We left for Hilo on a Saturday morning, so we decided to drive back to the Keauhou Shopping Center on our way out of Kona. We had read a banner about the Keauhou Farmer's Market on Saturdays and had decided that maybe doing a bit of self catering might be the way to go for dinner. Of course there's still the Hilo's Farmer's Market, but the Missus was really enjoying the local produce...so why not? Also, I thought I'd grab something for breakfast as well.
The market is located in the "Long's side" of the shopping center and didn't seem very large.....but we enjoyed the range of merchants.
The stand that seemed to be getting the most attention was this one.
And with good reason. We bought a bag of tomatoes and a couple of cucumbers...they would be the best we would have on the trip.
Most of the folks here seemed to be regulars....the vendors knew a lot of them by name.
In the end, the Missus and I split up....She went to find some kale and other stuff, while I decided to get something to eat from here.
We didn't have anything in the way of a cooler or anything, but the weather wasn't particularly hot. I decided to buy a saussicon, a cured sausage which would hold up for dinner.
This shop made a nice variety of charcuterie, so I thought why not grab something for breakfast? The had an Asian influenced sausage and made something called a Banh Mi Royale.....I know, I'm not a fan of sticking anything in a roll and calling it a banh mi, but thought why not.
So while th Missus had cucumber, tomatoes, and other stuff, I had the banh mi royale.
The sausage itself was pretty tasty as was the chili mayo, but there was just too much of it slathered all over the rather routine roll. Way too much cilantro as well. The saucisson, however was delicious and would be a nice part of our dinner.
The Missus had found a stand selling this.
It's called a tamarillo, also known as tree tomato. And is also from the nightshade family. It has a very thick skin, which is slightly bitter, the pulp is very much tomato like, nice acid and a bit sweet. We would see this fruit several more times while on the island, so I guess it's being grown here now. Apparently, the fruit, native to South America, is now being grown, harvested, and exported from New Zealand as well. We may start seeing these more in the near future.
We really enjoyed the short time we spent here and will return when in the area in the future. We were eating, sitting on the parking lot wall, and admiring this view........
Talk about a nice morning......
Keauhou Farmer's Market in the Keauhou Shopping Center
Saturday 8am - 12pm
78-6831 Alii Drive
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
sounds and looks like you had a nice time! thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: kat | Saturday, 05 January 2013 at 04:24 PM
It was a fun time Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 05 January 2013 at 08:19 PM