Waikiki Brewing Company, Waikiki, Hawaii

We have returned.  It's our last day and we have spent the morning wallowing in the turquoise water at Waikiki Beach.  It's thirsty work.

We visited here again to await our taxi to the airport as it's only 30 seconds from the flat where we have been staying and so ideally located for us to refresh ourselves before our flight to Oakland.  

I knew what I wanted - Jalapeno Mouth- and that's what I had.  

It's been great, Hawaii, we'll miss you.

Red Lobster, Waikiki, Hawaii

We don't have Red Lobster in the UK and so I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  I've never tried lobster, so I must say I have had nothing to compare this experience with.

I must admit, the place was lacking in ambiance, perhaps I was expecting too much from this chain restaurant, maybe it was because we had arrived fairly late in the evening, I really couldn't put my finger on it.  The young waitress showed us to the bar as they were 'full', although we could both see numerous empty tables.  We had a drink and waited.  We must have been there about 20 minutes and were discussing just leaving and going somewhere else when a different waiter came to ask if we were waiting for a table.  He seemed surprised that we were, and seated us in one of the numerous empty booths.

We had already decided what we were having, as we had to chance to view the menu when waiting at the bar, and so ordered straight away.  I had the Ultimate Feast as I was keen to try both lobster and snow crab legs, which I believe are somewhat of a delicacy in Hawaii.  I'll admit I was a little nervous about them, not knowing how to eat them or what they would taste like.

Our waiter seemed very nice and spoke to us about being Scottish, "I used to work with Jim from Edinburgh, do you know him?", and whizzed around the other tables without a second to spare.  He brought us Ceasar Salads and a basket of biscuits (the American kind, which is sort of like a scone, as opposed to a selection of custard creams or bourbons) which we did not ask for, but enjoyed all the more for it.  I'm unsure about whether or not these are complimentary to all Red Lobster diners, or if they were perhaps included in the particular meals that we had chosen.  As we awaited our main courses, I watched in awe every time a waiter placed yet another empty plate on a particular table in the middle of the floor in our section.  There must have been roughly a hundred dirty plates and sets of cutlery and glasses on the table, which nobody seemed to be clearing.  I couldn't understand why they were putting the dirty crockery there.  It was nowhere near the kitchen.  Some of the other waiting staff from other sections of the restaurant even seemed to be walking the whole length of the place to put dity plates on this table.  Some of the piles of plates were so high they were teetering and wobbled every time our speedy waiter walked past them.  I guess I'll never know why.

Our mains arrived and I think you'll see from the photo that I was absolutely delighted with what was placed before me.  Our waiter saw a flicker of apprehension on my face and quickly showed me how to eat the crab legs.  It really is much easier than it looks and I gave it my best shot.  I don't think I did too badly.  They were buttery and delicious, as was the lobster.  I couldn't finish all the food, having been filled up by salad and biscuits - I'll bear this in mind if I ever visit again.


The food was fantastic and very reasonably priced.  I felt the restaurant needed spruced up a wee bit, just a lick of paint here and there.  The waiter we had was really lovely, I'm annoyed I can't remember his name.  I must remember to keep an eye out for Jim next time I'm in Edinburgh though.

Blue Water Shrimp, Waikiki, Hawaii

We got lost trying to find this place.  I'm glad we did because LOOK at the beautiful sunset we stumbled upon!!

We might not have caught a glimpse of this if we hadn't have been a bit lost.  We didn't linger for long  though because my husband was hangry and he turns into a Hulk-like being if you forget to feed him.

"You won't like me when I'm hangry!"

Eventually, after doing many, many loops of the rather expensive looking Hilton Hawaiian Village, we found the Blue Water Shrimp and Seafood Market and luckily managed to nab a table.  It was a busy place and seemed to be much more chip-shoppy than I had imagined from the name, with lots of people obviously just looking for a takeaway.

There was a good selection of food on offer and Alan was particularly excited that they were selling pineapples to drink from, as he had seemed to have become accustomed to drinking from tropical fruit.  He was pleased as punch.  

The food was really good - posh fish and chips which was beautifully presented with a tropical flower salad garnish.  Luckily, the portions were big, preventing Alan from turning green and traumatising the other holidaymakers by bursting out of his clothes.  He fairly enjoyed his pineapple too.  

Waikiki Brewing Company, Waikiki, Hawaii

We're finally in Honolulu.  We are off the ship!  Thank goodness!

We have discovered over the past ten days that cruising is just not for us.  I like to see things more thoroughly than you seem to be permitted to on a cruise.  We were only ashore in each place from around 8.30am until 4.30pm and, for me, this was not long enough to experience each place properly.  I love to try new food and drink, but the cruise itself was so expensive that you felt you really had to get your money's worth during breakfast, before disembarking for the day, which meant that by dinner time (lunch for you posh folk) you were still stuffed from breakfast.  It was the same with drinks.  The beer is 'free' on the boat, so why pay for it ashore if you can help it?  If only we were rich and could just drink all the beer...

We stayed in an Airbnb.  We have used Airbnb a few times and have been really pleased each time and this was no exception.  The view we had was awesome, and the place was conveniently located near all the things we wanted to see, as well as being almost next door to Waikiki Brewing Company.

We visited twice in our short stay as it was so good and really just a little too convenient.  We each had four wee beers to taste, making sure they were all different ones as I don't like to think that I'm missing out on anything.  The beers were awesome, my particular favourite being 'Jalapeno Mouth'.  I just LOVE chili beer and I now seem to be seeking it out wherever I go.  No luck so far though.  Brewdog did one called 'Chili Hammer' a year or so ago and it was really good but it's not available anymore.  I'll keep looking.