Hilo, instead of being the volcano hike-filled day, ended up being the day of the amazing macadmia nut discoveries.

We were driving around the southern coast of the Big Island, focused on finding a market/restaurant that was described in our borrowed copy of The Big Island: Revealed. We drive around and around, and of course, after asking at a gas station, discovered that the place closed about 2 years ago (Lesson learned: either buy an up-to-date guidebook or call ahead to make sure the place is still open).

It was a happy mistake. We first attempted to eat at the “Westernmost bar in the US (or something like that)” It had some boring-ish pub food on the menu but we were willing to give it a shot, until the waitress informed us that the chef hadn’t shown up yet. Being that it was 12:30pm, and the place technically opened at noon for lunch, we decided that eating there probably wasn’t a good idea.

We drive around some more and find Hana Hou. It’s the local place owned by some hippies that love cooking with fresh, organic food. A much better option than the shady deep-fried-from-frozen pub stuff. I forget the exact dishes we ordered for lunch – I had a noodle dish, and Oak had a sandwich. Both were delicious.

We spotted a big glass case of pies when we walked in, and made sure to save some room for them for after lunch. We had spotted a pie that looked basically like pecan pie, but with macadamia nuts instead. I’m not such a huge fan of the pecan pie (even now, being a semi-Southern belle) but I thought maybe mac nuts would improve the situation.

When the waitress came along to ask if we wanted dessert, we said we were interested in the macadamia nut pie. She asked – which one? Well, we hadn’t realized that Macadmia nut CREAM pie was an option!

So, it arrives. The bottom layer is like the macadamia nut pecan pie-esque mixture we were expecting. Then, the most delicious layer, a macadamia custard-like filling that was to DIE for. Not too sweet, but not bland either. Topped with fresh whipped cream and chopped macadamias.

As you can see in the picture, Oak obviously agrees with the sign – that Hana Hou is “m m m m – GOOD.” We somehow managed to share the piece of pie without getting in an argument over who gets the last bites, etc.

We were sure to ask the waitress if, by chance, they would ever considering shipping their pies to the mainland. Unfortunately, they don’t (even though we’d probably pay a ridiculous price for it!). She said, “Well, you’ll just have to come back!” A thought that we definitely did entertain for awhile – but that’s quite a distance to travel for a piece of pie!

Posted by Carrie on Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Categories: hawaii food · 2 Comments »