A roundup of the latest and most popular sweets in Hawaii in summer 2019 [local writer report]

A cake boutique from New York loved by celebrities from all walks of life

Waikiki Tea House

Lady M, a New York tea brand highly praised by Martha Stewart, America's original charismatic housewife, and Oprah Winfrey, the queen of American media, has finally arrived in Waikiki this year! The name of the tea shop is "Waikiki Tea House."

Founded in New York in 2004, Lady M now has 16 stores in the US mainland, and nearly 50 stores in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia. All of the stores are located in high-end locations, and are extremely popular, with long lines every day.

Moreover, we discovered an even more surprising fact during this interview! The founder of Lady M is a Japanese woman living in Hawaii named Kumi Iseki. Kumi is also the owner of the Japanese restaurant "Wasabi Bistro" in Waikiki.

When Kumi was thinking about opening a cake shop, she decided to open a shop in New York where high-quality ingredients are easily available. She first opened a small shop in Manhattan, then handed the business over to her son, who continues to run the shop to this day. After 15 long years, she has finally come back to Hawaii.

Lady M's specialty is mille crepes. They carefully make each crepe every day using the finest ingredients. There was once a funny story where a customer mistakenly complained that there was paper mixed in, and they layered extremely thin crepes with just the right amount of sweet cream in between. One slice may seem large because it is American-sized, but it has a nice texture and is very light in the mouth, so you can easily eat it all in one go. Here are the top three most popular of the six varieties!

1. Signature Mille Crepes
Classic simple mille crepe $8.50

2. Passion fruit milk crepe
This is the writer's top recommendation! The contrast between the sourness of the passion fruit and the sweetness of the fresh cream is exquisite. $9

3. Green Tea Mille Crepes
Made with Japanese matcha, this drink is popular among those who appreciate the real thing. $9

They also have a selection of teas and coffees to go with the cakes. The store manager, Kenny, is a big tea lover and is always on the lookout for delicious teas. There are teas that are not on the menu, so if you visit the store, be sure to ask him about the day's recommended tea.

Japan x Hong Kong x Hawaii mixed culture sweets

Double Three

Kalihi is a town about 20 minutes by car from Waikiki. Kalihi is so densely packed with sweets shops that it has come to be known as the "holy land of sweets" in recent years. Among them, "Double Three" opened at the end of January this year and has been attracting a lot of attention.

The owner, Kengo, grew up in Hawaii, but is perfectly bilingual in Japanese. He has always loved making desserts, and attended a confectionery school in Tokyo to study seriously. During his time at the school, he had a fateful encounter with Hong Kong waffles and was completely captivated by their deliciousness. His love for waffles was unstoppable, and he eventually traveled to Hong Kong and spent two years learning how to make Hong Kong's traditional waffles, "Gai Dan Jai."

He then returned to Hawaii and opened a "DIY Bubble Waffle" store, where customers could make their own ice cream and toppings.

In fact, there are other shops with a similar style, but this is the only one that serves authentic Hong Kong waffles made in-house every day! "You'll immediately notice the difference in taste if you try them all," says Kengo proudly. The quality is also confirmed by the fact that many Hong Kong customers come to buy just the waffles ($3.80). As for the ice cream, the vanilla ice cream is homemade, and the other flavors are sourced from Dave's Ice Cream, which is also popular with locals.

When you arrive at the store, you will be given an order sheet and can choose from four types of waffles, five types of ice cream, 18 types of toppings, and six types of syrup. Prices start from $7.80, and there is an additional charge for more ice cream or toppings.

There is a "Today's Special" ice cream flavor, and on the day of our visit, they had the local favorites, cotton candy and peanut butter flavors. This special flavor usually sells out within two days and is replaced with a new flavor each time.

As you can see from the photo, it's a sweet treat that looks great on social media. The most popular is the double layered ice cream. I also chose the charcoal waffle for a more striking look.
It especially appeals to teenagers, with young local girls flocking to the place in droves.

The owner, who grew up in Hawaii, has thoroughly studied the styles of Japan and Hong Kong to create this new wave of sweets. It looks set to become even more popular in the future!

How about having afternoon tea between shopping?

MARIPOSA

Mariposa is always one of the top restaurants tourists want to visit in Hawaii. This restaurant is directly managed by Neiman Marcus, a luxury department store in the Ala Moana Center, and one of the reasons for its popularity is that it has lanai seats with a panoramic view of Ala Moana Beach Park. It is also known as a popular restaurant among Hawaiian businessmen, and this year it was awarded the Best Business Lunch Award at the Hale Aina Awards, Hawaii's most prestigious gourmet awards! (The awards ceremony will be held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on September 30th.)

Lawrence Nakamoto has been the current executive chef since August 2017. While inheriting Mariposa's signature dishes, he is also developing original menus that combine the Italian cuisine he trained in with Asian elements of his own roots.

The culinary team led by this adventurous chef came up with a new afternoon tea and started serving it in May this year. Initially, it was only available on Sundays, but as it gradually gained popularity, it became available every day from 2pm to 4pm from July! The price is $35 per person.

Of course, everything is homemade, and the sweets you'll want to try are English scones with guava butter, lemon madeleines, tea cakes, profiteroles, chocolates, and French macarons. Finger sandwiches and quiches are also served, so we recommend going without lunch. Enjoy them with a selection of teas from France's top tea brand, Dammann Frères (from $6) or eight types of cocktails (from $14). Reservations must be made the day before.

They plan to change the menu regularly, so I'm looking forward to seeing what new sweets will be available. Wouldn't it be great to enjoy afternoon tea in a luxurious space in between shopping?

Pancakes with a new look and texture

Cafe Morey's

Speaking of Hawaiian sweets, pancakes are a must! Recently, you often see pancakes from Cafe Morey's on Instagram. This cafe is supervised by Tatemori, who has a long career as a chef in Japan. Because people in English-speaking countries have difficulty pronouncing the name Tatemori, he eventually became known as the nickname "Morey," which became the name of the cafe.

When Molly first opened in May 2018, she found that while she served food with a taste, texture, and chewiness that suited Japanese tastes, it was not well received by Westerners. She then went on to try and error to find a middle ground that would be acceptable to both Westerners and Japanese people, and made significant changes to her recipes.

One of the dishes that came out of this extensive research is pancakes. We developed an original pancake mix that combines the fluffy texture that Japanese people love with the filling texture that Westerners prefer.

The most popular item is the Mixed Fruit Pancake ($15).

As you can see from the picture, these pancakes are piled high with fruit. The whipped cream is topped with grilled bananas. The balance between the sour fruit and the subtle sweetness of the caramelized banana is exquisite.

Another popular dish is the Honu Pancakes ($15).

Pancakes inspired by the honu (sea turtle), believed to be the guardian deity of Hawaii. The design is so cute that you'll hesitate to eat it, and it's no wonder the menu is popular with children.

The pancakes are light and refreshing like a souffle, yet have a surprisingly chewy texture that makes them very easy to eat! Also, as Molly said, "You can eat them without adding syrup," they really are a new type of pancake that has a subtle sweetness even without adding syrup.

It is located on Monsarrat Avenue at the foot of Diamond Head. It is recommended to walk there from Waikiki, and it is also easily accessible by BIKI, a shared bicycle service.

What do you think of the blue sky and colorful sweets? Just looking at Hawaiian sweets makes your heart flutter! Being exposed to the sunlight can take a surprising amount of energy. Recharge with something sweet between sightseeing trips and spend a fulfilling day. If you have the chance, be sure to enjoy seasonal sweets while you're there.

Kabatbat Miki

9 years in Hawaii
While attending university, he worked at a radio station in Tokyo for about 10 years, and became a fan of Hawaii after coming to the island every year to broadcast a special program.
In 2004, she started working as a writer. She has written for many media outlets, including magazines, the web, and books. In 2010, she made the decision to move to Hawaii. As of 2019, she has contracts with six media companies in Japan and Hawaii, and writes articles about Hawaii. Her areas of expertise are gourmet food and scenic spots.