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Royal Kitchen
A simple takeaway shop, Royal Kitchen is famous for its baked manapua (Chinese-style buns) with a selection of fillings: char-siu (barbecued pork), chicken curry, vegetarian, sweet potato, kalua (cooked in a pit) pig and more. Mains per piece around US$1 .
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Saint Germain
The setting is an ordinary storefront through which even the mourning doves saunter with bravado. Starting with delicious croissants, this little French bakery presents a tasty variety of soups, salads and hearty baguette sandwiches, all made fresh to order with a dozen vegetarian and meat fillings to select from.
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Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch & Crab
Its menu offers huge portions of local specialties, such as fried noodles or loco moco (three hamburger patties and more, buried in gravy) for breakfast, along with mainland staples such as bacon and eggs, and fresh crab. The food is great, a high-quality change from overpriced hotel fare. The on-site Big Aloha Brewery pours some of the best microbrews in town.
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Shokudo Japanese
This contemporary Japanese restaurant serves up fine cuisine at reasonable prices. The menu focuses on small plates, allowing you to try unusual tastes, such as mochi cheese gratin and the more traditional noodle and sushi options. Not to be missed is ishiyaki , a hot-stone cooking style that's served on a sizzling plate - the unagi (eel) rice is a winner.
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Sorabol
Sorabol feeds the lunching ladies by day and the bleary-headed clubbers before dawn. Detractors often sniff that its reputation is undeserved but the rest of the city has undying loyalty for this Korean auntie. Kal-bi (Korean barbeque) and steamed butterfish are specialties.
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Spices
This pan-Southeast Asian restaurant has spiced up the university dining scene with Thai curries, Lao soups and Burmese noodles. The restaurant sets a modern but neighborhood-friendly table free of suffocating ethnic kitsch.
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Stanley's BBQ Chicken
Parked in the lot in front of Marukai 99 Superstore, this smoke-belching lunch wagon cranks out island tunes and lots of barbecued chicken worth getting messy for.
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Sushi Sasabune
Sushi lovers, get ready to be dazzled at this omakase (chef's choice) restaurant - whether familiar or unrecognizable, the sushi is never less than exquisite. Reserve ahead.
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Tanioka's Fish Market
Once a small family venture, this Waipahu market, west of Pearl Harbor, has evolved into an enterprise selling over 40 varieties of poke, including a gut-busting 300 pounds of limu poke and 200 pounds of shoyu poke a day.
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To Chau
Many people swear by this Chinatown staple, claiming that it serves Honolulu's best pho - a delicious, steamy Vietnamese soup spiced with heaps of fresh basil.
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Tokkuri Tei
Bring your sense of adventure to this cozy izakaya (Japanese bar serving small plates) with upbeat versions of sushi standards. The decor is Japanese lanterns and bookcases store customers' favorite bottles of drink. Try the house poke (made with fish roe), grilled shiso maki (shiso leaf and pork) or soft-shell crab drizzled with a sweet chili vinaigrette.
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Top of Waikiki
Once a hallmark of progress, the revolving restaurant was first introduced at a world's fair in the 1960s but it has since become a relic of simpler times. Rotating at about one revolution per hour, this tower-top restaurant absorbs a 360-degree view from mountain to sea and back again. There's food involved too (sunset dinner around US$14 ), but the novelty is the slow-motion sit-and-spin.
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Town
This modern bistro introduces the urban concept of partially naked eating - not the patrons, but the food. The ingredients are quality specimens - like steaks from North Shore Cattle Company or organic produce from local farms - and the interference from the kitchen is minimal so that individual flavors can be appreciated. The pasta and gnocchi dishes also receive praise.
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Tsukiji Fish Market
Christened by the famous Tokyo fish market of the same name, this newcomer to Ala Moana's dining scene is an all-in-one Japanese food feast with a full-service fish market surrounded by sushi and yakitori bars, noodle stalls and other street-food options.
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Waiola Bakery & Shave Ice
Developing a shave ice palate is a point of pride for locals and this modest storefront delivers some crucial requirements: superfine shave ice and a large assortment of unique flavors. Go beyond the obvious tropical syrups into lychee or sprinkle a little azuki bean on top.
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Waioli Tea Room
What a gorgeous setting wrapped up in shade trees and long, flowing vines in a green nook of Manoa Valley. The stone house is a vintage specimen from the days when it was the kitchen for the Salvation Army Young Ladies' Orphanage, whose bakery truck was so successful that it threatened to put local shops out of business. The main event here is the afternoon high tea from to , but others filter in for breakfast chats with friends.
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Waliana Coffee House
Opposite Hilton Hawaiian Village, this all-night coffee shop serves heaping portions along with tropical fruity drinks with plenty of aloha. Sit at the bar and swap tales with an O'ahu newbie.
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Well Bento
This inconspicuous hole-in-the-wall is the macrobiotic alternative to the plate lunch, serving 'Zen' veggies and grilled tofu, as well as seared chicken or fish. This is only a take-out place but it is an easy walk to Old Stadium park for a midday picnic. Cash only.
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Willows
Once high-fashion for the choice-starved Depression era, buffet restaurants are now as dated as jello moulds. But Hawaii is so charmingly anachronistic, who could resist joining the multigenerational families at this Honolulu landmark complete with a garden setting. Few restaurants have a more loyal following than this one, where a chef carves prime rib and suckling pig to accompany 'ahi poke (cubed raw fish mixed with soya, sesame oil, salt, chili pepper and other condiments), crab legs and more. Discounts for children apply.
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Yanagi Sushi
Yanagi is one of Honolulu's most popular late-night places for sushi, along with other Japanese dishes prepared to perfection. Ask about the 'late birds' meal specials available after .
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