Hawaii’s foodie demographic is booming, and to keep up with all of the food-lovers and IG connoisseurs, Honolulu Magazine presented its first ever Taste of Paradise event at the Bishop Museum. This was an exclusive event with General Admission tickets flying out the doors at a whopping $70, and $105 VIP tickets being sold-out in 15 minutes, in exchange for a taste of the best restaurants on the island.
There were 12 participating vendors, and even though everything was mind-blowing, out-of-this-world, taste-buds-falling-off kine good, we wanted to highlight some of our absolute favorites, that made the $70 tickets and hour wait, worth it.
Scratch Kitchen & Meatery: Tortilla Espagnole
I have yet to try the actual location in the new South Shore Market (those milk & cereal pancakes are calling my name!) but was so stoked to see their booth at the event! Owner Brian Chan’s creation was made up of a house-made spinach and potato confit with roasted tomato romesco sauce, and garlic confit puree, topped with a cute lil shrimp. There were so many textures going on in this one dish, and everything balanced so well with each other. Plus, I’m a sucker for potatoes and anything with the word “confit” because you get so many rich flavors being pulled out.
Roy’s: Misoyaki Sous Vide Pono Pork
Roy’s is notorious for their killer entrées and this one was no exception. Their creation was a combination of so many of my favorite things: Truffle, mushroom, and miso. The pork was so soft, the truffle & Hamakua mushroom congee wasn’t super overpowering (you know how truffle loves to steal the spotlight), and the tri-pepper relish on the top gave it the final crunch that tied it all together.
The Street Food Hall: Ahi Crudo
This one was probably one of my favorites of the night, and I totally regret not going back for more. Perfectly sliced ahi with a tomato confit, baby mustard greens, chickpea fritter, and olives. The ahi was smooth, the olives were salty, and the tomato confit had so much flavor.
UBAE: Ube Cheesecake
I have a confession to make; I think I’m psychic. I have been absolutely craving the Ube Cheesecakes from this store for the past week, and here it is, at this event. They’re cute and bite-sized, with a thick shortbread crust and the most vibrant purple ube cheesecake filling ever. It’s so photogenic, and because it’s so small, I kind of didn’t feel bad eating twelve of them.
Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery: Mini Cake Bombs & Malasada Bread Pudding
I was also craving cake bombs from this shop, which further strengthens my argument as to why I think I’m psychic. I am absolutely IN LOVE with their cake bombs, because they’re so moist, with so many different flavors, and the frosting that goes on top always complements the cake so well. They offered four flavors - Lemon, Strawberry Guava, Fruity Pebbles, and Bailey’s Irish Caramel – along with their signature Malasada Bread Pudding.
Special thanks to Taste of Paradise for hosting such an amazing event, and to Frolic Hawaii for introducing us to this event and giving us all the deets that we needed to be in-the-know! Everything was amazing, and as always, our opinions and reviews are 108% honest. We mean it when we say we can't wait for Taste of Paradise 2020 😛