Banana Joe’s Pineapple Frosty

Paul’s note: Elaine returns to (at least) one cool thing with another excellent guest contribution. Previously she reviewed the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton, and today she shares the highlight of her recent Kauai trip: the Pineapple Frosty. I can’t wait to try this frozen drink, and while I contemplate a trip to Kauai I plan on encouraging Elaine to buy a juicer. Elaine writes:

Kauai is an island of delightful sights and hidden treasures tucked amidst secluded beaches, rain forests and small laid-back towns. Neither Don nor I had been there before, but we felt like we stumbled upon many of the island’s finds during a recent trip there.

Some of the highlights included: spectacular vistas along the Nualolo Trail in Waimea Canyon on the West Shore and the famous Na Pali Coast trail on the North Shore; Queen’s Bath, a natural ocean pool carved into a lava shelf filled with refreshing water and tropical fish; the National Tropical Botanical Garden; the view of Hanalei Bay from La Cascata in the Princeville Hotel; and, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw baby albatross birds in their nests!

As far as food went, we were thrilled to find Jo-Jo’s Shave Ice (I recommend the tropical rainbow flavor with macadamia nut ice cream, photo), the hole-in-the-wall Hamura’s Saimin stand that served tasty, if sodium-laden, ramen noodles, and a relaxed and well-executed meal at the iconic Beach House restaurant in Poipu. Perhaps the yummiest food find, however, was Banana Joe’s Pineapple Frosty.

I was determined to get my fill of tropical fruit-related drinks, smoothies and desserts while in Kauai, and we had read about Banana Joe’s in what proved to be a definitive and excellent book, The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed. As we entered the humble shack we saw that in addition to drinks, there was a daily frosty special. That day it was pineapple. Don decided to order one, and we watched with interest as Joe prepared it.

He pulled several pre-cut pineapple logs out of the freezer and fed them into a Champion Juicer. The machine masticates and homogenizes whatever you feed into it. In this case, the frozen pineapple came out in a light yellow soft-serve texture that was healthy (100% pineapple, including some unobtrusive fiber) and hearty (Joe used about a half a pineapple!). If you’ve ever been lucky enough to have a Dole Whip at Disney World, this compares favorably. It’s creamy, perfectly sweet, and intense in pineapple flavor.

We hear the banana frosty is excellent as well. Since the trip, I’ve contemplated getting a Champion Juicer just for this purpose, but kitchen real estate is an issue these days, so I may just have to revisit Banana Joe’s soon.

Bonus links: Elaine’s Kauai pics, Don’s Kauai pics

Banana Joe’s: 5-2719 Kuhio Hwy, Kilauea, HI (808) 828-1092