Summer travels took Honolulu Star-Advertiser staffers on dining excursions to cities near and far. They discovered great food everywhere — and, of course, took pictures.

PHOBAR

New York City

Almost every ethnic cuisine exists in New York City, the food capital of America. This summer my New Yorker friend took me to her favorite restaurant, PhoBar, a quirky noodle spot in Greenwich Village.

I wanted something out of the ordinary, but couldn’t decide between the lobster or spicy short rib pho, two of the most popular dishes. So for $25 the eatery combined the bone-in braised short ribs with half a steamed lobster, a winning combination!

I could only eat about a fourth of the gigantic bowl and took the rest home. But it was the most flavorful, rich beef broth with the perfect blend of proteins that needless to say … broke da mout’.

— Kristen Consillio, Star-Advertiser

SEATTLE FISH GUYS

I’ve been to Fish Guys twice on trips to Seattle and both times it was packed and the food was great. My brother-in-law, Dave Suguro, introduced our family to the restaurant owned by his friend Sal Panelo, who grew up in a family of fishermen.

Sal worked at Mutual Fish, Pike Place Market and Uwajimaya, all iconic Seattle food locations, until he and his wife, Desiree Chinn, opened their own place. (That’s Desiree holding the fish, surrounded by employees.)

— Dennis Oda, Star-Advertiser

PIP’S ORIGINAL DOUGHNUTS & CHAI

Portland, Ore.

My peculiar travel routine includes running to bakeries during my morning runs. It’s sweaty, sugary and strange.

Pip’s, a northeast Portland spot recommended by a friend, serves up samplers of flavored chais alongside mini-cake doughnuts fried to order.

Flavors include honey sea salt, Meyer lemon, and Nutella and bacon.

— Stan Lee, Star-Advertiser

DA KITCHEN

Kahului

Fried Spam musubi … when I saw it on the menu I had to try it. It sounded both evil and decadent, so my curiosity got the best of me.

How did it taste? I was kinda underwhelmed — it was comparable to your garden-variety 7-Eleven Spam musubi, only with a bit too much shoyu poured on top.

As for the exterior “fried” part, the nori had an interesting rubber-like quality, which surprised me, as I was expecting more of a crunchy bite.

Would I eat it again? Probably not. But at least I can cross “eat a fried Spam musubi” off my bucket list.

— Kip Aoki, Star-Advertiser