Our hotel includes a 24/7 diner called Mac 24/7, which advertises the Mac Daddy Pancakes - which reminded me of the amazing pancakes I had last year at Ken's in Hilo. Pictures on the walls and in the elevator had me all ready to order them this first morning in Oahu - which I did - then I found out their meant for 4 people. In fact, apparently they'll put your picture on the wall if you can eat them all by yourself in one sitting. I honestly think I'd be up to the challenge (much to Dan's dismay I've recently become convinced I'd be a great competitive eater), but the idea of feeling overly full and probably sick to my stomach while on vacation wasn't a selling point - so I chose again. Instead, I opted for two eggs over-medium, some whole wheat toast, home fries, and Portuguese sausage (plus a slice of bacon Dan traded me for some sausage).
After a trip out to the amazing Bishop Museum, we hopped off TheBus (that's what their bus system is called here) at Royal Hawaiian Ave and headed for the 'Pink Palace' (aka the Royal Hawaiian Hotel). Right on Waikiki Beach, it's a classic hotel and one of the nicest in Oahu - arguably THE nicest. Dan had read that they have a bar right on the beach called, simply, Mai Tai, and it unsurprisingly serves a variety of types of their namesake cocktail.
I chose the garden mai tai, which came with a lychee garnish (among other deviations from the classic recipe), and Dan had the 'scratch' mai tai, which was a traditional version.
As luck would have it, the bar menu also featured exactly the thing we were hoping to devour for lunch today - kalua pork nachos. They were salty and smokey and delicious, and exactly what we needed to replenish our energy midday while watching folks surf and swim and run around on Waikiki Beach.
After a rest at the hotel, we grabbed a beer at Hula's bar & Lei Stand (a gay bar inside a hotel just down the street), then went to the Marriot for some dinner at Sansei Sushi.
We had an interesting, but tasty roll of Ume (pickled plum) and Shiso (an herb), as well as a panko crusted ahi with spinach instead of rice, the Sansei special (which featured crab), and as a gift from our sushi chef, Greg, some spicy tuna rolls (there was some confusion about our order, probably because I don't speak loudly enough when ordering).
Dan decided we ought to celebrate with some champagne, so we picked up a bottle at the ABC store, and when we got back to the hotel we got a couple of the infamous cupcakes that Mac 24/7 makes. We had hoped for more options, but had to settle with the Devil's Food Cupcake with Peanut Butter filling - which was tasty, but we had our hearts set on the Haupia or Pineapple Upside Down cupcakes. Regardless, the cupcakes were gigantic (we ended up sharing one, and saving the other for a later day). We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view of Oahu at night before heading to bed.
(Dan's writing all about our trip over at our other blog, The Dans In Hawai`i, so I'll just stick to writing what I know: food.)
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