Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [161]
Mangosteens, reputedly the favorite fruit of Queen Victoria, have a creamy, custardy flesh of ambrosial sweetness. When mangosteens start appearing at Hawaii fruit stands, they will no doubt be in high demand, like mangoes and litchis during their summer season. In the meantime, Banana Joe’s has a hit on its hands with Sugarloaf, the white, nonacidic, ultrasweet, organically grown pineapple popularized on the Big Island. Whether made into smoothies or frostees (frozen fruit put through the Champion juicer), or just sold plain, fresh, and whole, the Sugarloaf is pineapple at its best. For litchi lovers, who must wait for their summer appearance, new varieties such as Kaimana and Brewster are adding to the pleasures of the season. In addition to fresh fruit, fruit smoothies, and frostees, Banana Joe’s sells organic greens, tropical-fruit salsas, jams and jellies, drinking coconuts (young coconuts containing delicious drinking water), gift items, and baked goods such as papaya-banana bread. Its top-selling smoothies are papaya, banana, and pineapple.
Near the Lihue Airport, Pammie Chock at Kauai Fruit & Flower ( 80 8/245-1814; see below) makes a pineapple–passion fruit smoothie that gets my vote as the best on the island.
2 Lihue & Environs
DOWNTOWN LIHUE
The gift shop of the Kauai Museum, 4428 Rice St. ( 80 8/245-6931), is your best bet for made-on-Kauai arts and crafts, from Niihau-shell leis to woodwork, lauhala and coconut products, and more.
About a mile north of the Lihue Airport, on Highway 56 (Kuhio Hwy.), Kauai Fruit & Flower is a great stop for flowers, including the rare Kauai maile in season; coconut drums the owner makes himself; Hawaiian gourds (ipu); cut flowers for shipping; and Kauai fruit, such as papayas and pineapples. Other products include lauhala gift items, teas, Kauai honey, Kauai salad dressings, jams and jellies, and custom-made gift baskets.
In the Kukui Grove Center, at Kaumualii Highway (Hwy. 50) and Old Nawiliwili Road, is the Kauai Products Store ( 80 8/246-6753). It’s a fount of local handicrafts (about 60% Kauai artists) and a respectable showcase for made-on-the-island products, such as soaps, paintings, clothing, coffee, Kukui guava jams, fabrics, and Niihau-shell leis. The Hawaiian quilts are made on Kauai and designed by Kauai families. You’ll find everything from a $10,750 bronze sculpture to bamboo chairs. Beware of the macadamia-nut fudge, found only at Kauai Products Store: It’s rich, sweet, and irresistible.
For a great selection in alohawear—shirts, dresses, pareu—and lots of souvenirs to take to the folks back home, stop by Hilo Hattie, 3252 Kuhio Hwy. (Hwy. 50) at Ahukini Road ( 80 8/245-3404). Their selection of Hawaii-related gift items is immense: food, books, CDs, mugs, key chains, T-shirts, and more. They even offer free hotel pickup from Poipu and Kapaa. If you are on a budget, go to the Kauai Humane Society Thrift Shop, Lihue Center, 3-3100 Kuhio Hwy. ( 80 8/245-7387), where a great selection of “vintage” aloha shirts starts at $5. All the money raised goes to help the Kauai Humane Society continue their excellent work on the island. If you want wooden or coconut buttons for your vintage aloha shirt, stop by Kapaa Stitchery, 3-3551 Kuhio Hwy. ( 80 8/245-2281), and buy a few buttons; you can have an authentic aloha shirt for a quarter of what you would spend in retail stores. Quilters will be in heaven at the Kapaa Stitchery, where they will find a huge selection of Hawaiian quilts, quilting supplies, needlework designs, and lots of fabric.
Another good souvenir store is Paradise Sportswear’s Red Dirt Shirt, 3-3229 Kuhio Hwy. ( 80 8/246-0224), with another outlet in Kapaa (see “The Ultimate Kauai Souvenir: The Red Dirt Shirt”). Here you’ll find zillions of the famous “red dirt” T-shirts in a variety of styles and designs (and sizes all the way to XXXXL).
If you are looking for something more artsy, Two Frogs Hugging ( 80 8/246-8777), just down Kuhio Highway from Hilo Hattie