Manago Hotel

A plantation-worker style dining hall with a wash basin outside, the Manago Hotel dining room harkens back to Hawaii long ago.

On the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a Roadfood-worthy establishment that dates back to a time when Hawaii was still a U.S. Territory. It is the dining room of the Manago Hotel which was established in 1917. The Manago is located in the town of Captain Cook, which is about 12 miles south of Kailua-Kona and is a local institution serving American-Japanese style food.

The open air room could best be described as a plantation worker style dining hall, with a wash basin just outside the front entrance to the dining area and a posted menu listing what is available that day. You can still see some decades old kendo (Japanese way of the sword) equipment framed on the back wall.

What to eat at Manago Hotel

The Manago is well known for serving fresh fish, especially fried akule (bigeye scad), opelu (mackerel), ahi (yellowfin tuna) and their famous pork chops.

People come from all over the island to eat these pork chops. Simply prepared with salt and pepper, lightly coated with breadcrumbs and cooked in a large cast iron skillet, they arrive at the table perfectly seasoned, moist, tender and delicious. Accompanied with white rice, potato/macaroni salad and two vegetable side dishes, it is an extremely reasonable and satisfying Hawaiian style meal. Payment is cash only.

Original post by Alan Sasi