Where to eat, drink, shop and stay on Hawaii’s Oahu island
The US state’s most popular and populous island is a sophisticated destination that serves up far more than tiki cocktails.
As the buzziest island in Hawaii, and home to the state capital of Honolulu, Oahu is “the gathering place”. In the past it has also been regarded as the gateway to other Hawaiian attractions, such as Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. But Oahu is a mere stepping stone no longer. The ever-evolving island offers endless reasons to stay put: refined lodgings, standout dining, stylish shopping and the renewal of once-gritty districts. It’s also the perfect place to dive into Hawaii’s unique style and ethnic culture, which stands apart from the US mainland. Circle the island by helicopter, hike up the volcanic landmark of Diamond Head or surf the legendary breaks on the North Shore. Our guide covers the best places to stay, play and soak up the vibe.
Cocktail culture
Tropical temptations and inspired innovations
In Kakaako, the hip ’hood wedged between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, Bar Maze is a swish new arrival decked out in blonde wood and brass accents. An adventurous tasting menu pairs cocktails with exquisitely presented food – a recent take matched scallops in a lush citrus dashi beurre blanc with aquavit shaken with green-tea yoghurt, grapefruit and cucumber. For à la carte drinks and bites, reserve a seat on the mezzanine.
Bar Maze owners Justin Park and Tom Park also helm the excellent Bar Leather Apron. Tucked away in a downtown office building, it’s a far moodier affair than its sibling, with shadowy lighting, dark wood and heady drinks to match. There’s an extensive whisky list and signature concoctions, such as a matcha-infused Old Fashioned. And, yes, the swarthy mixologists are clad in leather aprons.
Heyday is a swinging saloon – literally. Swings dangle from a thatched roof to circle a poolside bamboo bar at the retro-leaning White Sands Hotel. The refreshing drinks match the playful tropical vibe, as with a Chaise Dreams, a bracing blend of fresh pineapple, gin and Campari. Chef Robynne Maii (chef-owner of Féte; see next page) has been enlisted for playful bar snacks such as foie gras gyoza.
Three years in the making, Podmore recently opened in a historic downtown building. Inside, the green-velvet booths, gold light fixtures and parquet floors evoke a chic London hotel lobby, while the imaginative cocktails give you a peek into chef-owner Anthony Rush’s (also of Senia; see next page) whimsical mind. You’ve never had a gin and tonic like the Podmore version – a frozen green orb served via a steampunk glass – that alone might be worth the visit.
Island Vintage Wine Bar offers tasting pours of 40 different wines in a casual, welcoming and open-air setting in Waikiki. Wines are also served by the glass and bottle, as well as locally brewed beers and ciders. The wide-ranging menu is packed with comfort food, with favourites like poke bowls, steamed clams in white wine and garlic, and fried ulu (breadfruit).
Eating out
A tantalising melting pot
At La Vie the beauty in the dining room is matched on the plate. The open-air setting on the eighth floor of the Ritz-Carlton is a sleek sanctuary, while the modern French cuisine thrills in an ever-changing menu. Choose your own three- or four-course prix fixe (you could even go all desserts if you were so inclined). Recent standouts include truffled squab, dry-aged yellowtail with heart of palm, and lilikoi (passionfruit) tart. The mushroom babka may ruin you for all other bread.
Pass through a black door hidden at the back of La Vie to enter the intimate theatre of Sushi Sho. Keiji Nakazawa, one of Japan’s most acclaimed sushi chefs, left Tokyo to open this 16-seat sushi bar in Waikiki, where the $US300 omakase-only menu features traditional sushi interspersed with playful creations highlighting local seafood. Past omakase have included Kona abalone, opah (moonfish) with finger lime, and toro with takuan radish, macadamia nuts and Maui onion.
At MW, husband-and-wife team Wade and Michelle Karr Ueoka convert Hawaii’s classic comfort dishes into fine-dining creations: short ribs are braised with truffle, oxtail soup becomes an oxtail risotto with ginger spring onion and peanut relish, and shaved ice is transformed into a parfait of seasonal fruit, such as mango or lilikoi, frozen, shaved and layered over coconut tapioca, sorbet, and panna cotta. Don’t be put off by its location – at a luxury car dealership – this is typical of Hawaii. The best food can often be found in unexpected places.
Food lovers would appreciate a visit to Chinatown, 20 minutes from Waikiki, for its open-air markets, charismatic buildings, and melting pot of restaurants. One of the best is Féte. Here, Honolulu-born chef Robynne Maii rethinks American cooking using local ingredients, with the likes of corn and fish chowder, coconut lime prawns, and seared ahi with sea asparagus and tomatillo salad. The brick walls, reclaimed wood and artisanal cocktails, such as the vodka, citrus and chilli-laced Spicy Kitty, convey a Brooklyn vibe in a building dating back to 1886.
With pale wood tables, splashes of blue and polished-concrete floors, Miro Kaimuki is one of Honolulu’s most fetching dining rooms. The venue opened last year with a mission to serve French-inspired fare with Japanese flavours and technique. Chef Chris Kajioka, a Honolulu native, has worked at estimable restaurants like
Per Se in New York, and his culinary expertise shows in considered plates such as crudo of scallop with watermelon, gnocchi Parisienne draped with uni, and beef cheek atop green farro.
It’s worth reserving a spot months ahead for the chef’s counter at Senia. The tasting menu is the ideal way to experience Anthony Rush’s inspired cooking, merging top-notch ingredients, exacting technique and knockout presentation. Rush’s beef Wellington, for instance, is wrapped in a decorative pastry that recalls stained glass – he is a Brit, after all. Pastry chef Mimi Mendoza is responsible for some of Honolulu’s most creative and moreish confections, such as miso burnt honey bavarois with preserved cherries, toasted rice and honeycomb.
“Naan ya business” is one of the inventive starters at Kapa Hale. It involves grilled garlic naan heaped with watercress and tikka masala, and hints at chef Keaka Lee’s multiculti ethos, which brings European, American and Asian influences to regional Hawaiian cuisine. Kapa Hale offers lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus, with plenty of options for vegetarians, in an airy room enlivened with a colourful mural. Other notable dishes include tagliatelle with prawn and pork Bolognese, and a unique take on beef tartare with macadamia nut and pickled mushrooms.
Discover quirky and playful modern Vietnamese dishes at The Pig and the Lady. Don’t miss the pho French dip at lunch: tender roast brisket dressed with a Thai basil chimichurri and bean sprouts stuffed in a baguette and served with a side of pho broth. Dinner menus change frequently and include family-style dishes such as a bone-in short rib glazed with fish sauce and black pepper caramel served with lettuce wraps.
Luxe stays
Beachside havens and serene retreats
The 122-room Kaimana Beach Hotel, on the quiet end of Waikiki and near the base of Diamond Head, recently received an orchidaceous makeover that is sure to raise a smile. Witness its vibrant lobby, animated with sunny pastels, retro art and midcentury-modern furniture, and an open-air bar with the intimacy of a friend’s beach house. Choose an oceanfront room, where views of Kaimana Beach may inspire you to leap on a paddleboard or surfboard (rentals of which are included in the resort fee), or one of five top-floor suites with expansive balconies. Its beachside restaurant, set under a canopy of hau trees, has long been a draw and a newly revamped menu – including lobster Benedict for brunch and hamachi crudo at dinner – make reservations even more coveted.
With origins dating back to 1907, when lodgings included five humble bungalows on the beach, the Halekulani, whose name means “house befitting heaven”, is one of Waikiki’s most storied stays. The bungalows are long gone, but in their place are 453 freshly spruced rooms and suites with breezy furnishings and understated tropical accents, such as rattan furnishings and wooden panels to remind you of where you are – as if the private balconies framing Diamond Head would ever let you forget. Sunset Mai Tais at the House Without a Key restaurant, where Hawaiian music is played live nightly beside a 134-year-old kiawe tree, are a must. The Halekulani’s central location is ultra-convenient.
The 284-room Halepuna Waikiki arrived in 2019, after an exacting transformation of a former hotel by New York’s Champalimaud Design studio. The airy lobby sets the mood with eye-catching lights, teak trimmings and walls of windows, while the eighth floor is a social hub with an infinity pool, open-air garden and sundeck where guests attend meditation classes. Cosy and compact rooms entice in soothing shades of blue and cream. A sister hotel to the Halekulani, which is across the street, Halepuna feels more like a boutique stay than a sprawling resort, and the service is just as warm and unobtrusive.
If you prefer to avoid the whirr of Waikiki, hop to Turtle Bay Resort. About an hour’s drive from Honolulu, the prestigious hotel is set on a peninsula near the northernmost tip of Oahu. Its idyllic setting has been embraced as a location by countless Hollywood productions, including Lost; you could also lose yourself in almost 20 kilometres of nature trails. A new, light-filled lobby blends almost seamlessly into the sky, sea and sand that surrounds it. The resort’s splendid site means every room has water views, but the oceanfront bungalows are especially tempting. They feature lofty ceilings, spiffy furnishings and sliding glass doors that frame the aquatic vistas.
Set on the rugged western coast of the island, Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina also offers seclusion and sophistication. Expect 370 handsomely appointed rooms (including 55 suites), unfussy luxury and stellar service. Deluxe rooms have outdoor hot tubs, while the penthouse suite has a stunning private terrace for alfresco entertaining. Guests can choose from a multiplicity of activities, including sunset hikes, horse riding and snorkelling excursions. Local experts host ukulele, hula dancing, and Mai Tai-making classes. The resort overlooks a nature reserve, dramatic mountains and a serene man-made lagoon.
Where to play
Heli tours, canoe charters and Islamic art
Paradise Helicopters, Hawaii’s largest locally owned helicopter company, recently began offering doors-off tours of West Oahu, providing exhilarating bird’s-eye views of the lush landscape stretching from the Waianae Coast to the North Shore. There’s also a Circle Island tour, soaring from Pearl Harbor to a waterfall accessible only by air. Opt to carbon offset your flight with a contribution to replanting native and endemic trees in Hawaii.
Kamoauli offers charters on a traditional wooden, double-hulled sailing canoe, similar to those used by the first Polynesians who journeyed to Hawaii. Take a sunset viewing while learning about indigenous Hawaiian culture, including poi pounding, hula, and way-finding techniques that were once almost lost but revived for a recent worldwide voyage on a canoe.
Spot spinner dolphins leaping in the air, snorkel with sea turtles and glimpse whales onboard a boat with Wild Side Specialty Tours, which specialises in hosting small groups. If terrestrial pursuits are more appealing, hiking to the summit of Diamond Head delivers majestic 360-degree views for roughly two hours of walking.
Set against the Pacific on the North Shore, the Arnold Palmer Course at Turtle Bay weaves through sultry jungle, an ironwood forest and a 40-hectare wetlands bird sanctuary, with challenges for experienced golfers. Crack surfers head to Haleiwa Beach Park on the North Shore for fast-breaking waves. Beginner-friendly breaks can be found at Puaena Point Beach Park and White Plains Beach.
Design fans will enjoy the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design. The museum is the erstwhile home of tobacco heiress and consummate collector Doris Duke, who furnished it with tiles from Iran and Syria, textiles from Egypt and India and art from Morocco and Spain.
Around fifteen minutes away, Bishop Museum has Hawaiian artifacts, Polynesian crafts and jewellery that once belonged to the royal family on show.
Shopping stops
From sunny fashion to aquatic art
Ala Moana Center, the vaunted outdoor mall, is still a magnet for its mix of luxury brands and local designers in a setting ventilated with natural light and cool breezes. Shop at Chanel and Hermès alongside local names like Allison Izu, known for elevated basics, and Manaola, for modern Hawaiian fashion inspired by hula traditions and native Hawaiian arts.
The newly expanded Roberta Oaks store in Chinatown is a repository of tropical prints, jungle blooms, and flattering silhouettes for both men and women. You’ll find tastefully reinvented “aloha shirts” (the vibrant printed Hawaiian style) with slim-cuts and cuffed sleeves, as well as maxi dresses, caftans, scents and homewares with a vintage air.
Shop for old-world curiosities, quirky collectables and artisanal leather goods at Hound and Quail in downtown Honolulu. Owners Mark Pei and Travis Flazer leave no stone unturned in their quest for offbeat wares sourced from Hawaii, the mainland and around the globe, arranging their collections to resemble a hunting lodge or eccentric British study.
A former Chinese medicine shop, Arts & Letters Nuuanu now houses rotating artists’ exhibitions as well as books on native Hawaiian culture and prints and crafts from local creatives. A recent show featured artist Susan Maddux, who fashions large-scale acrylic paintings on canvas and folds them into dazzling wall sculptures.
With two locations – Haleiwa and Waikiki – Polu Gallery celebrates artworks from local and international artists inspired by surf and sea. Pieces range from Wayne Levin’s haunting underwater black-and-white photography to Sarah Caudle’s glossy turquoise resin art. It’s a shore thing for picking up an original work or limited-edition print.
Salt at Our Kakaako is an entire city block teeming with retail stores, restaurants and large-scale murals. The one-time warehouse district has been converted into an open-air destination for contemporary fashion, art and design. Five minutes away by car is the South Shore Market, a mini-mall that houses stores, art exhibitions and eclectic wares such as handcrafted jewellery made from found items.