Pa’ina (Hawaiian for gathering) Cafe has two locations: Koko Marine Shopping Center (Hawai’i Kai) and Victoria Ward Warehouse (Ward Ave by Ala Moana Shopping Center). It’s a nice place to grab a bite to eat and take a break from shopping at all the local boutiques.
The interior of the cafe is nice and big. Please forgive me, I forgot to take a picture of the interior because it was so busy inside. The cafe adopted the dark wooden look from the previous restaurant, The Chowder House. The wooden interior with the wooden benches and chairs gives it a nice Hawaiian feel to the place. There is a lot of room for your party and all those shopping bags. If you want something intimate, there are a couple of two seater tables up against the store front.
Basically, it’s open seating, you order your food before seating down and the staff will call you when your order is ready. There is a wide range of selection from salads to smoothies. The prices are pretty good considering the location (being in a tourist area) and other cafe that I’ve visited. In honor of my bloggie twin, Tiera, I bought a large spicy poke bowl with brown rice ($7.45). It rare for a cafe to serve poke, so Pa’ina has a leg up on the rest of the cafes.
The great thing about their poke bowl is that they are customizable. You can add pickled onions, cucumbers, seaweed, etc. The list is pretty long, but I got the classic green onions. Next time, I am going to venture out.
In a nutshell:
- Great location
- Tons of free parking
- A quick place to grab something to eat, while shopping
- Wide variety of food
- Reasonable priced compared to other cafes in the area
- Lots of space to eat
- Free WiFi
Must try:
- Make your own Spicy Ahi Bowl.
Pa’ina Cafe:
Website
Menu
Yelp
Twitter
Facebook
Great review, have to add it to my must try list for Honolulu (at this rate, I’ll need to stay weeks to get through it all + old fans). Have you tried Ahi Vegetable downtown? Great poke bowls with yummy sauces.
LOL. Sorry to add to your list! At this rate, must as well move on back. Kidding.
I haven’t tried Ahi Vegetable in downtown. I really want to, but you know, parking is a premium in downtown. I could walk there, I live less than 5 minutes away from downtown.
Poke bowls for life!!!!! I used to eat at Pa’ina Cafe ALL the time when I worked at the Advertiser, but that was before they were in the Chowder House space, it was just a little counter next to T&C. I don’t think I’ve been there since they moved! I’ll have to check them out again — and with brown rice! PS: The Hawaiian bowl is BOMB. Kalua pig, lomi salmon & poke, over rice. Just thinking about it makes me wish I was still eating meat!
Oh, that does sound good. I better try that bowl next time. I remember seeing it on the board, but never thought much of it. Wow, so, you are an OG fan of Pa’ina, that’s so cool. Now that I think about it, I remember a small poke stand right by T&C, but I never ate there. Man, I was missing out! LOL
Yes indeed, the Spicy Ahi Bowl at Pa’ina is a fav of mine. I LOVED Chowder House however Pa’ina is a decent replacement.
I miss Chowder House too. I used to love getting their clam chowder (white, never the red one) bowl. I don’t know anywhere else in Hawai’i, that serves their chowder in sourdough bowls. Now I have to fly to SF just to get a descent chowder bowl. LOL
How do you get your ahi bowl?
So THAT’S what’s at the Chowder House now. I only ate there once but I’m a sucker for soups of all kinds
Still, the poke looks good (even though I don’t eat poke…i know…tragic) and I like the graphics in “paina.” I think I’d like to eat there just because the graphics are so nice. #nerdalert
WHAT, you don’t eat poke! What kind of local are you…nah, just kidding. Do you not like raw fish or just poke?
I never noticed Pa’ina’s graphics until you pointed it out. It’s really pretty! Well, I believe you would love this place. We go next time.
If you ever go to the mainland (especially California/Las Vegas area), you should seriously check out Souplantion (in Cali)/Sweet Tomatoes (in Las Vegas). It’s an all you can eat soup, salad, pasta, soft serve ice cream place. It’s cheap (I believe $7 per person for lunch) and the selection is great. Just thinking about it makes me want to go there! They have this creamy broccoli soup that I love.
Ihilani, if you go to Oahu, the Covenant Book Store in Kaimuki has wonderful soup (sandwiches are the bomb too, also they know how to make a good coffee) but just one type a day. They show their soup of the day schedule on their site. Of course they are closed on Sundays since it is a Christian bookstore.
Cool! I didn’t even know that. You must’ve visited there often since you lived on 12th ave, right? I have to try this place out. Thanks for the tip, Tania.
What is poke? Pls educate me on Hawaiian food!
Do you like raw fish? If you do, you will love poke or poki (poke rhymes with okay, just add the p). Poke in Hawaiian means section or to slice. Sashimi grade Ahi (yellow fin tuna) is mixed with green onion, Hawaiian sea salt (any sea salt will work. Morton’s won’t work), and soy sauce. Now there is different variations of the classic poke, you can add kimchi sauce, garlic, seaweed (ogo), mayo, taegu (season codfish), etc. Poke alone is served as an appetizer, especially in bars, sporting events (tailgating), and house parties. When Poke is paired with hot rice, you have a meal. It’s really good!
Hey, new blog theme. I LOVE raw fish. Pok-ay sounds yum!
Thanks. I’m just trying something new.
Poke is right up your alley. I wish I could make you some, but here is a great recipe. Maybe you or your hubs can make some one night. http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/01/hawaiian-ahi-poke/ If you do make some, let me know how it goes and don’t blame me if you get addicted!
If you can’t find sushi grade ahi, try this recipe from my friend, Gwen. It’s her award-winning paniolo (Hawaiian for cowboy)shrimp poke. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it’s award-winning, so can’t go wrong, right?
http://saturdayswithmaggy.blogspot.com/2012/03/award-winning-shrimp-poke.html
Tks for the recipes!!!!!!!!!!!
You are welcome!