Recently, I wrote a blog post about meeting a farmer in Hawaii and getting a chance to eat a salad made with his greens. That’s definitely an incredible dining experience. But I have to admit, that’s not me all the time. In fact, that’s more the exception than the rule. And while I was able to have some incredible meals both on the Big Island and Oahu, they don’t all look the same. I have to say one of the greatest lunches I had while there was pretty luck of the draw. That’s what Marsha and I found our first full day in Hawaii. We were wandering around the Big Island and stopped at a historical park for a walkabout before lunch.
The park we stopped at — Pu’ukohola Heiau— is a National Historic Site and is part of the National Park Service. The park marks the site where King Kamehameha had a temple placed to overlook a gorgeous part of the Big Island’s coast. In fact, we were able to see whales just off the coast and sharks in a cove. It was beautifully serene as the photos show.
After a walk and a wealth of photos, our stomachs were growling and we realized it was well after lunch time in St. Louis. So we did what comes naturally, and asked at the visitors center where we could get a good bite to eat nearby. The first answer was probably the broadest menu or something, but we asked whether that place had fresh seafood. Next thing we knew we were headed toward a lunch wagon near the gas station…. and my mind was dead set on the fish tacos one of the rangers said was so great.
There we had several locals talk through the rest of the menu, look at our maps and give us tips on what else to see. AND we really enjoyed lunch! Although, if you were there later you would have missed out on some of the options because the cook said the fish weren’t really biting today. So if you are ever in Kawaihae, you should check out Da Fish Lunch Wagon — that link will give you the scoop for it on Yelp! And believe me, you won’t be sorry!
That fish taco looks amazing… we found this cute little restaurant on the water recently and the fish tacos are a favorite!!! We are also big into food trucks here… they actually have events where they get a bunch of them together and you can try their fare!!! 🙂
I really do love fish tacos! Its amazing how often I can eat them if I’m on the coast somewhere. Food trucks have been really increasing the kind of fare they offer.
Sharks?!?! CRAP! We saw whales, but though I did see “Soul Surfer” before we went over, I DID NOT see any sharks. We had a standing dare for someone to order fish tacos while we were on the islands, but no one ever did. I don’t know why, but they just didn’t sound good. Guess we should have sucked it up and tried it anyway! Great pics. We went to Maui after Oahu, but the Big Island sounded fun too from what others have said.
They were pretty cool to see and when one whale breached, my friend Marsha gasped in excitement. I have to tell you if you guys dare over food tacos, you may wig out around me! LOL! That’s a standard fare along the coast… in fact in California I could eat them every day. But my southern family has been known to fix them — and we fix LOTS of shrimp tacos!
That looks soooooooo good.
It was awesome!
I’ve been to the park, but missed the fish wagon. I always went for the fish and chips while on the big island of Hawaii. Had 5 different kinds of fish.
We had some time to kill before our flight out and we stopped at a plant nursery. We had a great time learning about growing plants in a lava field.