The Logbook: A Week in Honolulu
Seven days in paradise
Last month, Ruey and I took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to spend a week in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. We enjoyed a cavalcade of excellent food and drinks, in equal amounts, but I’m going to focus here on the cocktails, spirits, and wine to keep the scope manageable. Grab yourself a Mai Tai and let’s dig in.
Waikīkī
Waikīkī was home base, as we stayed right in the middle of it at the imminently recommendable Halepuna (2233 Helumoa Rd, Honolulu). While the area is expectedly buzzy and touristy, I was impressed with how easy it was to get around on foot, and how densely packed nearly every block was with bars and restaurants.
Mai Tai Bar
With dozens of bars within walking distance in Waikīkī, there was plenty to choose from, but typically by the end of the night we found ourselves right back at Mai Tai Bar in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (2259 Kalākaua Avenue, Honolulu). Our first experience here was wandering in right around 5:30 PM on the night we arrived and being immediately entranced by the warm kaleidoscope of colors that is a Honolulu sunset. For the rest of the trip, we took every opportunity to come back and take in some live music and the Waikīkī evening from a beachside table bathed in the glow of the bar’s signature pink lamps.
While the cocktails are a bit secondary to the ambience at Mai Tai Bar, they still showed well. I made a point of trying nearly every Mai Tai on the menu (Vic’s 44, Royal Hawaiian, White Wash, and the Ali’i). I was consistently pleased; they’re made properly, with real juice and no triple sec. However, the standout was the Piña Colada — rich, creamy, and refreshing without being sickly sweet.
Monkeypod Kitchen
For the record, it is possible to walk up the beach from Mai Tai Bar to Monkeypod Kitchen (2169 Kālia Rd, Honolulu), but I wouldn’t recommend it. What looks on Google Maps like a perfectly good walking route is, in reality, a series of disjointed and partially maintained paths around the edge of resorts that includes a waterlogged stairway climb through a drainage outlet. I suggest taking the inland route instead.
Once you make it to Monkeypod, I highly recommend ordering a Monkeypod Mai Tai. The key ingredients are macadamia nut-infused orgeat and liliko’i-honey foam, which lend a depth and decadence that sets it apart. We learned later in the trip that you can also get this Mai Tai at Merriman’s (1108 Auahi Street, Honolulu), which is part of the same restaurant group.
The lowlight at Monkeypod for me was the ambience. It’s trapped inside the Outrigger Resort, which features blindingly bright hallways (think “bright white”, not “warm white”) that contribute to a Vegas-like party atmosphere and make it hard to see the beach or ocean at night. They also had a performer playing country music covers, which were fun and competently played, but just aren’t what I’m looking for in my Mai Tai sipping environment.
House Without a Key
Tucked inside the historic Halekulani hotel is the equally historic House Without a Key (2199 Kālia Rd, Honolulu). The oceanfront dinner-and-a-show establishment was a frequent hangout for Ernest Hemingway, who certainly knew how to pick a good cocktail spot. From our room at the Halepuna sister hotel across the street, we were able to catch a glimpse of the nightly shows at House Without a Key, visible as a patch of light against the backdrop of a majestically crooked 130-year-old kiawe tree.
Reservations at House Without a Key can be tricky to come by, but fortunately we secured a table for our last night in Honolulu. When we sat down, we were presented with a cocktail menu that details the history behind each drink — a nice touch. I had to start with an Earl’s Daiquiri, as I imagine Hemingway probably would have had one or two (or ten) daiquiris when he visited. It was a well-made, refreshing daiquiri, but I found myself quickly drawn to the Hau Blossom that Ruey had ordered. It’s an ambitious balance of sweet (guava and agave), sour (lemon), salty (saline), spicy (cayenne), and umami (sesame oil) that totally works.
For a second round, I tried the Yellow Umbrella, a reference to the hotel’s single yellow-colored umbrella — meant to stand out among a sea of white umbrellas and welcome you back to the Halekulani. With tequila, mezcal, liliko’i, and coconut matcha syrup, it was a refreshing collection of tropical-leaning flavors.
Sunsets by Kirkland Signature™
An honorable mention in the Waikīkī area goes to cocktail hour and gorgeous sunsets on our room’s lānai. Early in the trip we secured a half-case of wine from Costco Wholesale (525 Alakawa St, Honolulu), which stretched the hotel mini fridge to its limits and provided liquid accompaniment to Honolulu’s nightly natural light show. A standout among the Costco haul was the Kirkland Signature Premier Cru Chablis, an absolute steal at $19. It was crisp and clean with nice acidity, lemon, and stone fruit. Less compelling was the Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($12), which was watery and lacked depth.
Chinatown
Apparently Honolulu’s Chinatown district is going through something of a renaissance, because it’s hands-down the best place to go for great restaurants and craft cocktail bars, even if it does sometimes feel a bit sketchy at night.
Skull & Crown Trading Co.
A standout not just among Honolulu bars, but among tiki bars worldwide, Skull & Crown Trading Co. (62 N. Hotel Street, Honolulu) delivered on all fronts — creative, well-crafted drinks; immersive ambience and decor; friendly, attentive service; and delicious food. It’s just a lovely spot to be in and drink in. We liked it so much, we went back a second time during the trip.
Cocktails I tried at Skull & Crown included the Dagger Mai Tai (a secret recipe, and quite good), Crystal Skull (a clarified zombie, so good I got it twice), Bird of Paradise (a coffee-tinged Jungle Bird riff), and the Kōloa Colada (a piña colada made from local rums).
We also did the Hawaiian rum flight, featuring Kuleana Hawaiian Rum Agricole, Kō Hana Kea, Kō Hana Koho, Kōloa Kauaʻi Reserve Aged Rum, and Kōloa Kauaʻi Coffee Rum. While I found the Kuleana Agricole and Kō Hana Kea a bit too funky for my taste (as with most agricole rums), they were complex and interesting to sample. The Kōloa Kauaʻi Reserve was excellent, with warm and inviting toasted caramel notes, and the Kōloa Kauaʻi Coffee was a very tasty dessert-like finisher.
EP Bar
The concept for EP Bar (1150 Nuuanu Ave Unit A, Honolulu) is painfully hip: they serve highballs and play nothing but vinyl records on an old-school sound system. However, I can’t deny that I am 100% here for it. When we wandered in on a Monday night, they were spinning vinyl exclusively from local Hawaiian artists and the crowd seemed to be mostly people from the local bar and restaurant industry.
Easily the most memorable drink of the night was the Pho Us By Us, a pho-flavored (yes, you read that right) highball made with green chile vodka, sake, pho spice, lemon, and soda. It managed to both taste absolutely like pho and be an enjoyable highball, which seems like no small feat. Aside from that, I also enjoyed the EP Highball (Japanese whiskey, lemongrass, yuzu, club soda) and Kyoho Highball (Glenmorangie scotch, grape, elderflower, club soda).
On the non-highball front, the Big Body Buttery (brown butter fat washed bourbon, toasted almond, aquafaba, lemon) was a decadent dessert cocktail and a great way to end the night. Also, the Beef Jerky Chips from Wu-Tang Jerky were mind-blowing. Made by a local ramen shop, this was the thinnest, crispiest, airiest, melt-in-your-mouth jerky I’ve ever tried.
Fête
A not-so-hidden gem in Chinatown, Fête (2 N. Hotel Street, Honolulu) serves creative, delicious New American fusion cuisine, and they also happen to have a killer cocktail program. We tried the Spicy Kitty, which came in a cute cat-shaped mug and included vodka, yuzu liqueur, chili infused oleo saccharum (a citrusy sugar oil), lemon, shiso leaf, and club soda. It also included a lick-off patch of shichimi togarashi (a seaweed and spice mix) on the cat’s ear to pair with each sip. We also had the Cool Runnings, a sorrel (red hibiscus-based drink) cocktail with galangal-infused rum, lime, lemon, and pineapple. Both cocktails were delicious and demonstrated impressive creativity and boldness, especially for a restaurant drinks program.
Elsewhere
La Mariana Sailing Club
Finally, we had to pay a visit to the legendary La Mariana Sailing Club (50 Sand Island Access Rd, Honolulu). While this bar is a bit out of the way, there’s a good reason for that: it continues to be an active sailing club. It’s surrounded by waterside foliage, with docks extending outward onto the water and a lot of the clientele apparently coming in for a drink after a day working boats.
The prices are low enough to approach dive bar territory (at least by Honolulu standards), but the service is exceptional. I was blown away by how friendly, attentive, and seemingly psychic the waitstaff were. We spent about an hour there before dinner and had a Mai Tai, a Painkiller, and a Singapore Sling. While none of them were mind-blowing, they were solid for the price ($10-12 per drink) and a pleasure to sip while watching the sunset over the docks.
Closing Thoughts
Honolulu is full of great bars, excellent restaurants, and stunning natural beauty. It’s a dense urban city situated in one of the best climates in the world, packed with so much to do, and within minutes of several stunning and spacious beaches. While we ate and drank as much as we could fit in within a week, I know there’s so much more to see and I can’t wait to go back.