The Coffee Shack, Magics Beach Grille, and the Fish and the Hog
We traveled from our resort on the Kohala Coast up to Waimea
to grab some fruit at the Farmer’s Markets in town. Waimea is in the foothills
of the Volcanoes and has an elevation of our 3,000. It was cool and misty when
we got there. We made it to one of their farmer’s markets at the end of the market,
but were unable to find any fruit. They had a lot of stands of fresh made food,
coffee, chocolate, and art. But no tropical fruit. We rush to another market,
that was closing down, and missed out on any fruit they had.
Yelp has at least three four (or four and a half) star restaurants in Waimea. Merriman’s a fancy farm to table restaurant, at which reservations are required. Hawaiian Style CafĂ©-which takes no credit cards, and The Fish and the Hog. We drove by the Fish and the Hog on the way to the last farmer’s market, and so decided to stop by there.
It was the nicest completely indoor dining we had on the west
side of the big island. They were out of
poke (Hawaiian version of sushi), so I ordered a brisket sandwich and my better
half ordered the fresh fish of the day. The food lived up to the high Yelp
reviews, and the side of ranch, might be one of the best flavored Ranch
dressings I’ve ever tasted. We chose the Fish and the Hog, because of their accepting
of credit cards, but it was one of the best quality of food to cost values outside of the Hilo (East) side of the island.
Then we drove an hour south to tour a coffee plantation and get Lilikoi
cheesecake at the Coffee Shack. On the way, we stopped a highly recommended chocolate
shop- Donkey Balls, and got overpriced chocolate balls centered with macadamia
nuts and peanut butter that we still haven’t eaten. The name definitely appeals
to the juvenile nature, but the prices require some sort of professional employment.
After buying our Donkey Balls. We then went to Greenwell farms for a free
coffee tour and tasting.
Jet, our Emory college student/tour guide, went over the coffee
making process from coffee tree to bean roasting, with the enthusiasm of
someone high on coffee (as well as the caffeine of the coffee). We tasted many
different styles of Hawaiian coffee, and found out a way they make decaf
without chemicals. For the price, (Free) a great tour. We bought some Hawaiian
salt, but no coffee. Since we aren’t regular coffee drinkers and the coffee is not priced at a discount.
After Greenwell farms we drove down the road to the Coffee Shack.
Perched a couple of thousand feet up in elevation, with a view down to the coast and the
Blue Central Pacific Ocean. We came for the Lilikoi Cheesecake,
(Lilikoi-Passionate Fruit), but looking at the pies in the window, the Cream
pies looked enticing. At the behest of our waiter, we ordered the chocolate
cream pie over the coconut one and were not disappointed. We had views of the Pacific,
and spotted our first gecko. Apparently, geckos are very common on the big
island, and we definitely saw our fair share of them.
After eating pie, what did we do? Head straight down to the Ocean
and the restaurant with our dinner reservation. Cause that's how we roll. We got there an hour early, but
Magics Beach Grill, honored our reservation early. We had a view of Magics Beach,
and the sunset. The food was good, but the view was spectacular. One thing about
the big island, not so many sandy beaches. So much so, that I am not sure
Magics Beach wasn’t man-made. But there must have been fifty plus people out in
the waves: body surfing, a few snorkelers, and a couple of swimmers. It was definitely
a scene. We missed out on any surfing beaches on this trip, so this was the closest.
Watching all the body surfers and their joy at Magics Beach was definitely one of
my best memories of the Big Island. We also ate delicious poke nachos, a mushroom
flatbread, and got a free dessert of three Tropical Dreams ice cream flavors, mango, strawberry, and vanilla. One
of the perks of saying we are on a Honeymoon.
After Magics Beach Grille, we headed back to our resort, at the
Fairmont Orchid (affordable thanks to a Costco Travel Promotion bought during the peak of Covid), and caught
the end of the sunset and our second full day on the island of Hawaii.
