The Ultimate Guide to Honolulu Restaurants for Summer 2021

After a year of some of Honolulu’s best takeout meals, packaged as prettily as special occasion jewelry, chef-owner Anthony Rush recently reopened Senia for dine-in.

The renewed menu speaks of spring, like an agnolotti with truffles and English peas, alongside larger plates of porchetta with smoked apple jam. Don’t miss Mimi Mendoza’s desserts, unexpected and delicate pairings of western ingredients with Southeast Asian tropical flavors, as in strawberry and rhubarb atop a pandan cake, and soursop and sorrel sorbet. 

Bar Leather Apron, always known for its cocktails but not necessarily the food, just upgraded its bar bites by bringing on Colin Hazama and his tea-smoked duck bao and kimchi clam dip. Toast this new pairing in the intimate bar with the mai tai (reserve a seat at the bar for the full theatrics) that’s more mysterious and seductive than the sunny ones elsewhere. Whisky features in cocktails from the robust (Leather Soul with tobacco) to effervescent (Big Boss highball with calamansi and chile pepper water), though other spirits, such as a locally-distilled agricole rum, also make appearances. Or don’t — a new mocktail menu includes a lapsang souchong and mandarin orange drink. 

Since Fête opened five years ago, its wine list and meaty entrees — twice-fried chicken and kochujang-marinated steak, to name a few — along with one of Honolulu’s classiest dining rooms, have been the main draws. And now, more reasons: chef-owner Robynne Maii’s recent seafood specials shine a light on Hawaii’s local fish (a surprising rarity on most menus), from the flaky, sweet-fleshed opakapaka in a nishime broth to mahi with achiote and a tomatillo sauce. 

2 N Hotel St,, Honolulu. More info here.

Summer means grilling. Do it northern Chinese style at Honolulu Skewer House, where skewers of spicy cumin lamb, pork-wrapped enoki mushrooms, bean curd and cilantro rolls, mantou (Chinese steamed bread — dip it in the side of condensed milk) and more cook over a tabletop grill. Some even spin automatically for an even sear. It’s like having your own personal Beijing street vendor. 

567 Kapahulu Ave., Unit 1A, Honolulu. More info here.

The first U.S. outpost of this Hokkaido-based tonkatsu restaurant gives whole new meaning to pork and cabbage. The pork loin tonkatsu, breaded in panko made with bread from a local bakery, emerges from copper pots of hot oil somehow much lighter than fried pork has any right to be. And then there’s the side of cabbage, the crude vegetable transformed into ethereally thin threads. It comes with every meal and is unlimited—it might be the first time you’ve asked for seconds of cabbage. 

449 Kapahulu Ave., Honolulu. More info here.

When a butcher (Jason Chow) and baker (Harley Tunac) team up, you get a longanisa croissant and pork floss and scallion danish, all of it made in house. The Local General Store pops up in Kaimuki Superette on Sundays with a butcher case of local meats and a pastry case of sweet and savory treats, from croissants to quiches to cakes incorporating local fruits like guava and real ube. The selection changes each week— preorder a pastry box, or get there right when it opens at 9 a.m. before items start selling out.

3458 Waialae Ave., inside the Kaimuki Superette, Honolulu. More info here.

For the first time in more than 30 years, sake is brewing in Hawaii again. Chiaki Takahashi opened Islander Sake Brewery a little over a year ago and now offers sake by the bottle, glass, and tasting flights so you can compare notes on a daiginjo made with rice from Hokkaido and a ginjo made with grains from California. But the best sake experience is through the ever-changing multi-course — but very homey — dinner with pairings. Sake in some form is in every dish, as with the salmon marinated in sakekasu (what’s leftover after the sake is pressed out) and a black sesame sakekasu pudding.

753 Queen St., Honolulu. More info here.

While many Thai restaurants in Honolulu are owned by Laotians, Olay’s is the only one to highlight Laotian food on its menu. From the Taste of Laos section, order Lao sausages, stuffed with lemongrass and pork skin, and the khao poon, a curry noodle soup with ground pork, fresh veggies and more pork skin. Pro tip: Olay also has one of Honolulu’s most inviting outdoor courtyards, lush and sparkly-lit. (And it’s BYOB.)

66 N Hotel St., Honolulu. More info here.

Few restaurants meld native Hawaiian food with modern influences as well as Mud Hen Water. For brunch, that means dishes such as fish and poached eggs atop lu‘au (taro leaves rendered into a creamed spinach consistency). For dinner, it means buttered ulu with Chinese fermented black bean and a venison shank laulau (the meat wrapped in taro leaves) with a sour poi vinaigrette. 

3452 Waialae Ave, Honolulu. More info here.

For the hot days of summer, order cold noodles from this longtime soba standout, where you’ll find soba unadorned to garnished with uni, ikura and yamaimo. Soba is the draw, but everything else on the menu, from tempura to sashimi, is solid, and it’s BYOB. Also try the less common battera, a box-pressed sushi with marinated mackerel and a thin sheet of kombu.

1610 S King St # A, Honolulu. More info here.

Brandon Lee, who helmed a number of Honolulu’s most popular restaurants, including Piggy Smalls and Artizen by MW, just opened an ice cream stand in Waikiki. Honey furikake and yuzu creamsicle are constants on the menu, as is the Crack Seed Delight sundae — scoops of sweet cream and strawberry ice creams, topped with li hing powder and mochi crunch. Check Instagram for new flavors and to preorder pints.

2490 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu. More info here.