An Old Family Recipe Remains a Classic at This Līhu‘e Restaurant

Tip Top Motel, Cafe & Bakery’s bestselling oxtail soup uses Chinese and mustard cabbage, long rice, bamboo shoots, green onion and plenty of meat.

Kaua‘i’s Tip Top Motel, Cafe & Bakery first opened as just a cafe in 1916, and over a century later, it remains a local favorite in the heart of Līhu‘e.

“There’s no doubt that the success of our business is because of our employees. We have very loyal and hardworking employees,” says Jonathon Ota, the family business’s fourth-generation owner. That includes chef Kathrina Ganotisi, pictured here.

Tip Top has lots of appetizing breakfast and lunch options, but “our bestseller is oxtail soup,” says Ota. “It’s a recipe that was given to my grandfather many years ago.”

He says that while most places have just one vegetable and oxtail in their soups, Tip Top’s version contains Chinese and mustard cabbage, long rice, bamboo shoots, green onion and, of course, plenty of oxtail.