Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kaunakakai, you'll find this place with a couple of pool tables occupying the interior while
a full-service bar sits in the outside lanai. There are live bands some nights of the week,
top 40 music on others.
Other than Paddler's, the only other option in town is the bar at
Hotel Moloka'i
(1300 Kamehameha V Hwy., 808/660-3397,
www.hotelmolokai.com
)
. While a kitchen
fire closed the restaurant for 2013 and the bar currently closes early, once the restaurant
reopens in 2014, the bar will be moved to the ocean side of the resort and potentially stay
open until 2am. Inquire with the hotel about the current status.
Kaunakakai has a varied selection of food. The same can't be said once you get outside
town: there are only three restaurants outside the main drag.
Local Style
As a restaurant,
M
Kanemitsu Bakery
(79 Ala Malama Ave., 808/553-5855,
5:30am-6:30pm Tues.-Sun., $5-9) is no better or worse than anywhere else in town. Break-
fast consists of fried eggs, spam, and rice, and lunch includes standard plate lunch fare such
as chicken katsu or hamburger steak. All plate lunches are of course served with the staple
sides of two-scoop rice and macaroni salad in an aging interior. The best part of this hole-
in-the-wall eatery isn't the food that's served during the day, however, it's what comes hot
out of the oven late at night. Like some sort of crazed drug fiend, once you've had a taste
of Kanemitsu's famous “hot bread” you, too, will find yourself walking down the dark al-
leyway at 9 or 10pm to the back door of the shuttered restaurant. Here, assembled in the
dark, a crowd of local people vie nightly for their fix of Kanemitsu's addictive hot bread,
so much so that the dingy alleyway is known as “Hot Bread Lane.” Taking a trip down Hot
Bread Lane is one of the most authentic local experiences on the island.
Elsa's Kitchen
(17 Ala Malama Ave., 808/553-9068, 11am-8:30pm Mon.-Fri.,
11am-9pm Sat., $9-11) serves up local favorites such as a shoyu chicken plate lunch, ve-
getable stir-fry, or a popular Filipino noodle dish known as
pancit.
Eat in or takeaway.
On the corner of the Highway 450,
Moloka'i Drive Inn
(857 Ala Malama Ave., 808/
553-5655, 6am-10pm daily, $5-9) serves up budget, local-style meals for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. Need a heaping breakfast mound of spam, eggs, and rice? This is your place.
