Arancino at The Kahala

I had the pleasure of dining at Arancino at The Kahala with a few of my coworkers—a much-needed evening out filled with laughter, conversation, and, of course, amazing Italian food.

Before we even got to the appetizers, we enjoyed the house bread ...  warm, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and served with olive oil that made it impossible to stop at just one bite. Thank goodness they only serve one piece per person!

We kicked things off by sharing a few appetizers that really set the tone for the rest of the meal. The Affettato Misto was a beautiful spread of Italian cured meats and cheeses—perfect for grazing and pairing with sips of wine. 

The Calamari Fritti was light and crispy, not greasy at all, and came with a tasty dipping sauce that disappeared quickly. 

The Insalata Caprese was simple, fresh, and a good low-carb dish to offset what was to come next.

For my entrée, I went with my tried-and-true Italian restaurant pick: Pappardelle alla Bolognese. I can never resist it when it's on the menu, and Arancino’s version didn’t disappoint. 

One of my coworkers ordered the Spaghetti ai Ricci di Mare (uni pasta), which is one of Arancino’s signature dishes. If you're a fan of uni (not me!!), this one’s definitely worth a try. 

Another pasta dish made it to the table as well, though I’ll admit, the name escapes me—but based on the clean plate at the end, it was amazing.

We wrapped up the meal with tiramisu, which came out deconstructed—a modern twist on the classic. It was beautifully presented, and while I appreciated the creativity, I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to tiramisu. There’s just something about those layers of espresso-soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone cream that I missed in this version. 

Service throughout the night was fantastic—attentive, friendly, and never rushed. Even though Arancino is located right next to the hotel’s porte cochere, the atmosphere was still surprisingly pleasant, and if you’re lucky, you might even catch a celebrity sighting—one time (not on this visit), I actually spotted a star from Hawaii Five-0 arriving at the hotel! Just one more reason Arancino is always a memorable dining experience.

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ARANCINO at The KAHALA

5000 Kahala Avenue

808-380-4400

 

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Birthday Dinner at Zia's Caffe

This year, my birthday landed on a Monday — not exactly a party night, but I still wanted to enjoy a nice dinner without too much fuss. We decided to keep it close to home and headed to Zia’s Caffé, a cozy neighborhood spot that always hits the mark for comfort food and good vibes.

Zia’s has been a go-to for us for years, and it never disappoints. The service is friendly, the food is consistently great, and the atmosphere is casual — perfect for a low-key birthday evening.

We kicked off the meal with an order of garlic cheese bread, which came out hot and crispy. It was so good, it was hard to stop eating it.

We started off with the keiki menu for our son, who chose the spaghetti with meatball. 

It's the perfect size for keiki, and even adults!

The husband who doesn't eat meat ordered the Eggplant Parmesan, which was rich, flavorful, and perfectly crisped — a great vegetarian option that still felt indulgent. 

I treated myself to the Pappardelle alla Bolognese, one of my favorites on their menu. The house-made pasta was silky and fresh, and the hearty meat sauce brought everything together.

Of course, no birthday dinner is complete without dessert. I couldn’t resist their tiramisu, while the son enjoyed the scoop of ice cream that came with his keiki meal. 

All in all, it was exactly the kind of dinner I was hoping for — quick, delicious, and close to home. 

For more information on Zia's Caffe, visit their website. 

ZIA'S CAFFE

45-620 KAMEHAMEHA HIGHWAY

808-235-9427

 

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Fresh House-made Pasta at Cucina Moon

I'm always in the mood for pasta so I was excited to check out Cucina Moon - a casual Italian eatery serving fresh house-made pasta with traditional Italian sauces. All pasta dishes are reasonably priced set menus and come with a house-made focaccia and your choice of a variety of vegan gelato flavors. The gelato is also made in-house featuring Hawaii fruits and ingredients. They can even accommodate gluten free requests if you call them a few days in advance.

I ordered the arrabbiata and the rigatoni pasta was cooked to a nice al dente texture. It was tasty and had a light tomato flavor. I think next time I'd prefer something richer like my friends' bolognese which they loved. The focaccia was amazing.  

Bolognese

Salmon tagliatelle

Arrabbiata

Bolognese with Gluten Free pasta

House-made focaccia

Bar seating and table seating available

The service was great and there was plenty of seating for the restaurant. They are located on the second floor near the stairwell on the left side of the shopping center.     

Cucina Moon 

1960 Kapiolani Blvd.

Honolulu, HI 96826

808-200-5933

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La Ciccia Italian Fusion and Brunch Bar

A friend invited me to a weekday lunch at La Ciccia since it was close to my work place, and I'm so glad I finally got to try this Italian restaurant! I love Italian food, and I'm always up for trying places that I've never bee to before. 

My friend made a reservation for lunch, although you really don't need one, because the restaurant was empty except for us. I've read on Yelp that it does get crowded for dinner, so plan accordingly and make a reservation ahead of time.

The first loaf of house-made bread is complimentary, and both butter and olive oil/balsamic vinegar was offered to us by the very kind server. The bread was really good! It was warm and super soft on the inside, with a crispy crust on the outside. I tried the bread with butter, and with the olive oil/balsamic vinegar, and I kept alternating between the two, because the bread tasted either way. I had to force myself to stop eating the bread because I wanted to save some for my main course.

For my main course I had the Clams Casino. It's actually considered an appetizer here, but I treated it as an entree.  There is an option to add pasta for $6, but this dish does not need pasta at all, because of the complimentary bread! This dish came with a generous amount of manila claims, bacon, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. The broth of buttter and white wine was perfect for bread dipping.

My friend ordered the Linguine Primarvera with Chicken, with Red Hosue Marinara. It was a very generous portion and he took half of it home. This is a good dish for those who like veggies!

 For dessert, I tried the Creme Brulee - it was good, but nothing extraordinary.  On my next visit, I plan to try something different ... maybe the Tiramisu or Mudpie!

Free parking is located to the right of the building, which is a shared lot with the Moiliili Post Office. 

Closed on Wednesdays.

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LA CICCIA ITALIAN FUSION AND BRUNCH BAR

2700 SOUTH KING STREET

808-773-8688

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Buca di Beppo at Ward Village

Thank you to our sponsor for this complimentary dining experience!

When asked if I wanted to accept an invitation to bring the family to Buca di Beppo for a meal, I did not hesitate to accept. It has been a while since I've dine at Buca .. in fact it may have been one of the last meals I had at a restaurant before the twins arrived, which was over 9 years ago. Gulp!

The interior of the restaurant hasn't changed much - it still has a lot of vintage artwork, photographs (some risqué), red and white checkered tablecloths, and lively music. My sons loved the music here!

We were led by manager Alex to the Wine Room - if you look upwards, you'll see why it's called the wine room!

The ceiling is decorated with bottles of various wines and grape vines - how cool is that!

After much deliberation over the menu (there are SO MANY CHOICES!), we placed our order and our appetizers arrived sooner than expected. 

Each menu item is meant to shared. I forgot how big the portions are! 

The boys requested the Mozzarella garlic bread - mozzarella cheese melted on top of an Italian loaf brushed with garlic-infused olive oil, Parmesan cheese & poached garlic. We had to take this away from the boys because they kept eating it and we were afraid they wouldn't have room for their entrées.

The hubby and I really enjoyed the bruschetta - Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, red onions, basil-infused olive oil & balsamic vinegar, served with Parmesan crostini. The tomato mixture can be enjoyed with the crostini, and without it (if you omit the crostini, it's gluten-free!). This was a huge serving and we ended up taking half of it home. 

If there is fried calamari on the menu, I will always order it, and today was no exception. It came with a tasty breading which was slightly spicy, and the spicy marinara sauce made this dish even more spicy! 

The boys each ordered off the Kid's Menu - for $7.99, kids get a drink (milk, soda, juice, water, or sparkling water) and and choice of entree. One son ordered the Cheese Pizza....

the other ordered the Macaroni & Cheese. Even the portions for the kids meals is pretty big! Both boys gave their meals two thumbs up!

For their drinks, they ordered the Sprunch (Sprite and Fruit Punch) and a Shirley Temple. Our server had suggested it to our son, and he agreed to try it, and ended up loving it! I don't know if there is an upcharge for a Shirley Temple - you may want to inquire with your server.

For our entrée, the hubby and I shared the Lasagna, since were both craving it!

This is the "small" serving, which is intended to serve three, but I really think it could easily serve 4, especially if you order appetizers or sides. The lasagna was AMAZING - it was very traditional, which is what I loved about it. We took half of it home, and as with most pasta dishes, it tasted even better the next day.

Although we were all really full from our meal, we had to get dessert!! The Italian Creme Cake had all of my favorite in it - lemon cake, mascarpone cheese filling, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream. The boys went straight for the whipped cream, which they always do. I mopped up whatever was leftover - I loved this cake and am still thinking about how much I enjoyed it! The cake was moist!

Overall, I was really impressed with everything about Buca di Beppo.  The atmosphere is fun and lively, the staff is friendly and accommodating, and I like that they can accommodate large parties and that their menu is intended for family-style dining. I'm already thinking of planning our next family get together at Buca di Beppo after this memorable dining experience! 

For more information on Buca di Beppo in Honolulu, click here.

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BUCA DI BEPPO
1030 Auahi St (Ward Village)
808-591-0800

 

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Visit Waikoloa: Pueo's Osteria

Rita Pizza - made with imported flour

Attempting to escape the cost of $50 pizzas from our resort's restaurant, I did a search on great restaurants in the area and found Pueo's Osteria.  Located in Waikoloa, Pueo's is a modern Italian restaurant specializing in made-in-house pastas and using locally sourced ingredients as well as high-quality ingredients imported directly from Italy.

On a Sunday, the restaurant was very busy with take out orders and diners - some perhaps purposely there for Lasagna Sundays! My daughter and I opted for pasta while my son had pizza.  The pasta was delicious and I easily finished it.  I recommend getting one of their house made breads to start. The mozzarella garlic bread was my favorite. 

Tagliatelle alla ragu Bolognese | aromatic meat sauce, veal, beef and pork 

Cannelloni | puna chicken, ricotta, spinach, sundried tomato, parmesan, pecorino, besciamella

Mozzarella Garlic Bread 

Big Island sunset

We were seated outside with a perfect view of the sunset. Dinner was great in everyway; from our server to the food and company. Definitely recommend. 

On a side note, I noticed on this trip to the Big Island that all the restaurants we dined at charged a credit card fee which varied from 3-4%.         

Pueo's Osteria
68-1820 Waikoloa Rd. Unit 1201, Waikoloa HI 96738

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Zia's Caffe

After running the Hapalua Half Marathon, I rewarded myself with dinner from Zia's Caffe, one of our favorite neighborhood eateries.  

 

The hubby and I shared an order of Crispy Calamari and the Chicken Saltimbocca.

The calamari was very crunchy and nicely-seasoned breading. I like how it comes with TWO dipping sauces - basil aioli and marinara.

The Chicken Saltimbocca was amazing! It came with a large piece of breaded chicken breast, topped with thinly sliced prosciutto, spinach, shredded mozzarella, and garlic mushrooms. It's very rich, which is why the hubby and I have to split this dish every time. 

My only regret was not ordering the tiramisu for dessert!

Click here to order online!

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ZIA'S CAFFE
45-620 KAMEHAMEHA HIGHWAY
808-235-9427

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