Kona Inn - Big Island Edition

One of my favorite places to eat in Kona is at the Kona Inn.  I just love all the wood and the view from there is incomparable to any other restaurant on Ali'i Drive.  I can't help but think what Kona was like back in the day when this was still an Inn and one of the only structures around.  Plus, one of my favorite bartenders works there.  His name is David and he makes a marvelous Mai Tai. He is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet. After a long day of watching the IRONMAN World Championship, I was hungry so my new friend Mark (I think that is his name? I like to call him David Bowie. In fact that is still what his name is in my phone because when I met him singing karaoke at Sam's he was singing a bunch of Bowie songs).  David Bowie lives in Wisconsin and is a vegan.  WTF?  How do you live in Wisconsin and not eat cheese...all that delicious squeaky cheese?  Even with this dietary restriction, he was happy to accompany me to Kona Inn and do a nacho blog.  They were super accommodating with our order only putting cheese on half and the sour cream on the side.  Woo woo!  We ate nachos, drank a pina colada with a dark rum float, and watched a beautiful Kona sunset.  The following day, I was back at the Kona Inn but this time with Papa Leddy and dinner reservations.  As we were sitting at the bar waiting for the rest of our party to show up, I started talking to the man next to me since he had ordered nachos and was about to dig in.  I told him about the nacho blog and he graciously agreed to contribute his review as well.  His name is Bill and he had completed the IRONMAN in 12 hours the previous day.  Way to go Bill!  We shared stories of adventures and marvelous pictures.  Super rad and nice man. The amount of cheese on his nachos was ridiculous...like he literally had a moat of melted cheese at the bottom of his plate.  Overall the nachos were well liked by all participants and I am super grateful for these two strangers offering me their company and words for some spontaneous nacho blogging on vacation.  PS...the calamari at Kona Inn is some of the best I have ever had.  They do not deep fry it, just lightly sauteed and it is phenomenal.  So next time you are at the Kona Inn, be sure to say hello to David for me and enjoy some delicious pupus with a view. 

Half vegan nachos...they didn't do a very good job...there is a lot of cheese on David Bowie's half.  He was a good sport though and ate around it.

NACHOS GRANDE
REFRIED BEANS, SALSA AND TORTILLA CHIPS, TOPPED WITH CHEESE, GUACAMOLE, SOUR CREAM, CHIVES AND JALAPENO PEPPERS. SERVED TRADITIONAL OR DIP STYLE-$13.95
WITH CHICKEN ADD-$3.00 WITH KALUA PIG ADD-$5.00

David Bowie (?) - PRESENTATION: pretty good, nice, doily is weird. RAD: chives, they were cool about the half order. LAME:  Guac needs salt. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: OK not great overall there.

Shananigans (3.5) - PRESENTATION:  Good pile of nachos, lots of melty cheese, thanks for making special. RAD: lots of guacamole and cheese. the sunset is EPIC. LAME: I would have liked olives on these nachos.  There was a layer of unmelted cheese once you got under the first part. Couldn't find the beans because they were literally underneath everything else in a layer on the top of the plate. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO:  3.5 many empty chips below. Thank goodness for my vegan friend. Super fun day ended with super fun nachos. 

WTF is up with all this unmelted cheese?

Once we started eating and getting to the end of the nachos we discovered there was indeed beans on the nachos...but they were under everything else.  Should be layered better so you can eat with the other toppings.

Bill's nachos with the cheese moat and non-vegan option.

Bill (3) - PRESENTATION: Good, very good. RAD: I love cheese, thank goodness because there is a cheese flood.  LAME: run of the mill salsa.  TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.5, cheese is just covering the perimeter and not really on the top chips.  Meat of the nachos is accessible which is what you really want.  The nachos at Miguels Cocina in San Diego are epic and big shoes to fill. Off the chart atmosphere.  What better view than waves crashing, nachos are good no matter what.  Reminds me of a 7 layer dip.