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Nico's Pier 38

<p><strong>What</strong> Early risers know the best place for catching breakfast is this waterfront café on one of the commercial piers along Nimitz Highway, next to Honolulu's daily fish auction. </p> <p><strong>Who </strong>Buoyant chef Nicolas Chaize, originally from Lyon, reinterprets island favorites for dockworkers and fishermen, who order fried rice with hot Portuguese sausage and kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) or French toast made with Molokai sweet bread from Kaneohe Bakery. </p> <p><strong>Don't miss </strong>Chaize's loco moco— the Hawaiian version of a Denny's Grand Slam: white rice, two beef patties, and fried eggs, topped with a mushroom-onion gravy worthy of a Gallic grand-mère. Stick around for an alfresco lunch (ahi tuna belly, garlic-crusted mahimahi) under the green awning, and watch trawlers bobbing at the dock. </p>