A Local Honolulu Food Crawl Near Pagoda Hotel

Guest post by Sarah Burchard, Editor of Hawaii.com

The best way to learn about a place is through its food. This food crawl is designed to give visitors a primer on Hawaiʻi’s local cuisine and the cultures that helped shape it.

The Pagoda Hotel is located just off Keʻeaumoku Street, which locals call “Korea-moku” for its Korean markets, bars and restaurants. In 2022, new development began pushing out some of these businesses, but with the rise of a new neighborhood called Midtown, locally owned spots are beginning to return. Along this stretch you will find a diverse selection of cuisines, many rooted in Hawaiʻi’s plantation era, including Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Following the Vietnam War, Hawaiʻi saw an influx of immigrants from Vietnam and Thailand — both cuisines are represented here as well. Even within Pagoda Hotel itself, two popular Korean chains have taken up residence — CU Convenience and Paris Baguette. CU Hawaiʻi opened on Oʻahu in 2025 as the first Korean convenience store chain in the United States. Paris Baguette, which operates nearly 4,000 locations across South Korea, arrived on Oʻahu in 2024.

What is Hawaiʻi local cuisine or “local-style?”

In Hawaiʻi, “local” and “Hawaiian” are not interchangeable. Hawaiian refers to Native Hawaiian — a person of ancestral lineage tracing back to the early Polynesian settlers of the islands. Dried aku, laulau and poi are all examples of Native Hawaiian food.

Hawaiʻi local cuisine was born on the plantations. When immigrant workers from Japan, China, Korea, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the Philippines came together to share meals, they combined ingredients and techniques from four or five different culinary traditions onto a single plate. This merging of cultures created not only a new cuisine but also a new language — Hawaiʻi Creole English, commonly known as Hawaiʻi Pidgin, which is still spoken across the islands today. Plate lunch and saimin are among the most iconic examples of local Hawaiʻi cuisine. The term “local style” often refers to ethnic dishes that have been adapted through plantation-era influences and Western contact. Spam musubi is a perfect example — a Japanese onigiri-inspired snack made with an American canned meat staple of the islands during World War II.

Start here:

Beginning at Ke‘eaumoku and Liona Streets, you’ll find Midtown Eats. Opened in 2026 and located inside Liona Tower at The Park on Ke‘eaumoku, this food hall offers 14 food vendors (and a full bar) serving a variety of cuisines. Here are my recommendations.

King Thai Cuisine

Sister restaurant to King of Thai Boat Noodles (also located on Ke‘eaumoku Street)
Kao Soi (Northern Thai curry noodle soup)

Boba Bing!

Korean dessert shop
Bingsu (Korean shave ice)
Bungeoppang (fish-shaped waffles)

Sadie’s BBQ

Local style Korean BBQ
King Kalbi plate lunch

Aloha Sugarcane Juice

Fresh pressed sugarcane juice and smoothies
Sugarcane-calamansi juice

Mangiamo Gelato

Locally made gelato
Hawaiian Honey Yogurt
Or any other flavor, there are so many good ones!

One block down on Ke‘eaumoku and Rycroft Streets is You Me Mart — a Korean grocery store with Tous Les Jours Bakery Cafe and (coming soon) K-Town — a Korean food hall. For now, I recommend stopping by the bakery for matcha and French-Korean inspired pastries. K-Town recommendations coming soon!

Walk a couple more blocks down Ke‘eaumoku and you’ll find a little alley called Sam Sung Plaza. These are the last restaurants that have been spared from the recent high-rise development that has transformed “Korea-Moku” to “Midtown.” My recommendations here include:

King of Thai Boat Noodles

Specializes in North, Central and East Thailand dishes
Thai Boat Noodle Soup
Chicken Feet Salad
Morning Glory Salad

Sushi II

French bistro meets Japanese sushi counter.
Lamb lollipops
Stewed beef tongue
Seared foie gras
Sashimi of local seafood
Salmon skin salad
Chicken kaarage

Keep walking and you will come upon Azure, a new condominium and retail space on Ke‘eaumoku and Makaloa Streets. Here, I recommend:

Ireh Kitchen

Traditional and modern Korean dishes
Pan-fried mandoo
Cheese Tteokbokki
Perilla Sujebi (handpulled noodle soup with potato, seaweed and shiso)
Vegetable pancake (they are huge!)

By Sarah Burchard, editor Hawaii.com
Sarah Burchard is a Honolulu-based freelance lifestyle writer and the editor of Hawaii.com. Sheʻs explored a range of topics unique to Hawaiʻi including grassroots feeding efforts after the 2023 Maui wildfires, “trash fish” as a sustainable food source and what it’s like to volunteer at a traditional Hawaiian fishpond. As a former chef, she is especially geeky about ingredients, farming and travel. Her work has been featured in Hana Hou, FLUX Hawaiʻi, Forbes.com, Hawaiʻi Magazine, Honolulu Magazine and more. You can find more of her writing and projects on SarahBurchard.com.