Fajardo Dinnertime Eats

 
May I recommend the red snapper at Sal + Pimienta By The Sea. We ate here on our first night in Fajardo and were replete with delicious seafood meals after a fun but long road trip from the west coast. 

Since we were staying at the well known El Conquistador Resort via airbnb we were not allowed to access their restaurants. It felt like a bummer but in the end it made us get out and explore! 

Fajardo truly is a sleepy town at night. We felt a little off at times; there just isn't a ton going on! Everything closes pretty early and there is not a main section of town. Sal + Pimienta and La Estacion are on the main road but there's no foot traffic, no sidewalks, no street lights, nothing is a destination except the restaurants themselves I suppose.

La Estacion is apparently sort of famous! Housed in an abandoned Esso gas station serving Nuyorican BBQ; Fodor's and Conde Nast have it on best-of-lists for not only Puerto Rico but the Caribbean as a whole. Bob found it on a whim, it sits just down the road from La Conquistadors pearly, exclusive gates. I sipped a juicy Guanabana mojito, we shared tangy Caribbean chicken wings and a terrific BBQ tray. 

They are open Friday through Sunday only. 

Mon/Fri @ 4 pm and Sat/Sun @ 2 pm.

On our last night in town we decided to give Las Croabas neighborhood another go. This is what you might consider the "main area" in and around Seven Seas Beach. 

We explored Las Croabas on a couple different occasions for lunch and it was very quiet; the only restaurant open was Costa Mia right at Seven Seas. (We ate lunch here - it was fine - I did not take photos!) A lot of restaurants have odd hours (La Estacion as noted above), close for 2 days in a row, or simply did not exist! We could not trust google for anything factual. 

Is this Fajardo still emerging from a pandemic?

 A quiet time of year? 

Business as usual?

On our last night we discovered El Pescador, a charming seafood enclave on the small circular strip surrounding Parque Pasvio. Camden slept in the stroller. Ryder was well rested and could hang. They serve martinis in frosted sea blue glasses and bright, fresh fish dishes with rice + salads.

We were delighted.

Our 6 month old! Kind as could be with long brown curls, shiny blue eyes, taking everything in and enjoying the world around him!

Pineapple Flan was a sweet ending to an enlightened stay in a unique part of Puerto Rico!

If you visit:

Sal + Pimienta by the Sea

 Road 987 Km 2.7, 

Fajardo, 00738

La Estacion

Carr. 987 Km 4.20 

Las Croabas, Fajardo, 00738

El Pescadore

Carr. 987 Km 7.2 

Parque Pasivo, Fajardo, 00738

Honolulu | Eat + Drink

This recap includes the downtown city area of Honolulu which we ventured to twice, once for dinner at Sushi ii and once for lunch at Lucky Belly, as well as the posh city streets of Waikiki Beach. We found downtown Honolulu to be relatively quiet where as Waikiki was always bustling! 

We had our best meals of the trip on this leg of our Hawaiian journey; nowhere else overall compared to the restaurant and bar scene here. 

Mahina & Son's at The Surfjack Hotel + Swim Club 

[412 Lewers Street]

Surfjack Hotel is wonderfully hip. A retro Wish You Were Here tiled pool immediately invites you into the well manicured space. Mahina and Son's is an open concept that abuts hotel lounge and sun deck. 

We started with addicting, super spicy pickled peanuts with jalapenos. If you've never had pickled peanuts they are an absolute treat. I don't remember exactly what we drank but the cocktails were on par.

We hadn't yet tried Poi (taro root) which is a major Hawaiian crop / right of passage. It worked well in the Pa'a'ai Salad with pickled Akule (big eye scad), pohile (Hawaiian fiddlehead fern) and tomato. The first main was Monchong (Sickle Pomfret) with 'ulu (breadfruit), green bean, cherry tomato and chervil. The second was Opah (Moonfish) with savoy cabbage, purplette, u'ala (sweet potato) and a mustard-bacon broth. Dessert was the Dark Chocolate Butter Mochi with black sesame gelato and mango jam.

Sushi ii

[655 Keeaumoku St] 

An omakase menu is offered (go for it!) in this unassuming strip mall nook. A parade of impossibly fresh nigiri delights from Chef Hiro: lango, kinmedai, shima aji, toro, uni, hokkiado scallop, ikura, ama ebi...with a grand finale of miso soup!

Bar Leather Apron
[745 Fort Street Mall #127]

We ubered from Sushi ii to Bar Leather Apron for a night cap. This intimate cocktail den is located on the mezzanine level of the Topa Financial Center in downtown Honolulu. It is definitely a random, hidden location and it was a little tricky to find; part of the charm for sure. They have four old Fashioneds on the menu, naturally we each got one. 

Appetito

[150 Ka‘iulani Ave]

Appetito is a chic craft pizza and wine bar, which we chose on a whim. I took just one photo of this phenomenal pizza: KING CRAB SHISHITO with avocado, shishito peppers and arugula on a cream sauce drizzled with wasabi mayo. We had a really great time here, much in part to our amazing, personable bartender, who in hindsight I recognized as professional surfer Keala Kennelly. She totally made our night.

Queen Street Cafe + Grill
[99 Kauhale St, Aiea]

Queen St Café + Grill is actually located in Aiea - the town that Pearl Harbor is in. We had lunch time to fill between our morning arrival and our late afternoon tour of the USS Arizona, so we opted to venture off campus instead of hitting up the hot dog cart with everyone else. I'm so glad we did! (Pearl Harbor has no entrance fees or parking fees so it's easy to leave and come back in one day.) The Poke Bowl Lunch at this no frills café is easily one of the best I had. You can mix and match so I had tuna and beef with pasta salad and white rice, Bob had chicken and beef with potato salad and brown rice.

Lucky Belly
[50 N Hotel St]

We stopped in Chinatown for lunch after we checked out of The Alohilani and before we headed for the North Shore. Lucky Belly was host to a decent lunch hour crowd. We sat at the bar and sipped ice cold Asahi Beers alongside delicious food. Bob had Tempura Shrimp Tacos topped with asian slaw and yuzu mayo. As for me, you know I can't pass up a good bowl of Ramen (I think this was my third so far in Hawaii!) The Lucky Bowl with bean sprouts, soft egg, wakame, sesame seeds, green onion and ginger was excellent.

The Beach Bar @ Moana Surfrider Hotel
[2365 Kalakaua Ave]

Moana Surfrider is a Westin Resort & Spa right on Waikiki Beach. This was our favorite place for cocktails - the nicest bartenders, live music, hula dancing, and you are literally steps from the sand. 

We absolutely loved the food scene in Honolulu and would give all these spots our vote of approval. 

G I L I M E N O

It is impossible research a trip to Bali and not stumble across the infamous Lombok Gilis. There are three in a row off the northwest coast: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. A lot of travelers opt to stay on one of these small but popular islands and many come from Bali or Lombok on day trips.

The majority of our Gili Meno trip was spent on the water with Bagus Divers. It was awesome getting to hang on a traditional Indonesian outrigger. We snorkeled at a couple different reefs, then relaxed on a remote white sand beach with lots of shells; where we had lunch at the lovely Maha Maya Boutique Resort. All the while drinking beloved Bintang and Bintang Radlers.
 
Another cool thing about this day was actually our drive to and from Puri Mas with the Bagus crew. It was one of the most beautiful drives! The winding coastal road climbs to higher elevations lending spectacular views of the coast. A must do drive for anyone visiting Lombok! Below is the beach where Bagus Divers is located.



There were SO many beautiful + exotic fish, majestic turtles, and pretty coral. The marine life is rather challenging to capture (on a little point and shoot). But it's still fun to try...

Bagus Divers - a memorable day on an Indonesian outrigger and snorkeling the Gili reefs.