Three of the best places to eat in Hawaii, for every budget – whether you love Spam or not
Hawaiian food is as delicious as it is diverse. From fusion fine dining to comforting fast food, the unique flavours found on Oahu represent the multicultural US state
Japanese-American nutritionist Barbara Funamara started with a simple idea: take a generous triangle of rice, cover it with a layer of cooked Spam (a cheap, canned ham), then wrap it in a sheet of seaweed. This is how the distinctly Hawaiian dish Spam musubi was born in the early 1980s.
In time, the triangle gave way to a rectangle which is now seen all over the 50th State of America, from convenience stores and service stations even through to some of the city’s finer dining establishments.
Some versions fry the Spam in a mix of soy sauce and sugar, others include the Japanese seasoning mix furikake, while countless alternative toppings are on offer.
While it may occasionally be looked down upon by some as a cheap, filling and portable taste of the islands, Spam musubi is hard to beat – and it’s almost certainly one major reason that Hawaii is the state with the highest per capita consumption of the canned luncheon meat.
The dish also reflects a state and cuisine where the food is the result of a unique cultural mix, melding the influences of native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipinos, Koreans and Pacific Islanders.
Hawaii’s state capital, Honolulu, sits on the south coast of Oahu and is the main tourist entry point and undisputed dining capital. Three restaurants at a range of price points show the diversity of the city’s dining scene. We’ll start with arguably the most elegant, Orchids at the Halekulani hotel.