Hopefully you’ve already read about where we stayed and what we did, and as promised, here’s where to eat on Big Island! I should note that we mostly stayed on the west coast of the island, so this doesn’t include what I’m sure are some delicious spots in Hilo. But, we had some amazing meals while we were there. You’ll notice a theme through all of these posts: Hawaii has amazing seafood, and we tried to eat as much of it as possible!
On our first night, we stayed close to our resort and ate dinner at Kamuela Provision Company at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. This hotel is huge, and the restaurant is a little far from the entrance. There’s a tram you can take around the resort, or just ask for directions to make sure you’re heading the right way. They have seating inside and outside, but we wanted to be as close to the beach as possible.
Rob had the Pork Belly Bao Bun to start, and he was in heaven. I didn’t have a starter, but was perfectly content sipping on a fruity cocktail.
For entrees, I got the Miso Marinated Sea Bass, and it was so good! Rob had the Mahi Mahi Lau Lau, which he also enjoyed. The menu at KPC, and many other restaurants in Hawaii, has an Asian twist, which makes for really interesting flavor combinations.
The next day, we had lunch at A-Bay’s Island Grill at Kings’ Shops, right across the street from our hotel. I had some tasty fish tacos, and Rob decided to try the local specialty, the Loco Moco. It’s white rice, topped with some kind of meat, a fried egg, and gravy. Definitely not for me, but he liked it!
The second night, we ate dinner at Beach Tree at the Four Seasons. It’s a beautiful beachfront bar and restaurant, and there is (fittingly) a tree right on the beach. It was too dark to get many good food photos, except for the one of the Hilo Corn Agnolotti below, which I had as an appetizer. Rob got the Cocoa Gnocchi with wild boar, and then we shared the funghi pizza. We saw the pizza on someone else’s table and couldn’t resist. It was totally worth it!
On the third day, we were down near Kona after our snorkeling trip and didn’t have a specific place in mind for lunch. We ate at Roy’s, which is a chain, and it was fine. (The photo at the top of the post is Rob’s poke trio, which he loved and was definitely the highlight). Then, after lunch we went to get shave ice at the highly-recommended Ululani’s, and it totally lived up to the hype! Shave ice is like a smoother version of a snow cone, and you can combine up to three flavors. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Fortunately, Ululani’s has a bunch of locations on Maui too, so I got to have more shave ice later in the trip.
That night, we had dinner at Napua at the Mauna Lani Beach Club. It was a little bit of a drive from our hotel, in another cluster of resorts. Once you enter the property, the restaurant is a ways back. I chose this place for Rob because they’re well-known for their pork loin. He was tempted by the ribs, but ultimately chose the pork loin and really enjoyed it. I had the Ahupua`a Salad with tons of local produce and fresh salmon. We also shared the Shishito and Ulu appetizer, which was so unique and very tasty.
On our last night, we went to Merriman’s, a small Hawaiian chain with locations on multiple islands. Each restaurant has a unique regional menu, and as a company, it’s very important to them to support local farmers and ranchers. We started with the House-Made Cavatelli, which was incredible with mushrooms and house-made ricotta on top. For my entree, I had the Filet of Beef with Herb Butter, and Rob had the lamb. Both were fantastic, and we really enjoyed the entire dining experience.
Next up, Maui! Pin this post for later with the image below:
