Haole Girl Sweets — Restaurant in Kauai

The other day, I picked up two croissants at Haole Girl to eat once I reached the top of the Sleeping Giant. It’s more of a to-go place but they do have a couple of tables outside and also serve drip Kauai coffee. Judy the owner is very friendly and took time to describe her offerings – she has a pretty impressive track record as a baker, with some interesting gigs behind her. I selected the goat cheese and spinach croissant ($6) and the starfruit and brie croissant ($5). Many other things looked amazing, and I could have gone for almost anything. Both croissants were very substantial – so substantial that even after huffing my way to the top of Nounou, I didn’t even need to finish the second one (later on, I did of course!). And they were both excellent. The goat cheese was so good – it had a slightly fruity flavor that was quite unique – that I now have a mission to try and pick some up at the farmer’s market (it’s from the Kauai Kunana Dairy). The spinach was very fresh and worked well with the goat cheese - it just needed a little bit more seasoning. The starfruit-brie croissant was also really good – the starfruit comes across almost like a sweeter version of apricot and the flaked almonds on top were a nice touch. In both cases the pastry was more cake-like than a normal French croissant – I looked this up and it seems to be typical of Italy’s version of the croissant – the cornetto. The French rarely fill their croissants (except with almond paste) so perhaps this texture is more suitable for the large amount of filling in Judy’s pastries. Or maybe it was just my batch ;-)

Update: Had three more croissants a week later and they were underwhelming - underproved and texturally not good. Overall, Haole Girl seems to have consistency issues.

For social and environmental impact, I’m giving Haole Girl 4/5 green stars. She uses mainly local ingredients – like the starfruit and goat cheese in my croissants. Some of her ingredients come from the Kauai Kunana Dairy on the north shore – a great sustainable, humane farm that, besides the goat cheese, also produces honey and organic fruits and veggies. She also buys local eggs from around the island. She also seems to be involved in the island community (for a Haole girl!) – when I was there, her team were working on a mole chicken to bring to a fundraiser that evening. The main area for improvement that I could see is to replace the plastic items with biodegradable alternatives – utensils, coffee cup lids, and ziplock bags used as packaging for...

Best vegan chocolate cake with avocado frosting ever!!

As someone allergic to eggs, I usually have to skip ay bakery treats and goods, but at the Kilauea Market, Haole Girl Sweets had slices of vegan chocolate cake made with avocado frosting. I bought two pieces- when I can get something sweet without eggs, I double down. Well, the cake wasn't just ok or good enough (as I find egg free and vegan things sometimes to be,) it was so amazingly moist, tasty and not so sweet that my husband loved it too (and he can eat treats with eggs.)

I checked back in the months following our discovery and no more cake slices were offered at the location we visited. Then the young woman working there invite me to contact Judy, as she makes custom cakes. BRILLIANT!! So I had Judy make me a vegan chocolate cake with avocado frosting for my birthday- and it was even more delicious than I recalled our first slices- reminds me of dark devil's food cake. It has the perfect balance of everything. It's unbelievable. Get some of this cake! And...

Croissants were flakey, flavorful, and an absolute delight. As a tourist, I had a great experience and love supporting locals and checking out local farmers markets. Experienced this sweet and savory treats at the Coconut Marketplace Farmer's Market. The macadamia nut sticky buns used locally sourced honey, so according to Chef Glenn, it's always different every time he bakes it. And that's the other gem of this place, Glenn was so helpful to me and my girlfriend, describing and sharing all about the food there. I had the savory Portuguese sausage croissant, which had amazing texture and fillings. My gf loveed the Ube croissant. Initially bought three, and then ended up buying 3 more before all was said and done. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting Kauai. Mahalo Glenn for a...