In 1946, Helen Chock founded this legendary Kalihi restaurant, which received a “Regional Classic” James Beard Award in 2000. Grandson Craig Katsuyoshi now presides over Helena’s from Tuesday through Friday. They’re best known for pipikaula, marinated, bone-in short ribs that hang over the grill to dry before deep-frying. Really, any dish proudly represents Hawaiian cuisine, whether it’s fried butterfish collar with crispy skin, Kalua pig cooked in an imu, luau squid blanketed in taro leaves seasoned with coconut milk, or ahi poke tossed with ogo, onions and opihi, a tiny, briny sea snail that resembles abalone. Every meal comes with haupia.

Imanas Tei is a sushi bar and izakaya from Keiji Fukuda and Yuki Naka set back from King Street. My wife and I scored the last order of pleasantly chewy flounder engawa (fin) sushi. Crispy deep-fried heads joined silky sweet shrimp sushi. Grilled butterfish caramelized with miso sauce sported crispy skin. Grilled yellowtail kama (collar) touted myriad textures between cartilage and bone ranging from fluffy to fatty. A cool night for Honolulu – 70 degrees, gasp! – called for rice soup with crab meat and shiitakes.

Pyoung Ok Kim’s Korean restaurant in the Manoa-Makiki/University District specializes in simple comfort food in a homey setting, including noodle soups and jook. Don’t expect many culinary fireworks, and banchan are basic, but go anyway. Chewing noodles have good bite and come slathered in “special spicy sauce” similar to gochujang. Bean Noodles feature a frothy fresh-ground soybean broth. Jook is a hearty Korean-style porridge available with toppings like mung bean, mushroom, chicken, and seafood.

Soba is a big draw at this stylish side street izakaya. Nutty buckwheat noodles are available in a dozen hot or cold preparations. I enjoyed versions topped with cool, creamy uni and crispy tempura oysters and submerged in umami rich broth. Toppings like grilled duck and saba (mackerel) are also in play. The dinner menu is far more ambitious, featuring over 30 pupus (small plates).

Daniel Paglinawan and wife Geramie opened Kamehameha Bakery in 1976. Now daughter Lisa helps her parents run an establishment named for the King who united the Hawaiian islands. There’s a reason pastry boxes are perpetually stacked to the ceiling. The Paglinawans produce royal donuts, including stupendous malasadas in uniquely Hawaiian flavors like poi.

According to the sign in front of the Kapi’olani Community College parking lot, the legendary Saturday morning KCC Farmers Market opens “at the sound of a horn,” and it might as well be race day. So many people charge the stalls that casual observers might mistake the scene for a marathon starting line. Vendors who are lucky enough to secure space in the market that Dean Okimoto, Joan Namkoong and Conrad Nonaka founded in 2003 contribute to one of the best selections of produce and prepared food of any U.S. market. Different stalls offer massive grilled prawns with roe attached, Big Island abalone grilled with garlic butter, and Kukui Sausage Co. pastele or “gyoza style” sausages. KCC Farmers Market constantly adds to their deep roster.