Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Good Food Karma; Or, The Keys To The Honolulu Food Kingdom At The Ala Moana Food Court

4/18/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Books by Patti Liszkay
Available on Amazon
​
"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

​
​GOOD FOOD KARMA; OR, THE KEYS TO THE HONOLULU FOOD KINGDOM AT THE ALA MOANA FOOD COURT

Picture
​...Continued From Yesterday:
   
  My greatest worry over our Hawaii trip - besides the worry that it might not happen at all if the latest COVID variant should go nuclear in the spring – was what we would do about dinner.
      Breakfast, I knew, would be no problem as we could - and  in fact did - meet mornings,
Picture
 ...at the Koko at Kalia, one of the Hale Koa eateries and plenty spacious enough to seat our party of eleven,
Picture
Picture
Picture
...and where we would dig into the awesome breakfast buffet.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
     The Omelet Station
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
     So breakfast was always a breeze to manage and hands down the best meal of the day.
Picture
      Nor, I assumed, would lunch be an issue, as our group would, I figured, break up during the course of the day and if people got hungry they could fend for themselves at one of the on-post eating spots such as Happy's,
Picture
Picture
...or the pool snack bar,
Picture
...or venture off-post to one of the many eateries in Waikiki within walking distance of the Hale Koa.
      But it was dinner time that I feared would be a hassle of major proportions.
      Last time we came as a group to the Hale Koa in 2019 the Koko served not only a great breakfast buffet but a great dinner buffet as well, and at the end of the day we could all once again just pile into the restaurant and go for the buffet.
Picture
    However, alas, the Hale Koa has not yet fully recovered from the COVID downturn, and guest numbers still have not picked up enough to warrant re-opening the Koko dinner buffet.
​(The Warrior's Lounge, a bar where one used to able to grab bar-type food, has likewise not re-opened since COVID).
Picture
      So I wondered what we would do about dinner. I imagined trying every night to find a reasonably-priced restaurant in tourist-crowded Waikiki that could accommodate a party of eleven, 
Picture
...with several vegetarians among us. I envisioned us waiting an hour and a half every night to get seated and then another hour and a half to be served. 
     I frankly thought we'd likely end up eating dinner at Happy's, chowing down every night on combo meals with fries,
Picture
...or personal pizzas,
Picture
...or deli wraps and salads.
Picture
          But  it turned out that on this trip we were gifted with some exceptionally good food Karma.
        Our first night there – that is to say, our second night there but the first night that we would need dinner –  the group expressed a general craving for pizza. We knew from our previous trip of a pizzeria called Round Table Pizza located in the mall of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which was the resort next door to the Hale Koa
.
          So around 6 pm we walked next door,    
Picture
…to the Hilton Hawaiian Village mall,     
Picture
Picture
Picture
…and to the Round Table Pizza, where we asked for a table for eleven. Much to our surprise, we were seated immediately.  
Picture
     However soon after we were seated the place began to fill up and by the time we left there was a line of folks at the door waiting for seats.
    But  for us the service was fast and we shared some yummy pizzas. 
Picture
      After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit,
Picture
Picture
…then some of us walked down to the beach then back to the Hale Koa,
Picture
​…where we stopped at Happy’s for ice cream,
Picture
…before calling it a night.  
Picture
     The following evening, Monday evening, we were kind of at loose ends so I suggested we try to get a dinner reservation at the Bibas Courtyard Grill, which is a restaurant conveniently located off the courtyard of the Hale Koa that we’d never tried, it being a weence on the upscale-ish side. However we needed to eat and I figured it was either this, another round of Round Table Pizza or Happy’s.
        I called the Bibas  at 5 pm and asked if we could possibly have a table for eleven people at 5:45.
         “Yes, you can,” the friendly hostess assured me.
          And so forty-five minutes later we met up at the Bibas.  
Picture
Picture
…where we were given a table with a lovely view. 
Picture
Picture
       We all agreed that the food was not only terrific but really nicely color-coordinated..  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
      I ordered a burger that arrived just the way I like a burger: as rare as is legally permitted. Not only was my burger perfect and my fries exceptional,
Picture
...but the bun was fun.
Picture
      After dinner we lingered in the courtyard and pow-wowed over what to do next, 
Picture
Picture
..before deciding to head over to Happy’s for ice cream.
Picture
Picture
     Afterwards we walked down to the beach, 
Picture
Picture
Picture
...and  joined the other strollers along the Waikiki strand.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
     The strand along the beach was lined with enterprising merchants selling little rubber-band-propelled light-up rockets .  
Picture
     And so the beach was bright with whimsical shooting blue lights. 
Picture
     The next day, Tuesday was our grand daughter’s birthday. She requested dinner at Olive Garden. By good fortune there was an Olive Garden about a mile away at a shopping mall called The Ala Moana Center. I called the restaurant to find out if I could make a reservation but was told the best I could do was to call half an hour before our arrival to check if a table might be available for us. So I called at 5:45 pm and asked if we might have a table at 6:15. The answer was a positive.
      As soon as we arrived we were seated at a nice table in an almost empty back room, 
Picture
…with a lovely harbor view.
Picture
       It was on Wednesday that our food-finding karma, which had been holding steady so far, took a great fortuitous turn thanks to a tip from a friend of our son-in-law.
      This friend, who used to live in Honolulu, shared with our son-in-law that the place where the locals eat is the food court at the Ala Moana Center. Once we discovered it, the Ala Moana food court became our nightly go-to-dinner place.
          The mile from the Hale Koa to the Ala Moana Center made for a nice before-dinner walk each evening.
Picture
...through town,
Picture
Picture
Picture
...and across a scenic canal,
Picture
...on the other side of which was the Ala Moana Center,     
Picture
...inside of which we'd head for the Makai Market food court,
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
...where everyone, whether vegetarian, carnivore, or health-food aficionado, could find something they'd like.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​Thus were we given the keys to the Honolulu food kingdom.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Tropical Depression" 
    by Patti Liszkay
    ​Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1685131832

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly