There�s a little shop by the Honolulu Airport called Lox of Bagels. My mom first discovered this place at the hair salon. She was having her hair cut by her favorite hairdresser when a client came by to bring by a gift for the hairdresser. The gift came in the form of a big white box. The kind of box we would expect to be filled with goodies from a local okazuya or perhaps a chantilly cake or cocopuffs from Liliha Bakery. But instead, it was filled with an array of hot bagels! Bagels?! Hawaii is not a bagel city! Or is it?

Like most good operations in Hawaii, Lox of Bagels is a local family run business churning out an impressive assortment of bagels that you can only really find in Hawaii. You can get the ordinary garlic, onion and poppyseed flavors, but why bother when flavors run from taro to coconut and red bean bagel puffs�guava cream cheese too!

It�s small shop with room to seat only a few people. And while this is a far cry from Murray�s Bagels or my personal favorite, Bagel Bob�s in Manhattan, Lox of Bagels has a unique island charm that could never be duplicated anywhere else.

They are known best for their manapua bagels, which are essentially, bagels in the shape of manapuas. Neato, eh? Some are stuffed with different flavors of cream cheese, peanut butter, and even an. Flavors change on a daily basis, and come early because the good ones go fast.

We got a dozen (to share of course!) of the most adorable baby cinnamon raisin puff � how could anyone resist?! Sweet raisins rolled into the dough and filled with cinnamon and raisin specked cream cheese. The cream cheese was warm from the bake, reaching that perfect temperature when it just about melds with the bagel and oozes effortlessly into your mouth. Along with that, we threw in a Hawaiian Bagel for the ride, flecked with coconut and pineapple. If I had to pick, the Hawaiian was the least favorite of mine, just because both coconut and pineapple on a bagel really overdoes the whole tropical theme.

But no visit here is finished without an anpuff, think an donut or jin dui, only in bagel form and rolled in sesame seeds. Filled with a smooth, sweet red bean paste, it looks exactly like the sesame puffs you get at yum cha and if I didn�t know beforehand, you�d have a difficult time convincing me otherwise! The taro bagel has a poi blended dough and, while slightly bland on it�s own, it�s rather amazing how cream cheese helped to bring out the taro flavor. My dad�s favorite is the peanut butter chip bagel: a puff filled with whipped cream cheese and melted peanut butter chips. I wanted to try a bite, but he ate it so fast I didn�t have a chance to ask. And besides, he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit and who wants to interrupt those moments?

Lox of Bagels
111 Sand Island Access R Unit R1
Honolulu, HI 96819
(808) 845-2855