Cream Pot claims to have invented the souffle pancake that’s popular in Japan and, more recently, in the U.S. The brunch spot has been serving them since 2009, and they’re still wonderful, fluffy clouds. None of the imitators have the darling “hobbit home meets French cottage” atmosphere of Cream Pot. On the savory side, the clear winner is the maguro eggs Benedict: raw ahi on poached eggs and rice, like breakfast sushi. Make sure to get here early. Thanks to TikTok, this once hidden gem now garners lines around the block.

Inside the Prince Waikiki hotel, you’ll find the only outpost of the Katsumidori chain outside of Japan. This location ditches the model train that delivers orders to your seat at Japanese locations, but it’s still a good stop for moderately priced sushi that’s a step above your average sushi languishing on a conveyor belt. The most deluxe sushi set (still under $40) includes luxuries such as uni, abalone, and jumbo eel, an almost comically long piece of seafood.

You could come here for the ambience alone. The gorgeous open-air dining room on the eighth floor of the Ritz-Carlton provides a serene view over Waikīkī, but the modern French cuisine and cocktails would be worth your time even if they were served in a bunker. Choose from a three- or four-course prix fixe, where recent standouts on the ever-changing menu included fried frog legs with escargot and dry-aged duck a l’orange with berbere spice. The restaurant also serves as the entrance to Sushi Sho, another spot on this list.

Brunch spot Castro’s could survive entirely on overflow customers from its neighbor, Eggs ‘n’ Things, but the food is so good that Waikīkī-averse locals will face the crowds for the Cubano, choripan, and braised brisket sandwiches. In his Cuban-inspired cuisine, chef-owner Luis Castro emphasizes local ingredients (rare in an independent Waikīkī restaurant) like foraged flowers, local pork, and fruit plates that eschew the ubiquitous imported berries in favor of a farmers market bounty of tropical items.

It would be a mistake to not include a single place that serves coconut shrimp on this list. One of the best renditions is, surprisingly, at the restaurant of resort-wear brand Tommy Bahama. You’ll find a tropical-American menu of guava baby back ribs, blackened mahi mahi tacos, and of course that cliche-but-still-delightful coconut shrimp, fried to a perfect crisp. Plus, the rooftop bar and fire pits in the sand are hard to beat.

The Breakers Hotel is one of Waikīkī’s few remaining two-story hotels from the 1950s, and it’s hardly changed, with shoji sliding doors and wood jalousies. By the pool you’ll find the peaceful and charming Wasabi Bistro. Its signature dishes include spicy tuna on crispy rice and papaya seafood motoyaki: shrimp, scallops, and mayo piled into a half papaya and broiled. The menu is as low key as the environment, with everything from the sushi to misoyaki butterfish prepared with care.

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin, the only U.S. location for the Japanese chain, makes eating fried pork feel like a light, elegant affair. The choices are streamlined — regular or premium kurobuta, thick or thin cut — and the cabbage salad is bottomless. If you’ve never thought of wanting seconds (or even firsts) of cabbage, you’ll rethink that here, where the heavy, crude vegetable is transformed into a fluff of gossamer shreds. Don’t miss the minimalist tonkatsu sandwich: Served on marshmallow-soft white bread and cut into crustless finger-sandwich lengths, it’s the chiffon cake of fried meat sandwiches.

Junichiro and Ryojiro Tsuchiya, who used to buy fish at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, operate this tiny takeout counter in Waikīkī only in the evenings. Their specialty is fresh, raw tuna, hamachi, and salmon served as poke or sashimi over rice, at unbeatable prices.

You’ll find a variety of matcha-flavored shave ice, drinks, floats, and soft serve here. But what you really want is the Maiko Special, a parfait of mochi balls, azuki beans, chestnuts, matcha chiffon cake, and cornflakes, drizzled with Japanese brown sugar syrup and topped with matcha soft serve.

At the Waikīkī outpost of the Hong Kong dim sum chain, you’ll find all the classics: the legendary baked barbecue pork buns with sugar cookie-like crust, har gow with succulent shrimp, and pan-fried noodles that manage to be delicate. There are often Waikīkī-only specials, like steamed Kona abalone or garlic shrimp. Most everything is cooked to order, so you won’t find carts here. 

After 30 years in the coffee business, including starting (and eventually selling) the Honolulu Coffee Co. chain, Raymond Suiter began Kona Coffee Purveyors to focus on Kona-grown beans. Find the brand’s single-estate Kona and other Hawaiian coffees at this cafe in Waikīkī, along with treats from San Francisco’s B. Patisserie. If you come just for coffee, good luck passing on the pastries and desserts, which could include a strawberry guava kouign amann or a black sesame tart.

Restaurant Suntory, operated by the Japanese whisky and spirits powerhouse, is one of the best and most elegant all-around Japanese restaurants in Honolulu. It offers three separate experiences and dining rooms: teppanyaki, sushi omakase, and washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine), so you’ll need to specify which type of meal you want when you make your reservation. The washoku menu is the broadest, offering a la carte sashimi, tempura, and small dishes, as well as set menus of kamameshi (iron pot rice) steamed tableside or shabu shabu. The kaiseki-style lunch sets at $42 are a great deal and must be reserved in advance — only 18 servings are prepared daily. And because it’s Suntory, you’ll want to check out the drink menu, too.

In a kiosk adjacent to the Royal Hawaiian Center, Island Vintage serves some of the best shave ice on the island, with servers dousing cups in pulpy syrups made of real fruit. Not far away, Island Vintage applies the same level of detail to its casual second-floor wine bar, where tasting pours of 40 bottles are available to accompany impeccable poke and steamed Hawai‘i Island clams. You can also order from the adjacent Island Vintage cafe, which offers acai bowls topped with liliko‘i and, when in season, fresh lychee.

Tucked behind the Alohilani Resort, this little ice cream stand scoops flavors like yuzu creamsicle, honey furikake, and hojicha. Go all out with the crack seed sundae, a nod to the salty, sweet, savory, and sour preserved fruits that make locals’ mouths water. Scoops of sweet cream and strawberry ice cream are sprinkled with dried plum pieces, rice crackers, and a dusting of puckery li hing powder. 

Yoshitsune is one of the few old-school, independent Japanese restaurants left in Waikīkī, tucked into the back of the Park Shore Hotel. Regulars order the two-tier chirashi, presented like a box of jewels, and the kamameshi, iron pots of rice simmered with seafood such as crab, abalone, or, in the fall, matsutake mushrooms.