Noodles, noodles, noodles! It wouldn’t be a wild assumption to call them one of the world’s favorite foods, judging by how many times they’ve been invented and their sheer variety worldwide. Unsurprisingly, that means that there are myriad places on the island to have some fantastic noodles, among other dishes offered.

This first recommendation is just a short drive away from school: Ohana BBQ & Sushi, a local Korean restaurant that primarily offers, as you could probably tell from the name, barbecue and sushi. However, my favorite meals there are their ramyeon (the Korean style of ramen, a popular Japanese noodle dish). One I particularly enjoy is their kimchi ramyeon, which you can likely guess what the key ingredient is.

Most of Ohana’s dishes range between $12 and $16, so they’re not cheap by any means, but they’re also not too expensive.

Ohana BBQ & Sushi is located at 98-042 Kamehameha Hwy, Aiea, HI 96701, in the Waimalu Shopping Center.

For our next restaurant we’ll be visiting Cuu Long II, a Vietnamese place on the edge of Chinatown and Kalihi-Palama. The star attraction of this eatery is their phở, Vietnamese rice noodles. I adore their seafood phở, which is full of shrimp and squid, as well as their beef combo phở that contains various cuts of beef as well as the tripe (cow stomach). Now this may sound fantastic for meat-lovers, but don’t leave yet, vegetarians! Cuu Long II offers a vegetarian phở consisting of tofu, cabbage, and other veggies, with a choice of vegan broth and optional dragon sauce (also vegan friendly).

The bowls also come with various optional ingredients to add to your soup, such as bean sprouts, culantro leaves, and lime.

Most phở bowls are around $13, except for the oxtail bowls which, depending on what else is in them, are $15 or $18.

Cuu Long II is located at 175 N Hotel St, Honolulu, HI 96817, just across the bridge between Kalihi-Palama and Chinatown.