Kauai Cuisine

As with every Hawaiian island, Kauai’s cuisine is defined by fresh ingredients, global-inspired flavors and colors so vivid they’re usually reserved for rainbows. Whether it’s fine dining, local plate lunches or just-picked fruit from a roadside stand, fresh is always in season on the island of Kauai. 

Hawaii Regional Cuisine—a decades-old cooking movement that focuses on island-grown ingredients—can be sampled at restaurants like Merriman’s Fish House and Roy’s Poipu Bar & Grill, where you’ll dine on freshly caught mahimahi, wahoo and other fruits of the sea. In Koloa, Red Salt is another acclaimed, upscale option. 

Reserve a night during your trip to feast on kalua pig and taro at an authentic Hawaiian luau, which you can do at several venues from Kapaa to Poipu. 

Shave Ice is a distinctly Hawaiian dessert that can be found at stands around the island, while Kauai-based Lappert’s Hawaii ice cream shop is among the island’s favorite ways to stay cool. And be sure to sample fresh produce and locally made food products at Kauai’s Sunshine Markets (the local name for farmers markets), held throughout the island in towns like Lihue and Hanapepe.