Dining in Hawaii -- Part I (Royal Kitchen and Sansei)

This January, during a snow storm back in DC, I managed to score a work trip to Hawaii that included a weekend. Besides tanning and hiking, my intrepid travel companion Laura and I sought to try as many recommendations from locals and recent travelers as work permitted. Although we visited both Oahu and the Big Island, we spent the most time on Oahu.

Overall, I'm sorry to report we were fairly disappointed. Maybe we (okay, I) set our expectations too high. We had one good meal, one so-so, and two real disappointments. Since it's a rather lengthy post, I made it a two-parter (I know, the suspense!).

We landed in Honolulu too early to check into our hotel and starving, so we decided to check out Royal Kitchen, which allegedly has the best baked buns in the city, modeled off the traditional Asian steamed buns (which I *heart*!). Super cheap at $1.10 each and huge (the size of your palm), but overall pretty dull. I got the kalua pork and black sugar buns, Laura got the Portuguese sausage and purple sweet potato. The black sugar was kind of interesting, like a moist, slightly smoky/savory sugar. But in general, the buns were bland. It was such a bummer!

The first night we went to Sansei, in the downtown Waikiki Marriott. My impression of this area overall was like a mix of Disney World, Ocean City, and Vegas, so I guess I should not have been surprised that our dinner was just okay. It was *fine,* but that's it. Read my review on yelp here, pictures below of the sushi and the beef and udon. Honestly, I was more impressed with the tropical fruit crepe we had down the street afterward.

To be continued!!!