eating our way through hawaii: the sweet
To be honest, dessert is just not the way to my heart. Flowers are better than chocolates and mozz sticks are better than cupcakes. It’s just a fact.
Lucky for you, in the name of research, the hubs and I still tested out our fair share of sweets while in Oahu & Kauai.
Ted’s Bakery, North Shore, Oahu
Ah yes, another Oahu staple: Ted’s Chocolate Haupia Pie. If I am forced to eat dessert, I’ll always go pie over cake. I even tried to implement a pie bar at our wedding instead of a traditional wedding cake, but our venue was all “psh, extra $$ please” and we were all “well, cake it is!”
The best way I can describe this? A more solid version of a chocolate and vanilla Jello pudding cup with a yummy flaky crust and a top layer of coconut cream. Usually coconut makes me want to die (IT TASTES LIKE SUNSCREEN), but I didn’t even mind it here. It was a miracle.
Shave Ice, Matsumoto’s, Haleiwa, Oahu
I wanted to like shave ice. I wanted to LOVE shave ice. I wanted it to replace Rita’s Water Ice as my summer dream treat and change my life forever.
Perhaps it was my absurdly high standards, but it did not do that. It did the opposite of that. And the worst part? It was my own fault.
Apparently, blue = pineapple?
Let’s review:
- When picking up our rental car, our extremely helpful attendant said Matsumoto’s is the place to go, and you HAVE to get ice cream and you HAVE to get beans. Beans? Beans. Ice cream, sure. But beans?! When we placed our order, I asked about said beans… and the girl said they were sweet and frozen. I assumed they would be, like, the Hawaiian version of adding nuts or pretzels to a sundae. Just a little added crunch and maybe some salt. HA, yeah, no. They’re like… straight up burrito beans. In a beany flavored sauce. With ice cream and a snow cone on top? Does not compute.
- Wanting to go with a tropical treat of a flavor, I picked pineapple. When it came out, it was BRIGHT BLUE. I’m sorry, mind of matter and all that, but I am physically incapable of tasting something that color and thinking “ah, yes, pineapple!” Instead, it tasted like bubblegum. Bubblegum with black beans.
So, later I heard “no no, ice cream and sweet milk on top.” I think that maybe I would have liked it better this way… or at least enjoyed a different flavor and sans beans but? I don’t know. Sorry, shave ice. I don’t think it’s going to work out between us.
Also, I kept calling it “shaved ice.” Apologies if you saw that on Instagram or Twitter and it made you twitch. The correct name was just the least of my problems, but I now know: shave ice.
Anyway, Rita’s, I’ll be paying you a visit come July. It’s a promise.
Leonard’s Bakery, Waikiki, Oahu
I’d read about Leonard’s a ton before Hawaii was even a glimmer in our eye—it’s one of the biggest things that pops up when you look into food in Oahu—and they’re most famous for their malasadas. If, like me, you have no idea what a malasada is other than a fun new word to say (especially when you elongate all the vowels… maaassaaalaaadaaaaaaa), they are basically Portuguese donuts… and they. are. heaven.
The hubs felt differently—he didn’t think they were anything particularly revolutionary. But he also finds joy in donuts of the Dunkin variety and they’re not really my jam, so to each his own. My own just happens to come in the more refined, fancy version as offered by Leonard’s. It doesn’t mean I’m better, it just means I’m cooler.
We got one original, which is just a big, doughy piece of heaven covered in sugar, and one malasada puff. This is confusing as they’re both puffs, really, but the ones that are specifically called puffs are filled with happiness. There are a few flavor options, and we decided to go with dobash… don’t be scared, it’s just fancy speak for chocolate.
Kountry Kitchen, Kapaa, Kauai
When we first arrived in Hawaii, we saw macadamia nuts all over the place. I knew they’d be at the top of the hubs’s list of things to try, as macadamia nut cookies are his fave. I, on the other hand, could take or leave that nonsense. I’m actually starting to think that maybe my indifference to sweets stems from the fact that the hubs and I like ZERO of the same kind of treats?
ANYWAY, upon landing in Kauai, we took our ravenous selves to Kountry Kitchen in Kapaa (owned by Kris Kardashian) (I KID) (see what I did there?) (travel fatigue may be kicking in) (ok, I’m done). Macadamia nut pancakes called out to the hubs like a beacon from heaven.
Why hello, pancake the size of the moon!
Ok, first of all, at our table was a bottle of coconut syrup. Seriously, I don’t know what happened to me but I also found this delicious!! Maybe my coconut-hating days are over? I don’t know, but these pancakes + that syrup = giant cookie from above. My eggs were a giant disappoint in comparison.
All in all? Thanks for the pleasant food surprises, Hawaii! You’re ok in my book, and someday I’ll be back to do shave ice RIGHT.
xo!
the romantic
31 Comments
McGriddle Pants
Definitely hitting those up! Yes!
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Lazy Travelers
report back!
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Edna
Gahhhh. Just, gahhh. Also, loved that you referenced Rita’s.
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Lazy Travelers
rita’s <3
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Nicole @ Suitcase Stories
Im really hungry now and craving sugar and its not even 7am! lol
I LOVE shaved ice but you gotta get the right flavor. Tropical or orange are my faves! Nothing beats this sugary iced water on a hot summers day!
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Lazy Travelers
uggh i need to go back. i did everything all wrong. poor life decisions.
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Kimmy @ AfterGlobe
Awww, yum!!! I love hearing about what others think of malasadas and shave ice since they are two of my favorite treats.
I’m heading to Kauai in Sept. Adding Kountry Kitchen to the list thanks to your recommendation.
Going to seek out your other Hawaii posts now. 🙂
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Lazy Travelers
ooh awesome!! kauai was amazing–let me know if you have any questions!
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Charli l Wanderlusters
I have to agree with your review of the shaved ice! We flew via Ohau to Australia and stopped off on the island for a week. When cruising around we saw so many people eating shaved ice that we had to try it ourselves! All I can say is WTF!!! It was like eating cold E numbers. I will not be sampling that particular culinary delight again!
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Lazy Travelers
THANK YOU! even though i probably will sample it again because i did it so terribly wrong, but i secretly have a feeling i will still be on the “meh” team when it comes to shave ice.
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D.J. - The World of Deej
OK, so at first I was like “Ted’s bakery? They went to Hawaii and went to a place called ‘Ted’s Bakery?'” But then I was all…like whoa. Now, where’s that box of Entenmann’s I had laying around…
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Gloria Estefan’s Costa d’Este Resort – Picture of the Week
Lazy Travelers
hahaha the hubs is that way about pizza places. if it doesn’t have an italian name, he is verryyyy suspicious of the contents.
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Traveling Ted
I think the name is genius myself.
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Lazy Travelers
deej is just jealous because there’s probably not a “deej’s bakery” anywhere.
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Tawny of Captain and Clark
GAH! Ice cream on the bottom and condensed milk on top of Matsumoto’s in the way to go! Pshh beans! 😉 You’ll just have to go back. I recommend the tropical blend of flavors. It’s da best. Seriously.
I’m absolutely thrilled to see that you made it to some of my favorite places on Oahu. I’m longing for some of that ono food right now!
Tawny of Captain and Clark recently posted..Love and fun at the Prater in Vienna.
Lazy Travelers
oh ok fine, NOW YOU TELL ME.
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The World Wanderer
Hahaha, number 1, love that you think coconut takes like sunscreen. Never thought about it that way, but now I will. 2 obsessed with your beans and bubblebum…pineapple, “shaved” ice. Hilarious. BTW dessert is TOTALLY the key to my heart…if you were curious… xx
The World Wanderer recently posted..The Girl’s Guide for Looking Good Outdoors: Spring.
Lazy Travelers
i have the hardest life. and dessert is the key to, like, everyone’s heart. give me cheese and fried food any day.
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Leah Travels
Blue = coconut in my book. Coconut syrup = heaven in my book. Beans + ice cream = bullshit in my book.
Will you go to Maui and tell me what to eat there?
Leah Travels recently posted..Creative Cocktails at Prague’s Black Angel’s Bar
Lazy Travelers
sure! will throw off my route a little, but i’m all for taste testing on other people’s behalf!
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Kieu ~ GQ trippin
You know chocolate haupia pie is one of the best things we ever ate, right?! Lol.. Great… now I’m craving pie.
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Lazy Travelers
it was tooo diiiieee for. meet you on the north shore?
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Anita Mac
Not so sure about the blue = pineapple, but I am all over that pie. Looks amazing! Sounds like a dream trip over there!
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Lazy Travelers
i hear you. blue pineapple is too confusing.
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Raul (@ilivetotravel)
I love a good dessert but now I am afraid to try any in Hawaii: the beans thing sounds not that good, too much plastic wasted on that blue shave ice serving, and despite growing up in the tropics, I really, really do not like coconut!! The doughnut from Leonard’s, though, sounds good to me!
Raul (@ilivetotravel) recently posted..Top 6 Reasons Why It Is Hard to Break Up with Washington, D.C.
Lazy Travelers
re: plastic serving contraption…. RIGHT?! i don’t know why it needs to be so aggressive. trust me, though, that masalada will make up for ANY reservations you may have about the other dessert options in hawaii 🙂
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Fiona
Hahaha have heard some pretty strange things
passing for dessert, but blue – coloured pineapple plus beans, that’s a lot of crazy to digest at one sitting;)
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Lazy Travelers
i hear you. i’ll always regret falling for the beans.
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Traveling Ted
I am glad to know I will feel at home in Hawaii thanks to Ted’s bakery. With a name like that you know you can expect quality.
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Lazy Travelers
so true. more bakery’s should be called ted’s.
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lola
i think i like the looks of that slushy!