Hinahina on the Beach has opened at Sheraton Waikīkī Beach Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii, putting pineapple upside-down pancakes, island fried rice and malasadas on the morning buffet. Seafood nights are next: executive chef Darren Demaya expects Friday and Saturday dinner buffets to begin in November.
The restaurant opened to the public September 24, according to Marriott’s resort dining page. It occupies the oceanfront spaces previously used by Kai Market and The Edge of Waikīkī Bar, combining them under a new name at the lobby level of the hotel.
Breakfast is already running daily from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m., at $48 per adult and $25 per child. Lunch follows à la carte from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dinner service is still to come, so the seafood buffet belongs on the calendar in pencil for now.
A breakfast rotation worth watching
Hinahina’s official breakfast menu gives the rotation some personality. Eggs Benedict variations include smoked salmon with trout roe and yuzu kosho hollandaise, kalua hash with chili water hollandaise, and a loco moco version with a hamburger patty and brown gravy. Classic ham and Florentine also appear in the rotating selection.
Fried rice gets a similar treatment, with versions built around lap cheong, kalua pork, garlic shrimp, kimchi or longanisa. There are also Portuguese sausage, bacon, an omelet station, tropical fruit and composed salads. These are rotating offerings, so a favorite combination may depend on the day.
The pineapple upside-down pancakes come with coconut syrup. Malasadas have a choice of cinnamon, li hing mui, matcha or plain sugar. Breakfast has clearly left room for people who regard the pastry stop as a course of its own.
Demaya grew up on Hawaiʻi Island and has spent more than 18 years in culinary leadership at the resort. His breakfast menu puts local flavors alongside hotel staples, with dishes such as kalua hash Benedict and longanisa fried rice giving the rotation its Hawaii character.
Seafood service is the next phase
In an October 16 Aloha State Daily interview, Demaya discussed miso butterfish and giant tiger shrimp with red Thai lobster curry sauce among the dishes planned for the seafood buffet. Desserts are expected to include strawberry jello cheesecake pie. A firm November start date and buffet price have not been announced.
The new name looks back to the shoreline itself. Hinahina means gray in Hawaiian and nods to Gray’s Beach and the early-1900s Gray’s by the Sea boarding house. The restaurant’s own account of the name connects that history with the silvery tones of native plants.
Hinahina is at 2255 Kalākaua Avenue. Breakfast is first-come, first-served, while lunch reservations are available.
