Kalapawei Cafe, Kailua HI

Kalapawei Cafe

750 Kailua Road

Kailua, HI 96734

(808) 262-3354

$$$

This is the best restaurant I went to while on vacation in Hawaii. It is deceiving. It sounds like a cafe and deli but this place is so much more. Chef Jason Iwane takes this small place and serves the kind of food I’ve had at really really great restaurants in Los Angeles. This place needs to get put on the map. I started off with an Oyster. I’m in Hawaii. I want seafood. The Oyster was topped with caviar and a Mignonette Sauce. Seriously one of the best oysters Ive ever had.

For my entree I decided to go with one of the specials. Now I don’t normally order steak when I go out to eat because I cook a lot and a steak is a steak is a steak, depending on your cut of meat. Also, being in Hawaii, I was convinced by the fact that the special was topped with foi gras, since foi gras is now illegal in California. The special was an Australian grass fed filet with a parsnip puree, chinese pak choi and topped with foi gras. It literally melted in my mouth. All of it. At one time.