If you know me at all, you know I love food. I think even if you don’t know me in person but read this blog or follow me on instagram you can tell how much I love food! It’s really a beautiful and horrific, love/hate relationship that I never and always want to end. :)

I’m also, obivously, a vegetarian/vegan. So let’s just label this whole food relationship “it’s complicated”. But alas, finding FRESH food on the North Shore wasn’t difficult, it was the meatless part that was hard. There was plenty of fresh fruit and locally grown vegetables, but not a lot of vegetarian options. (I feel like I get spoiled here in the Bay Area with veggie options!)

I tend to do a lot of research before a big vacation. I look up places to eat, things to do, etc. so that when we get there we can wing it but always have a big list of options, too. This trip was no different, and because I really planned ahead with a big list of places to eat we were rarely disappointed. Here’s a condensed rundown of the places we ate with some not-so-fantastic iphone pictures:

• The Dole Plantation (I already mentioned this one, but definitely go for their fresh cut pineapple and a pineapple whip.)
• Haleiwa Joe’s (they ran out of the veggie option that night (!?!!) so I settled for a hearts of palm salad instead. It was good, but not super filling. We split their macadamia nut ice cream sundae, which was SO GOOD.)
• Surfer, The Bar – this was in Turtle Bay Resort (I got their roasted kula beet & kale flatbread pizza, which I highly recommend. Definitely a smaller portion than Tyler’s huge burger, but the flavors of it were spot-on)
• North Shore Kula Grill – this was in Turtle Bay Resort (I got their roasted kabocha pumpkin fettuccine, and it was pretty good. I don’t know if I’d order it again because it was really heavy. Tyler ordered a short rib hawaiian beef hot pot, and thought it was okay. I’d say we have both eaten better meals for cheaper than what we got here.)
• Kahuku Grill (We went here before the Polynesian Cultural Center and loved it. Definitely spend an extra $1 and get their side salad with papaya dressing. Their fries were round, which was fun, and their burger combinations were unique.)
• The Beet Box Cafe (We got breakfast here one morning, but they also have a lunch menu. It’s all organic vegan and vegetarian, and they have juices, too! My wrap was really, really good – you could tell they use high-quality, fresh ingredients. I wish we had more time to go back again!)
• Kono’s (I got their avocado veggie wrap and was blown away by their papaya dressing. For a place that mainly serves meat dishes, I was pleasantly surprised.)
• Impossible’s Pizza (This is a food truck/van, and wasn’t open the beginning of the week so we almost missed it! We spent $25 to get a goat cheese/maui onion/roasted garlic/spinach pizza that was so big it didn’t even fit inside of the jumbo-sized pizza box. We were really, really happy with the quality and flavors and would highly recommend. The guy running the truck was really nice, too. And no, we didn’t even come close to finishing it.)
• Shark’s Cove Grill (This was perhaps the very best veggie burger I have EVER had. There is something about Taro rolls that really elevate a burger! I wish I knew what else was on it, but I kept telling Tyler, “this is so sooooo good!”)
• Ted’s Bakery (Obviously this is a famous bakery, so we had to try it out. Even though we argued in the store over who got the pineapple macadamia cheesecake, we were sorely disappointed with it at the hotel and it went half uneaten. The chocolate haupia pie was the bomb-diggity.)
• Da Spot (This is basically a garage-turned-restaurant. It was a little gritty with lots of locals. They serve Mediterranean food, which we love. I got the eggplant moussakka, and we both got smoothies. Highly recommend – the smoothies were super cheap and really, really good.)
• Duke’s (We went here right before our flight, on recommendation from my parents. I got their salad bar, which had plenty of vegan options. It was one of our favorite meals of the week, and because all entrees include the salad bar, the prices were actually really reasonable. They treated us to a slice of hula pie for our anniversary, and I can see why they are famous for it! Really, really good. And huge.)

Also, for breakfast every morning the resort wanted $25/person, so we passed on that and stocked up on cereal & almond milk from Foodland instead. (Another tip: we bought plastic spoons and small food storage containers to eat with – but you could totally bring your own! –  and when we had leftovers or wanted to bring a snack along, we already had a container for it. One of the things that I love the most about Tyler is when I pull crazy things like that, he just rolls with it.) :)

So all in all, my picky-eating-self was well-fed and happy the whole week. Hooray!