Such an amazing journey to the garden island of Kauai! From the wild west side and the sunny south shore, to the beautiful east side and the tropical north shore. What an adventure! The first week of our trip, we stayed in Poipu and played along the south shore and west side. We want to share some of our favorite tasty treats at Kauai restaurants from this perfect part of our travels!
Pizzetta in Old Koloa Town
A perfect treat after a walk through Old Koloa town. Delicious Kalua Pork Pizza and Kalua Pork Calzone on the open-air covered deck. Tasty Mai Tais and Kona beer. Beautiful evening with fresh air and a relaxing atmosphere. A rooster scratched about in the garden below our table, staking his claim to the territory. Great happy hour and delicious pizza!
Merriman’s Gourmet in Poipu
While they offer a wide selection of foods, we chose two styles of their delicious tacos, to-go. We enjoyed these tasty tacos while watching an amazing sunset on our balcony at Poipu Shores… so excited to dig into the dishes that we almost forgot to take photos! Fresh locally-caught fish with fire roasted tomato salsa, local cabbage, avocado, cilantro, and corn tortillas. Plus, Kalua pig carnitas tacos with homemade kim chee, jalapeno, fire roasted tomato salsa, cilantro, and corn tortillas. Wow!
Puka Dog in Poipu
We had heard about them, read about them, and dreamed about them. What in the world is a Puka Dog, you ask? A unique Hawaiian version of the hot dog. The fresh-baked buns have holes poked into the middle to hold your choice of two types of sausages, four kinds of lemon-garlic sauce, six different relishes, and various condiments. Not being a hot dog person, I was pleasantly surprised at the Puka veggie dog with lava habanero garlic lemon sauce, Kauai special mango relish and Auntie Lilikoi’s Hawaiian mustard. Fantastic lemonade, as well! Don’t miss this one when you visit the island!
Da Crack in Poipu
A local favorite and we can see why! One of the tastiest treats and quite affordable relative to other restaurants on the island. Da Crack serves it’s menu from a window with to-go orders only. Warning! The fresh ahi tacos with hot sauce and wasabi sour cream are addictive!
Koloa Fish Market in Old Koloa Town
Oh my, WOW! Another local favorite and one of the freshest Kauai restaurants. If you are looking for the best fresh poke, this is the place to go! Multiple selections available at their counter. This is for take out only, and you can also purchase fresh caught local fish to take back to the condo for grilling. We took our poke out west to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park to enjoyed lunch on a picnic table with the perfect Kauai companion – a friendly rooster who watched every bite. Ahi tuna with wasabi, Korean ahi, avocado ahi, smoked swordfish, spicy pickles, sweet pickles, rice, and salad. The ahi with wasabi was my favorite, followed closely by the avocado ahi!
Kauai Island Brewing in Port Allen
This local brewery holds bragging rights as the world’s most westernmost brewery. Flavorful bar food as well as delicious mai tais and a large selection of house-brewed beers. We enjoyed this stop on our way to watch the west side Polihale State Park sunset, also not to be missed. It was hard to decide on the treats, so we indulged in the Kalua pork nachos first, which we dug into and devoured before even thinking of photos. Then bring on the fresh mahi mahi fish tacos with coleslaw and adobo chipotle pepper cream, and the fresh swordfish and chips with papaya chili tartar sauce and house-made fries. Don’t miss the Wai’ale’ale Ale, named for the Mount Wai’ale’ale which towers more than 5,000 feet above the island and is one of the wettest places on earth with more than 450 inches of rain per year.
Kauai Culinary Market in Poipu at the Shops at Kukui’ula
Who doesn’t love a fabulous farmer’s market?! They are located all over the island on different days of the week. We didn’t know what to expect at a market in a shopping center, and this didn’t disappoint! From veggies and fruit, to hot sauces, jams, and fresh baked pie from The Right Slice! Make sure to visit a farmer’s market on your adventure in Kauai! We enjoyed having fresh local fruit and fresh-baked macadamia nut pie right on the balcony!
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