This post may contain affiliate links wherein I earn a small commission if you purchase or subscribe to a product from one of my links (at no extra cost to you!). Read my full Privacy Policy here.
Kauai is one of my all-time favorite Hawaiian islands, which is saying something considering I was born and raised on Maui! It really is an island like no other and completely worth your time and money for a visit.
When it comes to its food scene, Kauai, like all of the other islands, offers relatively diverse dining options ranging from food trucks and diners to upscale restaurants clustered in the resort areas. But is Kauai a destination for food lovers?
Someone told me that you don’t really go to Kauai for the food – you go for the scenery and laid back vibes. Look – that’s sort of true. I do think the allure of visiting Kauai is definitely its vintage Hawaii charm, lush landscape, and striking scenic spots like the Na Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, and Hanalei Bay.
Kauai isn’t going to offer you the same level of dining experiences as you might find on Oahu or Maui. But that doesn’t mean culinary gems don’t exist! I’m always up for a challenge to prove any destination can be foodie-friendly. I, without fail, find something good even if I have to work a little harder at it.
I’m happy to report that I’ve truly enjoyed some great spots on Kauai, and my list of eateries to visit is actually so long, I could spend a whole week there just eating!
Keep it casual!
In my professional foodie opinion, Kauai’s dining scene excels with its more casual spots. Yes, there are nice upscale restaurants too. But, you’re going to be paying a premium price at many of them and the menus might leave you uninspired and underwhelmed. I love a good macadamia nut crusted fresh catch as much as the next person, but $50-$60 plates of food like that on repeat can tear into your travel budget real fast!
Don’t be afraid to visit food trucks and some of the old school diners around the island to find good eats at more affordable prices.
Plan Ahead
A few tips for planning when it comes to dining on Kauai:
Pay attention to opening hours. Restaurants tend to close earlier on this island. You may even see some dinner spots close before or around 8 p.m., which is relatively early for a lot of people. Some places might not even be open at all when you expect them to be (like on the weekends!).
Make reservations in advance, especially for dinner. Restaurants here can fill up fast, especially in high season.
Plan to have some cash on hand for casual spots. Most places accept credit cards, but there are a few cash-only eateries!
Where to Eat on Kauai
Here are my picks of where to eat on Kauai, including what items to order at each spot!
Break + Feast
Website | 5460 Koloa Rd A201, Koloa, HI 96756
The best goes first in this guide because if you only visit one restaurant on Kauai, it should be Break + Feast! They are well-known for their brunch, but I got to visit when they ran dinner service (which is sadly no more).
Here, you’ll find find a flavorful, island-inspired menu with their own elevated twists for brunch and lunch. The food here is unique and that’s exactly what I was looking for amongst the weeds.
Though the menu has changed since we visited, I’ll describe some of the dishes we had here to give you an idea of how stellar their menu is:
- Crispy pork belly tinono – a Filipino dish filled with chunks of extra crispy pork belly, fresh tomatoes, onions, and roasted garlic, all tossed in a chili vinaigrette. This dish was umami to the max and one of the best things I ate on Kauai!
- Beef Tomato Short Rib – a take on a classic Hawaiian fusion dish with short rib piled on top of a whole grilled tomato, topped with crispy fried onions, and served in a pool of rich jus.
- Grilled shrimp & mungbean with calamansi garlic gastric and crispy chicharron.
No matter what you order from Break + Feast, I cannot imagine you can go wrong here. Next visit, I will be checking out their brunch and lunch offerings.
The Musubi Truck
Website | Kapa’a, Koloa & Lihue Locations
Musubi is a Hawaii staple and this little handheld food was supposedly invented on Kauai! Inspiration was drawn from Japanese onigiri, which are rice balls wrapped in nori. With the addition of spam (originally brought over from American military personnel during WWII), this salty and satisfying creation was born.
You can find the Musubi Truck churning out different styles of musubi that extend beyond the traditional spam, including their kalbi beef (my personal favorite) and seared ahi. If it’s the OG you’re craving, they do make a good spam musubi here too.
Aside from their OG musubi, the others are much larger in size (which makes sense for the price point). These will definitely fill you up! My husband and I shared three different musubis and were pretty stuffed.
There are three locations of The Musubi Truck around Kauai to get your musubi fix, including in Kapa’a (the original spot), Koloa, and Lihue. Don’t miss this gem!
Kauai Bakery
Website | 3-2600 Kaumualii Hwy, STE 1526, Lihue, HI 96766
Malasadas are another must-try food when visiting Hawaii, especially if you have a sweet tooth.
If you’ve never had a malasada, they are a Portuguese-style donut made popular in Hawaii thanks to Portuguese immigrants during the plantation era. These donuts, made without holes in the middle, range from plain sugar to a variety of different cream-filled delights. I love them all but cream-filled malasadas are my favorite!
Kauai Bakery, located in a shopping center in Lihue, is a popular spot on Kauai for malasadas and other sweet treats.
I tried both their guava-filled and lilikoi-filled malasadas and the lilikoi by far was my favorite. No surprise there as it’s always my favorite flavor of anything! These particular malasadas don’t have the traditional crispy fried texture with sugar coating but instead, are dusted with a little powdered sugar.
My recommendation: skip the guava and just get a couple of lilikoi instead!
Puka Dog
Website | 2100 Hoone Rd, Poipu, HI 96756
Puka Dog is one of the most-recommended spots to eat on Kauai. Anthony Bourdain ate here and my dental hygienist recommended it too (lol). So, of course I had to check it out for myself! I went in with low expectations, as I do with any really hyped-up restaurant, and left pleasantly surprised. Trust in Uncle Tony.
The dogs here at Puka Dog are served in a hollowed out, toasted bun and filled with creamy “secret” lemon garlic sauce (not mayo-based – I asked) ranging from mild to spicy, Auntie Lilikoi’s Hawaiian Mustard (this is a must), and choice of relish.
Our dog: Lava sauce (the spiciest sauce, made with habanero peppers), lilikoi mustard, and pineapple relish. Between the salty Polish dog, the creamy spicy sauce, the tang of the mustard, and sweet from the relish, the perfect bite is created.
And don’t miss the fresh-squeezed lemonade (which I recommend getting with full sugar plus a lilikoi shot). It may be some of the best lemonade I’ve ever had!
Puka Dog is conveniently located right across the street from Poipu Beach (beach day snacks anyone?). There will probably be a line when you get there, but don’t mind that too much as it does go pretty fast.
Kauai Island Brewing
Website | 4350 Waialo Rd, Eleele, HI 96705 (Port Allen)
Going out on a boat tour from Port Allen? Stop at Kauai Island Brewing first! I recommend getting a flight of cold beers and an order of their pork and shrimp lumpia.
The lumpia are really well-seasoned and fried to a perfect crisp, served with a sweet chili dipping sauce. Who knew that pairing lumpia with beer would make a great combo?!
Stevenson’s Library
Website | 1571 Poipu Rd, Koloa, HI 96756 (at The Grand Hyatt)
Stevenson’s Library is a classy literary-themed bar and sushi restaurant located in the Grand Hyatt in Poipu. When we stayed at the hotel, I had to get into one of the restaurants so I could write up a well-rounded review!
Typically, I find hotel restaurants to be overpriced (and Stevenson’s Library is pretty pricey), but I thought we had some good bites of food here that I think make it visit-worthy.
Here’s a brief rundown on everything we ate:
- Hamachi Ponzu: Hamachi is my favorite fish to eat raw, so we always order it if we see it! This was tasty, but I wish the slices of fish were a bit thicker.
- Da Kona Moku Poke: This dish was a runner up in the Kauai poke contest, made with Hawaiian ahi and abalone. The flavor was good, but I was thrown off by the firmer texture of the abalone mixed with the delicate tuna.
- Misoyaki Black Cod: Black cod is a favorite fish of ours, being so soft, delicate, and light. It was a standout dish at Stevenson’s Library!
- Niji Rainbow Roll: A very refreshing sushi roll stuffed with crab, avocado, and cucumber, topped with tuna, salmon, hamachi, ebi, and microgreens.
- A Cocktail of Two Cities: Since this is a literary-themed restaurant and bar (named after Robert Louis Stevenson), I had to pick one of the themed cocktails. This little drink combined Choya yuzu sake, Hendrick’s gin, Giffard orgeat, and Regan’s orange bitters. It was refreshing but also quite acidic – needed some Tums after this one!
My overall recommendations for Stevenson’s Library: cocktails, sushi rolls, and the misoyaki black cod! You’ll also definitely want to make a reservation here in advance.
Parking: If you aren’t staying at the Grand Hyatt itself, I believe the hotel does offer complimentary parking to diners (just pay the valet a tip), or you can park in the self-parking lot (just know it’s a bit of a walk to get to the restaurant from the lot).
Porky’s
Website | 5460 Koloa Rd, Koloa, HI 96756
As you can probably guess by the restaurant name, dishes at Porky’s are all about that pork! Whether you’re getting pulled pork piled high on top of a sausage, layered in a rice bowl, or stuffed into a grilled cheese, your pork fix will be complete here.
My recommendation: get the pulled pork grilled cheese! Ours was piping hot with a perfect, melty cheese pull from the combo of provolone and havarti cheeses.
For balance, their salty and savory grilled cheese has bites of sweet from pineapple chunks sprinkled throughout. I also highly recommend getting the pickled vegetables as your side as I think they complement the sandwich well. Wash it all down with a Hawaiian Sun passion orange juice!
Wishing Well Shave Ice
Website | 5-5080 Kuhio Hwy, Hanalei, HI 96714
You can’t visit a Hawaiian island and not get at least one shave ice!
Wishing Well Shave Ice, located in Hanalei, scoops up quality shave ice with locally-sourced fruit and syrups. They have both organic (at a premium price) and non-organic options for syrups, with different ice creams and toppings offered.
We stopped at Wishing Well while we were wandering around Hanalei and the cold shave ice was much needed on an extremely humid day.
The shave on the ice is really fine here, which is the best! It’s like eating a cloud. There’s nothing worse than a chunky shave ice. However, with the fine shave, it will melt faster so keep that in mind.
I’m always a tropical flavor girl so passion fruit (lilikoi) and guava were my picks, with a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream at the bottom (ice cream is always a must in my opinion).
The shave ice here is, admittedly, pretty expensive (but I honestly find shave ice to be one of the most overpriced desserts in Hawaii in general). The quality here is good though, so I don’t mind overpaying for this treat!
Hanalei Poke
Instagram | 5-5190 Kuhio Hwy, Hanalei, HI 96714
Did you even go to Hawaii if you didn’t eat poke?! I typically like to get my poke from grocery stores (like Foodland), but a stop at a shop that specializes in poke is always a good idea too.
I love how versatile poke can be, with chunks of fresh ahi and different combinations of sauces and ingredients mixed in. The Hanalei Special at Hanalei Poke is one of the more unique combinations I’ve had. They make theirs with chili pepper soy, chili oil, inamona (roasted kukui nut), mango, avocado, and furikake,
I typically prefer my poke without rice (which is saying something because I love my rice!) but the option to have a salad instead was a few dollars more. It’s already pretty expensive at this spot so I took the rice bowl.
Overall, I really enjoyed the unique flavors of the poke here but beware that prices are steep and the wait can be long (probably due to the fact that it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri). Pack your patience and your $$$ for this one!
Hamura Saimin
2956 Kress St, Lihue, HI 96766
Hamura Saimin has been a casual staple in the Kauai food scene since the 1950s. It’s a no-frills saimin shop with retro décor and is cash only, which is completely fitting for the old school vibes that Kauai gives off.
Saimin is a beloved noodle soup created in Hawaii back in the plantation days by immigrant workers, combining influence from many different cultures, including Chinese and Japanese. You might think saimin is reminiscent of ramen, but the broth is typically a lighter and less rich dashi (seafood-based) broth. The noodles are also different but toppings can be similar.
It had been a few years since I had a good bowl of saimin and I was actually quite impressed with Hamura’s bowl of steaming hot soup! I got the Shrimp Saimin with the most light and airy tempura shrimp. When that shrimp is dipped into the hot soup, the crispy batter soaks up the broth for a satisfying bite.
My husband slurped up the Special Saimin, loaded with extras like a hard boiled egg, ham, roast pork, and wontons! It was his first time ever having saimin and he gave it rave reviews.
For dessert, we tried a slice of their lilikoi chiffon pie. If anything has lilikoi on the menu, I’m ordering it! A bite of this pie is like eating air – incredibly light and fluffy! After you’ve filled up on a bowl of saimin, it will be easy to pack this away.
I thought the pie was a little too much on the “eggy” side for me though, and didn’t give the punch of lilikoi flavor I was hoping for. I would have rather spent the extra cash on a savory snack, like a manapua or fried won tons, but I am glad I tried their famous little pie just once.
Pineapple Shack
Instagram | Depot, 3, 2087 Kaumualii Hwy, Lihue, HI 96766 (Kilohana Plantation)
If you plan to visit the Kilohana Plantation, like for a rum tasting at Koloa Rum or a meal at Gaylord’s, you must come to the Pineapple Shack and get a Dole Whip! This frozen pineapple treat is the best thing you could ask for on a hot and humid day. It’s so refreshing.
You don’t actually need to have an activity at Kilohana booked to roll up here – parking is free and you can just visit for the treats at the Pineapple Shack! The Dole Whip is definitely worth the visit here alone.
Kauai Restaurant Wish List
Thanks for reading through my Kauai Food Guide with all of my recs on where (and what) I think you should eat when visiting Kauai!
Here are a few spots that are on my wish list for our next visit. My entire wish list is actually way too long to list here, but these are at the top of the list!
If you’ve been to Kauai before, is there anything else you think I should add to this?
Happy eating!
Leave a Reply