Vegan in Kauai, part 2

Final Vegan Mofo post! I really enjoyed the inspiration and motivation to post every weekday for a month, even if I missed one day and had two slacker days on vacation. Overall the experience has really given new life to my cooking, eating, and blogging.

Yesterday, on the way to Waimea Canyon, we ate at Hanapepe Cafe. I think it bills itself as vegetarian, but they do have a few fish items (fish sandwich, tuna melt) on the menu. I had a Boca burger with teriyaki sauce and pineapple on it-- quite nice-- and they had gluten-free bread for no additional cost. While I know Bocas are not gluten free, it was nice to have the bread for lower-gluten content (if that's an option for you). A true vegan, gluten-free option would be their roasted veggie sandwich on the gf bread, and it looked delicious. They also had a couple of gluten-free bakery items, though none were vegan. Erik really enjoyed their gluten-free brownie.

Tonight's dinner was pizza at Hanalei Pizza in the Ching Young Village Shopping Center in Hanalei. I had a caramelized onion, pineapple, and caper pizza that was really nice-- the highlight was the nice tomato sauce made with shiraz. Sadly, they do not have a gluten-free crust. They serve the pizzas on baking stones, a nice touch that keeps the crust crispy.

My favorite food here has definitely been shave ice. I've currently tried four different places, but none have yet earned my loyalty. Best so far was the place next to Kauai Outfitters where we were kayaking today, although I had it only once, on our first full day here. Second place so far is Brenneke Deli, suggested by our kayak guide and enjoyed today. I'm sad to have missed the two best places on the south shore (our first few nights), but we're close to two now here on the north shore (our last few nights) that I hope to try.

Aloha!

Vegan in Kauai

I'm in Kauai for a nice, long week, so I missed a few days posting for Vegan MoFo. While I'm not cooking here (unless making stovetop popcorn and putting together sandwiches count), I am eating, so I thought I'd post about some of the places we've had good meals. Unfortunately I've been remiss at taking photos of food, but I did manage one snap of a particularly good dish, most of the way through. Hey, I'm on vacation!

This lovely dinner was a special vegan plate made up for me at Josselin's Tapas Bar & Grill in Koloa, in the fancy shopping center near our condo. A couple of the tapas might have been vegan-izable, but I was very happy to have a big plate of well-roasted/grilled veggies, including potatoes, heirloom carrots, squash, eggplant, and fresh tomatoes served over naan bread. They originally brought a plate loaded with mushrooms, which I unfortunately had to send back (I had specified that I'm allergic). $21 for a huge, satisfying meal is not bad at all in Hawaii, especially at a fairly fancy restaurant. Without the naan, this would be gluten-free.

Another memorable meal was the tofu satay plate at Mermaids Cafe in Kapa'a. Erik and I shared the large plate of brown rice, chewy fried tofu and veggies in a nice, mild peanut sauce. They also have Thai iced tea available with coconut milk. Service was slow but it seemed to be because the place was so popular. There's a coffeeshop next door with a sign proclaiming vegan and gluten-free treats, but they were sold out when we were there-- around 2pm on Sunday. Hopefully we'll swing by again and get to try them.

Aloha!