travel and drink: waikiki edition

11 Dec 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in booze & other drinkables, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: , , ,

ah hawaii… truly one of the few places on earth where a manly man can be seen with a drink garnished with flowers and umbrellas and not be mocked by his mates.
in fact, to not order such a drink is really just cheating yourself.

and the king of all drinks in hawaii is the mai tai.

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and honestly, it just takes it to a new level when its served in a fun glass like this.
this is how it comes at dukes and hula grill.  and good on them for keeping it extra real.

but at the end of the day, its really whats inside the glass that counts.  so what you’re looking for is premium spirits… and fresh squeezed juices.
and of course, a pretty garnish helps.

the supposed “best” in waikiki is hotly debated.  many many places claim it, but one place i kinda believe is the moana surfrider.  first of all, its a fancy pants hotel.  and they charge like $14 for it, so it had better be good… and it looks like this:

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its gorgeous AND comes with a beachfront ocean view.  so it wins.

and while every place does put a spin on the classic mai tai… this is basically the recipe.

  • 1 oz. Dark Rum
  • 1 oz Light Rum
  • 1 oz Orange Curacao
  • 2 oz Pineapple Juice
  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice
  • Dash Orgeat
  • Dash Simple syrup

and then you have the blue hawaii…
this is definitely one of those garbage pants sickly sweet cocktails that you’ll suck back in record time and then pay for in hangovers the next day.
…buuuuuut its a classic.  so you gotta have at least one.

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original blue hawaii

  • 3/4 oz light rum
  • 3/4 oz vodka
  • 1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
  • 3 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 oz sweet and sour mix

something that i really enjoy is this little fella.  they call it the lava flow in hawaii.  but in las vegas they call it a miami vice.  but same same.
its half pina colada and half strawberry daiquiri kinda layered together… and in vegas you get a strawberry garnish, in hawaii everything comes with a pineapple.

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one thing about hawaii, is that at one point in your trip you really must have a ridiculous drink.  like something giant or in a fishbowl or on fire… or all 3 if possible.

we went with this bad boy from LBLE  (thats Lobby Bar Libations Extraordinaire – clever name, huh?)

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it was a giant concoction filled with fresh juices and rum, rum and more rum.  and then they lit some 151 on fire inside a lime on top.  yup.  it was awesome.

its a tough act to follow… but i followed it up with a straberry, basil & vodka drink topped with a floater of champagne.  it didn’t steer me wrong.

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from LBLE we were forced by the bartender to go to her favourite bar after. and i mean literally FORCED.  she refused to serve us another drink and called us a taxi and sent us there.

its a place called the Pint & Jigger and it was really everything she promised it would be.
they served me the best manhattan of my life.  the glass was smoked, the booze premium, the ice cube singular and giant and the garnish was a homemade maraschino cherry.

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last but certainly not least… hawaii makes some good beers.
most prevalent is the kona brewing company, and they’re damn fine, but don’t stop there.  head over to Yardhouse for a great selection of local brews.  or dukes also has a beer sampler that will scratch your itch for local.

my personal favourite, which i don’t have a picture of is the Hawaii Nui Mehana Volcano Red Ale. but then again, i love me a red ale.

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travel: the delights of waikiki

07 Dec 2012 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in booze & other drinkables, food & cooking, photography, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

aloha!
once again, i must hang my head in shame and apologize for my absence. i was away for 9 days, but the rest of it has just been real life and a giant black hole of stress sucking my inspiration.  but this morning, i’ve committed myself to posting my hawaii roundup before i head off to seattle for the night.

november saw me return to waikiki for the 5th time.  but this trip wasn’t about sightseeing or anything important… it was about getting some sun and relaxing with my husband.  …and special guest appearances by my bro & his buddy and the puss & her family.  all around, it was a great time.

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we stayed at the aqua bamboo, which was new for me.  it was actually my first time not staying at a beachfront property right on waikiki beach.  for those familiar with the area, the bamboo is on kuhio, pretty much in line with the surfrider.  so it’s not far to the beach… lets say a 5 minute walk (2 blocks), but i will still stand by my preference of staying beachfront.
the hotel itself was good… cheap and cheerful as they say… nothing fancy, but absolutely fine for a week stay.  the hotel had an adorable little pool and the world’s tiniest hot tub, which was a factor in choosing the hotel, but at the end of it all we never actually made it in to either.

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i did enjoy that the bamboo had a very affordable massage place that was poolside.  my husband i both had a 50 minute massage for just under $80 including tax & tip.  a great bargain.  and boy did it ever feel good after that hike to diamond head.

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ah the diamond head hike… its turned into a must do for me.  you know… i must punish my body for so many mai tais.  somehow it makes me feel better. this trip, i literally woke my hangover up, did the 45 minute walk to diamond head, then did the hike and back and then ate a giant burger and then swam in the ocean,  then went for a massage.
overall, i’d say it was a hawaii win.  cured my hangover, thats for sure.

so, beverages will come in their own post, because in hawaii, there is no shortage of happy hour and tropical delights… but this one is all about the food.

hawaii’s food is a unique style of cuisine that defines melting pot.  it has strong influences from asia, polynesia, north america and when its mixed in with the traditional foods native to the area, you get things you can’t find anywhere else.  my husband’s favourite is loco moco.
basically loco moco is rice, a hamburger patty, 2 fried eggs done any style and smothered in gravy.  for breakfast. and its delicious.

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you know how they say; when in rome…?  well, when in hawaii, you’d best eat some loco moco.  and my husband did.  5 times.  lol.  he was on a mission to sample the local favourite at as many places as possible… and his verdict was that every place did it a little different, but at the end of the day, it was all delicious.  some places had a homemade gravy, sometimes adding mushrooms and/or onions… some places garnished with chopped green onions… some places put the gravy on top of the eggs, others eggs last.  some burger patties were clearly frozen from a box, others were hand formed and fresh.  but the base for all of them never changed… this delicious hawaiian style white rice.  i’m not too sure how they make their rice taste so good, but it sure does.  and for me, it’s one of my LOVES about hawaii, is that i can get this yummy sticky almost sushi style rice with my breakfasts.

so while my husband was eating his weight in loco moco, i was eating things like this:

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and i can’t forget the magic of this…

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ahhhh pancakes in hawaii.  another random thing to be in love with, but i never ever order pancakes at home. i just don’t care for them much. but in hawaii its a different animal.  topped with things like pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts and other local treats… and then smothered in coconut syrup instead of maple?  oh man, put a fork in me, i am DONE.

and let us not forget the papaya that much accompany every breakfast no matter what your main of choice is:

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yup, thats the stuff.

another island favourite is “pupus” which as far as i can tell is just hawaiian for appetizer.  which makes for hilarious (warning: may only be hilarious after several mai tais) jokes about needing to “take a wicked appetizer”.  haha.
anyhoo…. we had a lot of pupus.  because happy hour is cheap!  and if you do it right, you don’t really need a proper dinner.
one of my favourite destinations for pupus in waikiki is hula grill in the outrigger waikiki on the beach.  its upstairs from duke’s and often overlooked in favour of dukes.  but here’s the thing.  the decor is just as awesome upstairs, the food is pretty much the same and the drinks are waaaaay cheaper during happy hour.  so the hula grill is where you’ll often find me at happy hour…. eating things like: kahlua pork potstickers and ceviche and crab & mac nut stuffed won tons…

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and my personal favourites: crispy pork belly bao

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and the honey chicken lollypops which were ridiculously sticky sweet goodness.

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and at the end of a several hour long happy hour… we weren’t much worse for the wear financially.

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then there’s downstairs.  duke’s.  what can you say? if you’ve gone to waikiki, you’ve gone to dukes.  you just… have to.  yes, its loud and crazy and filled to the brim with pasty tourists and there’s children… but it’s dead centre in waikiki beach and makes a wicked mai tai and has good food and live music and, well, it’s just fun.

i am particularly in love with their salad bar.  there’s not a lot of good salad in waikiki, and dukes scratches my itch for fresh crispy lettuce and tons of good toppings so that i can construct my picky girl salad of choice.
but the fish entrees should never be overlooked.  you get the list from the server of whats in season and fresh right now and you choose from one of 4 preparations that they offer and chow down.  the fish entrees are always well cooked, perfectly seasoned and just fucking delicious.

we had the following: mine is the opah with mac nut crust and butter caper sauce (i just drooled typing that)
SAUTÉED MAC NUT AND HERB CRUSTED – Lightly dusted in parmesan cheese & bread crumbs, topped with lemon and caper butter

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and my husband dinned on the ono done duke’s style…
BAKED “DUKE’S STYLE” – Baked in a garlic, lemon and sweet basil glaze

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both were giant portions of fish so fresh, it may have been swimming yesterday… and at a fair market price.  plus it includes salad bar. did i mention the salad bar?

my last category for hawaiian eats is pop ups, food carts & beach shacks.  yes, food is everywhere in waikiki.  on two occasions this last trip, my husband and i grabbed some fish tacos & pork tacos from the food hut right on waikiki beach beside the surfrider and deemed it one of the best deals around.  $19 got us 4 giant tacos and a house brewed iced tea with pineapple juice in it to share.  not too shabby.

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a few days into our trip, on the way back from the beach to the hotel, we were surprised by a pop up market of sorts… except it was all food stands.  it wasn’t selling groceries, like our markets here, but selling fresh baked delights and pad thai and poke and even empanadas and dim sum treats.  so we stocked up and went back to our balcony with some local beers and made our own happy hour.

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last, but certainly not least… once can not forget that hawaii knows its food trucks.  possibly the best one i’ve ever seen… the malasadas truck.  leonards is famous for its malasadas which are basically like a big round dounut rolled in sugar and sometimes stuffed with creme or fruit filling.  they’re DELICIOUS.  and leonards is the king.  buuuuut we didn’t quite make it to leonards proper, so we were thrilled to stumble across their food truck on the way to sandy beach one day.

so while we did this:

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we also go to eat this:

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a clear win win situation.

and off course, on our quest to enjoy this beach:

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we also got to enjoy this shrimp shack on the north shore.

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there’s a lot of shrimp options, and generally we go to giovanni’s, but this one lured us in with their option to have local shrimp, while a lot of stands have switched to the cheaper and inferior thailand shrimp.  the difference slapped you in the face.  these were almost like my beloved spot prawns.  sooooo worth the half hour wait.  (this place was BUSY – also a good sign)

and of course, i had to have my coconut… and this time i also may have had a corn on the cob at the roadside pit stop…

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mmmhmmm.  and thats how i do hawaii.
oh, but before i wrap up, i’d like to give a surprising honorable mention to buba gump’s shrimp.  yes, it is a chain theme restaurant and generally that goes against my better instincts, but my husband loves it and he actually sold me on it with this:

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thats a pound and a half of hot fresh cooked peel & eats with half caijun spice and half butter and garlic.  ya, we slayed those in a few minutes flat.  they were messy and buttery and so fucking delicious.

but then we followed it up with some shrimp tacos…

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and the calamari that they swore was the best ever and you know, it actually was like top 5 in my life and i’ve eaten a LOT of fried squid in my day.

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theirs had half squid, half rock shrimp and also deep fried red peppers and pepperoncini peppers.  well played bubba gumps, well played.

and so, i leave you with my last view of hawaii for this trip… diamondhead from my brothers suite on the 33rd floor of the sheraton.  yes, it was a grand time had in hawaii, and yes, i’ll be back as soon as i can.

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food: breakfast

24 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in restaurants & dinning out, travel, vancouver Tags: , , , , ,

i have long complained of a lack of decent breakfast in the suburbs.
it seems to me there is only 2 choices.
either is greasy and disgusting like IHOP or a greasy spoon… or its a chain restaurant like milestones or browns or whatever and so painfully uninspired.

i crave the breakfasts of the city.
vancouver is a breakfast city.
every saturday and sunday, restaurants are packed to the brim and lined up outside with devotees.

there is no room in the vancouver breakfast scene for a mediocre offering.
it simply would not survive.

vancouver-ites crave healthy options.
we’re more fruit than greasy hashbrowns.
turkey sausage options is a must.  turkey bacon is so 2005.
and if your eggs aren’t free range, then you have some explaining to do.
salmon finds its way into everything, beyond the west coast special smoked salmon benny… its in omlettes and other applications that we see as so normal, but tourists find quirky.

yes, vancouver loves its breakfasts.
and yes, we are snobs about it.
the coffee must be from fair trade organic beans… and if its not french pressed, well, it’ll do… if thats all you have.
are your potatoes local?  they’re in season, you know.
is the bacon house cured with no nitrates?  and what farm are the pigs raised on?  is it within 100 miles of here?

i joke, but not really.
we are a city of food snobs.  but i can’t fault us for it.
we expect the best quality when dining out and don’t settle for anything less.
and i think if more people thought about their food that way, we’d be in a better place as a society.
respect for food translates into respect for yourself.
it stands to reason that if you have standards about what you’re eating, you won’t find yourself scarfing fast food or junk food.  you’ll take the time to think about the chemical cocktail of what you’re actually consuming.

but as usual, i digress.

until recently, whenever i wanted breakfast out, it always ended in frustration.
like i said off the top, its all either super unhealthy or super lame.
option 3 is chinese.  there is some spectacular dim sum around my area.  but again, super unhealthy.  i honestly can’t eat it anymore, it just makes me ill, no matter how good it is on the way down, it culminates in the rest of the day being miserable and full of regret.

breakfast is also tough for me because i’m not really an egg lover.
the idea of an egg on its own… like sunny side up, is gross to me.
eggs done up, like an omelette… okay…
eggs smothered in hollandaise sauce?  well, now i’m interested.  but i still like them poached hard so the yolk doesn’t dilute my delicious sauce.
as well, since i ditched the bread, eggs are even less interesting.  i mean, wasn’t the best part sopping up the runny yolk with your toast?

basically my breakfast of choice was often toast, meat and fruit.  not a big potato lover, especially when its those “breakfast french fries”.  if its deep fried, its not a hash brown, okay?

to me, my favourite breakfast ever is in waikiki.  at the Kani Ka Pila Grille poolside at the outrigger reef on the beach.
i ate here almost every morning for 10 days and bitterly regretted the days i chose other destinations.

the devil that tempted me most here was the coconut toast.
try to imagine… as a (now recovered) carb fiend and a coconut obsessed girl, this was my perfect breakfast.
in fact i was quite certain i could happily live off this and only this until the end of days.

she is a thing of beauty.
the empty being that is white bread… but hawaiian white bread.  which has a lovely inherent sweetness in it…
slathered in coconut oil and coated with fresh coconut and then grilled face down on the flat top.
the result is chewy and sweet and bready and crunchy and so aarggsaiuffhauouilsagbndsNGDKSJBN

i was obsessed.

my other breakfast obsession at this place was their banana pancakes.
weird, because i’m not a real banana lover.  nor am i a pancake lover.
but its safe to say that the hot macadamia nut syrup was the clincher.

naturally, the fact that everything was served with a luscious piece of papaya was just icing on the cake.
i adore the tropical fruit in hawaii.
(you know as opposed to all those other things in hawaii i just hate, lol)

anyways… back to local.

i have finally stumbled upon a suitable option right here, only a few blocks from my house.
the place in question is Cora’s and they call themselves breakfast enthusiasts.  which i dig.

but most of all, i dig that there’s nothing deep fried in the whole joint.
and that everything comes with an absolute mountain of fruit.
i love that there’s a fruit cocktail of the day that changes constantly.
i love the slight quebec twist on all the foods, heavy on the crepes.
i just straight up love this place.

the only negatives about it is that i find the wheat-free options few and far between.
i’ve resorted to modifying items, like getting a benny without the english muffins…
this is the mushroom & brie benny.  but i like the asparagus one too.

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but sometimes i get tired of modifying menus.
so i just cheat on my no-wheat and regret it later.
this is one of my other faves.
its delicious lean sausages wrapped in cheese & buckwheat crepes.

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i can never finish this meal.  i get through 2 sausages and half my fruit and pack up the rest for the next day.  two breakfasts in one, and not an egg in sight.

thanks cora’s for making me believe the suburb breakfast can make the cut.

food & travel: O’o Farms, Maui

04 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, photography, travel Tags: , , , , , , ,

one of my favourite parts of my trip to maui was O’o Farm.
I know, for a girl that lives mere minutes away from farmland, you’d think that seeing a farm wouldn’t be a high priority.  but i’m oh-so glad that we made it one.

the farm itself was a marvel to me. existing only to service two high end restaurants with fresh organic produce, this is not really a “working farm”, but more a culinary indulgence of chef/owners.  which i think makes for a really unique and special farm experience.

every single thing grown there exists because the chef has requested it for the menu or because it is a control plant to attract/detract pests or to add or remove nutrients to/from the soil.  everything has a purpose here and nothing is wasted.  in fact, there’s not even anything extra to sell.  the restaurants and the farm tour use everything grown here.
even the fish carcasses from dinner service and coffee grounds make their way back to the farm to be composted. this was a beautiful working example of a sustainable farm.

i left here feeling inspired.  this is the lifestyle of my dreams. to be in hawaii, growing the food that i serve at my restaurant?  i don’t think they could have possibly pinpointed this better for me.  so if i run away, this could very well be where i am.

okay, now on to the good stuff… we’ll start with the view.  the farm is high up the crater with a spectacular view of kihei.

ya, pretty rough, hey?  that could sooooo be my workplace view please.

first off, after intros and pleasantries, we went to the coffee plants.  now, these plants are just starting to produce and they’re relatively new to this farm, so their beans aren’t being used yet in the restaurants, but they will be soon. until then, they use beans from a farm down the road that are roasted at O’o Farm by the cutie that was our guide for the tour.  (seriously, this farm has everything. even dark curly haired gentlemen with strong jaw lines – aka “my type”, lol)

after sampling the berry of the coffee plant – you eat the red ones and spit out the beans.  it’s really an interesting flavour… very sweet off the start with a tart finish.  of course here there’s no waste, so they use the berry in cooking & garnishes in the restaurants and dry it to make tea from it (which i bought a bag of) and then they roast the beans inside.

we moved on to the orchards after our coffee plant lessons… first the citrus grove.  literally, a few of everything was growing here… pink lemons, pomellos, limes, clementines and even buddah’s hand… which i’ve never actually seen growing before!  so cool!  (it’s basically a citrus made almost entirely of rind & pith, usually candied or preserved and used as a strong citrus flavour agent)

the stone fruit trees were done for the season (funny to hear about it being “winter” in hawaii) so we moved over to where we’d be dining and met the chef.

she told us a little about the food we’d be eating and where it came from (everything from the farm except the fish which was caught yesterday just off the maui coast and the tofu).  she also shared her culinary journey and how she ended up cooking for the tours and such.
then we moved on to see the fields and pick our salad greens for lunch.

here’s a shot of my husband picking some yummy sorrel for lunch…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel

…and showing off our bounty of lunch greens and filling us in what each one is and how its grown…

…and grabbing a little more arugula.

this one is just a cool picture of a kale plant.  because i dig kale.

then we ventured back to the “dining room” for our feast.

first up was the fresh avocados with citrus and the selection of root vegetables… candycane & watermelon radishes, fennel and kohlrabi for the salad…

and my plate all loaded up with the tofu, beet & chard dish, the mahi mahi in sweet maui onions & citrus and of course the fabulous salad.  all wheat-free, and all absolutely delicious and bursting with freshness. everything from the farm had been in the ground mere hours ago.

after a plate (okay, maybe and seconds) we chatted with the people sitting around us… almost everyone had brought their own bottle of wine (ours white & refreshing) and we discussed the farm and our own personal reasons for being drawn to visit it.
there were lots of foodies that were fans of the restaurants associated with the farm… a lot of gardeners, both hobby & small business… and just generally people that loved this lifestyle of natural, sustainable living.  it was very cool.

after a bit, the chef brought out a plate of chocolates that she had made and a big bowl of still-shelled macadamia nuts for us to crack & snack on and our guide invited us up to the “coffee house” where he had brewed us some coffee that he had roasted that morning.

my husband and i gladly trucked up the hill and had 3 cups of the coffee each, while chatting with our guide about the coffee, growing it, roasting it, varietals ect.  we ended up buying $100 in premium coffee from him, including a batch that had just been roasted, but wasn’t even bagged yet for sale.  we just got talking about it and so he ran down to the roasting house and pulled some out for us.  people, you can not beat this.

honestly, if this kinda thing isn’t up your alley, then there’s nothing i can say to convince you… but if this kinda thing tweaks your fancy, then you MUST do O’o Farms tour in Maui.  it was $50 well spent on an excellent and truly awesome experience.  in fact, we decided that we would do this every trip, just to see what’s growing at different times of the year.  and the restaurant is definitely on our “must eat” list for next trip too.

food: hawaii eats

02 Jan 2012 4 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, travel Tags: , , ,

one of my favourite things to do when on vacation is to track down some roadside eats.  the popularity of food trucks right now warms the cockles of my heart and has absolutely made the industry explode, which i do believe is a good thing for you & me.

hawaii has had a long standing tradition of shrimp trucks.  last year we tracked down a bunch of them on oahu, but in maui they seemed to be scarce.  now, i do think this is largely in part due to the location of where were staying (the mega rich section of the island) and assume there are probably more options in the smaller surf towns… but we did manage to find a pocket of them by makena beach.

we ate at this one pictured below twice.  it was just that good.

here’s the “scampi” shrimp.  it was in a white wine & butter sauce with capers and diced tomatoes.  and garlic.  loads of garlic.  it was my favourite, hands down.

my mother, however, was partial to the cajun shrimp.  it was in a creole butter sauce and had a good hit of spice.  very tasty as well, but what can i say?  i like the classic “swimming in butter & garlic” kinda thing.

we also found a great dive restaurant in lahina that served us some yummy local treats.
my brother had an ahi poke and a coconut filled with rum.  he was pleased with his selections…

my husband went with the fish tacos.  fresh mahi mahi grilled up and served very simply on some warm flour tortillas.

i am completely unable to resist kahlua pork.  and being wheat-free now, the prevalence of rice in hawaii was a godsend for me.  my pork was served with a bbq sauce (sickly sweet – unneeded.  the pork was delicious on its own) and and the side salad came with the local dressing – papaya seed.  so yummy.

inspired by the locals, we picked up a massive ahi tuna loin and cooked it up on the bbq.
my husband & i put together a marinade of wheat-free soy sauce, lime juice, chillies & sugar.  i must say… i cooked it pretty perfectly.  and it was SO GOOD!

i wish i had taken a picture of the whole loin… it was easily 2lbs and cost us a mere $30.  bargain!  also, it was caught locally, so it was fresher than fresh.  win win!

travel: old lahaina luau – maui

02 Jan 2012 3 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, travel Tags: , , ,

well friends… i came, i saw and i conquered.  hawaii was, as expected, an absolute delight.  maui was a whole new experience and honolulu was the same loveliness that i adore.  the differences between the two were more pronounced than expected, but both definitely have a place in my vacation plans.

i have a few blogs to post about maui in the next few days… i’m going to split up the trip into a few different events, because i have a ton of photos to share.  if you have me on faceboook or instagram, then you’ve seen some… but i’ve been purposefully holding back some pics for the blog, so it won’t be all repeats.

i’m starting with the luau.  we chose the Old Lahaina Luau for our outing, based on the feedback that it was the “most authentic” and totally not cheesy.  it absolutely delivered on all counts.  the setting was stunning, the food excellent and the service top notch.  the show was a delight, although i’ll admit to being distracted by taking photos, so i kinda missed some of the story.

this was the setting…

rough, huh?  ;)
the thing about hawaii is that every little thing is exponentially more beautiful, simply because of where you are.  sunsets go from lovely to magical… the trees are things to marvel at… the colour and clarity of the water seems unreal.
it just oozes sheer beauty.
…but back to business.

so, my husband learned how to make poi…

and then we watched the delicious pig get unearthed from it’s underground oven.  okay, really, 3 pigs to feed us all – but i only took pictures of the first one, because the ridiculous aroma was killing me…

so here’s the “before” picture of the pit…

and then the fun begins!

ya, pretty magic. and let me tell you, that pig was ridiculously delicious.  so tender and smokey from cooking all day underground… i’m drooling just thinking about it.

here’s a snapshot of my plate…i really did not do this meal justice with this picture… but i was too intoxicated with free mai tai’s and the aroma of pig to care.  i just needed to dig in.

and then, the show!

i honestly can’t say enough good things about this event.  we paid around $90 each and all felt it was well worth it.  we all agreed that it was one of our favourite nights of the trip, just perfect from start to finish.  i heartily recommend this luau.

travel: always be prepared

14 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in travel Tags: , ,

well team, i’m off today for 15 glorious nights in hawaii.  so i’m just working on all that last minute stuff… you know, laundry, packing… blogging?  sure.

it occurred to me a couple weeks ago that i am in need of new luggage.  i’ve never actually owned a proper luggage set, just random suitcases that i’ve acquired as the need for them has come up.  i have no proper carry-on size suitcase… i’ve always just used backpacks… fine for the random things to carry when you’ve checked a bag, but not so great for those weekend trips where you really could just get away with that little bag.
also, my mid-size suitcase is starting to not zip so well… and my larger one is so giant that filling it means that my bag is always overweight.

so yes, it was time.
i’ve been on the hunt for a while… hard case or soft case?  this was the dilemma.  hard cases are lighter, but are they more durable?  i just wasn’t sure… but then i thought about it, and really, it’s not like i’m going to have this suitcase for the rest of my life.  i’ll use it for 5 years or so and then it’ll give up the ghost because i just travel so damn much.
really, my main priority was getting a bag with the 360 spinning wheels.  if you’ve never owned a bag with this, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  they’re so far superior, it’s actually not even fair.

so, after a lot of shopping around, price hunting and quality control, i am now the proud owner of an actual brand new, high quality set of matching luggage.

and i’m pretty stoked on it. they’re totally awesome.

i’m using the small one for my carry-on bag and the medium size one for my checked luggage.  but the big daddy is sitting this trip out.  he’s for my big trip to europe in september/october.

i went with heys, and yes, i did go for the hard shell.  they’re customizable with these cool dot stickers, but i’m not sure if i’m going to use them or not.  i might just throw on one or two so that i can be sure its mine.
but, i’m pretty happy.

now that i have the luggage, i’m on to the actual packing part.  the good news is that for 12 or my 15 nights, i’m in a condo with laundry, so i don’t need to pack everything i own for this trip.  also, it’s hawaii.  i really just need bathing suits & dresses.
buuuuut… packing is not really my strong suit.  i’m forever jamming my suitcases full of stuff i don’t wear at home, let alone on vacation.  and i usually come back with a lot of things that never saw the light of day.  so, i’m trying to do better with that.

the one thing i am really good at is the paperwork.  i mean, as a travel agent, i should be, but it’s definitely where my organization soars.  i have files and folders of things that i may or may not need.  this trip includes: plane tickets, hotel confirmations, spa confirmations & gift certificates, restaurant, luau & tour confs, more plane tickets, condo info & maps and various “facts & must-do’s” for maui.

but overall, i have very little planned.  it’s hawaii.  just being there is the plan.
tomorrow i have a massage, facial & body scrub at the spa at the hilton.  dec 23rd we have a luau booked… and dec 26th is my organic farm tour.  that’s it.
(unless you count dec 29th where i cry and hang on to a palm tree as my family tries to drag me home.  but that’s more of a tentative plan)

the other things to be penciled in are: molokini snorkeling trip, maybe the road to hana… ummm… maybe the sunrise over the haleakala crater?  because, i mean… come on! look at this!

ya, that’s pretty much the reason i’m packing my tripod.

alright, and speaking of packing, i best get on it.  the flight leaves at 2:30pm and i tried to check in online, but have already been flagged for “additional random checks” (hooray) so we’ll be getting there extra early.

i may or may not be blogging from destination… i have internet access, i just might not care to be on it that much, lol.  merry xmas & junk!

travel: maui foodie activities

07 Dec 2011 7 Comments

by eat-drink-fly.com in food & cooking, travel Tags: , , , ,

i’ve been on the lookout for something fun for the husband & i to do in maui.  just the two of us. he’s really good with my family, but if after 12 days i’ll be going crazy, he’s going to actually murder someone.
so an “alone” activity needs to be planned.
i’d been looking at hikes and such, but i figure that can be more spur of the moment… we already have a luau booked as a family for dec 23rd… and we’re planning on getting in a boat & doing some whale watching & snorkeling… and i’d really like to watch the sunrise from the crater… but that’s “everybody inclusive”, right?

yesterday my friend sent me on facebook a link to some cool foodie related maui activities and i booked us into the O’o farm lunch & tour.

it’s a beautiful organic farm that exists mostly to supply their restaurants with organic produce.  and i’m pretty excited to eat a freshly prepared meal right smack in the middle of the farm.

i’ve enquired, and yes, they are happy to accommodate me with a wheat-free meal. in fact, theeir food often doesn’t contain much wheat, since it’s all focused on being as farm fresh as possible.  i’m pretty excited and i’m going to take 5000 pictures there, lol.

this whole experience is a good value, $50 per person plus tax & tip.  but i’m getting a slight discount on account of my travel-agent-ness.  still, the food served is akin to their higher end restaurant’s servings, so the price point is just fine.  as well, they encourage you to bring your own bottle of wine. perfection.
www.oofarm.com

i did also consider the tour of the goat farm with cheese tasting, because i am a whore for goat cheese… but the tour & tasting weren’t really well received by reviewers on trip advisor.  so i figured i’d skip it. it’s in the area of this farm, so we may drop in anyways.

love letters to hawaii: a liquid post

25 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by eat-drink-fly.com in booze & other drinkables, travel Tags: , , , , ,

in less than 3 weeks, i will be in hawaii.  a place, to me, of pure bliss.

i am set to spend my longest ever vacation there… 15 nights.  to be split 3 in honolulu and 12 in maui.  i’m so excited.  it’s been just over a year since i was in hawaii last, but before that it had been about 12 years.  and i’ve never been to maui.  it’s funny, because at work i sell a LOT of maui, and i’ve basically just been faking my way through it based on my knowledge from other islands.  but no more.  when i return from this trip, i will be WELL versed.

i get asked a lot about my favourite destinations and hawaii is always high up on the list.  to me, it’s perfection.  it’s easy to get to – direct flights to 3 islands from YVR, it’s safe and easy to visit on account of being in the usa, it’s cheap comparatively – sure there’s no all inclusive packages, but the booze is dirt cheap in america and almost every hotel room has a kitchenette and lastly, it’s just so fucking stunning.  the beach and the ocean are incredible, the people & culture rich and intriguing. there’s volcanoes, rainforest, beaches, hikes, waterfalls… everything you could ever want.

i love hawaii.  give me hawaii over mexico any day of the week.

if you’ve ever wanted to see my face when i’m truly happy… this is it:

beachfront in hawaii, local beer in hand, sunkissed and utterly relaxed.

i’m normally not much for the sugary drinks, but when in hawaii, well, it just seems wrong if you’re not enjoying the occasional mai tai.

pretty much every single place will make one, some places are (obviously) vastly better than others.  our hotel (outrigger reef on the beach) had a great place called the shorebird that we frequented.  the mai tais weren’t the best ever, but they were cheap (especially during happy hour) and definitely went down smooth.


now that one is a little heavy on the grenadine… but it was still tasty.  also the pic is a little coloured, but you get the idea.

i had a few other delicious beverages while i was there…

ooh look!  another mai tai!  shocking!  i actually believe this is my first one upon landing.  i’m not even sure we brought our bags to our room first, lol.

and of course, every trip starts with plane vodka
hey, don’t judge… it’s a LONG flight!  …and i get thirsty…

…and sometimes you have to have a local beer on your hotel patio while overlooking the ocean.  because life is rough, yo.

these next ones were my favourite drinks of the trip.  on the lanai at the royal hawaiian, overlooking waikiki beach.

mine is the blendy basil drink – the chi, and my mom’s is the royal mai tai, made properly.  i snapped a pic of the menu because every drink sounded like heaven.

 

…and of course there’s a beer at the airport at the kona brewing company brewpub.

*sigh*

alright hawaii, i’ll see your sexy self in 19 days.

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