That Traveling Couple

We had a driver on our shuttle bus from the Honolulu airport make us some, what turned out to be horrible recommendations for what to do and where to go while staying in Waikiki. The Wailana Coffee House being one of them, it was actually with some trepidation that we approached this popular Waikiki 24 hour joint.

But we were there with a purpose.

The only real reason I’d wanted to attend was the supposed magnificence of the diner’s Macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. I consider myself a connoisseur of highly unhealthy sweet foods, so the second I heard the name of this breakfast special, the decision to have one of our breakfasts at Wailana was made in the shade…

Anyway, so Sunday morning we stroll down to Ala Moana boulevard along with a pilgrimage of other tourists and conference goers and the adventure begins.

I’d heard one reviewer say that eating at Wailana’s was a trip back in a time machine to his first Hawaii experience in the 80’s as a child. Walking in the door, we quickly saw why. The feel is extreme “vintage American diner” so don’t let the traditional sounding name fool you about what you’re getting.

The place was packed to the brim with tourists of all kinds, and the menu stacked with cheap, every day breakfast eats. As far as I could see, there’s nothing that stood out on this menu besides those pancakes, which however I’m sure you could have also gotten elsewhere in Waikiki.

But, after some friendly, relatively fast service considering how busy it was, the pancakes arrived…

I have no hesitation in saying that they made the whole experience worth it many times over.

I got a breakfast that was about $6 with unlimited pancakes. That means as much coconutty macadamia-y goodness as you can eat for a measly few bucks.

The first stack was 3 pancakes. The macadamia nut is finely chopped and both on top of the cakes and cooked in, so you don’t miss the macadamia flavor. The coconut syrup is a thick, sweetened coconut nectar type substance that comes in a container you can serve yourself; perfect for the pancake fanatic. You MUST have the macadamia pancakes with the coconut syrup too… don’t dare put maple syrup on that or you’ve ruined the whole day; as our Hawaian shuttle driver explained.

The combination is a unique but divinely sweet flavour that will leave you craving more. The cakes were nice and big too, leaving me unable to finish even my first plate, but leaving completely satisfied at the sugarry goodness I’d experienced.

At the end of the day, the restaurant and the food overall were just average, not amazing, but not bad, and diito to the service and the atmosphere but those pancakes, and the fact that we paid $17 total for the two of us for more food than we could finish, makes Wailana Coffee House a place that’s definitely worth checking out in my opinion.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: Waikiki