In search of the best Lilikoi pie

There are supposedly only 2 places to get good Lilikoi (passionfruit) pie in all of Kauai -- or so I gathered from my sources. And once I'd heard of the existence of an ethereal chiffon pie made from passionfruit juice, there was no way I was not going to taste it and try to decide on the winner for myself. Besides, with a beautiful sounding name like Lilikoi chiffon pie, who could pass up the chance to taste it?

First we went to Hamura's Saimin in Lihue. I thought the rest of the food there (Saimin aka noodle soup with various Japanese style toppings, chicken/beef teriyaki sticks) was pretty forgettable and (and most likely laden with msg from the size of my headache following the meal) while my husband thought it was edible. But the lilikoi pie was incredible. The crust was light and buttery and slightly flaky, and the chiffon filling was light as air, and just sweet enough. The whipped cream topping was overwhelming, but once we removed it we enjoyed the mild passionfruit flavor, and the light texture of the filling. I would rate this a 7 out of 10, and definitely very enjoyable.

Next, we tried the pie from Wong's Chinese Bakery in Waimea. The lilikoi flavor was more pronounced in the filling here, but the crust was slightly harder and not as good as Hamura's. And once again, we had to do away with the whipped cream topping to do justice to the lovely filling. [As my friend Laura would say, "If I were King, I would ban this fake whipped cream topping once and for all!"]. Tastewise, this gets a 8.5 out of 10 from me, and definitely worth a stop on the way to/from (or why not both?) Waimea canyon. And the incredibly friendly ladies at Island Rental Agency were very happy when we brought them one of these pies from Wong's as a "thank you for all your help" gift and agreed that Wong's did indeed make the best Lilikoi pie on the Garden Isle.

And not only the pie very yummy, the service was a lot less surly, and the surroundings and bathroom much cleaner than Hamura's which might make me raise my score to 9.0. And the bbq meats looked good (and have been well rated on chowhound) though I cannot personally vouch for them. I can however vouch for the bbq pork bun - it was pretty good, and huge! It is a great bargain for $1.50 and if you like your pork buns shrouded in a lot of light spongy dough, and the filling on the sweeter side, this is good snack for you to take along for one of the shorter hikes at the canyon.