Pueo's Osteria — Restaurant in Hawaii

This review is based only on our experience on the one night we visited. All COVID precautions in place inside and even in the courtyard out front. Let me start by saying I can’t believe anyone can give the establishment a one star rating no matter the experience. That being said, we had easily the best meal in three trips to the island and one of the best pork dishes I have had in the world. Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by the two front desk ladies and seated promptly (having a reservation and being on time helps). Lovely dark wood with Italian accents interior. Our waitress, Tiffany, was bubbly and energetic when she arrived to ask about drinks. We chose not to and she gave us an informative rundown on all the specials. Began our experience with the bruschetta-local tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and garlic. While we would have preferred a different bread, the topping was delicious. So fresh tasting. We then chose to split a caprese salad of mozzarella, local tomatoes, basil from the chef’s garden, & olive oil. This was served over a combination of balsamic vinegar and house created basil pesto made from the aforementioned basil. While all the ingredients were delicious, the pesto/balsamic combo was mind blowing. You could serve it with or on just about anything and it would be outstanding. Did everything I could to finish all of it on both plates. One of the specials on our visit was a spaghetti with local shrimp and white wine and colatura which is an Italian sauce made from anchovies. This was my wife’s choice for her entree. I chose the grilled pork chop with mushrooms, Marsala sauce, and lemon chive mashed potatoes. Also added a side of roasted(?)local green beans with olive oil and garlic. All our food looked glorious on arrival and things just got better as we started to enjoy. The pasta dish was perfectly cooked, shrimp outstanding and sauce had a unique flavor that really complimented them. Made my wife smile. The green beans were local and cooked perfect with delicious garlic flavor. Loved them. My pork chop was a thing of beauty. Served bone-in with gorgeous grill marks. Topped with sautéed mushrooms and atop the mashed potatoes and Marsala sauce. A first bite I knew it was world class. This chop was top one or two of pork dishes I’ve eaten in the world. I should have asked about the seasonings used before cooking but I was too enraptured with my meat. The flavor, texture, and doneness were outstanding. And the mushrooms were a great compliment. I will mention that while the potatoes themselves had good flavor, I prefer a chunkier version rather than the over smooth one served here and that wasn’t helped by the marsala sauce served with the dish. Just seemed a bit runny. Didn’t stop me from finishing it though. And the sauce was another great compliment to the chop. I even soaked up the last bits of the sauce with some stray spaghetti from my wife’s plate. There was nothing but a bone left on my plate when Tiffany came by to see how we were doing. By the way, Tiffany was fun and attentive. Just great. Our dessert choice, like many other diners tonight, were the fresh in-house made cannoli. Saw a lot of them hitting peoples tables. After a longer than expected wait due to a “lost” order, they came to the table. Now I’m not Italian but I’ve been a couple of times and these were delicious with a tasty filling with hint of Grand Marnier. Like all the food, delicious. Really outstanding experience. IMO, anyone who can give one star review, or question the authenticity of the chef’s heritage has an ax to grind for some reason. Forget any poor reviews you see on Google and enjoy Pueo’s food soon. Highly...

For $26 I expect edible pizza. What I got was a soggy oily mess that I couldnt really eat. Pizza is one of my favorite foods and I will usually devour it no matter what, but this I was only able to eat a few bites off of 2 pieces. When the pizza arrived at my table made a comment to me like I was a kid or something which was off putting. When I separated the pieces, a large pool of oil ammassed at the center of the plate. The way they serve the pizza on top of a paper sheet it totally absorbes the oil and gels to the bottom of the pizza. When I tried to slice off edible bits of pizza the paper shreds and comes apart. All 3 pizzas at our table were like this except mine was probably the worst. The center of the pizza was totally flabby when trying to pick up and everything fell off. Its like the inner part of the pizza wasnt fully cooked. The outside crust was ok but also had black overcooked spots. After they picked up our plates they did comp my pizza which was nice. But left unsatisfied. Also when we walked in they told us the table they were going to seat us in they needed in 1 hour. When we were done with pizza there was no time to even consider desert and so we left and went somewhere else for desert. Dont get the pizza.

Update: we went here on the last night of our trip to give it another shot... I had high hopes for the lasagna but sadly was disappointed again. The outer half of the food was hot. The center was cold! This place suffers from serious execution problems with getting food cooked properly. The next day my wife and I both had stomach issues. 4 visits to the bathroom before 10am! 💩👎👎👎👎 service was better this visit. Sitting outside was nice but its very loud.

Next time I am on the Big Island I wont be going...

EDIT 2021-08-25: After a long hiatus, this review warrants an update. The restaurant staff is as great as ever, the food has improved, the drinks are amazing, and it is worth the drive from anywhere on the island.

Get the MPA pizza, either in kid's size as an appetizer for two or full size for the table to share, or as a main, it doesn't matter. Absolute must purchase.

The Fish of the Day was Seared Ahi, served with pan roasted potatoes and a spicy arugula salad "garnish". Aside from the brilliance of the ahi, the potatoes had a hidden gem: massive green onion rounds browned to perfection. Unbelievable. Probably sourced locally from some grower in the Waimea area, where I have purchased similarly sized colossal green onions.

The radiatore alla vodka was mind-blasting. Shrimp is a wonderful addition, but absolutely not necessary; the mushrooms stand on their own.

The entire meal was incredible, as expected, and I am already looking forward to returning.

END EDIT

Definitely warrants five stars. This place is an excellent culinary experience tucked into an unassuming mall. From the focaccia bread service to the daily catch pasta dish, every component carried the experience and attention to detail one expects a wise chef to bring to the menu. The wine list is extensive and seems to carry something for every pairing or palette.

The "icing on the cake" would be the dessert. The tiramisu had an excellent balance of components. Just a hint of rum, the perfect balance of cocoa and coffee, and a wonderfully prepared mascarpone to to literally glue it all together. This place gets great reviews anyway, which was the main motivation to try it out, but I cannot help but add another five...