Out*rigger Reef on the Beach is just awesome. Best price you will get for a four star hotel and look at the view from our balcony (taken while leaning precariously over the railing).

Breakfast at Shorebird's, the "casual dining" restaurant inside the hotel.

The food there was nothing to write home about, but the view? I'll let you judge for yourself.

This is the "Soup and Sandwich" at Alan Wong's (Chilled Vine Ripened Hamakua Springs Tomato Soup with Grilled Mozzarella Cheese, Foie Gras, Kalua Pig Sandwich). I call it The Most Wonderful Thing I Have Ever Put In My Mouth. Of all the great restaurants I've been lucky enough to sample over the last few years (Los Angeles, Paris, Barcelona, Athens, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Taipei, Hong Kong...) I think Alan Wong's may very well be at the top of the list. That is not a statement I make lightly.

The second course in the five-course tasting menu was also a winner. But then again, when has perfectly poached lobster ever been a failure? Exactly, never.

I'll just let that picture speak for itself...

Dessert! I was completely stuffed at this point, but could I pass up chocolate "crunch bars" and The Coconut (Haupia Sorbet in a Chocolate Shell, Tropical Fruits and Lilikoi Sauce)? The answer is a clear and resounding hell no!

This was taken after the Paradise Co*ve Luau. It is also what happens after one too many Lava Flows and about half a dozen lei-making stations.

I still haven't quite figured out how to take good night-time photos on my SLR. Sadly, this is best shot I was able to get.

After a particularly disappointing experience at San*sei Sushi we decided to check out the sushi-nazi experience at Sas*abune Sushi. They ONLY do traditional style sushi and provide strict instructions on how each dish should be eaten (e.g. If you even try to put soy sauce on this dish we will cut your hand off and banish you forever). This place was seriously amazing, the picture above has their squid appetizer on the left - seriously I did not know it was possible for squid to be that tender - and an incredible, melt-in-your-mouth tuna sashimi trio on the right.

Paul gobbling down the baked lobster.

I never had raw abalone before, I like crunchy things but I probably wouldn't get this again because it reminded me of eating cartilage which I don't particularly like. Pretty dish though.

This was supposed to be a picture of me holding up the plate of negi toro but Paul thought I wanted him to just take a picture of my face. Apparently he thinks I am vain like that.

On our last night there we wandered way off the regular tourist route (this was actually something we did a lot over the course of the trip, go figure all the Ye*lp recommended places were not tourist traps!) and made a visit to Iman*as Tei. One of the Ye*lp reviews claims this place created the Dynamite and I can actually kind of believe that they did. It was packed with high quality, fresh seafood and so creamy and amazing. Hands down the best I've ever tried (and I've tried a lot). It was so good that by the time I realized I needed to have something to remember it by half of it had mysteriously vanished. Is there anything better in this world than baked mayonnaise? Probably not.

Look at how happy I am! Man, I wish I had some of that Dynamite right now....

The Chanko Nabe was great too! It's the Japanese version of hot pot and it's recommended for groups of 3-4 but it was our last night there so we just had to try it. We ate so much I thought we were going to burst!

As Paul was checking out of the hotel, I felt like I hadn't taken enough pictures of the beautiful view so I rushed over to the back of the hotel and snapped this shot. Aloha and til we meet again Hawaii! (Hopefully soon).

Labels: Pictures, vacation