Restaurants on BI and things to do near Hilo

[TheHolleys87]

I’m starting to plan for my trip to the BI in October. DH and I haven’t been there since 2016, so I know a great deal has changed.

First, restaurants. We’ll be traveling with (and financed by) my elderly dad, whose preferences run to places like Sam Choy’s and Merriman’s. We’re staying at Kona Coast for most of the week, but we’ll have a car and will most likely drive all over the island so aren’t restricted to Kona for meals. True story: when we checked into the TS in 2016, my DH asked the clerk where she’d go for dinner. She sent us to a little place at the end of Kaleiopapa St. on Keauhou Bay, where I enjoyed grilled mahi while watching a couple of outrigger canoes practice for a race. I thought it was wonderful! But to this day, my dad still brings up, in a disparaging way, that we chose to eat there instead of at Sam Choy’s. Sigh.

Then, things to do in Hilo, especially in the morning or early afternoon. We’ll spend our last night at Volcano House in hopes that Kilauea is erupting, then we fly out of Hilo the next afternoon. So I expect to spend a bit more time in Hilo than we normally do and am looking for suggestions. DH and I are in our 70s, and my dad just turned 100, so we are not hikers and prefer museums or other non-strenuous activities.

All suggestions welcome!

 

[Luanne]

If you want to wow your dad with restaurants take him to one at one of the resorts on the Kohala coast. The Four Seasons Hualailai has some great restaurants: Ulu and Beach Tree. There is also Brown's Beach House at the Fairmont Orchid and the Canoe House at the Mana Lani. Up in Waimea is Merriman's. In Waikoloa Village there is Pueo Osteria (which isn't as fancy as the resort restaurants, but very good). I don't really care for any of the restaurants at the Hilton in the Waikoloa resort area. There is a Roy's in the King Shops in the Waikoloa resort. Went once, never went back. Thought it was expensive for what you got and no real atmosphere.

 

[TheHolleys87]

If you want to wow your dad with restaurants take him to one at one of the resorts on the Kohala coast. The Four Seasons Hualailai has some great restaurants: Ulu and Beach Tree. There is also Brown's Beach House at the Fairmont Orchid and the Canoe House at the Mana Lani. Up in Waimea is Merriman's. In Waikoloa Village there is Pueo Osteria (which isn't as fancy as the resort restaurants, but very good). I don't really care for any of the restaurants at the Hilton in the Waikoloa resort area. There is a Roy's in the King Shops in the Waikoloa resort. Went once, never went back. Thought it was expensive for what you got and no real atmosphere.

Thank you! I was especially happy to see that Merriman's in Waimea is still there - my family has had many good meals there over the years.

 

[ScoopKona]

Thank you! I was especially happy to see that Merriman's in Waimea is still there - my family has had many good meals there over the years.

Sam Choy's was SO bad that Sam demanded they remove his name. It's still horrible, just with a new name.

Merriman's lunch special is still the sleeper fine-dining value on the Big Island. There's a newer place there called FORC which would probably pass muster with your father. As for Waikoloa, I avoid it like the plague. There is absolutely nothing there that I want any part of. I'm glad it exists, because it puts the sort of people who like Waikoloa all in the same place, 20 miles away from anywhere.

I have a list of restaurants which don't sell mainland Sysco food at Hawaii prices. But other than Merriman's and FORC, all of them are low budget. (Which is where you'll find most of the best food -- at the low end of the restaurant spectrum.)

The dirty, worst-kept secret is that 90% of the food here is imported. And they don't make it easy to find the 10% which was grown/raised/caught here. And even the high-end restaurants at the resorts get the bulk of their ingredients off the barge. There's a hyper-local grocery store in Kainaliu, across the street from Rebel Kitchen. And the Keauhou and Captain Cook farmer's markets still feature actual farmers who get their hands dirty, selling produce that doesn't look as good as Costco but tastes 100-times better.

The old maxim still applies: "The better the view, the worse the value."

EDIT -- As for things to do near Hilo, the best tonkatsu ramen outside Japan is in Hilo at Tetsumen. Best $20 bowl of soup you're likely to have unless you visit Japan. Park at Big Island Candies and then walk across the street. The Liliuokalani Gardens is a nice, easy walk. And if Kilauea continues it's pattern, there's an eruption episode every 7-10 days for about 12 hours. We've been to three of these episodes so far. Finally, I'd tell dad to deal with it and get some pork hash from 7-Eleven. Mainland 7-Elevens are sad places with horrible food. Hawaiian 7-Elevens are cheerful places with pork hash (dim sum) and musubi. I get some any time I'm near one.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Thanks, @ScoopKona. I was hoping I’d hear from you. Thanks for confirming that Sam Choy’s is gone from the Keauhou center so near to Kona Coast - I won’t have to eat there!

I have a list of restaurants which don't sell mainland Sysco food at Hawaii prices. But other than Merriman's and FORC, all of them are low budget. (Which is where you'll find most of the best food -- at the low end of the restaurant spectrum.)

Those are exactly the kinds of places DH and I like to eat. My dad will be at our mercy on this trip because DH is driving, so I’d love to see that list! And I’ll plan a meal at Merriman’s and maybe at FORC.

 

[ScoopKona]

Thanks, @ScoopKona. I was hoping I’d hear from you. Thanks for confirming that Sam Choy’s is gone from the Keauhou center so near to Kona Coast - I won’t have to eat there!

Those are exactly the kinds of places DH and I like to eat. My dad will be at our mercy on this trip because DH is driving, so I’d love to see that list! And I’ll plan a meal at Merriman’s and maybe at FORC.

It's still there. But with a different name. I'm actually pretty mellow about food in restaurants. If I get the wrong dish, or if it's slightly overcooked, I don't say anything. No point getting worked up over something so minor. But there have been a handful of times I've sent my food back, paid for my drink, and walked out in disgust. And two of those times were at tourist traps on the Big Island. And one of them was Sam Choy's. Cold, rubbery food, made by someone who didn't care, the chef at the pass line didn't care. And the server didn't care. Zero effs given.

In other news, we have a new health inspector. And he or she isn't taking bribes and is taking the job seriously. A BUNCH of restaurants have failed recently. One of which failed for not having a hand washing station. All of us in unison, "That restaurant is 20 years old. You mean to tell me they got away with not having a hand-washing sink for 20 years and none of you did anything about it?"

So here's the list. None of these places have been shut down recently. (But I wouldn't be surprised. If I owned a restaurant, I'd close for a Sunday and Monday, put the entire staff on an all-day shift and have a clean day. Pull all the equipment away from the walls and clean the entire place.)

• Super J's Cafe - Hawaiian food, costs next to nothing.
• Randy's and/or GJ's huli chicken roadside stand - Costs four times more than Costco rotisserie chicken, but more than four times better
• Minit Stop, multiple locations -- fried chicken, on my top-ten list of "best fried chicken I've ever eaten"
• Teshimas - bento and breakfast, Japanese comfort food
• Matsuyama - bento
• Manago Hotel - only open a few days a week, famous for pork chops
• Shaka Tacos - Now selling Moloka'i venison. Buy as much as you want! You're helping the islands and eating well. Everyone wins.
• Dizzy Pita/Ippy's Barbecue -- Waimea. Same building and same owner. Big portions at low prices. Dizzy's Gyro is the size of a football and $20.​
• Tetsumen Ramen (Hilo) -- Best tonkatsu ramen soup outside of Japan​
• Two-ladies Kitchen (Hilo) -- Sweets. Astoundingly popular. (Across from Ben Franklin Craft Store)​
• Not a restaurant but Kona Chips (new management) still makes the best potato chips on Earth.​
• EDIT -- I forgot the fine dining places: FORC and Merriman's (Waimea), Moon and Turtle (Hilo). I don't recommend the "inside a resort" fine-dining restaurants. Very low value for very high prices. Paying almost entirely for the view. And most of these restaurants make a big circus about ridiculously-far-away imported fish. Chilean sea bass. Cunha de Tristan lobster. I'll never see eye-to-eye with a place that gives lobster 10,000 frequent flier miles before boiling them. They could have put Big Island abalone on the menu instead -- and maybe our abalone farm wouldn't have closed down.
  
  Finally, avoid everything in the Waikoloa Beach area. In fact, just avoid Waikoloa Beach. Nothing there worth spending money on. And also avoid "every single restaurant on Ali'i Drive." Get a drink there, sure. But buy food elsewhere. The best restaurant in that area was an Outback Steakhouse -- and they closed. The waterfront tourist traps are charging fine-dining Las Vegas-Strip prices for Golden Corral quality.​

If you're staying at Kona Coast II, you're just down the road from me. And if you drive up Kamehameha III to the light and turn right (south), it's about eight miles to the village of Kainaliu. There's a hyper-local grocery store there. All the food and produce came from small family farms. I'o Ranch beef. Holualoa pork. Ancient Valley chicken. Kampachi from the farm near the airport. If you're lucky, there's fresh salsa (all local fruit and veg) made by Chaba. And there are usually "everything's local except the flour" breads and sweets. (Kona coffee brownies and similar.) Smoked mac nuts. Also a coffee-wood-smoked hummus. Store name is Farm House. Directly across the street from Rebel Kitchen.

 

[chellej]

Thanks Scoop...heading to Kona Coast Resort on Sunday...Your list is exactly what I was looking for

 

[ScoopKona]

Thanks Scoop...heading to Kona Coast Resort on Sunday...Your list is exactly what I was looking for

If you're going to do any cooking at the resort, bee-line it to Kainaliu for the local produce. They're closed Sunday. But open 10am on Monday. The Pure Kona Market in Captain Cook runs every Sunday from 9-3pm across from Kona Chips.

If you'd like to meet up, we're generally at the grocery store on Wednesday and Saturdays from 10-ish to 3-ish.

EDIT -- And the Keauhou market on Saturday in the Long's parking lot is also worth visiting. The Kailua-Kona "farmer's market" and the one at the Outrigger aren't really farmer's markets. The one in K-K is mostly souvenirs and ticky-tack. The one at Outrigger is mostly arts-and-crafts. (Nothing wrong with that. But don't go there with a grocery bag.)

 

[TheHolleys87]

If you'd like to meet up, we're generally at the grocery store on Wednesday and Saturdays from 10-ish to 3-ish.

Thanks for all the tips! Are you at the grocery to sell your coffee?

PS we won’t be there until last week of October, so of course things can change.

 

[ScoopKona]

Thanks for all the tips! Are you at the grocery to sell your coffee?

PS we won’t be there until last week of October, so of course things can change.

We sell a bunch of things -- herbs, fruit, baked goods, greeting cards, T-shirts and of course coffee. I'm also selling "Mostly Hawaiian Kola." I learned that kola nuts are grown on Maui so I bought a bag and recreated the 1886 recipe (minus the one illegal ingredient). It doesn't taste ANYTHING like modern cola. It's way more floral and complex. This surprised the hell out of me because I'm using all the same stuff in the same proportions. Turns out that replacing caramel with "caramel color and corn syrup" and kola nuts with "phosphoric acid and caffeine powder" makes a big difference.

 

[TheHolleys87]

We sell a bunch of things -- herbs, fruit, baked goods, greeting cards, T-shirts and of course coffee. I'm also selling "Mostly Hawaiian Kola." I learned that kola nuts are grown on Maui so I bought a bag and recreated the 1886 recipe (minus the one illegal ingredient). It doesn't taste ANYTHING like modern cola. It's way more floral and complex. This surprised the hell out of me because I'm using all the same stuff in the same proportions. Turns out that replacing caramel with "caramel color and corn syrup" and kola nuts with "phosphoric acid and caffeine powder" makes a big difference.

Sounds great - I’m putting it on my plans.

 

[ScoopKona]

Sounds great - I’m putting it on my plans.

Kilauea started episode 31 yesterday morning at 11am and by yesterday evening it was already over. While "past performance is no guarantee of future results," the volcano has been very reliable this entire year. 7-10 days of inactivity followed by 12 hours of fountaining lava.

What's it going to do in October? No idea. Could keep with it's year-long track record. Could stop. Could start burying houses in Pahoa again. Before you fly out, start hitting the USGS Kilauea webcam. And you're going want to check it every few hours the entire time you're here. (Wake up in the middle of the night? Check the webcam.) Because if the volcano starts up, you're going to want to drop everything and haul-posterior to VNP (which never closes). Best case scenario is when it starts at midnight. Then you can get there from almost anywhere on the island in 2.5 hours or less. There won't be any traffic and there won't be any crowds. Last time we went was middle of the night.

Worst-case scenario is it starts at 10am and you're on the other side of the island. There have been 10-mile traffic jams on the only road to the park.

 

[magmue]

the fine dining places: FORC and Merriman's (Waimea)

We enjoyed our food at FORC, but it was pretty noisy for fine dining. Hope your dad has good hearing aids.

And if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve CC, Merriman’s is on their new list for $150 dining credit every 6 months.

 

[lynne]

Just came home from lunch at Merrimans which was excellent, as always. Our go-to is splitting a ceasar salad and the catch of the day. Our extra treat was Jay being in the house during lunch (he is usually hosting the front of house at night).

We were shown the outside garden and took home a few Peruvian tree tomatoes. Thinking they would make a great bruschetta to go with our salad for a light supper tonight.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Before you fly out, start hitting the USGS Kilauea webcam.

LOL, I’m on the USGS email list, so I get emails at least every day about Kilauea’s activity. For the first couple of months I was forwarding them to Dear Dad whenever an episode started, so he could watch the webcams too. After the first several, he asked whether we’d like to visit again, and he’d pay all expenses. Thus this trip!

I’m afraid Pele is slowing down now. The most recent episodes have been shorter, and the fountains haven’t been as high and spectacular. DD and I both know Pele’s unpredictable and may not be putting on a show come October, but we’re looking forward to our visit to a place we both love nevertheless.

PS My parents had visited Hawaii multiple times and bought into Kona Coast before they brought us for our first visit, in 1995. We walked on hot lava and watched it trickle along the surface near us where it covered Chain of Craters Rd. We’ve been hooked ever since.