Kona Farmer's Market

My in-law’s timeshare in Hawaii where we have been for the past week had a full kitchen and grill outside to use.  So, when we got to Hawaii we went first thing to the farmer’s markets on Sunday morning.  The resort area we stayed at was a bit away from any towns so we drove south towards the Kona airport and got to see some of the surrounding area on our way. We first went to the farmer’s market in Kailua Kona which had tons of produce, and some other booths selling touristy Hawaiian things like t-shirts, and necklaces.

Avocados and Apple Bananas

We bought apple bananas which are a smaller variety of bananas that taste a little bit sweeter and have a smoother texture than a normal banana.   We also bought some delicious local mangoes, mint to make mojitos, giant avocadoes and some onions, garlic, and limes to make guacamole.  We also had a couple of fresh squeezed lemonades as we were leaving.

We then ventured south to Captain Cook to the South Kona Farmer’s Market which was another 30 minute drive or so.  We walked around to scope everything out and then decided to eat lunch.  We had some delicious Thai food from the Lotus cafe which uses all local and organic ingredients.   Jeremy and I went to Thailand a few years ago and have not had Thai food this good since we were there.  I had a green papaya salad which I had wanted to try in Thailand but it was not the right season for it when we were there.  We also had the chicken satay, with peanut sauce that was homemade and delicious, and Jeremy tried the fish cakes which were also very good.  They made all the food while we were standing there waiting, so it was super fresh.

Lotus Cafe booth at the South Kona Farmer's Market

The second farmer’s market had less vendors and had less produce but did have a lot of people selling coffee, chocolate, paintings, crafts, and live music.  We bought some local chocolate that was sweetened with agave nectar and coconut and bought some delicious Kona coffee.  We also bought a coconut that they chopped the top off for us and gave us a straw to drink the coconut water.  We went back later and the same guy chopped my coconut in two so I could eat the actual coconut after we had finished the cocnut water inside.  Now that we are home we are going to miss all of the great tropical fruit!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Eating Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.