Cheap eats are (thankfully) delicious in this wallet-draining paradise

Dining out in Honolulu doesn’t need to be pricey – you can eat delicious local and Hawaiian cuisines without it taking a huge bite out of your wallet.

Waikiki, the popular beach suburb in Honolulu, on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, is where many visitors end up. The magnet is Waikiki Beach, a beautiful arc of golden sand that’s dotted with lounging sunbathers and where the offshore reef waves appear as a fine line of dazzling white.

The ideal place to consume this dreamy vista is over a meal from one of the airy and high-quality hotel restaurant-bars that abut the sand. But, while this strip is rich in atmosphere, meals here can consume your holiday budget. The good news? You don’t need to venture far in Honolulu to discover cheap, tasty and satisfying eating options that are nothing but local.

Shave ice from Matsumoto.

Don’t let anyone tell you that Hawaii does not have a foodie culture; the country’s story of cuisine is epic. A melting pot of influences, courtesy of the Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino and Korean people, and others, who came here during the plantation era and delivered some of the tastiest (and sometimes unexpected) foods around, now known as “local” cuisine.

On that note, local food and Hawaiian food are not the same. Hawaiian food is what indigenous Hawaiians prepared – and what people still prepare – especially for luau (a celebratory feast): laulau (meat or fish wrapped in ti leaves and steamed), poi (taro paste), kalua (pork) and haupia (coconut dessert).

The blend of local and Hawaiian food gives a wonderful melange of quirky dishes and tastes that makes visiting Hawaii a joy.

A food truck tuna poke bowl.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

To understand what surprises lay ahead, first try a musubi, a rice wad topped with egg or meat or seafood and wrapped with nori (dried seaweed). Waikiki’s Musubi Cafe Iyasume serves a fabulous variety of these filling bites that start at $US2.70 ($4.20). The local favourite is Spam musubi; this canned ham was introduced to Hawaii during World War II when it was served to GIs and became a fixture in local cooking culture.

Local favourite Spam musubi.Credit: iStock

Located on Kalakaua Avenue, a 25-minute stroll north-west of downtown Waikiki, the Food Truck Park serves a local version of world cuisine, from tacos to Vietnamese barbecue (meals start at around $US15/$23).

For the best-value local foods head to the strip of eateries along Kapahulu Avenue, a 10-minute drive east of Waikiki. Rainbow Drive-In is a popular drive-thru (pedestrians are welcome, too), where you can order loco moco, a bed of sticky rice topped with hamburger patties (or other meat), gravy and a fried egg. This popular style of meal, the “plate lunch”, costs around $US12 ($18) and will give you energy to tackle the afternoon surf or the hike to the top of Diamond Head (Le’ahi), the volcano crater east of Waikiki.

Malasadas, Portuguese doughnuts from Leonards.

Beyond Rainbow Drive-In is Ono Seafood, a top spot for quality and reasonably priced poke, the Hawaiian dish of raw fish covered with soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli flakes and topped with ogo, Hawaiian dried seaweed. For dessert, continue north to Leonards, a Portuguese bakery that introduced malasadas, Portuguese doughnuts, to Hawaii in 1952; here a mere $US1.85 ($2.90) will bring you sugary joy.

And for some of the best Asian-inspired local food, spend half a day in Chinatown, six kilometres north-west of Waikiki. For about $US15 ($23) a meal, the food hall at the bustling Maunakea Marketplace transports you to every Asian country; Maguro Brothers is a must for sushi and sashimi. Elsewhere, dotted around the surrounding grid of Chinatown streets, are great dim sum locales and bakeries. Join the throngs at Sing Cheung Yuan, a Chinese bakery, for freshly baked char siu manapua (barbecue pork in bao buns; $US3.65/$5.60) among other things.

Refreshing … shave ice.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Lastly, the famous treat of Hawaii, shave ice (no, not “shaved ice”), is available throughout Waikiki, but for atmosphere and history nothing beats Matsumoto Shave Ice in Hale’iwa, 51 kilometres north-west. Since 1951, millions of locals and visitors have ventured here for a bowl of finely shaved ice that’s topped with a vibrant rainbow of syrups and your choice of ice-cream, adzuki beans mochi and condensed milk. Nothing better represents Hawaii’s colours, blend of cultural influences (past and present), and intriguing flavours of Hawaii than this concoction. All for about $US5. That’s sweet indeed.

The details

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Qantas’ new non-stop Melbourne-Honolulu flights depart three times a week. The airline has daily Sydney departures.

The writer travelled as a guest of Qantas (qantas.com), Hawaii Tourism Oceania (hvcb.org) and the O’ahu Visitors Bureau (gohawaii.com/islands/oahu).

For great deals on tropical holidays, visit myholidaycentre.com.au