December 5, 2025 Lunch - Moke’s in Kailua Dinner - Istanbul Hawai’i.

December 5, 2025 Lunch - Moke’s in Kailua Dinner - Istanbul Hawai’i.

We woke up and I talked with Rahim and Dan in the morning. I had awakened several times in the night to check the market and it slid into losses as the day progressed with Meta and AMD being the only bright spots as the market did its Friday derisking sell off.

We drove across the island to Kailua to a highly rated breakfast restaurant place named Moke’s. Hawaiian couple was eating as we entree and I asked what she was eating and she’s said, “Loco Moco and it is really good.”

So I ordered Loco Moco. 

Loco Moco*

$17.95

An island classic with our home-made beef patty
Served over white rice with two over-easy eggs and topped with our home-made brown gravy.An island classic with our home-made beef patty

Served over white rice with two over-easy eggs and topped with our home-made brown gravy.

Suzette ordered her favorite, Corn Beef Hash that was homemade.

Our impression was that the food was average, not very exciting.

After breakfast Suzette walked down the street to a coffee roaster and bought a bag of Hawaiian coffee.

We then walked across the street to Tali’s bagel shop and bought two everything bagels, 8 oz. of white fish salad and a container of cream cheese for breakfast tomorrow on the flight back to Albuquerque.

Suzette checked and found that there were over ten coffee roasters located in and around Kailua. We wanted to visit a coffee roaster but first we wanted to walk the beach. Kailua like many towns on Oahu has beach front parks maintained by the city and County of Honolulu. 

We then drove to the beach and walked the beach a bit.

                               This rather lovely cardinal has been introduced 

Then we drove to an industrial park just north of town to Tradition Coffee was located. It was a coffee shop and sales store for its coffee. Suzette bought 2 12 oz. Bags of roasted Hawaiian coffee for $100.

We then were told that a chocolate company two doors away so we walked there and one of the owners was at the door and was kind enough to give us a tour of their state of the art facility, Manoa Chocolate, an artisanal chocolatier, specializing in Hawaiian grown cacao.

       My favorite was a Hawai’i Macadamia nut coated with dark Hawaiian chocolate

We ended up in the sales shop where all their chocolates were available to taste. We bought eight bars of Hawaiian dark and milk chocolate as gifts.

It was 2:30 when we drove back to the hotel. 

We napped until 5:00 when we grabbed our half bottle of Trapiche Malbec and drove to the long beachfront park near the hotel where we watched the sunset until 6:00 

We then drove to Istanbul Hawai’i, another restaurant recommended by the evening bar tender. Istanbul served Turkish family recipes. We tried to keep it simple. We ordered a Mediterranean Salad, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, a few black kalamata olives dusted with feta dust and dressed with a light vinaigrette.

Then I ordered a 1/2 pita with a bowl of tzatziki that was warm and delicious when dipped in the tzatziki.

Then our entrees arrived, a grilled boned Branzino served with Rice pilaf and a thick leek sauce that was strongly flavored.

The other entree was a whole baked eggplant split open and stuffed with a tomato filling served with a bowl of tzatziki in a bowl filled with rice pilaf.

We drank water.

After dinner we filled the tank with gas and drove back to the Equus Hotel. We packed and I ate the complimentary gingerbread cookie with a cup of Ear Grey tea.

Suzette went to bed shortly after 9:00, but I stayed up to blog this entry.

The natural beauty of Hawai’i is impressive. We have driven north, south, and east on Oahu and loved the scenery everywhere. I can see why folks like to retire here.

I walked 5200 steps today which is back to a reasonable level including two beaches.

Bon Appetit