On your next Hawaiian vacation, forget the tourist restaurants that serve uninspiring meals at expensive prices. Instead, save some money while experiencing the culture of the islands and eat where the locals do. Thanks to Hawaii's ethnically diverse population, there's plenty of food to try--some of which you may not find at home.
Try a plate lunch. Pay $10 or less, and try a meal that can be found only in the Hawaiian islands. Popular among locals, it's a plate stacked with a couple of Asian-themed meat entrees of your choice, served with rice and macaroni salad. To find good plate lunch shops, get suggestions from the locals for their favorites, because the islands have many plate lunch shops to enjoy.
Visit a supermarket or grocery store. Create a picnic meal with an assortment of deli items. Visit Honolulu's supermarket chains such as Times, Foodland and Don Quijote. Try the sushi, musubi (filled rice balls), lau lau (meat steamed in taro leaves), poke (raw fish cubes in sea salt, chili and seaweed), poi (mashed taro root) and more. Ask a sales clerk for suggestions if you are unsure of what to get.
Explore the snack aisle and pack up snacks for later. They're cheaper at grocery stores than in most hotel gift shops. Try the unusual stuff such as mochi crunch (rice crackers), crack seed (salted and dried Chinese stone fruits) and dried chewy squid.
Buy from street markets. Visit the Chinatown in downtown Honolulu for locally grown fruits and vegetables, freshly caught fish and plenty of food stalls to browse. Head to the Maunakea market food court to enjoy an assortment of Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Korean and Japanese dishes that are prepared freshly on the premises. Enjoy the many small restaurants, bakeries and dim sum shops on Smith, North Beretania and Maunakea streets.
Try ethnic eateries. Hawaii has numerous ethnic eateries, serving Japanese, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese and Puerto Rican foods. Visit websites such as yelp.com and citysearch.com and browse the restaurant category listings for Honolulu or any of the other towns and islands you plan to visit. Read the reviews written by restaurant customers, and jot down the addresses and phone numbers of the locales that sound the most promising. Include them in your travel itinerary.
Many hole-in-the-wall eateries have unassuming or run-down exteriors but serve excellent food. Don't let their appearance deter you from trying those places. Most of the small ethnic eateries cater to local families and serve inexpensive meals.
