Herringbone Waikiki Buffalo Octopus

If you’d be squeamish seeing a huge tentacle arrive on a plate at your table, you must get over it. Herringbone’s Buffalo Octopus ($18) is so tender and delicious that it’s a must-try. Close your eyes if you must and have someone feed you a piece. I thought I’d eaten soft octopus before, but this dish sets a new standard. The flash-fried appetizer is beautifully served atop black-eyed peas with veggies and a circle of buffalo sauce. I could do without the buffalo sauce, which seemed too bold for the succulent meat. After all, perfection can stand alone. — Michelle Ramos

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International Market Place, Waikiki; 797-2435

International Smoke pastrami

If your only experience with pastrami is the pressed, paper-thin luncheon-meat type from the grocery store, International Smoke will open your eyes to the epic, juicy, smoky experience that only the real deal can provide. The so-called hawker station in The Street food hall at International Market Place is the concept of Food Network star and cookbook author Ayesha Curry. Her menu also includes long-smoked pork ribs — St. Louis-, Korean- or Chinese-style — as well as smoked American wagyu beef, all of which are tender and delicious. But the pastrami’s siren call is irresistible. The meat is unctuous, juicy, just-right-salty and groan-worthy. It is served with rye bread, dill pickle slices and deli mustard for $16.99 per plate with sides, or $32.99 a pound. — Erika Engle

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International Market Place, Waikiki; 377-4402

Flour + Butter Bakery cupcakes

These cupcakes are works of edible, beautifully simple, dessert art. Made in small batches daily at Flour + Butter Bakery, these moist and decadent cakes come in at least six flavors, including unique daily specials such as s’mores or Nutella Ferrero — a Nutella-filled, Ferrero Rocher cake. Located on Cooke Street in the Imperial Plaza, this locally run business also features cream puffs, macarons and eclairs — even expertly crafted wedding cakes. But it’s the cupcakes ($3.25-$3.75) that will have you hooked. My favorite is the black Hawaiian lava salted caramel. A rich chocolate cake is injected with a caramel filling, topped with a caramel buttercream and accented with black sea salt. Try the peanut butter chocolate, alaea coconut crunch and pink velvet, too. Then go back as often as possible to see what other flavors have been whipped up. You won’t regret it. — Joe Guinto

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725 Kapiolani Blvd., Kakaako; 593-0566

Aloha Bowl at 9Bar HNL

When I find something I really enjoy eating, I tend to become *slightly* obsessed with it. Like most humans, I also tend to be a creature of habit. So when I discovered the Aloha Bowl at 9Bar shortly after the Kakaako coffee shop opened last August, I kept returning for it. A lot. The hearty construction consists of a spicy homemade sausage patty, two soft-poached eggs, a little bit of queso fresco, kim chee and cucumber kim chee all served over a bed of furikake rice. I like to cut up the sausage into bite-size pieces, then break the yolks, letting them ooze all over everything. Mix it up and you’ve got yourself an instant winnah. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or an “I-won’t-make-it-til-dinner” meal ($9.50). — E. Clarke Reilly

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Salt at Kakaako, 685 Auahi St., Kakaako; 369-2299

Senia chocolate cookie

Familiar flavors from childhood often rekindle in us warm memories from a simpler time. It’s no wonder, then, that the peanut butter-Valrhona chocolate cookie from Senia takes me to my happy place. With the perfect ratio of salty, nutty peanut butter to rich chocolate, the cookie is a delightful conclusion to the three-course prix fixe lunch menu ($35). Feeling a bit naughty? Indulge by adding a scoop of vanilla beeswax, smoked banana or macadamia nut ice cream ($2). — Radley Kanda

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75 N. King Street, Chinatown; 200-5412

Sing Cheong Yuan bakery honey kumquat

My stomach and I have found so many great reasons to return to this Chinatown bakery and snack shop, and among the best is the honey kumquat. It’s just one of a big selection of sugared and dried fruits and vegetables, the kind usually served during Chinese New Year. At this shop, they’re available all year long. Most are made in-house, from the usual sugared slices of lotus root, squash and coconut, to ginger and papaya chunks, pineapple and mango slices, and sometimes even strawberries. All are tempting, but nothing can divert me from those delectable kumquats, with their perfect balance of sweetness and tang. They remain a special treat at $12.50 a pound, but I do indulge throughout the year. I like to think there’s a little bit of luck in each bite-sized orb, but even if that isn’t so, we all gotta live a little, right? — Joleen Oshiro

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1027 Maunakea St., Chinatown; 531-6688

Bevy Market Lambwich

Bevy Market has taken on an Italian flavor with chef Andrea Onetti at the helm, but the market’s delish Lambwich ($9) and creative salads remain on the menu. The Lambwich ($9), made with shaved meat, cheese and greens and spiced up with an anchovy-flavored sauce, is served on a crusty roll — sandwich art at its best! — Elizabeth Kieszkowski

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675 Auahi St., Kakaako; 824-2547

Sugar Hut’s ice cream Mackie

What could be better than a well-made macaron — sweet cream sandwiched between two brightly colored, crispy-chewy cookies? An oversized macaron stuffed with ice cream from the Sugar Hut. These are not dainty, bite-sized morsels, but massive, 4-inch-diameter macarons containing an inch and a half of Meadow Gold ice cream.

Flavors rotate daily through 10 offerings, including Rainbow Sprinkles, Rocky Road, Fruity Pebbles, Oreo Mudslide and Circus Animal Cookie. My fave is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, with its generous helping of vanilla ice cream between two cinnamon sugar-sprinkled macarons and rolled in crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Not overly sweet and oh so refreshing. For the most popular flavor — Cookies and Cream — owner and head baker Shavone Lave and her staff hand-scoop and roll the namesake ice cream, then press it between teal macaron shells and coat the edges in crushed Oreos.

Go to Instagram (@TheSugarHut) to see each day’s flavors, but some may sell out by afternoon. The Mackies ($5 each, two for $8 on Fridays) come neatly tucked into a cardboard carrier, but don’t forget napkins — you’ll need them when consuming your ice cream sandwich in the west-side heat. — Donica Kaneshiro

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87-070 Farrington Highway, Maili; 722-7539

Koloa Rum Co. Kauai Coffee Rum

I like my stimulants with a dose of depressants, thus my love of Kauai Coffee Rum. It’s a potent yet smooth blend of rum distilled on Kauai from raw cane sugar, mixed with cold-brew Kauai coffee and smoothed out with filtered water from Mount Waialeale, the highest point on Kauai. That’s a triple dose of Garden Island, and it’s worth every calorie. Drink it straight, over ice or mix it with a little cream for an iced coffee with punch. The rum is widely available in Oahu liquor and grocery stores for $25 to $35. If you’re on Kauai, visit the Koloa Rum Co. tasting room. — Betty Shimabukuro

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Tasting room, Kilohana Plantation, 3-2087 Kaumualii Highway, Kauai; 246-8900

The Rice Place Imperial Rolls

People who know me well know I’m not much of a rice eater, but I am a big fan of The Rice Place, where rice comes in many forms beyond the typical “scoop white rice.” My favorite dish here is the Imperial Rolls, a regal upgrade from typical spring rolls. Thin filigree rice paper envelops an equally light, sweet filling of pork, minced shrimp, grated taro and carrots. The brittle crunch of the wrap is a nice counterpoint to the soft filling, a joy to any hedonist/gourmand. Both textures and flavors are amazing. The rolls are available as a dinner starter ($13.99) or as a component in a satisfying Saturday brunch platter ($28) that includes two grilled pork skewers and shrimp, served with lettuce for wrapping, pickled daikon and carrots. — Nadine Kam

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725 Kapiolani Blvd.; 779-6959