Street Treats

Over the weekend, I was doing some shopping in the 96815 and needed to recharge with a bite to eat. There are endless edible options, but first, I'll need to identify my craving and my mood. If I'm going healthy, it's Heavenly on Seaside for al fresco dining and their Heavenly Morning Veggie. My choice of one of their locally grown, organic green salads paired with the daily fresh pressed juice, mini acai bowl and taro english muffins will happily fill my needs.

Am I tired and sluggish? On to Honolulu Coffee Company for a caffeine fueled pick me up. My favorite is the Nutty Hawaiian, a blend of mac nut and coconut flavors topped with whipped cream. I'll enjoy it from the front porch rocking chairs of the Moana Hotel while watching the day pass by. 

My rare, but occasionally existent, sweet tooth leads me straight to Island Vintage Shave Ice on Kalakaua Avenue. The Heavenly Lilikoi, a combo of fresh Hawaiian Lilikoi, Strawberry, Boba and Mochi over perfectly shaven fine ice with an organic frozen yogurt center, is sweet, refreshing and all natural to boot!

If I'm in between meals and just need a quick delicious snack to tie me over, it's a musubi from Musubi Iyasume. I'm a simple kind of girl - spam, avocado, rice while I walk home, the returning island autumn trade winds blowing through my hair and the palms above.  So many wonderful treats just off the Waikiki streets!

Heavenly, 342 Seaside Ave, Honolulu, the 96815.

Honolulu Coffee Company, 2365 Kalakaua Ave, the 96815.

Island Vintage Shave Ice, Kalakaua Ave @ Royal Hawaiian Center, the 96815.

Musubi Iyasume, 2427 Kuhio Ave, the 96185.

Photography by Jessica Tronoski and The 96815.

Musubi & Bento Iyasume

I have been really busy with work lately, which means there hasn't been much time to put together a thoughtful blog post, let alone sit down to a nice meal. Constantly running from one place to the next, exasperated and starving, is how I found myself at Musubi & Bento Iyasume in the 96815 the other day. Musubi Iyasume serves up the Hawaiian version of the Japanese Omusubi, which is a combination of rice and grilled Spam wrapped together with nori dried seaweed. I have to admit -  I am a little skeptical of consuming the mysterious Spam. I was raised by a health nut who is probably reading this post with disdain. Sorry Mom - I was hungry! Judging by the the crowd outside of the shop, I knew I would at least get something tasty, so I jumped in line. To my delight, the Spam, egg, cucumber, rice combo was wonderful and filling. My locally raised counterpart agreed that it was delicious and uniquely better than those sold at most convenience store checkout counters across Hawaii. We shared a miso soup and ended with a refreshing soft serve vanilla ice cream cone. In this case, once a skeptic, not always a skeptic? I like Spam or maybe I just like it from Musubi & Bento Iyasume. 

Spam Musubi - my new favorite meal on the go!

The 96815 Tip - Have time to linger with friends over a musubi? Visit their cafe location with plenty of seating in the Pacific Monarch Hotel at 2427 Kuhio Avenue.

Musubi & Bento Iyasume, 7 Days a week, 7am - 8pm, Seaside Ave. between Kalakaua and Kuhio, the 96815.