May 10, 2023
We had yet another show to catch, so we decided to look around the Bryant Park area. I stumbled onto Charlie Palmer, and it had been on my list of steak places to try. What was nice about this place specifically is they offered a 2-course pre-theatre menu for $49 which included a starter and entree. If you wanted dessert, you would have to pay an additional $10. Lucky for us, we weren’t that hungry, so a 2-course meal sounded fine for us.
May 6, 2023
Now that we’re back from Hawaii, we went to go see Sweeney Todd, a musical that was one of my favorites. Nearby, we decided to eat something quick and light, so we opted for izakaya. Sake Bar Hagi, according to their website, says it’s New York’s first authentic izakaya since 1985. I’m not sure what that really means, but we’ll find out. We arrived around 5:30 PM on a Saturday evening, and we were seated immediately.
April 30, 2023
Makahiki is a restaurant that is located on the first floor of the Disney Aulani resort. The restaurant actually serves breakfast and dinner at 2 different times, so this review will be for the dinner portion. Unlike breakfast, there was less of a crowd for dinner, so we were able to walk in with our reservations very quickly. We were seated in the outdoor section under the covered patio around 5:00 PM, which was when the sun started setting.
April 29, 2023
To get our gourmand fix in, we booked ‘Ama’Ama as our fine dining Disney Aulani reservation. The price for this four course tasting was $125 per person. The menu offers contemporary island cuisine, which has many local flavors. The restaurant iself was designed to resemble a beachside house, and it’s located next to the Waikolohe Valley pool area, just a few steps from the beach. The whole restaurant has a very nice open and chill vibe.
April 29, 2023
Makahiki is a restaurant that is located on the first floor of the Disney Aulani resort. The restaurant actually serves breakfast and dinner at 2 different times, so this review will be broken up into 2 separate reviews. For breakfast, Makahiki serves as a character dining experience. That means cast members dressed up as some of the Disney characters will come mingle with you while you’re eating. The people at my table simply loved this, whereas for me I’m a little indifferent.
April 28, 2023
On our first night at Disney Aulani, we went to the Ka Wa’a Luau on property. The Preferred Seating was $204 per adult, and the General Seating was $175 per adult. The difference between the seatings is that the preferred seating is assigned and right by the front of the stage. You also can enter 10 minutes earlier, which means you can check out the side festivities earlier too. Don’t worry though.
April 27, 2023
For our last day in the Waikiki/Honolulu area before we head over to the western part of Oahu for Aulani, we decided to splurge on something a little nicer to eat. Of all the choices we had, we decided on this Bar Māze place that the internet had raved about. The dining room is quite small, and when we entered, we were seated at the counter. We noticed that many of the cooks were quite young, but they were also very professional with a lot of attention on making sure the food is cooked right.
April 26, 2023
Haleiwa Joe’s at Haiku Gardens in Kaneohe is known for its lush, beautiful views overlooking its own tropical garden and koi pond with a backdrop of a breathtaking Ko’olau mountain range. The restaurant opens for dinner nightly at 4 PM, and when we arrived at 3:30, there was already a line forming because they do not take reservations. Fortunately once they open, there are plenty of tables, but it feels that people are trying to get the best view overlooking the gardens.
April 26, 2023
We had just visited the Dole Plantation, and our next planned stop was to checkout this “word of mouth” BBQ chicken mobile that is similar along the same veins of the shrimp trucks. Be aware that there are 3 locations that this van goes to. This one that we went to is located in a gas station and is open on Tuesdays and Fridays. As a reference point if you are a tourist like me, this is located south of the Dole Plantation.
April 25, 2023
Gashoken is located in this below ground Asian food mall called “Stix Asia”. There are several decent sized restaurants with different Asian cuisines, such as Japanese ramen, Taiwanese beef noodle, Japanese hot pot, Korean street foods, etc. We did our lap around, and ultimately landed first on this ramen joint because the host was really marketing it like crazy to everyone walking in front. Upon first glance, the menu was small, but alas we’re here for ramen.