Exploring Kauai Through Food (Part 3)

I was determined to visit another farmer’s market. I found out that the market was being held at the Kapa’a Beach Park, which was super close to our listing. I did see the same vendor, Rosita, selling a table full of fruits. My sister and I were drawn to the first vendor, who was selling fresh young coconuts. I was still reminiscing about the coconut and fresh cut juicy pineapples we had at Wailua Falls Fruit Stand earlier in the day. Then I saw another vendor with convincing sales pitches and bought another coconut. My sisters and I sipped away at the refreshing treat and helped temporarily forget that it was still a very hot and humid afternoon. I gravitated towards another vendor and he convinced me to buy the largest soursop he was selling. After 10 minutes, I had purchased another bag full of fruits. We went back to the listing to drop off the fruits and rest. The fridge was now filled with pineapples, mangoes, avocados, papayas, dragonfruits, longan, and soursop.

I was excited for our early evening dinner spot, JO2. The early dinner special $35 for 3 courses was a steal. The restaurant was a 3-5 minute drive away from the listing. My sister and I each ordered a lychee flavored cocktail. We ordered everything from the dinner special and a few more add-ons. We were served beautiful ahi tuna, a heart of palm salad, miso hamachi kama, jindori chicken, and duck confit salad. The meal ended with a forbidden pineapple soup and a slice of yuzu cheesecake. Everything was delicious.  I would be very interested in returning to try the rest of their menu. 

Another highlight of the trip was going on a tour of Kauai Coffee Farm. I booked this a week ahead of time. It was a massive beautiful estate located in the southern part of Kauai. The guide showed us simple brewing methods and then took us on a walking tour. We were allowed to pluck a green bean and try it straight off the plant. She did warn that we shouldn’t try more than one as it was a strong laxative. We picked up a few bags of roasted coffee beans and headed to Hanapepe for lunch. I really wanted to buy taro chips from Taro ko Farm but it was closed. We stopped by Japanese Grandma’s place for lunch. The kauai shrimp bento with tempura and chirashi was amazing. The large piece of fried kauai shrimp was crunchy and covered with a light savory tangy sauce. It was so good that I even ate the heads. The chirashi was very fresh and vibrant. Although it was on the pricier side, it was worth stopping by for lunch.  

I’m not much of a strenuous hiker so driving to Waimea Canyon Lookout and stopping by all the different viewpoints in Waimea Canyon  is more aligned with my level of effort. I could soak in all the glory of viewing the majestic view of Waimea Canyon without breaking a sweat. I did look up a few trails but I noticed some of the suggested ones were not official trails and were blocked off by fencing. I noticed tourists not abiding by the rules and respecting local restrictions. *head shake* For sunset, we headed over to Poipu Beach and luckily saw turtles resting on the beach. It was such a special moment to be able to witness a dozen huge turtles just hanging out. We watched for 30 minutes from a distance. To end the night, we checked out the Stevenson’s Library at the Grand Hyatt. There was a bit of a wait. I thought the Japanese fusion food was mediocre and the drinks weren’t memorable for the price point. I would rather just sit at the beach and watch the turtles. 
Before our evening flight, this time around we managed to order ahead of time malasadas from Kauai Bakery. After our own in-house fruit buffet, we went to go pick up the ube malasadas and it certainly lived up to its hype. We headed to Costco to pickup gifts to bring back home. We also bought a huge sushi tray and fresh Kauai shrimp for dinner later. We swung by Hamura Saimin for another slice of lilikoi chiffon cake, the perfect treat to end our trip. Thankfully our red-eye flight was on time and we headed back to Portland.