Winter Getaway to Kauai: Part 11 – Shave Ice Bigger Than Your Face and More Yummy Meals!

May 9, 2014 By Meghan Hunter

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Emily Jablon: Daraius and I went to Maui, Hawaii in March 2013. We loved Hawaii so much that we decided to return, but this time to Kauai. Kauai is more laid back and less built-up than Maui.

Eating In And Around The Grand Hyatt Kauai — Shave Ice at Jo-Jo’s

We went to Kauai over Valentine’s Day week, which made for a very romantic getaway. Using our miles and points made it even better!

Winter Getaway to Kauai – Trip Report Index:

Eating In and Around the Grand Hyatt, Kauai

We listed the restaurants by location:

South Kauai Restaurants (Near the Grand Hyatt, Kauai)

Grand Club Breakfast Lounge
Ilima Terrace, the casual dining restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Kauai
Puka Dogs
Kalapaki Beach Hut
Josselin’s Tapas
Savage Shrimp
Living Foods Market
Brick Oven Pizza
Craving Thai
Sueoka’s Snack Shop
Koloa Mill
Papalani Gelato

East Kauai Restaurants

West Kauai Restaurants

North Kauai Restaurants

The Tavern

West Kauai Restaurants

Paco’s Tacos

For lunch on our way to Waimea Canyon, we stopped at Paco’s Tacos.

Here’s their menu.

It was a small place with tables and benches outside of the restaurant. There was no indoor seating, which was fine with us. We wanted to enjoy the fresh air.

Daraius ordered the ceviche, and I got a cheese enchilada with chips and guacamole.

I really liked my cheese enchilada, but the guacamole could have been better. Daraius really liked his ceviche, and it was his 2nd best meal in Kauai (Puka Dog was our favorite!).

Jo-Jo’s Shave Ice

We were in mood for shave ice, so we stopped at Jo-Jo’s. There was another (fake) Jo-Jo’s nearby, so don’t get confused!

They had a large menu…

…but I did not see any natural flavors. The natural syrup really makes a difference!

The employee prepared the shave ice.

And the result was shave ice big enough for a family of four!

We went for a walk around the neighborhood while we enjoyed our treat. We found a boardwalk so decided to check it out.

It was a pretty spot.

There was no one on the beach.

We walked to the end of the boardwalk.

We were so happy to be here!

North Kauai Restaurants

We only made it up to the North side once because of the rainy days.

The Tavern

Daraius made reservations at The Tavern for Valentine’s Day. He heard the sunsets here were spectacular because you could see the sun setting across a perfectly manicured golf course.

The restaurant is located on the North side in Princeville, which is a 1.5 hour drive from the Hyatt. We didn’t mind driving because the drive was mostly along the ocean. So we enjoyed the views and seeing how the locals lived.

Unfortunately, it rained pretty heavily on Valentine’s Day, so there was no sunset to be seen. However, it was still a pretty view.

We ordered macaroni and cheese for our starter.

Daraius had the Tavern burger which came with fries…

…and I had the fried chicken.

And we each had a hand crafted soda. I chose strawberry and Daraius had lychee and guava. We both agreed that my strawberry was the best, but I thought his lychee was a close second!

The fried chicken was okay, and the burger was pretty good. The restaurant didn’t break into our top 3, but it may be worth it to see the sunset.

East Kauai Restaurants

Korean BBQ

During our adventure with Trixie, we stopped for Korean BBQ.

Here’s the menu:

There were lots of places to sit, but we had the dog so we ordered our meal to go.

Daraius got the combo platter.

Trixie liked it, too.

Mermaids Cafe

I went to Mermaids Cafe for lunch.

They specialize in fish, but due to my allergy, I got a chicken satay wrap.

The wrap was good and it was a welcome change from the heavy meats and fried foods I’ve been eating.

I was amused by the sign hanging outside.

I guess somebody just lost $10!

Hamura’s Saimin

Daraius heard that Hamura’s Saimin had the best authentic noodle soup on the island, so we decided to try it out!

The restaurant had diner style seating.

It was a very busy restaurant, and we almost couldn’t find a place to sit!

They had a small menu that specialized in saimin, a noodle soup.

Daraius ordered the Specialty Saimin.

I decided to skip eating my dinner here because of my fish allergy.

The soup came with vegetables, won ton, boiled egg, roast pork, fishcake (see why I skipped it?), green onions, and chopped ham.

In addition, he ordered a Teriyaki chicken skewer.

I ordered the lilikoi chiffon pie, made with passion fruit juice.

Hee-Fat General Store

We stopped at the Hee-Fat General Store for shave ice.

Here’s the menu:

The shave ice counter was in the back of the general store.

I got a regular with 2 flavors: fresh mango and strawberry. We also ordered it with a free scoop of macadamia nut ice cream. We found the coupon in the free coupon ad books that are given away, so keep a look out! A scoop costs $1.50.

The shave ice was amazing! I LOVED the fresh fruit syrup on the ice, and the ice was so soft and smooth. I liked it with the ice cream because it got creamy towards the end, but I think it would be good either way.

Bottom Line

We loved Hawaiian Shave Ice so much, we had to try it twice. But Trixie highly recommends the Korean BBQ!

Paco’s Tacos was our 2nd favorite meal on this trip.

We had fun trying the wide variety of foods at the local Kauai restaurants. And we were sad when we had to leave the beautiful island of Kauai…

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