Kilauea Bakery UPDATE - Kilauea, HI

I love you, Kilauea, and your little bakery too. The lighthouse is magic, there are breathtaking birds and beaches...but really, I'm just here for the pastries.

Grandpa got a slice of sausage pizza, grandson got a slice of Cheese. The cheese is abundant on a thin-crust, and one slice is more than enough for a main meal.

I'm Italianed out, but they have a lot of choices for lighter fare. Grandma loved the bagel with olive tapenade, and their list of soups was enticing. I'm gnawing on a Roll full of salty ham, a bit of cheese, and plenty of potato. It gets bigger than it looks when you eat it.  

Their main attraction is their pastries, and their glass case houses a plethora of spectacular sweets. We have to try another Mac Nut Sticky Bun, and I'm nuts about these nuts. The Mango Bread Pudding is a new adventure, a fluffy, fruity, puff of wet bread and air, sweet but not sugary, textured for pleasure. The Vegan Chocolate Tart has a breadfruit crust, like a softer crumble-crust with a finish like a barely-jackfruit infusion, cushioning a rich cocoa silk.

I can count on one hand the Kauai restaurants I would want to visit again, and Kilauea Bakery is one I would visit again and again. The food on this island isn't exactly the biggest bang for your buck, but this bakery certainly is. 

Sushigirl Kauai - Kilauea, HI

I am so confused. How does a "sushi" shack full of bland stuff-stuffed bland stuff average 4.5 stars on Yelp? 

The O.G. sushi burrito was just bizarre. It's actually a burrito but with raw fish instead of meat. I love that it's wrapped in nori and soy paper, but tuna doesn't go with black beans. The sushi rice has no detectable vinegar and doesn't stick together in any of her creations, nothing is seasoned. The burrito comes with "yum yum sauce" for dipping, which tastes like mayo with a sriracha swirl. But mostly, it tastes like mayo. Are they allergic to salt?

They call this the Musubi, and I am very confused. This is a hand roll. Tuna, avocado, cucumber, sushi rice, wrapped in nori. HAND ROLL.

Don't bother with the musubi if you're getting a maki roll anyway. The Legend is a cut-up musubi with a sprig of green onion added inside. You're pretty conceited to name a roll of tuna, avocado, cucumber, and green onion "THE LEGEND". This is a roll every sushi restaurant makes, and many make it better. 

The ingredients are fresh, no doubt, but I am at an absolute loss as to how this place could net such a high rating. The rolls are bland, and I won't know that I could call any of this sushi. I might come back to try the poke if everything else on the island is closed, but I don't think I'd return if I could avoid it.

Kilauea Bakery & Pizza - Kilauea, HI

If their breakfast is any indication, we should have had every meal here. 

The Breakfast Stromboli is an American burrito in a fluffy Italian loaf-crust. The bread is soft and chewy, packed densely with a peppers-bacon-and-egg scramble. 

For sweeter options, try their Macadamia Nut Sticky Bun, a crunchier shell encasing a firmly fluffy swirl of dough. The glaze is a translucent sugar, and it gives the pearly-white mac nuts a glow. It's a little lighter and a different kind of nutty compared to the classic pecans, but every bite is equally delicious.  

There's a sweet n' tangy Lilikoi Lemon Bar if you're looking for a little more fruit. The crust is packed nicely, and the filling is a thin enough layer to be not overwhelming. I guess I have a passion for passionfruit because this bar is my favorite thing in this bakery.

The creamy, milk-fluffy Mango Custard Tart is a very close second. Light chunks of mango embedded in an airy cheesecake-without-the-cheese cream is a cross between a very light custard and a not-so-processed cool whip. 

Try it, you won't regret it. Actually, just try everything at Kilauea Bakery & Pizza - you won't regret a thing!

Day 5 - Trilogy Coffee - Kilauea, Kauai, HI

The day doesn't start without a cup of coffee, and we're just not in the mood to brew a pot ourselves. Cappuccino is a gentler eye-opener, and the people at Trilogy can foam a fantastic cup. 

They don't have much/any indoor seating, but the outside plaza has plenty of tables and benches. They also have snacks if you're grabbing on the go. Whatever you end up doing with the rest of your day, you'll do it a lot better with a Trilogy cup in one hand!

The Bistro - Kilauea, Kauai, HI

As generic as the name would imply, they leave nothing to the imagination.

And if the Steamed Seafood is any indication, they don't have much of an imagination either. This is a bowl of what-you-do-with-seafood-at-the-end-of-its-shelf-life. The fish has the texture of rubber, the prawns taste like they've been set out to dry, and it all stews in an old oil that tastes like basil and sludge.

The Buttermilk Fried Mussels are a considerable improvement. The breading does have that sweeter milky highlight, and the mussels stay tender underneath. 

You can’t go wrong with a Beet Salad...or so we thought. Beets and goat cheese are basic, and a lilikoi dressing sounds like a sure thing. But I can't taste any of the dressing, and the beets are slimy like slices of a slug.

The Risotto is edible, it's rice in a cheese bath, fondue in a bowl. The parmesan is mild, and the butter is abundant, and the jumbo shrimp are perfectly cooked. I just wish we had more than four of them

I'm officially afraid of fine dining thanks to The Bistro. The building is quite pretty, and the service is friendly and sweet, but the dining is traumatic. It was the first and last time we did more formal dining on the island, and it was the most regrettable experience of the trip!

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge & Kauapea Beach - Kilauea, Kauai, HI

Even in the pouring rain, the lighthouse is breathtaking. A stately silhouette during the day, a beacon through the night. 

It looks pretty cool up close. 

And check out these shades of green - they're too beautiful to be real!

Zoom in on this photo of the cliffs, and you'll see that they're dotted with white albatrosses. An endangered species, they roost in peace within this wildlife preserve. 

Watch me whip, watch me nene.

The Hawaiian goose is an island treasure, and they are stunning. They move like Canadian geese, but their coloring and patterns are more like giant mallards. 

A few miles down the road we park in a muddy lot. The jeep is four wheel drive, and we need it. Kauai's Secret Beach isn't much of a secret anymore, but it's deserted thanks to the rain. The hike is short, but the path is slick. 

Too cold for swimming, and the waves are crashing. I love the light foam that hits the black rocks. The contrast of water and volcanic rock will stop you in your tracks. 

It rains a lot on the north shore, but the best beaches and views are here. Invest in a raincoat and get your hike on!