During our brief staycation in Waikiki, I made it a point to try a new to us restaurant, despite having established favorites in the area. This was an even greater challenge due to budgetary constraints. Eventually, I settled on ‘Olili Waikiki, which is a newer restaurant concept by Foodland Hawai’i.
I’m sure most kama’aina know that Foodland Hawai’i has been expanding into more than supermarkets for quite some time now. Their evolution began with their Foodland Farms supermarket concept, which is like a Whole Foods competitor. However, since then, they began expanding their concepts to include restaurants and bars. Virtually all of these have been in Foodland Farms locations, though Kahala has Kahala Mkt, which is a smaller, yet more upscale Foodland Farms. But, in Waikiki, Foodland’s concept completely drops the Foodland branding. Sort of.
‘Olili Waikiki
In Waikiki, Foodland used to operate the Food Pantry shop. However, when the block the grocery shop was located on across from the Outrigger Ohana East hotel, was redeveloped, the supermarket chain vowed to return with an entirely new concept. This new concept ended up being Waikiki Market in the Lilia Waikiki rental condo, which is a decidedly upscale concept. As such, Waikiki Market is a grocery store that caters towards both building residents and visitors, with a larger prepared foods area than other store, a restaurant (‘Olili Waikiki), and a bar.
At any rate, the location of ‘Olili Waikiki is a 10-minute walk to the east from the Hyatt Centric Waikiki.
Atmosphere + Service
‘Olili Waikiki is on the second floor of Lilia Waikiki just off of the main entrance to Waikiki Market. This particular area is pretty quiet (compared to the rest of the store), while its second floor location separates it from the hustle and bustle of Kuhio Avenue. As you’d imagine, this means that the restaurant doesn’t have much of a view.
The lack of view isn’t all that detrimental to the restaurant’s atmosphere, though. They did great with the interior design, giving it a chic, mid-century island vibe. In fact, it’s somewhat reminiscent to the Hideout at the Laylow Waikiki’s interior design, but just a tad bit more modern.
Service is, as has been my experience at all the Foodland concepts, excellent. Everyone we interacted with was warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. Moreover, when I asked our server for her opinion on what to order, she genuinely gave me suggestions that she liked, even if they were among the less expensive options.
‘Olili Waikiki Menu
The menu at ‘Olili Waikiki is relatively short. You see the tree one-pager in the photo above? That’s it. The front side is comprised of small plates and entrees, while the back features a varieties of beverages. There’s a great variety of dishes, despite its diminutive size, with something for almost everyone. The food is also heavily inspired by local favorites. My only complaint is that many of the dishes are spicy, even if they don’t hint that they are. But, more on that later.
What We Ordered
To start our night, we settles for a couple of drinks. Mrs. Island Miler with with the Herbs & Tonic, which is fresh basil, mint, shiso, lemon, tonic water, and your choice of Seedlip Garden non-alcoholic spirit or Tenjaku gin. I went with the Shine On, which features a coconut water sphere, Ko Hana Kea agricole rum, yuzu, and lime juice.
Deciding what order for our starters was difficult, as always. However, we eventually settled on two – the Smoked Fish Dip and the Local Roots. In the past, I would’ve gone with the Roasted Bone Marrow, but that’s no longer possible for me.
The Smoked Fish Dip is comprised of locally-sourced guava-smoked fish topped with marinated ikura, and served with a side of local micro greens and Diamond Head Bakery Soda Crackers. Now, in my opinion, the flavors of the fish dip is great, but I do think it’s a bit dry. The dip plus the soda crackers really needed something else to balance everything out. Perhaps, some cream cheese, creme friache, or even mayo would work, in my opinion. That said, I’d probably order this again.
Now, The Local Roots was probably the best dish of the night at ‘Olili Waikiki for me. Here, local root vegetables are roasted and paired with macadamia nut pesto, Bocconcino Honolulu burrata, basil, and a healthy dose of cracked black pepper. The cheese, herbaceous, umami of the pesto enhanced the rich, creaminess of the burrata, which was balanced by the sweet roasted carrots and beets, with the black pepper providing a light, floral heat. The lotus root chips added a lovely crispiness that helped to further tie everything together. Sublime.
For her main, Mrs. Island Miler went with the Chili Crab Noodles. In this dish, Sun Noodles ramen noodles are tossed with Pacific Dungeness Crab, saffron-tamale emulsion, shishito peppers, Fresno chilis, and topped with brown butter breadcrumbs. Mrs. Island Miler thoroughly enjoyed this dish, describing at a lightly buttery, somewhat spicy, flavorful noodle dish with a good amount of crab. I tried a little bite, but as Mrs. Island Miler predicted, it was too spicy for me lol.
For my main, I went with the Garlic Shrimp Forbidden Rice. which consists of garlic jumbo shrimp, Chinese forbidden black rice fried rice, lup chewing, pork hash, pea shoots, and bottarga. I’m not typically a wholegrain fried rice fan, but this was actually pretty good. The rice was perfectly al dente, which isn’t quite like normal local-style fried rice, but it worked well here. It was also packed with flavor, though I think it could’ve done without the pork has. Moreover, while the shrimp was perfectly cooked, it was coated with chili flakes that made it so spicy that I couldn’t really taste it.
Of course, we couldn’t leave ‘Olili Waikiki without trying some dessert. Unfortunately, we were too full to order one each, so we ended up getting just one, which was the Kīlauea Chocolate Lava Cake. If you’re thinking this is going to be like the version at Roy’s, think again. Here, a deep, rich molten chocolate cake is set in a pool of guava-raspberry sauce, and is set on fire table side with a flaming rum drizzle. This was a decadent, yet not-too-sweet chocolate dessert.
‘Olili Waikiki, Final Thoughts
Overall, ‘Olili Waikiki is a solid option in the area, especially if you like spicier foods. But even if you don’t, I’m sure you’ll find options to enjoy on the menu. Heck, I’d return just for the starters and dessert.
At any rate, it’s worth mentioning that Waikiki Market, ‘Olili Waikiki, and Piko all don’t make mention of Foodland Hawai’i. However, if you’re familiar enough with the company, then it’s easy to see their connections. For example, ‘Olili Waikiki lists Foodland Corporate Chef Keoni Chang on its website, while Waikiki Market features many Maika’i brand products, which is Foodland’s house brand. Despite all this, though, you can’t earn or redeem Maika’i Rewards points here, nor can you use Foodland’s online ordering system.