On vacation thousands of miles from home the restaurant food quality still counts, and then again other elements can be parallel in worth. Ocean air scents or that earthy salt in the air, lift the foodie experience. At Lava Java in Kona on Big Island, a table a few hundred feet away from lapping waves, the easeful sound, and that umami marine life aroma, upgrade whatever dish you order.

For brunch on Sunday, my 11-year-old son ordered the Keiki Cheeseburger and Sweet Potato fries. Grass fed beef has that lingering almost sweet flavor and this patty had meatloaf type spices—oregano and garlic salt, perhaps, which made for a hefty fill even for the size, medium over a slider portion.

Hawai’i mostly means eating outdoors, so the patio seating has warm trade winds and thick-airy sunshine to give you that sit back in your chair and exhale ambience. Pretty much as good as restaurant benevolence gets.

My brother ordered the Eggs Benedict and all the expectations arrived promptly: rich gooey Hollandaise sauce over two puffy poached eggs plus several chunky slices of crisped bacon and big cubed skillet-browned home fries. Sometimes younger siblings do the right thing and so the iced tea he ordered paired well with the feast.

This morning the music element was on repose, yet other visits, a guitar player sweetly serenades, lending soulful ease to the restaurant ambience, soft hopes for the melted cheese and salty bacon immersion we seek (vegan versions are a go, too). Go ahead, claim that I am over writing, and in happy response, the simple challenge returns to eat at Lava Java and exit in another mood than what I describe. Eating on the patio deck by the ocean in Hawai’i qualifies as luxury relaxing even if the restaurant is simple overall.

Given that vacations mean high expenses, the plates will not arrive cheap. Planning for dining out costs on the Hawai’i journey makes sense. That is why I describe the value-added elements that can only be found in Hawai’i. Now that is a bias, clearly, yet how can we admit otherwise that certain places just have that je ne Sais quos. They just do.

And as a reasonably calm, and sometimes not so much, taco aficionada who I am, ordering was simple. Our waitress scribbled code for the chef: fish tacos, por favor. These arrived with a soft taro tortilla (so delicious to eat plain, like bread in other cultures), a feint purple wrap around a softly sauteed fish filet drowsed in a creamy picante sauce then topped with tart red cabbage. On the side were golden steak fries, those firm crispy on the outside and soft potato on the inside, kind.

The fifth grader became antsy, so we ate well and sauntered away soon, yet some of the best coffee I have enjoyed in Kona, region to some of the most prized beans in the world, can be poured at Lava Java for lingering when that happens. Just as we departed, the waitress brought upside down pineapple French toast stacked high—those super-thick brioche slices were drizzled with syrupy goodness. I almost sat down again but was out voted. Another day, another meal seems a fair and fantastic goal to keep.

Find Island Lava Java Bistro Restaurant in Kailua-Kona on Ali’i Drive near the boat dock and step entryway for an ocean swim. 75-5719 Ali‘i Dr #1a, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740