Get a real taste of Hawaii in locals' suburban eateries

HONOLULU — Few tourists visit the busy stretch of Kamehameha Highway running through the Honolulu suburbs of Aiea and Pearl City.

That's probably because few guidebooks mention this bustling part of southern Oahu, which is home to many local and military families but none of the major tourist hotels.

For independent-minded visitors who appreciate Asian and Pacific cuisine, however, this is a great place to visit.

Running for about 3 miles west of Pearl Harbor's Arizona Memorial, Kam Highway offers many opportunities to sample the "real" everyday food of contemporary Hawaii. These places are reasonably priced and frequented by local families. Many offer takeout.

The location is especially convenient for those visiting the Arizona Memorial or Missouri battleship at Pearl Harbor, because these attractions don't offer many choices beyond snack-bar fare and vending machines.

So, what can you find?

The venues along this road include full-service restaurants, a big shopping mall, small mom-and-pop places and strip-mall shops. There are also large grocery stores and discount chains such as Sam's Club. And if you have kids who just want something familiar for lunch, you can find chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks and Pizza Hut.

You won't find pricey restaurants serving the Asian-Pacific fusion cuisine that has earned acclaim for Hawaiian chefs such as Alan Wong and Sam Choy in recent years. This stretch of Kam Highway is a place for everyday food, interesting for the palate without being hard on the wallet.

Don't go expecting lush landscaping and white-sand beaches. This is a busy commercial strip and looks it; it wasn't created for tourists, unlike much of modern-day Waikiki.

Here's a brief guide to a few favorite places that have endured over the years:

• Zippy's: Think of this restaurant chain as the Denny's of Hawaii, only with local dishes such as oxtail soup, saimin and takeout box lunches filled with chicken, teriyaki beef and rice. The prices are easy on the wallet, and it's a good place to go when one person wants a club sandwich, another wants a burger and another wants a bowl of noodles.

• Chun Wah Kam: You can get conventional stir-fried Chinese food here, but what makes this place different is its bao, or manapua. These are buns that have been steamed or baked, with a range of fillings you won't find elsewhere. The most common filling is char siu, or roasted pork, but you can also get a soft, sumptuous bao filled with sweet potato or taro, or fillings such as chicken or duck.

• Baldwin's: There are two places called Baldwin's, but I recommend the shaved-ice place. You can have something simple and refreshing by trying a plain shaved-ice cone with strawberry syrup. Or be adventurous and try tropical flavors such as coconut, pineapple and mango.

• Leonard's: There's really only one reason to come here, and that's the malasadas. These are fresh, hot and tender, so carbohydrates be damned, OK? The fist-sized pieces of eggy, deep-fried dough are rolled in sugar and placed in a small bag and given to you while still warm. Eat it right away, and expect to lick sugar from your fingers when you're done. You can try variations that include haupia (coconut pudding) or guava, but to me, the classic plain version is best, much in the same way that a plain, warm Krispy Kreme doughnut is best.

• Jin Joo: Korean food. The kal bi (beef short ribs marinated in a soy-based sauce and grilled) is tender and flavorful, and comes with steamed white rice and kim chee (a fermented, spicy cabbage).

• Pat's Island Delights: For creative tropical gourmet foods, this is the store I visit. It's tucked in a small strip mall between a Zippy's and a Genki Sushi. During my last visit, I picked up chocolate bars made by the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory from cocoa beans grown on the Big Island. The sweet and spicy Paniolo Beef Jerky from the Big Island's Parker Ranch has a nice balance of flavors. You can buy salad dressings made with sweet Maui onions, jars of locally made jams and other gifts.

• Warehouse Unlimited: This small store has a lot of favorite local snacks, such as many variations of the Japanese rice crackers known as arare, or kaki mochi. The store also carries Chinese preserved fruits, assorted candies and macadamia shortbread cookies.

• Genki Sushi: A casual little spot offering sushi and other Japanese dishes off a conveyor belt. You choose from among little plates containing small whole fried fish, broiled chicken, or sushi topped with selections such as salmon roe, spicy tuna or broiled eel.

• Dave's Ice Cream: A little off Kam Highway on Moanalua Road, this chain of ice-cream stores offers local flavors such as coconut macadamia nut, Kona coffee, ube (taro), poha berry and mango sherbet, as well as conventional flavors.

• Gyotaku: A Japanese restaurant on Kaahumanu Street just off Kam Highway, across from Blaisdell Park. During my last visit I had the poke-don, a bowl of rice topped with shrimp, sliced octopus, ahi and limu (Hawaiian seaweed) with the traditional poke seasonings of sesame oil, salt and chili pepper flakes. Miso soup and a salad were included, for less than $17. The place is frequented by lots of local families.