Hawaii Eats: Restaurants on the Big Island

Probably my favorite thing to do on vacation is try local restaurants. I’m excited to share the delicious food we had at Hawaii restaurants! We try to mix it up between more casual dining and restaurants that a bit pricier. In Hawaii, we found that most places were more expensive than the mainland, which is to be expected. Here are most of my meals (with some of G’s also pictured), plus where the restaurants are on the Big Island of Hawaii. Note: Most of these are pescatarian rather than vegetarian because when in a place with good seafood, I tend to go for it. In my daily life I am mostly veggie, though.

Island Lava Java, Kailua-Kona

We stopped at Island Lava Java for breakfast and were not disappointed. I devoured every bite of this Waipio Stack Breakfast ($14), plus some of V’s chocolate pancakes. It contained two eggs, which I ordered over hard, wheat toast, fresh avocado, tomato, arugula and chipotle aioli. (It typically comes with bacon, but I don’t eat that.) Served with fresh fruit I paired it with a vanilla frappe. SO good.

Basik Cafe, Kailua-Kona

Basik Cafe was mostly an acai bowl restaurant. I enjoyed the Islander ($11, small), which was acai, hemp milk, granola, banana, strawberries, goji berries, coco shavings and honey. Yum!

 

Kona Coffee & Tea Company, Kailua-Kona

We visited Kona Coffee  & Tea Co. twice to pick up a quick breakfast before doing other activities. The first time we all got bagels ($2.59) and yogurt and granola. The second time I ordered a spinach tart ($6.49), which was OK. I really liked the vanilla cold brew though!

Volcano House, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We were starving when we arrived at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, so we decided to try one of the restaurants. Volcano House was the closest option. I ordered the fish and chips ($14) while G had Asian barbecue prawns ($16). They weren’t the best fish and chips I’ve had but they did the trick. This place is more about the view! You can see the crater from your table.

 

Boat Landing Cantina, Waikoloa

While staying at the Hilton Waikola Village, we dined at Boat Landing Cantina, which was just underneath our tower. We also ordered some to-go on another night when we were too tired to actually dine there. I wasn’t disappointed with the nachos ($14) or the fish tacos ($19). The prices are high for what you get, but the resort is so large that it’s super inconvenient to leave to grab food, especially when you’re an exhausted pregnant person.

 

Cafe Pesto, Hilo

After working up an appetite on a helicopter tour, we explored downtown Hilo looking for a lunch option. We stumbled across Cafe Pesto. I loved every bite of the crab cakes ($16), which came with salad. V enjoyed her pasta with veggies and G had a pizza luau pizza ($14).

Kope Lani, Kailua-Kona

We couldn’t go without ice cream for dessert, especially on a warm Hawaii afternoon. I loved the Kona coffee flavored cone I had at Kope Lani!

Big Island Burritos, Waikoloa

On our last night we wanted something casual again, so we opted for takeout from Big Island Burritos. Shown below is a burrito bowl for G ($12) and more tacos for me ($12).

 

Waikoloa Coffee, Waikoloa

Breakfast came from Waikoloa Coffee a couple times because it was conveniently located under our hotel tower. It was pricey for what it was ($40 for two coffees, a juice and breakfast sandwiches), but it was tasty coffee.

 

Do you see anything you’d like to try on this list? What are some of your favorite recent restaurant meals? Let me know in the comments!