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Mi’s Waterfront Bistro Has More Than Location Going For It
Elizabeth Weintraub on Christmas Eve at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
Mi’s Waterfront Bistro seemed like a fine enough place to enjoy dinner on Christmas Eve in Kona. We figured even if the meal was lacking, the location would be great. That’s because we went to dinner at Sam Choys in the Keauhou Shopping Center the day before, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. A trio of fish lacked imagination, and for a $30 entree, I expected better. Service was slow. They forgot half of my husband’s order but still put it on the bill until we corrected them.
When we have a bad experience at a restaurant, we usually do not return. However, Mi’s Waterfront Bistro was wonderful. I had made a reservation, but when we showed up, the only table available was inside. We elected to wait for a table on the water outside. It was OK, and I’m not complaining. We were escorted to the bar area and ordered a drink.
Bar seating is available on both sides of the bar at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
The thing about dining out in Kona is one is not expected to dress up. I wore an old cotton tie-die dress that had belonged to my mother, and I swiped it from her closet after she died. Somewhere along the way, I managed to rip a hole in the front of it, but that just makes the garment more endearing to me. I topped it off with baroque pearls and matching earrings, although I did not comb my hair nor wear any makeup.
This is how dining out should be. No pretenses. Good service and good food. Our waiter appeared knowledgeable and he was fast on his toes. At first I leaned toward the rigatoni with sausage, probably because I’ve never met a rigatoni I did not love. Since my husband desired that dish, I instead chose the seafood cioppino. Blue crab, scallops, shrimp and marlin simmered to perfection in a rich tomato sauce.
Pacific ocean laps the shore at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro
It was so delicious I mopped up my bowl with bread, and I almost never eat bread. A Napa pinot noir was a great pairing with this dish. My husband’s rigatoni seemed short on the pasta and long on the sausage and sauce, but marvelous. I do not recommend the pineapple sherbet, though; it was like shaved ice without the syrup.
If you don’t feel like driving out to the resorts for dinner, you can stay in Kailua-Kona and enjoy dinner at Mi’s Waterfront Bistro in the Waterfront Row Building on Alii Drive. There is also underground parking for 5.00 in the evenings, although the elevators don’t always seem to work, I hear. I’ve been to all the top resorts in the area, and Mi’s Waterfront Bistro is every bit as good as, say, Brown’s Beach House.
The Coffee Shack in Honaunau on the Way to Two-Step Beach
Lanai view from The Coffee Shack in Honaunau reveals 26 miles of coastline.
You’ve got to stop at The Coffee Shack in Honaunau on your way to snorkeling at Two-Step Beach, said our tenants, as they were digging through their box of snorkeling fins. I wasn’t paying much attention to their suggestion as I was more concerned about what kind of idiot packs only one snorkeling fin? Well, you’re reading her blog, that’s who.
My first clue would have been there was only one fin in the clear plastic bag that I took down from my closet shelf but I was so busy packing in November that I didn’t notice the fin was missing its mate. Things could have been worse, I suppose, I could have left behind in Sacramento my snorkel and mask, which I did not.
Adam Weintraub studies the menu at The Coffee Shack.
Our tenants were absolutely correct about The Coffee Shack. This was a fabulous place to stop on our way through Captain Cook. It’s a mile south of the Captain Cook Post Office. The restaurant serves great breakfast and lunch items, including personal pizzas, plus its pastries and baked goods are to die for.
We started with an iced Kona coffee with a sugar-free vanilla flavoring, but they carry a wide assortment of flavors such as macadamia nut, caramel and almond. I ordered a cup of salty clam chowder made with celery, of all things. I am always surprised to see celery show up in odd places like the Leaning Tower of Pizza in Minneapolis puts celery on its pizza. It seems like such a Minnesota novelty to me because I grew up chopping celery into almost everything.
Lilikoi cheesecake at The Coffee Shack is out of this world.
Most of the sandwiches at The Coffee Shack are as big as your head. Enormous. Served with a side of chips. I selected a sensible Greek salad, adorned with tiny bits of pickled red pepper and capers, and had just finished shoveling the last of it into my mouth when my husband said with a sneaky grin, “How about dessert?”
Well, one look at the menu and I had to order the Lilikoi cheesecake (pronounced lee-lee-CO ‘e), which is a passion fruit and the yummiest of all sweetness. I’ll eat a frog if there isn’t a ton of brown sugar in that crumb crust, too.
Two-Step Beach in Honaunau is perfect for snorkeling.
With extremely full tummies from The Coffee Shack, we rolled onto Two-Step Beach and scored a parking spot right in front. What you see here, the dark stuff, is lava. Mostly pahoehoe. There are two primary types of lava: pahoehoe, which looks like ropes and blankets, and a’a, which hurts when you step on the jagged edges; hence, the ah-ah name.
I love snorkeling so much that I could do it every day. When I’m observing the fish, I try to memorize the distinctive colors, stripes, shapes so I can identify them later. There were many butterfly fish and coral fish, plus the largest parrot fish I’ve ever seen. That fish was almost 3-feet. Those are the female fish that can turn into males when needed.
Then, just when I think I’ve seen all the fish I could possibly see and they all start to look nearly identical, suddenly I spot a new fish I’ve never seen before, so I can’t stop snorkeling. The water was warm and welcoming, the temperatures in the low 70s. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
Mele Kalikimaka from Kailua-Kona on Christmas Day!
Royal Kona Resort for Lunch and Honokohau Harbor Snorkeling
Hawaii Broker Hella Rothwell and Sacramento Realtor Elizabeth Weintraub at Kona Royal Resort.
Our home inspection at the Hawaii house went fairly well. There wasn’t much the inspector found, just a bunch of minor things, and I am not the kind of Hawaii home buyer to ask the seller to fix them all because that’s just plain idiotic. Every home has defects. Asking for home inspection repairs that are puny makes people irritated. Besides, it is far wiser to maintain good relations with these guys for reasons I won’t go into but suffice to say buyers who nitpick tend to lose sight of the big picture and can end up with no home at all.
I have my own way of doing things. As Hella Rothwell and I were driving to Ali’i Drive to do lunch at the original Don the Beachcomber at the Royal Kona Resort, I noticed a credit union along the way and asked Hella to stop. It makes sense to have a bank account in Hawaii, for many reasons. The problem was I had not planned on opening a new account so I did not have anything more than about fifty bucks on me.
Eureka! Guess what? It costs $50 to open a savings account at Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union. It can’t be done over the phone or online, either. Then I ordered checks and the bank clerk said I could not start the numbering at the four digit I asked for. Sure you can, I suggested. She checked with her boss, and yes, I was right. Then I asked for the checks to have one address and to be mailed to another. Can’t do it, she said. Sure you can. She checked with her boss, and yes, I was right.
Some people always take others at face value but this is the wisdom of aging and experience speaking.
The server at the Royal Kona Resort said she could not get my iPad to take a good photo of us because the background was too light. Sure you can. Just tap our faces. BTW, did you know Don the Beachcomber of Royal Kona Resort fame is credited with creating the pupu platter? The view on the coast is incredible, and the food was excellent, too. My husband I will be able to walk to this Kona Royal Resort from our new home but there is also free validated parking.
After lunch, I decided to schedule a snorkeling adventure through my hotel, so I stopped at the Expedia Travel Desk, which seems to be ubiquitous. The clerk was a bit uppity with me. She suggested a tour that included whale watching. Hey, I’ve gone on whale watching tours from Hawaii that produced zero whales. Also, as I pointed out to her, I’ve had my fill of whale watching in Alaska; we had hundreds of whales following our catamaran, breeching, splashing, enough to last me a lifetime.
Well, that’s a pity, snotty clerk replied.
They love me here. Then she suggested a night snorkeling trip. This is where all the snorkelers get into the cold water, form a circle, hold hands and then shine light into the water to attract fish and manta rays. That did not hold a lot of appeal as I have seen many rays in the Tuamotos. I could see I was not endearing myself to the clerk but she did manage to make me a reservation to go snorkeling at the Honokohau Harbor for today.
The Orchid Greenhouse in Lanai at The Lodge
Orchid Greenhouse at The Lodge, Lanai
It’s often a little sad to leave the islands in Hawaii but I depart today a happier person for having visited the orchid greenhouse at The Lodge. It’s a different way to see Lanai, Hawaii, to spend time at the Four Seasons Lodge instead of its sister property on the beach in Manele Bay. It’s like you are suddenly transported to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and summer weather is replaced by a fall rainshower. Lots of wood used in this resort and it sports a giant stone fireplace in the lobby, exerting a warm ambiance.
There is a sweeping golf course, a large pond loaded with koi fish that poke their noses out of the water when they see you approaching, a pergola, fountains, lush vegetation and flowers. It reminded me a little bit of our trip to Sonoma, California, without the wineries.
I had stopped briefly at The Lodge the day before on my way back to Manele Bay after running around Lanai City, and I had missed the orchid greenhouse because I didn’t know it was there. Which meant I had to go back before I left the island. First on my list was submitting Sweetheart Rock to Ingress as a suggested portal, which I finished early yesterday morning in the midst of strong winds blowing sand into every nook and cranny of exposed skin. The afternoon was reserved for a manicure and pedicure, which left a small window of opportunity to grab the shuttle without a reservation — which the shuttle guys don’t like very much, you must make a reservation — and head up to the orchid greenhouse at The Lodge.
Roasted tomato soup, without the cream, called out to me for lunch. A rainy day is a perfect day for tomato soup. It wasn’t cold outside, just wet and windy. The breeze was so strong it whipped my newspaper off the table during lunch when somebody opened a side door to the grounds. After shooting photos of the orchids and sitting in the greenhouse a while, admiring the beautiful orchids, which included a view of the turkeys frolicking about on the perfectly manicured lawn, I headed back to the lobby for lunch.
I don’t believe I have ever seen an ugly orchid. All orchids are inherently gorgeous. They are a perfect flower. Striking. Alluring. Original. Exciting. Creative. My sister says orchids need a scent to be a perfect flower but they create a fragrance inside your head, so you don’t need to experience it with your nose. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
