The Sunday Traveler ~ Hawaii Food Tour

First day on the island and the Sunday Traveler took off on one of the best tours ever taken while traveling. Why had I not thought of a food tour before after all these years of coming to Hawaii? Hawaii Food Tours proved to be an excellent choice in revisiting the beautiful North Shore of Oahu, and eating a lot of the wonderful foods of the area in local establishments.

A group of nine got comfy in a van with our hosts, Matthew Gray and his partner in crime, Lin Kensington to get acquainted as we drove towards our first stop of the day. Matthew is a chef who started out in Los Angeles, and worked with some of the stars while there, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Pink Floyd are some of the names mentioned. My fellow touring partners were mostly from Australia, and were fun companions. Our first stop was at Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop where Lin jumped out of the van and picked up a preordered box of malasadas, a most delicious donut popular in Hawaii. We drove to Kaneohe Bay Lookout to eat these delectable treats, stretch our legs, and take some photos

Onward we motored farther into the North Shore for our second stop at the Waiahole Poi Factory for a traditional type feast of Hawaiian food, Kalua Pig, lomi salmon, hand-pounded poi, and pork lau lau, with a haupia/coconut dessert. The Sunday Traveler was so ecstatic wandering around the small factory, talking to my table mates, and enjoying the food, that a photo of said plates of food never happened. Oops; I think I was still on a sugar high from the malasada. Matthew and Lin got back in the kitchen at the poi factory to put our plates together; this was a great local place with authentic food

Completely happy we all jumped back into the van to head towards more of the North Shore, and more food. We were headed to Ted’s Bakery for Garlic Shrimp, a really big item all over the North Shore in restaurants and food trucks. The Sunday Traveler has had this dish from a food truck on past visits, but Ted’s Bakery version….oh my; as the Hawaiians say, it was ono (good/delicious)

What you see in the photo is a typical Hawaiian Plate Lunch, scoop of rice, scoop of mac salad, an entree; the garlic shrimp that I will be dreaming about until my return to the islands. Pie from Ted’s was purchased by Lin, and saved for our last stop of the day at the Waialua Sugar Mill to enjoy with coffee

Haupia Chocolate Cream Pie. And I’ll just leave you with that to think about. If you ever go to Oahu do not miss a tour with Hawaii Food Tours, they also have other tours in Honolulu, check out their website (link at top of post) to see what’s available.