Hali’a Tours, Kaneohe Pancake House, Oahu, Hawaii Part 1

Mike Waters of Hali’a Tours pulled up to the front of the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort in a black van decaled with a large magenta makau. The makau, or fishhook, has deep cultural meaning in Hawaii and has long been regarded in Polynesia as a symbol of prosperity and safe travels over the ocean. 

It was early morning. The sun had not yet risen on Waikiki and our 18-year-old son, Armann, was having trouble sitting upright in front of the hotel. I wasn’t too motivated either, never having been a morning person, and never, ever, having been a morning person prior to having coffee. My wife, Erica, and our two daughters, Alex, 20, and Addison, 8, waited patiently while Mike made some final checks and then came over to greet us. Mike was upbeat and cheerful, perhaps even more excited than we were at the prospect of a full day of fun. Hali’a means something like “fond memories” in Hawaiian, and I definitely wanted the first memory of the day to involve an epic breakfast. We piled into the van and headed toward Kaneohe. 

Pancakes at Kaneohe Pancake House. Photo credit: @kaneohepancakehouse Instagram 

Kaneohe Pancake House was a small restaurant on Kahuhipa near Kaneohe Bay. It was nestled in a tight neighborhood, on a crowded street, with a too-small parking lot. Mike pulled up to the door, exited the cab and ran around to the side with a light step stool. He was energetic, spry, and always congenial. He opened the door and held my wife’s hand as she used the stool to exit the van. People who were waiting near the door found this all interesting and were equally curious as the five of us walked passed them all and quickly sat down in a booth that Mike had already reserved. “I’ll have a coffee, please,” I said, and turned my attention to the menu. 

The restaurant was a throw back. Wood paneling, long, burgundy leather booths, and vertical, sliding, amber glass partitions gave the Pancake House all the charm of a Frisch’s Big Boy Boy, circa 1973. An already enormous table was made larger by the removal of the partitions which made enough space for a gathering of like...a lot of people. But soon I would realize that anything lost in decor was compensated for by the delicious food and fresh coffee. 

Mike came in and sat down with us after parking the van. We placed our orders and discussed some of the stops we were hoping to make throughout the day. “We definitely want to do Pearl Harbor,” my wife said, “the dole plantation, and maybe hit the beach.” 

Mike said, “That all sounds great and we can definitely do all of that. Your tickets for Pearl Harbor are already included and I’ve got a beach that I know you guys are going to love.”

When the food arrived, I was glad to have the massive table. 

The thick-sliced bacon was more than I imagined. It was flavorful, loaded with fat, smoky, but mostly swine-y and it floated somewhere between crispy and bendy, bacon or ham. This meat was so thick, in a pinch, it could have stood-in for a tarp strap. 

Thick sliced bacon. Photo credit: @kaneohepancakehouse Instagram 

We ate big fat macadamia nut pancakes with syrup, fried eggs, thick-cut potatoes, sticky rice, bone-in ham, fried fish, and fluffy waffles loaded with whipped cream, and we filled up on excellent Hawaiian coffee.  

In a place like this, that’s been around since the 80’s, you couldn’t help but think of who else may have sat in these booths and eaten here. Perhaps they ordered the tender fried steak, lovingly prepared and plated—spread like a deck of cards and completely submerged in warm brown gravy—plus two scoops of rice or creamy macaroni salad. Have you ever heard of a “loco moco”? It’s a heaping plate of rice, topped with a fried chicken filet or roast pork or hamburger patty or double hamburger patty, topped with a fried egg, and buried in gravy. This type of Hawaiian cuisine takes the concept of “comfort food,” gives it a pair of fuzzy socks, then swaddles it in a heated blanket. I’m going to assert that if your goto comfort foods like macaroni, rice, and gravy fries are mere sidekicks to the dishes served here, you know you’ve hit the motherload of Hawaiian hygge. 

But, here we are, cradled in a valley at the bottom of the lush, green mountaintops of the Kaneohe Reserve, not far from The Stairway to Heaven hiking trail, and it seems surreal.  Everywhere you turn in Hawaii is iconically picturesque, awe inspiring, and unique at the same time. Pics, words, descriptions—nothing two or even three-dimensional really does the beauty of Hawaii any justice because its magnificence is more than visual. There is a “feeling” here, something in the clean air of Hawaii, associated with its culture, its history, and of course, the ocean, that is part of its allure. This is what makes a Hawaiian vacation different than a vacation anywhere else and it is something I’ve only experienced here. This place, these islands, are a manifestation of dreams. 

Kaneohe Reserve, Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii

While stuffing my face at the Pancake House, I had to face the inevitable quandary I find myself in on every vacation: I’m showing more skin in Hawaii—surfing, swimming, tanning, snorkeling—but I’m packing away more carbs than a Hostess factory. I had to put my willpower to the test and “push away from the buffet.” Getting up from a wonderful meal can be so brutal.