A trip to Costco, a Mai Tai at the pool, a walk on the beach at sunset, before a fancy dinner out. This is the life. Wow what we cook up with these! We stayed at the Aqua Kauai Beach Resort. Just north of Lihue (centrally located); pool bar; nice walking beach with a small natural pool behind a reef;...

This is my new favorite restaurant on Kauai. Every single thing we had was totally delicious, down to the bread and the ice tea. So with no further ado… Passion guava martini, Cruzan guava rum, fresh lilikoi, lemon juice. For Mr A. I think I had just had a (strong) Mai Tai at the resort so I didn’t feel like...

Usually our first stop when we land, as our flight from California puts us on the island before noon. We had to skip Hamura the first day since we were meeting up with friends for snorkeling, but soon enough we were back. Simple, fast, delicious. Small Saimin for me, plain Saimin with extra noodle for Ms S , Special Saimin...

We were very impressed by this little place in Kapa’a. We were just looking for a quick bite but loved the tacos. The fish Tacos were fresh and made for a great light lunch. The carnivores selected the regular, and the plain, Carne Asada. Don’t miss their red and green salsas!

Fresh fish, daily specials. No seating… No problem. Just a stone’s throw away from Ahukini, where everyone comes to eat lunch in their cars. Ginger Miso Ahi

A possibly underrated restaurant at the Kauai Beach Resort. Jazz Flute on Wednesday night in the lobby bar, which serves a complete menu! Here’s the ribs appetizer, which was excellent. They also had a very thoughtful bar menu – serving Old Fashioned’s, and Sazerac’s.

The sun is falling, the tradewinds are blowing, the tiki torches are lit, your toes are in the sand, the stars are coming out. You don’t even notice that the onion rings are soggy, and the alfredo sauce is a little weak. Sometimes a little mediocrity is OK. Especially when Lava Lava Beach Club is 30 steps from the hotel....

Best places to eat in Lihue (in no particular order): Smileys Plate Lunch (til 130) Hamura Saimin Fish Express (fish runs out around lunchtime) Right Slice pies Dukes at the Kauai Marriott Tip Top (until 1:45; Sushi Katsu at night after 5:30) (We didn’t get a chance to try Robs Good Time grill or Roland’s Plate lunch this time –...

Lihue needs more great plate lunch places. Until then we’ll happily keep coming back to Smileys. Our flight was delayed an hour, allowing us to have one more meal before leaving. Woo! Located behind Ace Hardware on Rice Street, Smileys also has some great specials. I tried the Ahi Katsu and it was the 2nd best piece of fish I...

Friday evenings all summer long. Come early, because the tram does not come around even close to every 15 minutes. And you don’t want to park in that lower lot.