Day 9 - Kauai Beer Co - Lihue, HI

You have no business in Lihue unless you have business in Lihue, if Lonely Planet is to be believed.

But when in Lihue, if you must be in Lihue, the food and drink options won’t leave you lonely. 

Their beer company does support day drinking, and a flight of their seven brews plus a nitro is a fitting farewell to this island. The brews list is long, and it covers an impressive range. 

I’m sad to see that they’re fresh out of the Guava IPA, but the Beer Company IPA is a smooth sub. Standouts include the Black Limousine, an indescribable, almost dessert, stout-like but more dark than stormy schwarzbier, and it’s even better as a nitro.

Stick to the beer. Their pub fare is fair, and some of it fares less well than others. The oxtail stew, for example, had to be subbed for Beef Stew, and I wish I’d ordered something else. It’s thick, like the texture of a gumbo, but it’s like drinking a chunky gravy. It has a less than 50/50 ratio of bits of beef/potato to liquid and was heavy on the salt.

Though the stew did sink, the Poutine Fries will float. The fries were pretty good in gravy and take well to a drizzling melty cheese.

The Rice Street Reuben will do as well, a nice little stack of thin pastrami on rye.

‘Bye bye Kauai, I’ll see you again in a couple of months. I love the beauty of this island, and I can’t think of better a farewell than a black limousine beer in hand. I doubt I’ll end up back here the next time, but I did enjoy their brews this once. 

Brennecke’s Beach Broiler - Koloa, HI

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila; floor. That’ll happen to you before you see the bottom of two of their famous Mai Tais.

I’m not sure how they got famous as I imagine a pretty good percentage of their customers can’t remember drinking them, but the one I had was damn good. It’s rummy in the tummy, tempered with some lime and sugar from the curaçao. If you’re one of those people who really need to get their money’s worth, don’t worry, you’ll get a generous pour. 

They have flat screens for you if you’re trying to watch a game, and they have plenty of burgers to go with a ball-watching beer. The Paniolo Burger gets all the food groups into a tropical theme with a juicy pineapple ring on a juicy, guava-plum sauce-covered patty. There’s some lettuce, tomato, and sautéed onions too so you can feel like you ate your vegetables.

Nobody makes a bowl of raw fish like the Hawaiians, but I’m happy for something cooked. They do a giant steaming platter of crunchy Fish & crispy Chips featuring they-weren’t-kidding fresh ono in a firm but fluffy beer batter. 

Go to the neighboring Beach Deli when you’re done. That half lilikoi, half mango sugar-shaved ice will really beat the heat.

But think carefully before you depart.  This view isn’t one you’ll easily leave.

Day 8 - Poipu Beach Park - Poipu, HI

Beautiful beach, gorgeous park, ample parking. When you say "day at the beach", this is what you mean.

Oh look, a little sandbar! Let’s swim out to it!

Don’t do it. The water is only waist -deep, but the current is strong and the rocks are sharp. 

But it’s worth it. This whole beach is worth it. Just get out there and enjoy it any way you can. 

Piazza - Princeville, HI

Picture a classic hunting lodge off in the woods, minus all the severed heads. Imagine a large room with beautiful exposed ceiling beams and hardwood floors, a stunning, casual-chic simplicity in both decoration and ambiance, and you have Piazza. 

They look and act like a fancy restaurant, but inside they are more of a fancy private home with really hospitable hosts. There's a rustic chandelier that looks like it should hold a hundred candles and another that twinkles with a million crystals and lights, spun with orbiting rings for a modern spin. The service is spot-on, and the open kitchen is welcoming, always buzzing with hustling chefs. 

It's a casual night, and pizza is where it's at. The crust is fluffy and hand-tossed thin, and the pies are out-of-the-oven gorgeous. We start with a Pear and Gorgonzola, sweet slices of pared pear and alternating chunks of mac nuts and gorgonzola. I would have liked a little more gorgonzola and a little less balsamic as the vinegar finishes bitter under such high heat, but in their defense, the ingredient balance is pretty darn close. 

The House Italian Sausage might be the best pizza I've ever had. The house-made sausage is sweeter with a gentler spices that compound with o-rings of fragrant fennel. Supple balls of mozzarella (they make their own!!!) are milky and smooth, punctuated by parmesan, sweet peppers, and tomato.

I LOVE that pizza. I've never had a pie that sticks to my memory like that one, and I don't need to try the others to know that Piazza makes the best pie in Kauai. Princeville seems to have a paucity of affordable, non-pretentious restaurants, but even if Piazza is the only one that's worthwhile. Piazza is worth it every time!

Ono Ono Shave Ice - Kapaa, HI

It’s Halo Halo jelly time! 

I needed to try this stuff before I left the island. I didn't take advantage in Honolulu, and that's been my biggest regret to date. This one is a settle, with fast-melting ice covered in not quite enough evaporated milk. The ube ice cream is always a fave, the flan is fun, and I love all the different colors and textures of the fruit jellies, but it all tastes so watered down. The couple running this parking lot shack seem nice enough, but I wish my first taste of halo halo had been a little better. 

Pono Market - Kapaa, HI

I'm loving the poke-all-day-every-day theme, but man, I've really missed cooked food. 

They make both at Pono Market, which is a definite plus. My lunch plate has a savory-enough kalua pork piled high, next to a sassy side of tako poke with Korean pepper sauce. There’s a surf clam poke, which I have yet to see again. The chewy shark-tooth triangles are firm and juicy in a basic salty solution, and they add their own dash of ocean brine. I like it, but if you don’t like brine, stick with ahi. 

The poke is okey dokey, but I like their hot food better. Spicy ahi poke is gooey with mayo, and the spicy shrimp are pretty fresh. The Pork Adobo is probably the best thing on these plates, meaty chunks soaked with a thick and gritty, nice and vinegary, semi-gravy.

If you're feeling neither, you can keep it simple with a drink at the coffee counter or a warm musubi for a change.

Another day, another poke counter. Every town has a market for a fish and a fish for poke, and I'm sure there are towns with much worse poke than Kapaa, but I don't know if I need to eat poke here next time I'm in town.

Nounou East Trail - Sleeping Giant - Kapaa, HI

Well it's ixnay for the north shore hikes today. The sporadic rain turns every trail into a mudslide and every mountain is a mud pie. Fortunately for us, the east side is a little less wet, and there's a surmountable Sleeping Giant to mount.

Even the parking lot is picturesque - he does an impressive parking job up an giant incline. We are having too much fun with the 4-wheel drive. 

There are lots of views all the way up. 

So green from the giant's chest. 

So sooooo green!

It's a narrow path to the giant's face, 

and there's a little side path to a gorgeous, rocky arch.

The views are indescribable. 

Good thing I took photos.  

Stand even higher if you dare.