Brunch the Island Way

There's no meal like brunch! Mimosas, charcuterie, açai bowls, French toast... Add that in with the extraordinary tropical flavors of the islands and you won't be able to put the fork down. We have a few favorite spots in O'ahu on our list for brunch, but we wanted to start by introducing the most accessible.

You've probably heard of Island Vintage Coffee if you've ever been here, it's like the Starbucks of Hawai'i, minus having one on every corner. There are four locations on our island: Ko Olina, Royal Hawaiian Center, Ala Moana, and Haleiwa. No matter where you're staying, you'll likely be able to get to one within 15-20 minutes. They don't all have a full food menu, so if you want the full experience, we recommend making a trip to Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki. We don't love the hustle and bustle of being in town, but we will make the drive to get some grindz.

Not only does the Royal Hawaiian Center location have Island Vintage Coffee, but next door they also have Island Vintage Wine Bar, and a Royal Hawaiian Shave Ice right downstairs. We have yet to try their shave ice, but trust us when we say that everything else is SO ONO! We aren't big coffee drinkers, but I (Keila) crave their iced island latte. It's a macadamia flavor with a hint of coconut, and perfect on a hot day. If you don't drink coffee, try their Hale'iwa iced black tea with pineapple-mint sorbet and fresh pineapple!

They sell a lot of merch that make for great souvenirs for you to keep or to gift to friends and family. I had to have one of their branded hydroflasks, and I got some of their coffee beans to gift. They don't seem to keep as much in stock since the pandemic hit, but make sure to take a look and see if there's anything you might want.

Their menus for each coffee location can be found here and the wine bar menu can be found here but here are some of our favorites!

All of their açai bowls are heavenly... Kai's favorite is the Lilikoi Moana bowl and mine is the Waialua Moana bowl pictured above! It comes in a coconut bowl if you dine in at the wine bar. How cute is that?

The Lox of Bagel sandwich is packed with greens and sprouts. Their smoked salmon is the perfect flavor, thickness and texture and you can't go wrong with an everything bagel. They also have a taro bagel that is to die for, just plain with cream cheese. 10/10, highly recommended.

Nick ordered the Sukiyaki Beef with garlic rice and fried eggs. This is about as fancy as silog can get. He did say that the portion was a bit light though.

POG cider: Nick always orders this from the wine bar! They have a lot of local beers on tap with some cool tropical twists. I love to get their house lilikoi mimosa.

The wine bar is the only location that serves charcuterie, and this board came with some amazing breads and Big Island honey that are not pictured in the photo as well. The meat selection was delicious and the fruits were so juicy! It would've been nice to have some kind of pickled veggies and a different cheese selection, but we're not in Napa Valley anymore so we'll try not to be too snobby about it. Other than that, we throughly enjoyed this board!

Did this make you stomach rumble? Let us know if you check them out on your next vacation! We still have more brunch spots to share with you so stay tuned...