Azure Restaurant

Azure is located in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel which is in the heart of Waikiki. The restaurant is partially on Waikiki Beach. They offer indoor and outdoor seating. If you want a beach front dining experience, you can reserve one of their cabanas in advance.

This restaurant is known for having fresh fish. You can still eat if you don't like fish because they have other seafood and meats on the menu. They offer a tasting menu for $75 (wine not included) if you can't decide on what you want to eat. The items on the menu are quite expensive so if you do plan to dine here, make sure it's for a special occasion. You should also dress nice. As for parking, you can do self park at the Sheraton Waikiki parking structure or pull up in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and do valet. The restaurant will validate your ticket for both options.

For more information about Azure, visit www.azurewaikiki.com.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel
2259 Kalakaua Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 923-7311

Lavosh w/ Clam Dip (complimentary)

Alaskan King Crab Chowder

Onaga w/ White Wine, Fresh Herbs & Caper-Butter Lemon Sauce

Grilled Colorado Lamb Chop

Azure Sashimi (tasting menu 1st course)

Ocean Cappuccino (tasting menu 2nd course)

Kona Lobster Tail Risotto (tasting menu 3rd course)

Butter Poached Fillet of Beef (tasting menu 4th course)

Kula Strawberries & Fior Di Latte (tasting menu dessert)

Waialua Flourless Chocolate Cake

Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant

They're located in Culture Plaza by the river. I came here for a late lunch on the weekend and I was surprise they still had a decent selection of dim sum in the carts. Their signature item is the xiao long bao. They don't make it until you order it and it takes about 20 minutes. The xiao long bao was good and I recommend trying it. As for their other dim sum, it's pretty much the same stuff as the other dim sum restaurants in Culture Plaza.

The interior was very spacious so you don't have to worry about your chair getting hit by the hot dim sum carts. If you come around 11am on the weekends, you'll probably end up having to wait for a table. The staff doesn't speak very good English so it helps if you bring someone who can speak Cantonese. If you parking in the Culture Plaza parking structure, they will give you validation.

100 N Beretania St
Ste 110
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 523-9168

 Shanghai Soup Dumpling (xiao long bao)

Wife Cake (lou po beng)

Salted Egg Custard Steamed Bun (lau sa bao)

Red Bean Sesame Ball (jin dui)

Custard Tart (dan tat)

Makoto Sushi

I consider this place a hidden spot because you don't see their signage unless you drive into the 2nd level parking structure of Aiea Shopping Center. It's a small shop but they offer a variety of sushi rolls and bentos. Their menu items have unique names and when you ask the owner/staff "what is that?" they'll be happy to tell the ingredients. There are tables outside the shop but I don't recommend hanging out there for too long. I started smelling some not so pleasant stuff so I took my order to go. It's a great place to come for lunch if you're in the Aiea area. They also have another location in Kaimuki by Times Supermarket.

99-115 Aiea Heights Dr
Ste 227
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 722-9711

Top Secret

Bento #2

HASR Bistro - CLOSED

This used to be the Grand Cafe. If you've never been there before, it's located near Chinatown. If you're coming from downtown, it's about a 10-15 minute walk. This a great place to bring your clients for lunch or to have team lunches. They are a bit on the pricey side so you want to have a good reason to come and eat here.

The interior dining room is very spacious but if you prefer some fresh air, there is patio seating. They serve water in glass jars and their menus are stuck on top of wine crate covers. It's very different but also cool at the same time. If you're coming with 5 or more, I recommend making reservations because they do get busy during the lunch hour. As for wait time on food, I thought the dishes came out pretty quickly.

For more information about HASR Bistro, visit www.hasrbistro.com.

31 N Pauahi St
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 533-4277

Osso Bucco

Pesto Chicken Carbonara

Cioppino

Nippon Bento & Catering

They are located on the bottom floor of the Remington College building in downtown Honolulu. You'll see their big yellow sign in the corner as you walk down the stairs. I don't know if this place is Japanese or Korean but I know they're the only ones in downtown who have ox tail soup available everyday. The ox tail soup is about $7.00, it comes with 2 scoops of rice, kimchee, and tsukemono. If you don't want ox tail soup, that's fine because they have a huge variety of bentos. There will definitely be one combination bento that you'll like. They also have other items like beef stew, curry, saimin, wonton mein or udon. This is the perfect place to eat if you're on a budget or you need to pick up lunch really quickly.

For more information about Nippon Bento & Catering, visit www.nipponbento.com.

1111 Bishop St
Ste 07
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 256-2205

Ox Tail Soup