Molokai Dining

The following article, closely adapted from an article provided by the Molokai Visitors Association in Hawaii, provides an overview of Molokai's many dining possibilities. Read our overview of Molokai as a honeymoon destination on our Hidden Hawaii Honeymoon page.

If you are like most visitors to Moloka’i, one of the first things you'll want to do is stock up on groceries (not that you can't dine out in Moloka’i, as we'll soon see). To do that, you'll want to head into downtown Kaunakakai—which is one block long.

Built during the ‘30s, the town looks something like the set for a movie Western that never got made. Your first reaction might be, “My gosh, there’s nothing here!” But the opposite is true; you can find everything in Kaunakakai. This fact is invisible from the street but obvious the minute you step into any one of the shops, which are crammed with the essentials of Moloka’i life.

There are two fully stocked groceries, Misaki’s and Friendly Market, plus a smaller place called Oviedo’s that specializes in Filipino food and serves the best roast pork in the state. Take’s Variety supplies everything from hammers to hose bibs, from Boggle games to bike parts. Moloka’i Drugs is a full-service pharmacy where people take the time to talk with you about your prescription. And there are several places to buy made-on-Moloka’i gifts, including Moloka’i Fish And Dive, which is packed to the rafters with fishing and camping gear, hats, tee-shirts, and curiosities. Moloka’i Wines ‘N Spirits is a total surprise—a great place to pick up a top-rated Cabernet, a ten-year-old Madeira, or a block of Roquefort cheese.

The wise visitor will do the food shopping immediately. The town is essentially closed on Sundays, and all of Moloka’i goes to sleep every day at sundown. Most accommodations assume that you’ll adopt this rural tempo—that you’ll set up a temporary home in an isolated location and wrap yourself in the splendid silence of the island.

But you don’t have to become a recluse when you visit Moloka’i. You can dine out for every meal and scarcely repeat yourself in a week.

Kaunakakai’s main street, Ala Malama Avenue, offers many options for a “local style” lunch. Oviedo’s is an authentic Filipino eatery. Kanemitsu Bakery serves diner-style breakfast and lunch—and people start lining up outside its door at 10 p.m. for the bakery's world-famous bread, hot out of the oven. Big Daddy’s is good for bento (Japanese box lunch), poke (raw fish in marinade), and shave ice (island-style snow cones), then for a brief period in the late afternoon does a brisk business in Chinese take-out.

At one end of the street, the tiny Sundown Deli offers made-to-order sandwiches and good soup; at the other end, Outpost Natural Foods provides organic, vegetarian dishes at its daytime window. Nearby Moloka’i Drive Inn does fast-food service with Hawaiian-style “plate lunches.”

The town also has two good-sized restaurants that stay open through the dinner hours. Moloka’i Pizza Cafe is a bright, friendly place, no alcohol, with an extensive menu—not just excellent pizzas but also chicken and ribs, sandwiches and pies. The Oceanfront Dining Room at Hotel Moloka’i offers comfortable seaside dining, breakfast-lunch-and-dinner every day. On Sunday nights they lay out a paniolo (cowboy) barbecue buffet. On Wednesdays they serve “theme” buffets (Thai, lu’au, Mexican, Italian…). Better yet, this is a great place to hear live music. The “Aloha Friday” gathering (each week from four to six pm) is one of the island’s best traditions. Two dozen or more kupuna (elders) come together for a jam session of favorite songs, hula, laughter, and plenty of aloha spirit. Wise visitors will want to soak up this experience of Hawai‘i “as it was.”

Outside of town, your eating choices get rarer, but they’re just as diverse.

The east end of the island has defied civilization. It’s a place for hiking, horse-back riding, and hunting for castaway beaches. Out here, when your appetite starts to howl, you head for the Neighborhood Store near mile 16. The service window features burgers and shoyu chicken, saimin and stir-fry plates, floats and shakes.

North of town, in the upland area called Kala‘e, you have two choices. Moloka’i Coffee Plantation makes a stop for light lunch or snack—bagels, croissants, and salads along with hundred-percent Moloka’i coffee. Next door, the popular Kamuela’s Cookhouse serves hearty island food for breakfast and lunch (great homemade pies).

The west end of the island, remote as it seems, is scarcely more than a dozen miles from Kaunanakai. You have two dining choices here the small town of Maunaloa, site of Moloka’i’s triplex movie theater and the island’s most elegant accommodation, the Lodge and Beach Village at Moloka’i Ranch. One of these, situated next to the theater, is the Paniolo Café, a new place that serves hefty, high-quality plate lunches. If you find yourself looking for food late in the day, after Kaunakakai shuts down, come out here; they serve take-out food till 7:30.

The other restaurant in Maunaloa is the island’s finest—the Maunaloa Room at the Lodge and Beach Village at Moloka’i Ranch. Here you experience high-end dining at a scale appropriate to this unique island. The chef has designed “Moloka’i regional” cuisine, and the restaurant’s decor harmonizes with the Lodge’s beautifully stated theme as a luxury ranch house.

In short, you won’t go hungry on Moloka’i. Better yet, no matter where you eat, from the Maunaloa Room to the Neighborhood Store, you’ll be mingling with the people of the island. Over half of them are native Hawaiians, and all of them are unreservedly proud of being Molokaian.

They’re proud of their crime-free community and proud of their freedom from the noise and ambitions, the buildings and appliances of modern life. They’re notoriously friendly, but not so much outgoing as they are simply curious. After all, if you’re on the island, they’re going to make one assumption about you—for the time being, even if only for a day, you’re a Moloka’ian, too.
 

Last Updated: February 19, 2005