FROM MAI TAIS TO MAHI MAHI: Eating Out on the Big Island of Hawaii

Mai Tai at Jackie Rey's, Kona, Hawaii

When you get a slice of pineapple in your drink, you know you are in Hawaii. For a long time Art and I have been making regular trips to the Big Island of Hawaii, where he attends a meeting every three years. (While he is at the meeting, I enjoy being a tourist.) In our search for good places to eat we have tried out various restaurants, returning to our favorites. 

Hilo

Sushi at the Hilo Bay Cafe

Our favorite restaurant on the whole island is the Hilo Bay Café, located in a former boat house on the bay in Hilo. We had dinner there on the first night of our recent trip to Hawaii. (We made a reservation a week ahead of time.)The food is fresh and the menu original, featuring, not surprisingly, seafood.

Our hotel that first night was The Inn at Kulaniapia Falls, about a fifteen minute drive outside of Hilo past fruit and nut orchards and fields of purple sweet potatoes. Breakfast, which was included, was served on a deck overlooking their own private waterfall. We chose our food from the menu the night before (eggs, bacon, toast, fresh pineapple.)

Breakfast patio with view of waterfall below.

The next day, after a morning at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, we headed for the food stand where we have eaten on previous trips called What's Shakin just a mile up the road, but when we discovered that it is closed on Sundays, we went back to Hilo and got tasty pork barbecue sandwiches from a shop across from the Hilo Farmer’s Market.  

Kona

Our hotel in Kona, the Royal Kona Resort

The rest of our trip was spent in Kona, where most of the restaurants, especially on Alii Drive, the main street along the waterfront, cater to tourists. Our first night, after enjoying complimentary mai tais at our hotel, the Royal Kona Resort, we ate at a nearby restaurant, Thai Rin, sitting on the outside patio watching the sun set. We ordered fresh spring rolls and pad thai and had more than enough food. 

Crab cakes at Jackie Rey's

Two of our dinners in Kona were at Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Kona, a more upscale but casual restaurant located away from the tourist strip. (There is also a Jackie Rey's restaurant in Hilo.)

Linguini with clams, Jackie Rey's

Another night on this trip we met friends at Sushi Cocoro, a small hole in the wall café, just off Alii drive, chosen because it was near the conference hotel. The food wasn't that great, but at least the restaurant wasn't noisy, so it was fine for talking.

Ba-le Kona Restaurant was our discovery of this trip. Located in a strip mall just a few blocks from the beach, the atmosphere is like a diner. Both times we ate there all the other customers appeared to be locals. The main dishes they offer are Pho (large bowls of noodle soup) and delicious pork sandwiches Vietnamese style, made on freshly baked French rolls. 

Across the street from Ba-le in another strip mall are the Island Corner Café (75-5595 Palani Rd STE A-10, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740) and Land L Drive Inn--L and L Hawaiian Barbecue, where we went for breakfast. Both are open early, an advantage when coming from the U.S. and waking up early because of the three hour time difference--or more if you are not from the West Coast. 

Waiting for the sun to set at Lava Lava Beach Club.

On several of our previous trips we ate dinner at Lava Lava Beach Club, the perfect place to watch the sunset and listen to Hawaiian music while enjoying our drinks and meal. Some of the tables are literally on the sand. It is in Waikoloa Village, about a half hour drive from Kona.

You can't go to Hawaii without having poke (pronounced PO-kay), raw fish cut into small cubes and flavored with various spices, often served with rice and vegetables as a poke bowl. In Kona we have gotten poke at Umeke's, both to take out from their fish market, and to eat in.

For snacks to eat in our room, we went to one of the convenient ABC stores along Alii Drive. And at the Farmer's Market in Kona (Wed-Sun), we bought a supply of macadamia nuts to bring home as gifts and souvenirs. 

Hawaiian food is basically American food, with a tropical twist. There is no shortage of places to eat or buy food in Hawaii. You may have your favorites. These are some of ours.

 

From PIZZA to PASTA and APPETIZERS to PASTRIES: Eating in Sicily

 52 Places to Go: Week 48

All the basic ingredients of a Sicilian meal can be found at the open-air market--tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onions, and more--all fresh from the grower

One of the joys of traveling in Italy is the seemingly endless choice of delicious foods, and our recent trip to Sicily was no exception. From breakfasts of fresh bread and coffee and more, to lunches at street cafes or buying sandwich ingredients at a local shop, to dinners at trattorias and fancier restaurants, the hardest decision was limiting ourselves to just a few items on the menu. (Servings tend to be very generous and I often had trouble finishing my meal.)

Olives, artichokes and other appetizers at a market in Catania

We enjoyed browsing at the open-air markets in Palermo and Catania, where one could buy everything from olives and octopus to cherries (which were in season) and three-foot long zucchini squashes.

At this stand in the Ballaro market in Palermo one could buy whole cooked octopus (polpo) or plates of marinated chunks of octopus ready-to-eat.

Cookies and sweets made with almonds and almond paste are a typical dessert.

  These are just a few samples of typical Sicilian foods. In both Palermo and Catania, we relied on our BandB hosts to recommend restaurants, and were not disappointed. Note: While many Italians do not eat dinner until 8 or 9 o’clock, we were often hungry earlier and tended to be the first customers when restaurants opened for dinner at 7:30. Our trip in late May was before the busiest tourist season so we almost never had trouble getting a table, even without a reservation. Here's a list of some of the restaurants where we ate:

 Ferro di Cavallo restaurant in Palermo. (Ferro di Cavallo means "horseshoe".)

Palermo restaurants:
Quattro Mani: Quiet and upscale. A good choice to celebrate our first night in Palermo.
Ciccio Passami l'Olio: Pizza restaurant. Extremely popular on weekend nights and impossible to get a reservation for a table at the last minute. We ordered takeout and ate it as a picnic in a local park.
La Cambusa: A popular tourist restaurant with typical Sicilian food and an English menu.
Ferro di Cavallo: Classic Sicilian food. We had soup for lunch there, sitting on the patio.

Busiati pasta, a curlicue pasta made from hard durum wheat, is the typical pasta in Erice and Trapani.

Erice restaurants:
Monte San Giuliano: Typical Sicilian food, including interesting appetizers (a favorite of mine was the octopus). We ate there twice.
Venus: This restaurant is advertised all over town and was the site of the conference dinner at which we were served the typical courses of an Italian dinner: appetizers, Primi Piatti (pasta), Secundi Piatti (fish or meat), and dessert. All were excellent.

Pear and prosciutto salad and caponata appetizer at La Deliciosa in Catania

Catania restaurants:
La Deliciosa: a small trattoria that was conveniently close to our BandB on Via Crociferi. The food was delicious–just like the name–and we ate there three of our five nights in Catania.
Trattoria Casalinga: this small restaurant, about a five minute walk from our BandB, featured an appetizer bar with more than a dozen items, which could easily become a whole meal. We ate there twice–once ordering from the menu and one doing just appetizers.

This article was first published 7/22/19

All text and photographs copyright Caroline Arnold

From PIZZA to PASTA and APPETIZERS to PASTRIES: Eating in Sicily

All the basic ingredients of a Sicilian meal can be found at the open-air market--tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onions, and more--all fresh from the grower

One of the joys of traveling in Italy is the seemingly endless choice of delicious foods, and our recent trip to Sicily was no exception. From breakfasts of fresh bread and coffee and more, to lunches at street cafes or buying sandwich ingredients at a local shop, to dinners at trattorias and fancier restaurants, the hardest decision was limiting ourselves to just a few items on the menu. (Servings tend to be very generous and I often had trouble finishing my meal.)

Olives, artichokes and other appetizers at a market in Catania

We enjoyed browsing at the open-air markets in Palermo and Catania, where one could buy everything from olives and octopus to cherries (which were in season) and three-foot long zucchini squashes.

At this stand in the Ballaro market in Palermo one could buy whole cooked octopus (polpo) or plates of marinated chunks of octopus ready-to-eat.

Cookies and sweets made with almonds and almond paste are a typical dessert.

Here are just a few samples of typical Sicilian foods and a list of the restaurants where we ate. 
In both Palermo and Catania, we relied on our BandB hosts to recommend restaurants, and were not disappointed. Note: While many Italians do not eat dinner until 8 or 9 o’clock, we were often hungry earlier and tended to be the first customers when restaurants opened for dinner at 7:30. Our trip in late May was before the busiest tourist season so we almost never had trouble getting a table, even without a reservation. Here's a list of where we ate:

 Ferro di Cavallo restaurant in Palermo. (Ferro di Cavallo means "horseshoe".)

Palermo restaurants:
Quattro Mani: Quiet and upscale. A good choice to celebrate our first night in Palermo.
Ciccio Passami l'Olio: Pizza restaurant. Extremely popular on weekend nights and impossible to get a reservation for a table at the last minute. We ordered takeout and ate it as a picnic in a local park.
La Cambusa: A popular tourist restaurant with typical Sicilian food and an English menu.
Ferro di Cavallo: Classic Sicilian food. We had soup for lunch there, sitting on the patio.

Busiati pasta, a curlicue pasta made from hard durum wheat, is the typical pasta in Erice and Trapani.

Erice restaurants:
Monte San Giuliano: Typical Sicilian food, including interesting appetizers (a favorite of mine was the octopus). We ate there twice.
Venus: This restaurant is advertised all over town and was the site of the conference dinner at which we were served the typical courses of an Italian dinner: appetizers, Primi Piatti (pasta), Secundi Piatti (fish or meat), and dessert. All were excellent.

Pear and prosciutto salad and caponata appetizer at La Deliciosa in Catania

Catania restaurants:
La Deliciosa: a small trattoria that was conveniently close to our BandB on Via Crociferi. The food was delicious–just like the name–and we ate there three of our five nights in Catania.
Trattoria Casalinga: this small restaurant, about a five minute walk from our BandB, featured an appetizer bar with more than a dozen items, which could easily become a whole meal. We ate there twice–once ordering from the menu and one doing just appetizers.

SIX DAYS IN LONDON, Part 1: Guest Post by Paige Arnold

Tower Bridge, London, England

My granddaughter Paige, age 12, spent six days in London with her parents during her spring break and kept a diary of her daily activities (a family tradition.) She has written them up in this blogpost. I am impressed with the number of things they did and the detail of her report. I thank her for her excellent writing! Part 2 will post next week.

My first day in London was very nice.  We rented an apartment near the London Bridge, which is in a very nice neighborhood.  It’s close to the tallest building in the U.K., the Shard.   

The Shard, London's tallest building, was designed by Renzo Piano and is 1016 feet tall

We walked around a bit, and ate dinner at a pub called “The Garrison Public House.” They had some classic English food like mushy peas and fish and chips.  It was great food. Before that we walked across the Tower Bridge, which is one of the many bridges crossing the River Thames. 

Fresh juice at the Borough Market

The second day, we went to the Borough Market. It’s a big market with many stands selling a variety of foods such as meat, fresh produce, and baked goods. To have lunch, we went to somewhere called Fish! in the market. There was lots of seating and great food. They even gave me and my dad a napkin and a little bowl of water with a slice of lemon in it, just in case we had greasy fingers from our lunch.

Tower of London

Later that day, we went to the London Dungeons. It was around 80% fun haunted-house-like and 20% historical.  It was fun, and there was a water roller coaster in the middle of the tour. They went over many subjects, such as the torture methods, the plague, and murderers. It was very realistic and neat to go through. Also, the tour guides were very good at acting. For dinner, we went to a restaurant named Sartoria.  It was really fancy and the food was super great and rich. The only problem was that it took a really long time for us to leave because they forgot to give us our check. 

At the Olympic swimming pool

On the third day, we went to the Olympic complex to swim. They have three pools: a competition pool, a training pool, and a recreation pool.  They are all very nice, and the competition pool has a good depth. Afterwards, I went outside into the enormous park to draw people.  

Climbing wall in park outside Olympic Complex

There was a playground, a climbing wall, and it was right next to a river which had boats you could rent.  Right across the river, there was West Ham United.  We spent around 1 hour 30 minutes there, and then went home. 

Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater, London

That night, we went to Wicked, which was playing in the theater district. It’s kind of like the prequel to the Wizard of Oz that shows the Wicked Witch of the West’s backstory.  But, it was shown in a different format, with her going to high school.  It lasted about two hours, with a 15 minute intermission in the middle.  Before that, we went to an Indian restaurant called Simply Indian.  The food there was the best Indian food I have ever tasted, even though it was just this little hole in the wall place on a side street.

High Tea at Sketch

For the fourth day, we went to this place called Sketch for high tea.  It’s a modern restaurant with art posted all around where you eat.  They had really nice plates and cups and things that said random stuff on them.  For example, forget about it was written on the bottom of each teacup, ghosts was written on all the teapots, and it’s ok and it’s not ok were written on the sides of the little sugar bowl.  

Egg bathroom at Sketch. Inside each individual egg, forest music was playing.

But the coolest part of the restaurant was the bathroom.  Both the men and the women went through a door; then there was this giant fat egg thing in the middle of two curved staircases. Oh, and the whole bathroom (including the stairs and the giant fat egg) was pure white. The women went up the staircase on the right, while the men went up the staircase on the left.  Then comes the most interesting part. The toilets were inside eggs. There was a cluster of about 8-10 eggs on both sides.

National Portrait Gallery

After that, we went to the National Portrait Gallery. They had a lot of portraits of kings such as King Charles II and King Edward VII.  For dinner, we went to a pub called Trinity.  They had some very interesting food. My dad ordered whitefish fries, which we thought were deep fried pieces of whitefish, but they were entire fried mini-whitefish! My mom ordered fish and chips, which came with the fish’s skin and scales on. Overall, the food was good. I had a good time. 

Old London phone booth

Photos by Paige Arnold and Matt Arnold


Look for part 2 next week. 

MONTREAL, Three Days in May, Day 2: A Walk to the Old Port

Place Jacques Cartier, Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada

By the morning of our second day in Montreal, the rain had stopped, the skies were clearing and the sun was coming out. It was a perfect spring day and I decided to take a walk to the Old Port, now turned into a park, yacht basin, and entertainment area, and to explore Old Montreal along Rue St. Paul.

Chinatown, Montreal

To get there, about a ten minute walk from our hotel, the Hyatt on Rue Jeanne-Mance, I passed through the giant red gate into the Quartier Chinois (Chinatown), a block long shopping area with small restaurants, noodle shops, herb dispensaries, and souvenir shops.

Rue Saint Paul

For the most part, the streets of Montreal are a grid, so it is difficult to get lost. I had a map but had no need to walk around staring at my phone as many other tourists seemed to be doing. After passing the Notre Dame Basilica, I proceeded downhill to Rue Saint Paul, a narrow cobblestone street lined with historic buildings now housing boutique hotels, restaurants, art galleries, shops with designer clothing, and souvenir items. Suddenly I felt like I had dropped into a small town in Europe and time traveled to another century–except, of course, that the shops all sold present day merchandise and all the crowds on the street were modern day tourists. What was uniquely Canadian were the shops selling Inuit Art and shops selling furs, both products intertwined with Canada’s history. I browsed in one of the fur shops and although I am not in favor of wearing animal pelts, I could see how a thick fur coat could be welcome on a cold Canadian winter night. I also browsed in the Galerie Images Boreales, filled with bears, seals, birds and other subjects of the far north beautifully carved from stone, ivory and other natural materials by Inuit artists. It was like going to a museum.

The Old Clock Tower and Boat Basin

My walk continued to the large public square, Place Jacques-Cartier, where horse drawn carriages waited for passengers, and then along the river front park to the Clock Tower yacht basin in the Old Port (Vieux-Port). Once a thriving shipping area, (the active port is now up river) the docks in the Old Port are filled with various museums and entertainment opportunities such as a zip-line, where I watched a few intrepid souls almost fly (the French word "voiles" means "to sail") from a high tower to the other side of the park.

A game of giant chess

After a short rest back at my hotel, I took a walk down Rue Ste. Catherine, currently being converted to a pedestrian walkway for a number of blocks through the Quartier des Spectacles. People were out enjoying the warm day. Three giant chessboards had been set up on the walkway to the enjoyment of both players and onlookers. I then circled back to the hotel via Boulevard de Maisonnueve, taking a brief detour through the Latin Quarter, a tree lined street filled with lively restaurants, painted walls, and the Theater St. Denis. I had hoped to visit the National Library nearby, only to discover that it is closed on Monday.

Rue St. Denis, Latin Quarter

One of the joys of visiting Montreal is the wealth of French restaurants. That evening we ate at Modavie, filled with old world atmosphere and with a wonderful high embossed tin ceiling. The food was good (the friendly waitress told us their specialty was lamb) but for us, it was a bit noisy. Even so, it was a satisfying end to a full day.

Chapel of Notre Dame of Bon Secours, View from Old Port

LAKE SUPERIOR'S NORTH SHORE: A Great Minnesota Fall Getaway

The Hjordis--a 50 foot traditionally rigged schooner, sailing on Lake Superior near Grand Marais.

Want great food in the far north?  The place to go is northern Minnesota along the north shore of Lake Superior.  My friend recently sent me a link to an article in the Minneapolis StarTribune featuring some of the top places to stop for a bite to eat. Four years ago on Labor Day Weekend I went to many of the same places with a group of friends and the article stirred some very pleasant, and delicious, memories.  Besides eating we did some hiking, canoeing, shopping, and viewed an art show.  Some of us went out on a sailing cruise and others tried the aerial tramway.  And all of us enjoyed relaxing in our beautiful lakeside house with its view across the water.  We stayed in Tofte, about 56 miles north of Two Harbors.

The Crooked Spoon Cafe in Grand Marais, where he had a delicious lunch.

About 27 miles from Tofte, is the lovely vacation town of Grand Marais. In Grand Marais we took a tour of the North House Folk School, where they have classes year-round in traditional arts ranging from boat building to basketry, wood carving and knitting.  We watched a group in a flint knapping class, struggling to carve stone knives out of flint.  It made us realize that the prehistoric people who depended on such tools for survival were much more skilled than we had previously appreciated.  Our visit to Grand Marais also included a visit to the Sivertson Gallery featuring photos, woodcuts and paintings inspired by the North Shore landscape, as well as Inuit carvings from Canada and Alaska.
Here are a few photos from our trip:

Our guide, Derek, who led us in our 10-passenger Voyageur canoe on our early morning exploration the Poplar River at Lutsen.

Waterfalls on the Temperance River along the Superior Hiking Trail in Temperance River State Park, just west of Tofte. A mile long loop took us into the river gorge, to Hidden Falls, providing vertiginous views of the cauldrons below.

View of the North Shore of Lake Superior from the rocks in front of our rented house in Tofte.

The Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen on North Shore Drive from Duluth, where all the candy is made "the old fashioned way in their copper kettle kitchen."

We had a relaxing weekend with beautiful weather.  It brought back many memories of childhood trips to the North Shore with my family when I was growing up in Minnesota.

My Paddle (Canoe Song)

(from the Girl Guide Songbook, Vol. 1)

My paddle's keen and bright

Flashing with silver

Follow the wild goose flight

Dip, dip and swing.

Dip, dip and swing her back

Flashing with silver

Swift as the wild goose flies

Dip, dip and swing.

MEXICAN FOOD IN THE YUCATAN

Hotel El Meson del Marques, Valladolid, Mexico

On our first night home after our vacation in Mexico the joke was, “Shall we go out for Mexican?” During the week that we spent in the Yucatan we had a range of delicious meals–from home cooked to casual café fare to upscale hotel dinners–and the food bore little resemblance to what we are used to in Mexican restaurants in the U.S.

Sea and Stones restaurant, Cancun

On our first evening, we walked along the beach to the Sea and Stones restaurant at the Westin Resort in Cancun, where we cooked our own dinners on hot flat stones in the middle of a large tray.  I had fish filet in a lime marinade. The novelty factor and the location–in a large open hut next to the beach–made the meal memorable.  By the time we finished the sun was setting and the beach was bathed in golden light.

En route to our next stop, Chichen Itza, we stopped for lunch in Valledolid, a traditional Spanish colonial city, eating at the Hotel el Meson del Marques at tables around an open courtyard.  I ordered chichinitas pibil, a typical Mayan pork dish cooked underground in a banana leaf–juicy and tender, something like Cuban pulled pork.  We also ordered avocado soup and a sample of small tacos Maya style for the table as an appetizer.  Altogether, we had way too much food!

Chiles Rellenos

We stayed overnight at the Mayaland Hotel at Chichen Itza, built in the 1930's and feeling much like a movie set.  We stayed in the Andrew Carnegie wing.  We got up early to see the ruins and returned to the hotel for a swim in the pool and lunch, stopping at a shop on the grounds to buy chocolate with chili peppers–quite delicious!  (Chocolate has its origins in Mexico.)  We ate our lunch under a palapa (grass covered shelter) by the pool and I ordered chiles rellenos, which turned out to be chiles stuffed with meat and spices, not with cheese as they are made in the U.S.. 

The rest of the week we were in a house on the beach near Akumal, where a home cooked meal was provided for us each evening.  The first day, after a morning swim, we went to the Turtle Bakery, a breakfast/lunch café in the center of this small beach community. It is also an ice cream shop. Afterward we walked around the tiny center of Akumal, and visited the ecology center to learn about sea turtles.

El Camello restaurant, Tulum

Another day we drove to Tulum (about 20 minutes away) to see the ruins (Tulum is the only Mayan city built on the ocean) and went to El Camello Jr. restaurant for lunch–a non-fancy open restaurant on the main highway south of town.  Most of us ordered ceviche, which was excellent–and way too much.  We brought home the extra and enjoyed it again the next day.

Dragon fruit

Other food highlights included buying ice cream (frozen ice pops) and a fruit smoothie at a heladeria in Tulum, lunch at Casa Cenote, a beach hotel in Tankh Tres, cutting open and eating fresh coconuts from the tree in front of our house, and shopping in the huge supermarket (Chedraui) in Tulum where we bought a dragonfruit on advice from some other tourists who told us that it was not very sweet, but tasty.  It was.

On our way back to Cancun and the airport, we stopped for lunch at Pummarola, a pizza restaurant in the center of Playa del Carmen, where we had excellent Neapolitan style pizza topped with fresh seafood. Altogether, we ate well in Mexico.