Duke's Restaurant & Barefoot Bar - Waikiki

We've only been on the island for a couple months now, so I think we can be excused for trying out some of the more well-known eating establishments in Waikiki. We had received recommendations for restaurants there from friends and family that had vacationed in Hawaii. But, the longer we stay here, the more we think that vacationers spend 90% of their time on the island within a few square miles of the Waikiki hotel area, except to visit the USS Arizona Memorial and look at a pineapple field.

However, Waikiki does have pretty beaches (even if overcrowded) with a nice view eastward of Diamond Head, and several nice shopping areas, especially compared to the small Midwestern town we lived in prior to moving here. So, as a Sunday morning rolled into afternoon, we decided to window-shop and eat when a place caught our interest. We noticed Duke's, and decided to have lunch there.

Duke's is named after Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic swimmer, surfer and Hawaiian goodwill ambassador. Duke helped make the sport of surfing an international phenomenon. The restaurant is located in the Outrigger Waikiki, overlooking the beach.

We were seated on the lanai promptly, and were able to watch the beach, and had a spectacular view of Diamond Head.

As it was lunch, we ordered from the Barefoot Bar menu. The menu consists of standard pub fare: apps, salads, pizzas, sandwiches and burgers, a small selection of meat and fish, and desserts. There wasn't really enough on the menu to distinguish eating there as a "Hawaiian" experience. It only seemed like a Hawaiian version of TGIMcChiliAppleby's.

My wife decided on a tomato and basil grilled personal pizza. I had the kalua pork on a taro roll sandwich, with BBQ and tomatillo sauces, watercress, tomato and red onion. My wife was satisfied with her pizza; my sandwich was OK. The roll was sweet, with a nice purple hue due to the taro. The watercress was not trimmed, however, and the stems were left on, which was surprising, since they were like woody twigs. Not pleasant.

The real standout of the meal was the hula pie for dessert. We were somewhat full, so we decided to split a slice, which was a wise choice, because it was quite large. Supposedly this is the pie that "sailors would swim ashore for." I can see that, it was pretty good, if not particularly difficult to make. It was a chocolate cookie crust, piled high with macadamia nut ice cream, topped with chocolate fudge, whipped cream and more chopped macadamia nuts. Very tasty; I plan on making it at home.

Our biggest issue was with the service. In short, it was terrible. Our waiter was basically absent. It was a long time before he took our order; he did not bring the soda I asked for until after our lunch was served; he never came to check on us, and a waiter from an adjacent section refilled our water. We expressed our displeasure with the service to him, and a manager came to speak with us. She was kind enough to comp us our pie, a nice gesture, but as the food was only average and the service poor, it was not enough to make us want to return. Skip this place and GET OUT OF WAIKIKI, fer crying out loud.

Rating: NO ONO

Duke's Waikiki
2335 Kalakaua Ave., Suite 116
Honolulu, HI 96815

Leonard's Bakery - Honolulu

My wife and I moved to O'ahu on a Thursday. We rented a car for a month, and decided to drive around Honolulu over the next couple of evenings to get our bearings. Having seen "Hawaii Five-O" on television, and reading a few travel guides, we recognized a few Honolulu landmarks: the Aloha Tower, Diamond Head...and Leonard's.

Pathetic cell phone pic, but I do love the neon.

Leonard's Bakery has been in business since 1952, and is a Honolulu institution. They make all sorts of pastries, cookies, pies, and breads, including pao doce, a Portuguese sweet bread. But say "Leonard's" to most people and they think the same thing: malasadas!


Malasadas are a Portuguese fried dough, nicely browned on the outside, and soft, doughy and moist in the center. To me, they are quite yeasty, which I like. Leonard's fries them all day long, and they are generally busy, so when you order, most likely you are going to get fresh, warm malasadas right out of the oil. Malasadas come rolled in either sugar or cinnamon sugar; malasada puffs are the same, but filled with either custard, haupia (coconut) or dobash (chocolate).

A half-dozen original. They lasted about 5 minutes, tops.

Leonard's is a must-do for anyone visiting Honolulu, and makes a great stop for dessert after a meal out.

Leonard's also has several trucks that travel around and set up at different locations. We have visited two: one was set up in the parking lot of Hilo Hattie's off of Nimitz Highway, and one in the Macy's parking lot in Kaneohe. Might have even been the same truck, just different dates. The malasadas were cold at the first truck, and piping hot at the second, so how fresh they are can be hit or miss. But they are popular, so you may find yourself waiting up to 20 minutes or so if there is a line at the truck; they only seem to fry three dozen malasadas at a time.


Rating: ONOLICIOUS GRINDZ

Leonard's is located at the corner of Kapahulu Avenue and Charles Street. It is easy to find from Waikiki; just head east on Kalakaua Avenue, then turn left onto Kapahulu Avenue - you will see Kapiolani Park directly ahead of you at the intersection.

Leonard's Bakery
933 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
http://www.leonardshawaii.com/