Slices of Hawaii in Manhattan

Ever since we came back from Hawaii I have been obsessed with everything Hawaiian. My biggest obsession has been with the delicious food we enjoyed in Hawaii. The evening before the wedding we went out to Roy's in Poipu and enjoyed some of the best food we've ever had. Our friends, David and Meredith, recommended Roy's as a must go for a tuna and wasabi dish and their melting hot chocolate souffle, which is to-die-for! My husband and I have been dreaming of the souffle and as luck would have it, there is a Roy's in downtown Manhattan at the Marriott Financial Center hotel.

About a month back we headed into the city to visit an event, DigitaLife, at the Javitts center that my brother gave us complimentary tickets to check out. We spent the bulk of the daylight at the Javitts Center playing with various gadgets. In the evening we headed downtown to meet up with hubby's BFF, Chris who now lives Downtown. We had hoped to head to Roy's for dinner but since it was a Sunday the restaurant was closed (who does that?). After some wandering Chris remembered there was another Hawaiian place downtown. Turns out it was more of hole-in-the-wall/fast food joint.

I present to you L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. In Hawaii there's this thing called plate lunch which is like your Hawaiian momma's version of a good filling meal. Hubby and I had the pleasure of enjoying a plate lunch (at a hole-in-the-wall that was not L&L) on a day trip in Maui to Kihei Beach with our cruise friends Charlotte and Roger. The plate lunch was so filling I had to give up to avoid exploding. Going back to NYC ... we decided to have the plate lunch (more like dinner) at L&L and again were stuffed and brimming with delicious Kalua pork, lau lau, rice and yummy Hawaiian style macaroni salad.

So if you have a chance pay visit to L&L in Manhattan (or other states, supposedly there's tons in Hawaii but I honestly don't remember seeing a single one) or Roy's. I highly recommend going to Hawaii just for the amazing food. Now to convince my husband that I need to go back to Hawaii and not bother with any other tropical paradise.

Hawaii or BUST!