Puka Puka Kitchen — Restaurant in Hawaii

Meh! The food at this place wasn't as great as everyone makes it out to seem. The rice was mixed with some spices that were definitely not to my or my partner's taste. We felt the portion size of the seared ahi was extremely small compared to other restaurants we had ahi at and definitely way too small for the price. And the cooked veggies were soaking in oil. It was kind of gross to see that much oil being used. Overall the food was average and the customer service is bad. The lady taking our order rolled her eyes at us when we asked her for recommendations because we didn't know what to get. In addition the food took them 25-30 mins to prepare and we weren’t welcome to sit inside so we had to stand outside the store in the cold and rain for that time. Kinda disappointed after seeing all the raving reviews...

We had been to the Puka Puka Kitchen for lunch on afternoon when we were visiting Hilo. We had ordered the Ahi Don plate which came with Garlic Rice, Salad and the Ahi Fish fries. The food was freshly made. Garlic rice was very tasty. The salad was also very good. The price was also pretty reasonable compared to Hawaii standards. The place is very tiny though with just 4 or 5 tables. So it gets full very quickly especially during peak hours. They also have pre-packed carry out packages; we saw many customers just take those instead of waiting for an empty seat. The waitress/cashier was very friendly. We had a very good experience eating there and we would certainly recommend this restaurant to...

(Updated 2023)Great place. small friendly good people. And the best thing, the food is wonderful! And ,the price is right.Am going to be back to Hilo in may 2019 . First place am going to stop. Promise! 2019. I did wonderful. Found out they do half plates I can't eat so much perfect.. Back in 2023 agen the pandemic did a number on these guys Many shops or closed so sad the stimulus packages must not have got this far. So many closed they need us to all come back and Help. Hilo is such a beautiful place the best Japanese garden out side of Japan. Old town town is still a real cool place to walk around so many palaces to explore. Love this place as...