8 Best Restaurants in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, Oahu

Putting a playful and inventive spin on Hawaii regional cuisine, Kapa Hale offers upscale food and cocktails by an outstanding Honolulu-born chef in a mid-century modern dining room. Menu items are changed seasonally and sourced locally, with fun, wordplay names for different dishes, and there's a focus on using local vegetables creatively in all dishes, as in an edible lei poo (a head lei).

When Lee Anne Wong, best known as a competitor on the first season of Bravo's Top Chef, moved to the Islands, foodies waited with bated breath for this, her first restaurant. It's a lively yet laid-back café, where she took the concept of breakfast and flipped it, creating innovative dishes like Breakfast Bruschetta with vanilla cake rusks, local honey, and yogurt; also on offer are her signature dumplings, which change daily, and many other specials.

Tiki's is the kind of fun place people come to Waikiki for: a retro–South Pacific spot with a back-of-the-bar faux volcano, open-air lounge with live local music, indoor-outdoor dining, and a fantastic view of the beach across the street. Chef Ronnie Nasuti turns out beautifully composed plates and puts fresh twists on the super-familiar—like spicy "volcano" chicken wings, watermelon and feta salad, or Thai-style shrimp puttanesca. Be sure to try one of the mai tais, which come in a variety of flavors, then settle in and stay a while. There's live music on most nights (check the calendar on the website) and an upbeat crowd at the bar. Tiki's is in the Twin Fin Hotel and may look like a place designed for tourists, but it's the locals who come back again and again.

This legendary indoor-outdoor restaurant has views of Diamond Head and an expansive terrace on the same level as the beach, so you’ll feel the calm, island vibes as soon as you arrive. Azure offers a sophisticated atmosphere and features the chef’s multicourse tasting menu, which spotlights local seafood, meat, and produce. Homemade desserts, such as the citrus olive cake (a top favorite), are delightful. If you want a coveted beachfront table (you do!), be sure to ask when you make your reservation.

At this elegant, indoor-outdoor restaurant in Waikiki's oldest hotel, try for a table on the veranda, which overlooks the courtyard and a majestic banyan tree. Although the adjacent Veranda restaurant serves breakfast—and an exquisite afternoon tea Friday through Sunday—the Beachhouse is an especially delightful spot for a sunset dinner, featuring three- or four-course tasting menu options that use fresh, local ingredients. The bar mixes up craft cocktails, and there’s a massive wine list as well. If you would rather just sip a drink and have a small bite, grab a seat at the more casual Beach Bar in the center of the courtyard.

Enjoy a taste of modern Hawaiian cuisine from the chef who started it all, Roy Yamaguchi. Situated in the center of Waikiki, the sprawling, stylish restaurant has been serving innovative pan-Asian dishes since 2007 and remains a fan favorite. Today, executive chef Jason Ichiki uses locally sourced ingredients to prepare such delectable signature dishes as spicy ahi hand rolls, ginger soy-glazed ora king salmon, and honey mustard–braised short ribs. Enjoy a multicourse chef’s tasting dinner in the main dining room, sit at the sushi bar, or simply snack on some happy hour pupu plates at the lively bar on the lanai. There’s something for everyone here, including an excellent children’s menu.

Among the first of a new wave of plate-lunch places to take particular care with quality and nutrition, this breakfast-and-lunch spot in a strip mall offers brown rice and green salad as options instead of the usual white rice and mayo-loaded mac salad. Sweet-and-spicy garlic chicken and mochiko (rice-batter-dipped and fried) chicken, adapted from traditional Japanese dishes, are specialties that bring locals back again and again. Service is quick and cheerful. Sugoi lives up to its name, which means "awesome" or "wow" in Japanese.

This new prix fixe dining experience that incorporates local ingredients in a modern way is the creation of Jason Kiyota, who used to head up the fine-dining side of The Food Company in Kailua. The small restaurant, with its mid-century modern–inspired dining room, is tucked behind a discreet black door in the unassuming Kilohana Square strip mall. Inside, you choose from two options on a three-course menu, as well as a small number of add-ons. Come for an upscale date night in a less-visited spot.