Here we go again, and this time to the islands of Hawaii. Well, to Oahu and Maui to be exact. In preparation for my upcoming trip I’ve started to search for some of the best hawaii food blogs online right now. You can also check out my 2012 Oahu Eatinerary to see the places most recommended by local bloggers.
As with my Hong Kong food blog list, there are some criteria that I have for food blogs I use for trip research:
- It should be reasonably current (posts within the past couple of months)
- It should be focused on restaurant reviews (some recipe posts are okay)
In the past I’ve limited my search to independant blogs only; however, in researching Hawaii blogs there seems to be some good local talent and knowledge found on some commerical magazine sites so I’ve included a few of those as well.
Oddly, most of the food bloggers that I’ve found have made themselves quite difficult to find by not including an email address, contact form, or Twitter account. If you run one of these sites or know how to contact anyone who does please let me know because I’d love to contact them about participating in my Hawaii Foodie 5.
Oh, and also leave a comment if you have any suggestions for this list, keeping in mind my rules listed above.
On our last visit to Hawaii we actually went in to watch this speed eating contest. Trust me when I tell you it’s not the kind of food I’m looking for and it is absolutely not worth the $100 “prize”!
Here in alphabetical order are the sites I’m now reviewing to identify target eats on the islands:
Independant Blogs
The Cat Dish. A personal blog that happens to cover a lot of Oahu food reviews and news. Catherine Toth ended up being my personal twitter food guide while I was on the islands. She is super friendly and knowledgeable about food on Oahu and I followed one of her trip logs to find a couple of great spots on Maui too! I can’t recommend following this blog strongly enough!
Eat Rice. A clean and simple blogspot site. Basic commentary, nice pictures, and important information on things like parking, reservations, and recommended dishes.
Eatizen Jane. A Tumblr-style blog that focuses a bit more on high end eateries and celebrity chefs. Includes a helpful When People Ask You for Resto Tips page.
Hawaii Grinds. Reporting on Hawaii food news and new eatery openings, Hawaii Grinds also provides a nice Hawaii Food Blogs list, which I shamelessly picked through as part of making this list.
Lunchtime Grinds. Her tagline is “local girl exploring the downtown lunchtime options to help you find new spots” which is spot-on in describing her blog. She also has a great list of Must Eats for an Oahu Vacation.
Ono Kine Grindz. While an elegant site, it isn’t updated frequently and may be slightly stale; however, it makes up for it with beautiful pictures that make it worthwhile to look through the posts.
Self Indulging in Hawaii. A first person food blog, Jennifer tells the stories behind her meals and includes some great food photos as well. Her sidebar lists her top 10 favorites and also allows you to see her reviews sorted by neighborhoods.
What’s Cooking Maui. While this blog has been focused on food events over the past year, there are some older restaurant reviews that might still be worth checking out.
WOW Grinds. This is a major exception to my rule about a blog having to be current. They haven’t posted since 2009, but the premise of the blog is too good not to read. The point of the site is to determine the Winnah of the Winnah (WOW) grinds by setting up blind taste tests of classic Hawaiian dishes based on reader input. While the information is most certainly stale, this is a good place to learn about the kind of food you should try in Hawaii.
Magazine, Newspaper, and Other Site Blogs
Biting Commentary. This food column from Honolulu Magazine covers food news and newest openings. Updated ultra frequently this is a good place to see what’s happening and what’s new.
Hawaii Vacation Blog Local Grindz. The Hawaii Vacation Blog is associated with Aloha Bruce’s Travel site which offers great travel advice and planning services. The Hawaii Food portion of the blog has Local Grindz as well as Dining and Hawaii Food categories that cover restaurants big and small as well as food events and hawaii food education.
Honolulu Pulse Food and Drink. This eats section of a hip Honolulu happenings site has a lot of great information on some of the fancier places to eat around town. I like that they have categories for Quick Bites and Grind Time.
Maui Dish. A Maui focused blog that reports on food and drink news big and small. From Alan Wong’s new restaurant to the shut-down of a mom-and-pop bakery, all currently on the front page.
Taste of Aloha Blog. The main taste of Aloha is a restaurant directory showing places to eat on all of the major Hawaiian islands. Their blog page has nice posts featuring both hole-in-the-wall joints and fancy places.
Urban Mix Plate. A sub-blog off of Nonstop Honolulu, Melissa Chang takes us to good eats, parties, and even an organization store for the goods.
This post was shared with:
Travel Tip Tuesday hosted by Walkingon Travels and Suitcases and Sippy Cups
Travel Photo Thursday hosted by Budget Travelers Sandbox
Thanks for the list! Despite having family and friends in Oahu for our next visit, this is still going to come in handy.
Interesting list, thank you 🙂
Great idea to create a list. Too bad they didn’t have contact details.
What a great idea for pre-trip research – it’s never occurred to me to check out food blogs before a trip! Good luck finding the best places to eat in Hawaii!
Now if only I was going to Hawaii sometime soon. Looks like a great list.
Great resource for anyone going to or thinking of going to Hawaii. I often look at flights from Korea, and it’s often possible to get a flight for about $500.00. One of these days I’ll have to get there again.
Fun! I never thought about compiling a food blog list before traveling. I should! We love eating local foods when we travel…
That is brilliant – I never do food research before heading on a trip but now I am!
Thanks for linking up this week!
What a great idea! I have never thought of researching food blogs before I visit a new place. Just be sure you have try one of the shrimp trucks on Oahu.
you definitely should join “Capture the colour” contest.
http://www.shorttraveltips.com/capture-the-colour/
I think you have enough pictures to enter it.
Mmmm. We are considering a trip to Hawaii and there are some great resources here. Thanks!
I had to stop researching restaurants before trips. After spending so many hours on figuring out what’s best, I started getting a little crazy about insisting that we eat at the places I found. (For example: 3 o’clock in the afternoon and still stuffed from lunch? Too bad! This is the best lobster roll shack in Portsmouth. I don’t care if no one is hungry. We’re eating here before we continue driving!) So, I guess my suggestion is to cross the line over to Crazyville. Having said all that, we really enjoyed Casanova in Makawao, Maui.
I meant NOT cross the line over to Crazyville. Oops.
I know what you mean – you always have to be careful when researching things to see and eat for a trip. Luckily I try to remember that if there are things I can’t get done I’ll just have to come back one day! I usually hope to hit 4-5 of my Eatinery places on a one week trip. I also like to discover new places and tastes that I didn’t know about before!
I laughed when we saw the food eating contest too, but I didn’t actually see it going on. Having just returned from Oahu and the Big Island, I have lots of recommendations if interested. Hands down though, my absolute favorite place to eat on Oahu was the shrimp truck, specifically The Original Romy’s. Mmm, the sweet and spicy and the garlic versions were both AMAZING!