Down Home Dining in Lana’i City

The kitchens of Lana’i are busy. Good food comes easily here because Lana’i people love to cook. They start with beautiful gardens that produce fresh herbs and greens for the table. They love to visit over morning coffee. They honor the important things in life, like an old-fashioned homemade burger and a counter full of warm pastries. New York-style pizza, healthy sandwiches, fried egg sandwiches and pasta – they are all equally important, and readily available in a single, small, tree-lined square in a village named Lana’i City.

Dining out in “the city” is as comfortable and rewarding as going to a good friend’s home. The painted blue clapboard with the early-morning crowd is called Blue Ginger Café, where the three-egg omelets and fried saimin (a locally adored noodle soup) are as famous as pigs-in-the-blanket. Some people dine here breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then return bright and early the next day.

Canoes Lana’i (a Tanigawa tradition), is also a popular option. Serving breakfast and lunch, “must orders” include the fried rice, wok fried menpachi and the grilled mahimahi sandwich. Reminicent of the old time Saimin stands of days gone by, Canoes Lana’i is noted for its hearty homemade burgers, its ‘ohana (family) style atmosphere, as well as local favorites for both kama’aina and visitors alike.

Around the corner is Lana’i’s java central, Coffee Works – the only coffee house on the island, serving Kona fancy, Kona peaberry, Jamaican Blue Mountain, and a full menu of gourmet coffees, blends, flavored coffees, espresso and cappuccino. Formerly a plantation home, it has a wide, welcoming wooden deck shaded by umbrellas. You can order ice cream, pastry, gift items, and inexpensive T-shirts too, and sit on the deck and watch the light change through the Cook pines across the street.

Across the shaded town square called Dole Park, in the Hotel Lana’i, the popular Henry Clay’s Rotisserie serves American country fare with a New Orleans Cajun twist. The setting is the dining room of a 1923 country inn – a rustic American ambience of knotty pine, red brick, a courtyard and a fireplace. The Rajun Cajun Clay’s shrimp, fiery and complex; herb-marinated rotisserie chicken; warm chocolate cake and old-fashioned pecan pie are among the legendary attractions.

A few storefronts away on Dole Park, you can spot Pele’s Other Garden by its cheerful yellow veranda, corrugated iron roof, and turquoise trim. A haven for health-conscious diners with sophisticated tastes, it started as a New York-style deli and has only gotten better. Excellent gourmet pizzas, organic salads, smoked turkey and other made-to-order sandwiches, hearty soups and tasty burritos draw loyal lunchtime fans. They make box lunches and picnic lunches to go, and in the evening, out come the candles and tablecloths for the pastas and bistro fare.

The fresh breads for sandwiches come from Central Bakery down the street. Birthdays wouldn’t be the same without Central’s freshly baked cakes, nor would Lana’i’s resort dining rooms, which rely on Central for many desserts and baked goods.

At Manele Bay Hotel on Hulopo’e Bay, Hulopo’e Court serves the best taro Benedict in town from its Hawai’i Regional Cuisine menu featured at breakfast and dinner. Manele’s signature ‘Ihilani is renowned for its French-Mediterranean fare, and the Challenge at Manele Clubhouse for its gourmet salads and sandwiches. In the evening, when the sun sets and the chef fires up his Pacific Rim seafood preparations, the Clubhouse is a feast for the senses.

The Lodge at Ko’ele’s Formal Dining Room continues to win accolades with its American/Hawai’i upcountry menu served in a formal octagonal dining room. Braised meats, ragouts, and local venison and seafood offer the comforts of comfort food with the sophistication of continental preparation.