the Park Shore Hotel, there’s no chance you would randomly stumble across it. This restaurant totally transported us back to Japan, complete with a Japanese speaking staff wearing kimonos. We ordered one of the set menus that came with nigiri sushi and we loved it. Casual vibe, legit Japanese flavors, and not outrageously expensive. 

Town | Italian (?) Farm-to-Table | Moderately Expensive | This is the type of restaurant that Sly and I seem to love frequenting so we were pretty excited when we found a local/organic/farm-to-table type place in Oahu. We arrived maybe around 8:30pm in the middle of the week and there were plenty of seats available. After being asked if we had a reservation (we didn’t), the hostess looked around the room at the empty seats/bar and said that we needed to wait about 10-15 minutes. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when restaurants do this – if we don’t have reservations, but there are seats available, why can’t we be seated at the bar at the very least? After much deliberation we were given the table right in front of the door. I think none of this would have mattered if the food was memorable. I remember the food being okay, just not mind-blowing. Honestly, I barely even remember what we ate except for the complementary bread, which I only remember because the service was so slow. Didn’t live up to the hype for me. Even so, I still support the concept and wouldn’t mind trying their other restaurant, Mud Hen Water, across the street.

Cocina | Elevated Mexican street food | Inexpensive | I think this place actually closed but I’m adding it here so I can rant about the place next door, Bevy, which admittedly has some tasty looking cocktails on their menu. Cocina had outdoor seating in the front of the restaurant that stretched along the entire sidewalk, or so we thought. We were seated for no more than five minutes before we were approached by a waitress who asked “Are you guys eating here? Because this is for customers only.” Rude! Apparently we had mistakenly sat on the other restaurant’s turf and were clearly not allowed! It’s called put up a sign, thanks. Now that Cocina is closed (I think) it should make the outdoor seating situation less confusing.

SEE/DO

Waikiki Beach | I mean, obviously if you’re in Oahu, you should probably see Waikiki, and if you’re in Waikiki you should probably go to one of the eight beaches. It’s pretty much all I did for nearly a week while in Waikiki. My favorite beach had a walled off pool-like area that made for easy/lazy swimming and warm, bath temperature water. Ahhh.

Honolulu Museum of Art | Visiting an art museum wasn’t exactly on the forefront of my mind while I was in Oahu but what I liked about this museum was that it had a good amount of Asian and Hawaiian art on display, something you don’t necessarily get to see in mostly Euro-focused art galleries. The museum is housed in a beautiful building with lovely courtyards interspersed between galleries. In addition to art, there is a courtyard coffee-house, a cafe, and an art movie house on site. The HMoA includes the main gallery as well as Spalding House (formerly the Contemporary Museum) and Doris Duke’s Shangri-la. Next time I plan on ordering a picnic lunch at the Spalding House and spending the afternoon sprawled out on their expansive lawn.

Shangri-La | One of heiress Doris Duke’s many mansions built in the Islamic style. Considering her extreme wealth, and the types of castle-like old money mansions built in those days, this house feels relatively modest. It’s wonderfully situated on a hill at the edge of the cliff with beautiful gardens containing pools and fountains. If you enjoy visiting houses of the rich and famous and/or like Islamic art and architecture then you’ll especially love Shangri-la.

Pearl Harbor | This probably doesn’t need mentioning as it’s the most popular ‘attraction’ in Oahu, but even if you can’t get tickets to see the USS Arizona memorial, it’s still worth a visit. There is a lot to see and it would be really hectic/hot/annoying/trying to cram it all into a day.

North Shore Area

EATS

Giovanni’s Original Shrimp Truck | Seafood | Moderate | One of the first, if not THE first, garlic shrimp truck in the North Shore. I know many other, possibly better, shrimp and food trucks have popped up these days but it’s hard to eat at anything but our old favorite. Bring cash and get there early or run the risk of them selling out of shrimp.

Ted’s Bakery | Bakery & Cafe | Inexpensive | Four words: chocolate haupia cream pie.  I think we ate at least one meal a day at Ted’s while camping on the North Shore. Coffee is just simple drip coffee, nothing fancy, but the baked goods, pies and hot dog (of all things) is really good.

Hukilau Cafe | Breakfast/brunch/cafe | Inexpensive | Standard Hawaiian diner/breakfast/brunch fare in an old school building semi-hidden in a residential neighborhood. We would have totally missed this place except that we saw a sign for it while walking to/from our campsite to Laie. This little cafe has received quite a bit of Food Network press so it can get really busy if you don’t go there early.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ | Hawaiian plate lunches | Inexpensive | Hawaiian fast food that serves mostly plate lunches and saiman. You’ll probably either really love or really hate this place. It’s not the best food in Hawaii for sure, but definitely a sentimental favorite.

Matsumoto Shave Ice | Hawaiian shave ice | Inexpensive | If you’re in Haleiwa or if you have never tried shave ice before then you might as well visit one of the most well-known shave ice shops in Oahu. I personally love mixing the tropical flavors and topping my ice with condensed milk. That being said, I wouldn’t wait an hour in line to eat here. Since they moved to their bigger location around the corner, this little stop that was once housed in a general store has lost a bit of its charm.

Fruit Stand | Inexpensive | As you drive North along the Kamehameha Hwy, keep your eyes peeled for all the fruit stands on the side of the road. Our favorite one is run by a bunch of sweet, hustling, Filipino ladies who not only sell fruit, but also fruit shakes and their famous banana lumpia.

North Shore Tacos | Food Truck/Tacos | Inexpensive | While maybe not the best Mexican food we have ever eaten (though being from Texas it’s kind of hard to find good Mexican/Tex-Mex outside of our home state), the beach front location and casual atmosphere can’t be beat. It’s the perfect food at a perfect location after a full day spent on the water.

Opal Thai | Thai Food | Inexpensive | Our paddle boarding guide highly recommended this little strip mall restaurant in Haleiwa and even though we weren’t exactly in the mood for Thai, we had to check it out. After being seated, the chef/owner asked us how hungry we were, how spicy we liked things, if we had any food allergies, and to name the last three Thai dishes we ate. Based on our answers, he brought us our meal. There was a menu floating around so you can definitely order off of that, but we are totally into omakase menus. We loved everything that we were served and left full (but not too full) and happy. If you’re in the North Shore, I definitely recommend eating here. BYOB, cash only.

SEE/DO/STAY

Malaekahana State Beach + Malaekahana Beach Campground | Nice, quiet, family beach with picnic tables and plenty of shady trees. It’s not a beach for snorkeling or paddle boarding, but we always see a good amount of paddle surfers here. For those interested in staying the night, there are spaces for tents and campervans, as well as cabins for rent right on the beachfront. As much as we enjoyed our tiny hale, we would probably upgrade to a larger cabin with private bath next time.

Rainbow Watersports | Group and private paddle board tours and/or rentals. We have been wanting to paddle board for ages and finally got a chance to do so during this trip. We booked a last-minute private sunset tour (totally worth the extra cost it in my opinion) and paddled down a river alongside so many sea turtles. Total life highlight.

Pupukea Beach Park / Three Tables Beach | There are a bunch of places along the North Shore to snorkel and that’s what I love most about it. There are no entry fees or orientation films to watch – just slip on your fins, mask, and snorkel and jump right in. There are a good amount of snorkelers but it has never felt crowded. The last time we snorkeled (I think it was in Shark’s Cove) we swam right alongside sea turtles. We weren’t so lucky this time around but it still felt as if we were swimming in an aquarium.

For ALL our posts on Hawaii, including our posts on camping around Maui and Oahu by campervan, click here.