Between me and Luscious, it’s hard to say who has the bigger sweet tooth. One of my fondest memories of my girlfriend’s insatiable capacity for desserts was when she visited me in Philadelphia back in 2007. Even though it was the middle of winter, she couldn’t go a day without three scoops of gelato from Capogiro. Once, she even visited the store four times in a 12-hour period! Truly, I’d never been prouder to call her my friend.

Needless to say, when we get together, every dessert in our line of sight gets mauled—neither a crumb is left on the plate nor snow left in the cone. While in Honolulu, she took us on a tour of her favorite sweets shacks—here’s what we stuffed down our gullets:

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There is a lot of shave ice to be savored in the Land of Aloha, but no one piles it quite as high as the folks who run Shimazu Store.

Larger portions means more surface area for sugary syrupy action! The Astronomer and I shared one drizzled with coconut, passion fruit, and my favorite, li hing, while Luscious went for soursop and lychee. As hefty as they were, we polished these off without any trouble.

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In addition to eating our weight in garlicky shrimp while on Oahu’s North Shore, The Astronomer, Luscious, and I also dug into two sweets and an additional savory: shave ice at Matsumoto, cream pie at Ted’s Bakery, and local-style rotisserie chicken at Ray’s. All three are highly recommended if you ever find yourself in these here beautiful parts.

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When Mamoru Matsumoto first opened M. Matsumoto Grocery Store back in 1951, he peddled wares on a bicycle, while his wife Helen managed the store. It wasn’t until sometime in the 1960s that the Matsumotos began operating a shave ice stand within the store. Today, the couple’s son Stanley and his wife, Noriko, own and operate the business.

On sunny days, the store sells up to 1,000 shave ice, according to Matsumoto’s website. With over 40 homemade syrups, as well as ice cream and azuki beans to complement it all, the combinations here are sticky, sugary, and seemingly endless.

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