Full transcript
0:00quarter pound of the spicy tuna another
0:02bag of happiness
0:05oh this is one of the best
0:06[Music]
0:13i hope you're having an amazing day it's
0:15mark wiens i'm in honolulu hawaii and in
0:17this video i'm going to take you on a
0:19honolulu food tour we're going to eat at
0:20some of the classic
0:22really local hawaii honolulu restaurants
0:25and hole in the walls we're on our way
0:26first to eat breakfast
0:30[Music]
0:44okay we have just arrived to the first
0:46location the first restaurant this is a
0:48place that i've been wanting to come for
0:50a while now and it is on the back side
0:53of the airport there are lots it's kind
0:56of an industrial era there's lots of car
0:58rentals there are warehouses there are
1:00airport hangars the restaurant is called
1:02joe's girl express you step in here you
1:05can smell all of the breakfast meats
1:07specifically spam and bacon
1:10filling this entire room they do have a
1:12full menu but they really specialize in
1:14breakfast so they serve breakfast
1:16throughout the day and they open really
1:18really early here uh i'm gonna order a
1:20classic something you have a breakfast
1:23you have to eat when you come to hawaii
1:26[Music]
1:32as you're waiting you can get a cup of
1:34coffee
1:37[Music]
1:42yeah the coffee is pretty weak but it is
1:44free coffee
1:50i got my styrofoam box full of loco moco
1:52and what you can
1:56seasoning station let's take a quick
1:58look at what's inside a little peeker
2:02that's a beauty
2:03[Music]
2:16a lot of people take out but they do
2:17have uh including a bar counter seating
2:20and they do have some tables as well and
2:22something that i immediately love about
2:23this place is that it seems like they
2:25have a lot of loyal a lot of people that
2:28keep coming back for more we already got
2:30a sneak preview of it but let me do
2:33another grand opening of the foam box oh
2:37and that little puff of steam comes out
2:39let me officially introduce you to the
2:41special loco moco at joe's grill express
2:44starting from the bottom it's a whole
2:45bed of white rice and then over on this
2:48side this is the classic loco moco it's
2:49brown gravy there's a hamburger patty
2:51underneath there over on this side we've
2:53got the macaroni salad a scoop of
2:54macaroni salad and then on this side a
2:57couple pieces of fried spam which is is
3:01classic and then finally a duo of just
3:04perfectly
3:05nestled together a twin of runny eggs
3:09okay i'm gonna first start with the
3:10hamburger patty on that brown gravy
3:11that's calling my name for the first
3:13bite
3:14and get some of that brown
3:16gravy with some other rice
3:19the hamburger patty oh yes
3:33it's comfort food that's a hamburger
3:35patty you can taste the onions
3:37which are minced up in the in the
3:40minced beef and then you've got just a
3:42subtle
3:43it's just absolutely comforting ground
3:45gravy paired with that
3:47that white rice oh yes oh that's exactly
3:50how an egg should be just let it run and
3:53a little bit of the white in there let
3:55it all seep into the rice and the
3:57hamburger below
4:00the patty below you want to use that
4:02rice that you want to use that egg and
4:03yolk fully to just coat everything
4:07oh yes
4:09it just never runny yolks or something
4:11that just never get old
4:18[Music]
4:21that takes the whole
4:22styrofoam box to the next level all of
4:25that runny yolk over everything spam is
4:27very popular in hawaii it's something
4:29that i grew up eating and and loving but
4:31i haven't eaten it that much recently uh
4:34but the spam is sliced thinly and then
4:37uh it is just fried so you get that
4:38little bit of a golden edge on the
4:40outside
4:43yeah spam is delicious and
4:45what i'm immediately just having taking
4:47a couple bites of this special local
4:49moco here at joe's what i love about it
4:52is that you've got the best of
4:53everything so
4:55times you could get a breakfast plate
4:57anywhere in hawaii that includes spam
4:59and eggs and rice
5:00but then the dilemma is do you want the
5:03local moco
5:04this has a little bit of everything so
5:06you have the local moco you have the
5:07hamburger patty you have the eggs you
5:08have the spam and the bonus of macaroni
5:10salad so you've got
5:12it
5:13it helps you with your your breakfast
5:14decisions max salad looks pretty good
5:18[Music]
5:21it has a little bit of a sour vinegary
5:23flavor to it yeah it's really really
5:25sticky really mayonnaisy it almost
5:27tastes like a coleslaw and i may as well
5:29pop that yolk
5:32oh and just let it run
5:34okay some of the hamburger and get some
5:36of the brown gravy
5:38i gotta get a piece of the spam
5:40in our new series or maybe i'll top the
5:43entire bite with a piece of the spam
5:49[Music]
6:00i really like their hamburger patty here
6:06thank you very much that's the type of
6:08breakfast that can kind of do you in for
6:11the day after eating that you want to
6:13just like rest and relax and just take a
6:17nap until dinner uh but anyway we have
6:19lots more food to eat
6:22definitely a big thumbs up for joe's
6:24grill express the next place that we're
6:26going is one of my all-time favorite
6:27places to eat in honolulu period
6:36there's almost nothing that makes me
6:38happier in honolulu than coming to
6:42alicia's market this is a place i've
6:45been coming to for years i originally
6:47came here once with my cousin we loved
6:49it so much and and every time i come
6:52back to hawaii every time i'm visiting
6:53relatives family in honolulu this is a
6:56place i
6:58there it's absolutely mandatory there's
7:00no way i can miss eating at alicia's and
7:03i actually didn't know if i was gonna
7:04come here on this video in this food
7:06tour but i looked at the map it's only
7:08six minutes away from where we ate which
7:10is where we just had breakfast uh so i
7:12thought yeah we just have to stop here
7:14and eat this is such a classic place
7:16it's such an amazing place and i just
7:18met with the owner
7:20he said he watches our videos and he's
7:22going to bring out a couple samples all
7:23the roast meat over here and then in the
7:25giant fridge they just have like an
7:28insane amount of different pokes uh
7:31different marinated seafood and they
7:33also have a full
7:35convenience store you can buy they even
7:37have fresh vegetables and all sorts of
7:39stuff in here you can buy your beverages
7:42you can buy instant noodles
7:44uh but really the majority of people
7:46come here for the pre-cooked food and
7:48that's what you should come here for too
7:50are you traveling
7:52yeah travel around and eat
7:55yeah
7:56thank you
7:57thank you i'm doing some sampling here
7:59this is the spicy aji
8:03it's awesome
8:05it's so good oh thank you man which one
8:07is this
8:10okay another poke example with wasabi
8:14and it's also covered in the masala
8:16which is
8:17the tiny fish
8:20but the fish is so pure show your poke
8:24show you poke
8:26yeah they're all stunning thanks man
8:28thank you man thank you so much nice to
8:30meet you chris awesome all right man
8:32have a great day i look forward to
8:33seeing all your videos man thank you
8:34thank you
8:40i just met chris yeah
8:42he was watching your video thank you
8:45very much
8:47i got a lot more food than i had
8:49anticipated and i'm very okay with that
8:53[Music]
9:11they have no seating at alicia so it's
9:13all take away but the dilemma is that
9:16you don't want to wait very long before
9:18you start eating whatever you bought at
9:19alicia's because it's so tempting so i
9:22just drove to ala moana here now it's
9:24just a 10 minute drive from alicia's and
9:27i think this rock right here
9:29is the perfect place to start eating
9:31okay so here's what happened i ordered
9:33just the hawaiian plate but then chris
9:36he hooked me up with all of these extra
9:38meats oh man so this turned into a
9:40little bit of a an alicia's market meat
9:42feast which it always turns into i gotta
9:44begin with some of this meat oh it's
9:46roasted
9:48beautifully oh
9:52oh that's unbelievable it's so smoky
9:55chinese hawaiian american smoky barbecue
10:00tenderness you know that's gonna be
10:01insane flavor with all that fat mixed in
10:03and for this bite i will dip it into the
10:05horseradish dressing sauce
10:13oh wow
10:15that is so fatty
10:17but that fat is where the flavor comes
10:19from it melts in your mouth if you are a
10:21meat lover you could just keep on
10:23snacking on this meat like like candy
10:26i went with just a little bit of poke
10:28which is the limu poke with this kind of
10:30seaweed on it which is one of the
10:32classic types of poke
10:33just because i had to try it it's so
10:35good
10:37oh man
10:40it's just outrageous
10:42what i love about that so much is that
10:44the textural difference you literally
10:47don't need teeth to eat the tuna your
10:50teeth slice through it
10:51like a knife
10:53slicing through a block of butter and
10:55i'm talking about
10:56a chunk of butter that's not
10:58refrigerated some of the chassis
11:01that's like sticky gooey
11:03caramelized
11:05smoky really fatty pork yeah it's very
11:08tasty i'm getting a little bit attacked
11:10by flies here they all want a taste of
11:12the meat another thing that i ordered
11:14that i wanted to taste here is the
11:15turkey tail
11:19[Music]
11:21okay
11:23i got a little bone
11:26[Music]
11:28kind of like some strange bones in there
11:31but the flavor is awesome i think i
11:33tasted all of the essential meats it's
11:34time to now move on to the hawaiian
11:36platter okay first i'll go ahead and
11:37unwrap the
11:39the laulau this is one of my personal
11:41favorite hawaiian dishes i love the
11:43laulau these are taro leaves um and i'm
11:46not sure if there's fish in here or if
11:47it's pork
11:48oh
11:50but the combination oh that's oh and
11:53that would be fat
11:54oh oh the combination
11:58of this dish is what i love so much
12:05oh
12:10one of my favorite hawaiian dishes it's
12:12so good
12:13it's nutty the leaves are very nutty i
12:15think it's pork on the inside it's just
12:16like fall apart tender smoky you can
12:18tell that it's been cooked for a very
12:20long time it literally disintegrates
12:22and kind of melts into the leaves got
12:24the kalua pig
12:25look at that beautiful golden color
12:30nice and smoky ah this is minced
12:33salmon uh smoked salmon along with
12:35tomatoes and there are some onions in
12:36here as well
12:40it has a balance you got the salty
12:42salmon
12:43you've got the juicy refreshing tomatoes
12:44and then you've got the
12:46more pungent flavor of the onions all
12:48blending together all meshed together
12:50this rice would accompany everything
12:52very well but since i already had a
12:53bunch of rice for breakfast i decided to
12:56go pour
12:56and i don't know where my spoon went so
12:58i'll just eat it with my chopsticks and
13:00poi is the hawaiian staple of pounded
13:02taro it's very thick it's a little bit
13:04sticky it's very hearty it's very
13:06very nourishing
13:08[Music]
13:12i'm a huge fan of poy it's really
13:14filling it's really thick
13:16it has a sticky texture
13:18it has a sour taste a little bit starchy
13:20as well because of that taro
13:23[Music]
13:28because you can taste the maybe cumin in
13:30there a little bit you can taste the
13:32spice in there it's tangy it's a little
13:33bit sweet and salty all at the same time
13:35alicia's does everything extraordinarily
13:37well but they're roast meats you don't
13:38want to miss their roast meats they're
13:40out of controllably good
13:43[Music]
13:51just arrived this is another one of the
13:53legendary one of the iconic places to
13:56eat poke when you're in honolulu you can
13:58park if they have parking right in the
14:00front but i thought we have a little
14:01more space and you can actually
14:02legally park at the church
14:05on certain days to go to tamashiro
14:08market home of the finest seafoods this
14:11is the spot it's right on the corner of
14:13king street and palama street and i have
14:15great memories of tamashiro market my
14:17uncle
14:19formerly when we would ever have family
14:21get-togethers and still
14:23he comes here to buy poke for take away
14:25and brings it back so i've been eating
14:28their poke since i was a kid to
14:29vegetables you can get your cabbage you
14:32can get all sorts of bananas they're
14:34chilis they're star fruit there's
14:36coconuts but keep walking to the back
14:38and you'll get to the seafood section
14:40this is another classic hawaii this is
14:44an icon in honolulu and they have all
14:47the different pokes lined up you can
14:49choose whatever you want they also have
14:50a very limited menu of plate lunches and
14:53then over on
14:55this side of the market is where they
14:56sell all the fresh fish so you can buy
14:58fresh fish to take home
15:00they have a really good selection of
15:01everything here quarter pound of the
15:03spicy tuna
15:11a quarter pound of the
15:12shoyu pokemon can i get a half pound of
15:14opihi
15:17[Music]
15:18mark wiens right yes yeah
15:20a watchdog thank you very much
15:23thank you very much
15:28another bag of happiness
15:30this is the place right here it's really
15:32an amazing place if you want to buy raw
15:34fresh fish to bring home to cook
15:36yourself or make your own sashimi make
15:37your own poke or you can buy all the
15:40pre-made stuff and the pre-made stuff is
15:41top-notch
15:46[Music]
15:51gotta begin with a spicy tuna poke
15:54this is one of the best
16:01oh
16:04it's so good just a tiny bit spicy what
16:06i really like is they add a little bit
16:08of the flying fish row the small
16:11fish eggs and even though it looks like
16:13a little bit it provides a totally
16:15different texture so you can
16:18you slice through
16:19the piece of fish with your teeth but
16:21then you get these little beads that
16:23just kind of provide a little tiny tiny
16:26crunch to to contrast the softness of
16:28that fish okay next up for the shoyu
16:30poke but this is also limu there's lumu
16:32in here there's onions there's sweet
16:33onions they put the sauce in here this
16:35is another stunner of a poke
16:39oh that's out of control you can tell
16:40how it's fresh because of the texture as
16:42well the texture is buttery smooth
16:44without being slimy
16:47i love the limu the limu
16:49is something that really makes makes it
16:51for poke
16:52the green onions in there
16:54both the white and black sesame seeds
16:56and then the onions i gotta have another
16:57bite
16:58and then also the taco this is something
17:00i wouldn't miss coming here
17:02i love the way
17:03they this is cooked octopus then sliced
17:07thin
17:07and then marinated
17:10oh yeah
17:12yeah
17:13that's excellent
17:16it's really so meaty and then
17:19it is a little bit chewy i mean you have
17:20to like chewiness
17:22but it's not like chewy where you keep
17:23on chewing and it doesn't chew
17:25it's like a mussel and then you can
17:28taste the light flavors on there you can
17:29taste the sesame to taste the green
17:31onions
17:33in hawaiian these are called opihi but
17:36it's a type of limpet it's a sea snail
17:38and they often grow they often are latch
17:41on to rocks
17:43that get bashed by the waves so they're
17:44dangerous to harvest and so that's why
17:46the the price is usually quite high you
17:48can see how there's algae growing on the
17:50shell
17:50[Music]
17:59it's been a while since i've had these
18:01it literally almost has the texture
18:03of a mushroom of a cooked mushroom kind
18:05of that slightly slimy
18:08rubbery but not really
18:10texture
18:12but then you really taste the sea in
18:14these it tastes like you're eating the
18:15ocean but that's delicious they're like
18:17they do they do almost taste like
18:19mushrooms for me or texturally
18:23[Music]
18:27you do have to love seafood but those
18:29are delicious this is the fried fish uh
18:31so you can get a couple of plate lunch
18:33but but they really have a limited
18:34selection it's mostly for takeaway fish
18:36at tamashiro
18:38[Music]
18:39the fish is really neutral tasting it's
18:41a white meat fish it's breaded it's deep
18:43fried
18:44[Music]
18:51the spicy tuna
18:53is absolutely where it's at oh that's
18:56that's stunning
18:58it's the middle of the afternoon right
19:00now this is the perfect time to have a
19:02treat that's often eaten right after you
19:04go to the beach on a hot afternoon
19:08[Music]
19:17welcome to wyola shave ice and this
19:19place really holds a special place in my
19:21heart because
19:22i
19:23have been coming here since i was a kid
19:25my grandmother actually she he used to
19:27live in a house just down the road from
19:29here so every afternoon when i was back
19:31in hawaii visiting family i would walk
19:33down the street i would get shave ice
19:35here at waiola shave ice to me it's
19:37still the best shave ice i haven't been
19:38here in years and it even the looks of
19:40it have changed they've now painted it
19:43blue it used to be just like gray
19:45concrete color uh back when i used to
19:48come
19:48uh but yeah it's always special to come
19:51back jalpia yeah lilikoi
19:54and strawberry cream please
19:58375 faces
20:08[Music]
20:18nice
20:23[Music]
20:32ready
20:34[Music]
20:38[Laughter]
20:44ready
20:45[Music]
20:47[Laughter]
20:49[Music]
20:51this one is lilikoi which is passion
20:53fruit the white one is halpia which is
20:56coconut but more oh my god and then this
20:59one is strawberry cream but you can get
21:01all sorts of flavors and they say that
21:03they make their own syrups in-house at
21:06wyola so
21:07yeah this is quality stuff first of all
21:09just admire that ice
21:12i'll explain
21:18oh yeah
21:19that's what i remember
21:20the best thing about wyola shave ice is
21:22just how fine and how soft the the ice
21:26is like literally impossibly soft okay
21:28micah needs a bite
21:30here you go man
21:33it's like pillowy ice and that to me is
21:36the best thing you've had you've had
21:37shave ice where the ice is like crunchy
21:40where the ice is we have to chew the ice
21:44this ice just immediately it goes from
21:46solid to melting on your tongue
21:49immediately as you take your bite okay
21:50next up is the halpia
21:53okay micah try some strawberry cream
21:59you like it man you like it
22:08they're all three pretty good um
22:11part of the reason i love this place so
22:12much is just because of the memories
22:14that come back to me
22:16eating here but it is also
22:19really good quality shave ice there's
22:21nothing better than being at the beach
22:22on a hot afternoon and then coming to
22:24eat wyola shave ice
22:26or
22:27being out eating all morning and eating
22:29lots of poke and then eating shave ice
22:31is another worthy uh reason to come and
22:33shave ice once it starts melting at the
22:36bottom you can drink the syrup juice
22:39how's that micah
22:42all right one more bite of all three at
22:43once oh mike i just stole the straw the
22:46ice is almost about to melt but it's at
22:48that stage where it's like so fluffy and
22:51airy
22:59it's been a pretty long and very very
23:02successful day of eating so far in
23:04honolulu on this hawaii food tour we've
23:07got one more place to go it's a place
23:08i've never been before but i'm excited
23:10to try and it has a very
23:12unique
23:13very
23:14humorous and awesome name
23:20[Music]
23:35half spicy have to show you thank you
23:38very much every time that i have driven
23:40past this intersection i have seen
23:44a crowd of random people just kind of
23:46standing here
23:48in this empty parking space
23:51people of all walks of life standing
23:53here waiting for korean fried chicken
23:56and you can order half chicken you can
23:57order the whole chicken uh oh yeah and
24:00by the way this place is called ichibat
24:05thank you very much
24:08okay let's go eat some itchy butt
24:12in the open air i couldn't smell it that
24:14much but as soon as i step into the car
24:17the entire car just just
24:20like the aroma fills the entire car it's
24:22actually burning on my lap right now and
24:24you can smell garlic you can smell kind
24:26of that chili
24:28tangy sauce that's probably all over the
24:30fried chicken
24:31oh just a puff of fried chicken steam is
24:35coming out of this box are you ready for
24:36the lift
24:41oh that's just deep fried goodness okay
24:44and there's also i did read that they
24:45serve you a few fried cheese sticks to
24:47go with your fried chicken if you order
24:48a whole chicken that is a lot of deep
24:49friedness let's go spicy first and what
24:52do we have here oh hello drumstick oh
24:55that is burning hot oh my fingers are on
24:57fire right now okay i have to eat it
24:59fast
25:03oh that's so hot oh
25:10oh did you see that steam coming off
25:12that chicken and that dribbled all the
25:14way down my chin
25:16wow that's pretty tasty though the sauce
25:17is a little bit sweet like most korean
25:19fried chicken is um
25:21it is a little bit tangy it's a little
25:24bit spicy uh you can feel the the spice
25:26on your tongue it's not like a real
25:28extreme spiciness but it is a little bit
25:29spicy um
25:32and then the dressing is a little i
25:33think i can taste a lot of garlic in
25:34there as well but what's really good
25:36about this is that it's crunchy and
25:38fresh i think that's that's partly why
25:40it's so good and this is yeah this is a
25:42pretty messy fried chicken because
25:44you're gonna want to get your fingers in
25:45there you're gonna hold it by your hands
25:47you're gonna drip
25:49juices all over your chin like like i
25:51did
25:52um
25:53but it's worth it
25:58[Music]
26:06okay
26:08and my lap is just sweating right now
26:10from this hot fried chicken sitting on
26:11my lap okay let's try the cheese stick
26:14[Music]
26:20and then it feels more like a one ton
26:21wrapper which is deep fried in no that's
26:24just solid cheese in the middle oh
26:26that's awesome
26:29those could get really addictive okay
26:31next up for the shoyu fried chicken
26:34and yeah you can see the peanuts on top
26:36of there
26:37it's in a glazy sauce that's shining
26:41and then just that brown deep fried
26:43crust that brown deep fried skin
26:54oh hey
26:55sorry that's a little messy
26:58but
27:00there's no clean way
27:02to eat this you just gotta go all in
27:04you gotta bite down and see what you get
27:06sometimes
27:08the whole chunk of fried skin will come
27:09off like that it's sweet it's garlicky
27:12it's peanuty i guess it's salty from the
27:14shoyu
27:19there's the taco chicken
27:23you want to lick
27:25all the meat off the bones you want to
27:26lick all the slosh you want to
27:28get all the crunchy bits you want to get
27:30everything off the bones
27:32when you're eating this chicken
27:38oh i need a little fresh air i need a
27:39little i need to air out my shirt after
27:41that
27:42that was itchy butt to end this honolulu
27:45hawaii food tour
27:47the spicy chicken i know i like the
27:49spicy chicken better than to show you
27:50chicken but korean chicken is on a whole
27:52a little bit on the sweet side but that
27:54is a it's really good uh especially i
27:56think it's really good when it's really
27:58fresh so if you order it eat it
27:59immediately get it while it's hot not
28:01quite as hot as it was when i took that
28:03first bite but eat it while it's hot so
28:05i hope this food tour will give you some
28:07ideas about what to eat in honolulu i
28:10will leave all of the links and i'll
28:12leave all of the information in the
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