Hawaii is known for being a tropical paradise with amazing beaches and beautiful natural surroundings. However, a Hawaiian vacation is also known for holding tourists upside down by the ankles and shaking all the money their pockets. The main issue is that stores and restaurants in touristy areas charge sky high prices for necessities such as food – which is a bummer for foodies like us.
Everyone knows that once you leave the touristy areas you can get some reasonably priced grub, but most people don’t know how the locals manage to keep expenses in check. Here are 6 tasty, unique, and inexpensive local options we discovered in Hawaii that will help you have fun and save money at the same time.
Read about good Hawaiian food on a budget after the jump
Posted in Food, Travel.
Tagged with Food, foodie, frugal, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Hilo, inexpensive, local, malasadas, musubi, Oahu, Poke, save money.
By Peter Tsai
– January 8, 2010
Here’s a fun and delicious ingredient that you might not have encountered before, Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, AKA Hawaiian purple potatoes. They are known for their distinct purple color and unique earthy taste, and I think they are way better than a regular sweet potato.
I discovered this culinary delight on my recent trip to Hawaii and have been hooked ever since. Because it was so delicious in all of the forms I tried, I had to experiment with this ingredient once I got home and I decided to make something from it for Thanksgiving.
Click here to read more about Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
Posted in Recipes, Travel.
Tagged with Hawaii, Hawaiian Sweet Potato, Okinawan Sweet Potato, purple, Purple Potato, recipe.
By Peter Tsai
– December 8, 2009
Congrats to Seth Mazow for pulling off another victory in the Hands on an Eggplant Sandwich competition at local favorite, Home Slice Pizza. This year’s time on a sub was approx 31 hours – but the payoff was great… a year of free pizza. If you don’t know what the heck we are talking about, check out Seth’s website Year of the Pizza, or read the Tastingbuds interview with Seth here.
Click through to see more pictures from HOES 2009
Posted in Events.
Tagged with Austin, contest, eggplant sub, free pizza, HOES, Home Slice, pizza, Seth Mazow.
By Peter Tsai
– December 7, 2009
As the Tasting Bud who claims not to cook, I surprised everyone last Thanksgiving when I volunteered to bring a side dish to the feast. We were expecting more than 30 family members and friends, so I had to come up with something good. I thought about three of the essential food groups: carbs, cheese, and bacon. You really can’t go wrong with that combination, so I opted to make macaroni and cheese. I can, however, tell you a little about my process.
Click here to see the rest of the post
Posted in Food, Oops, Recipes, Uncategorized.
Tagged with Butternut Squash, Mac & Cheese, Macaroni and Cheese, Thanksgiving.
By Kristina
– December 4, 2009
Tasting Buds Peter and Kristina were invited to Louie’s 106 yesterday to try out the amazing 4 course Prix Fixe menu that they developed for Flavors of Austin. Our decadently delicious meal was cooked perfectly (all of our meats were spot on) using flavor combinations that you don’t see every day. We shared the night with a few other Austinites connected to the local scene and everyone agree that it was a great meal.
Before getting to the good stuff, we should mention that Louie’s 106 will be serving up the same menu through November 25th for a set price of $35. All in all, an amazing deal at a restaurant that has been doing it right in Austin for more than 20 years. If you are interested in going, by all means check out the full Louie’s 106 Flavors of Austin menu here and stop on by while you can. Also, Flavors of Austin is an ongoing event that highlights a different Austin restaurant every week, so if you miss this particular meal, there will be opportunities for great stuff in the future as well.
Click through to see all of the deliciousness we got to try!
Posted in Events, Food.
Tagged with Flavors of Austin, Louies 106.
By Peter Tsai
– November 24, 2009
Austin has been experiencing somewhat of a restaurant Renaissance lately, with a new establishment opening seemingly every week. Our take on this? The bar is consistently being raised on the Austin restaurant scene and it’s great to have the option of a wide variety of cuisines in town.
One of the perks of food blogging is getting invited by various new restaurants around town to sample great food that the owners put so much hard work into making. On our radar over the past month or so were 2 new restaurants – one serving up healthy American fare in the Arboretum, and another food truck serving Asian food right downtown.
Click through to read about Zoes, Me So Hungry
Posted in Food, Reviews.
By Peter Tsai
– November 3, 2009
Every year, the organizers of the Austin City Limits Music Festival are faced with the huge challenge of feeding tens of thousands of people a day during the 3 day long festival at Zilker Park. Things have not always run so smoothly – I distinctly remember waiting for 2 hours in line at the very first Austin City Limits Festival at one of only 2 food booths for a plain hot dog and a bottle of water in the 95 degree heat.
My what a long way the festival has come! The 2009 ACL food court boasted dozens of food vendors and there were another dozen beverage tents scattered around the park – most all of them with little to no wait. With so many options, it was difficult to choose where to eat every day. No worries though, I’ll give you the lowdown on what I had this year at ACL so you can make an informed decision next year.
Click Here to read more about and see pics of the the food at ACL2009
Posted in Events, Food.
Tagged with ACL, ACL2009, Aquarelle, Austin City Limits, Austin City Limits Festival, Boomerangs, booth, food booths, Jezebel, vendor, vendors, Wahoo's.
By Peter Tsai
– October 12, 2009
