Dig into London's best Hawaiian food

Get your shirt on, it's time for a luau...

If you think that Hawaiian food starts and ends with pineapple on a pizza, then you need to take a good long hard look at this list. Because there'll be a test.

As far as a cuisine goes it's kind of creole meets Polynesian meets BBQ with a bit of asian thrown in. But it's good. Daymn good.

So put your mac on, trudge through the wet streets of London and find a little bit of sunshine at our pick of the capital's best Hawaiian joints.

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Kua 'Aina
40 Goodge Street W1T 2QP
Goodge Street 0.08 miles
Other
Opening Times

This Hawaiian restaurant became famous for serving president Barack Obama's burger of choice: a juicy beef patty with half an avocado. Granted, it's not an especially Polynesian dish, so for a proper taste of the Pacific you can try the mahi mahi fish or the ahi tuna.

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POND Dalston
3 Gillett Street N16 8JH
Dalston Kingsland 0.14 miles
AIL
Users
Asian
Opening Times

Until recently the only Hawaiian food available in the UK was wedges of pineapple on pizza, but here the exotic fruit only appears as relish in burgers. Poke features prominently on the menu - the Hawaiian equivalent of ceviche made with tuna and salmon, or there's a beef tartare equivalent. Pond is a hip, Victorian warehouse conversion in Dalston.

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KERB
King's Boulevard and Granary Square, Kings Cross N1C 4AA
Shopping Destinations
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You can build your own bowl of poke thanks to these street food traders at Kerb market. Start with a base of rice, noodles or seaweed salad and add raw fish or tofu, exotic condiments like coconut dressing and wasabi aoili, and all manner of nuts, veggies and pickles.

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Trader Vic's
22 Park Lane W1K 1BE
Hyde Park Corner 0.29 miles
AIL
Users
Bars
Opening Times

It's famous for being a Polynesian-themed cocktail bar, but it also does food. Reflecting the hotchpotch of cuisines that form Hawaiian gastronomy, there's Chinese and south east Asian ingredients, as well as of course poke. Elsewhere on the menu there is meat and seafood grilled in a wood-fired oven and served with tropical ingredients like coconut, pineapple, ginger and lemongrass.

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Trailer Happiness
177 Portobello Road W11 2DY
Ladbroke Grove 0.35 miles
Bars
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Although they call themselves a tiki bar you won't find any cheesy Hawaiian shirts or grass skirts here. Instead there's an excellent cocktail selection with strong spirits (they even call their mezcal 'illegal') and some perfect booze-soaking food like steamed dumplings and 24-hour marinated chicken wings.

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Kanaloa
Shoe Lane EC4A 3BQ
City Thameslink 0.19 miles
Bars
Opening Times

For the full-on, bamboo and garland decor, and coconuts filled with cocktails experience, head to Kanaloa in the city. Food includes dim sum, tempura squid and beef 'sashimi', with lots of spice thrown in.

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The Beachcomber
86 Queensway W2 3RR
Bayswater 0.08 miles
Bars
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This late opening bar and restaurant has been going strong for over a decade. The theme of course is tiki, there are bar bites always available as well as ocasional foodie pop-ups like a collaboration with Creole Kitchen. They're in Bayswater, and are the only venue to open till the early hours in the area.

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Kona Kai
515 Fulham Road SW6 1HD
Fulham Broadway 0.10 miles
Bars
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There are tropical cocktails aplenty here with a happy hour and party tunes - you get the idea. Food is suitably Polynesian-inspired, with coconut-flavoured curries, mussels in creamy sauce and Asian classics. It's very popular and gets packed early, so advance booking is recommended.