HI.Shack Taste of Aloha — Restaurant in Honolulu

Update as of May of 2025: this was one of my go to trucks for lobster/crab rolls and updated Lechon Kawali bentos. Well, those days are gone now. It appeared that a new operator has taken over this particular truck as the Filipino dishes have been replaced with Argentinian food. The lobster/crab rolls have been replaced with just lobster rolls with added fries and coleslaw. The prices have gone up quite a bit and the taste have gone down also by quite a bit. The coleslaw was tasteless and the fries weren’t good. More importantly, the lobster roll itself wasn’t good at all. Also gone was the warm and friendly service. Once a place that I would take my friend and family to when they come to visit us, but no more. I guess all good things must come to an end. I’ve lowered the ratings from a 5* to a 2*.

One of the many trucks here in the Food Truck Park. It serves Filipino, Mexican, steaks, etc. I tried the crab/lobster roll and it was very good. Next time I will try the lechón kawali. The seating area wasn’t the cleanest and full of flies, which was kind of expected. This place also offers a 20% discount on its popular dishes during Happy Hours 2-5 p.m.

Update: I’ve returned as promised to try the lechón Kawali. It was prepared a bit differently than the ones I’m used to. This place sliced the pork and then fried it. Instead of frying a slab of pork belly and than slice it. Nonetheless, it was very tasty and I would definitely order it again in the future.

I also had another crab/lobster roll, but this time there were a lot more crab than lobster than last time. It was still tasty, but I do wish they maintain the same quality and quantity of its dishes...

We were so excited to see all of the food trucks in the area and checked each one out to decide where to eat. We thought the pineapple fried rice sounded so good, we decided to eat there. The first thing that bothered me was we asked for our receipt and the guy said he already threw it away. Ironically, there’s a sign that says if you show your receipt at the Ice cream place next-door, you get 15% off, but they throw away your receipt. It took a pretty long time to get the food, but I thought that was a good sign that it’s being cooked fresh, and maybe it is. We didn’t even get our drink until the food came up, but the honeydew lemonade was outstanding! The pineapple itself was fresh and delicious, the shrimp was cooked well, but everything else that was supposed to be in the pineapple was virtually nonexistent except for rice. Nothing had any flavor whatsoever. I barely found any spam, never encountered any bacon, almost no peppers, and absolutely no flavor. I expected either some pineapple juice flavor, maybe soy sauce or teriyaki sauce, but it had nothing…except potential to be fantastic. Great idea that...

Was craving lobster so was going back and forth between the lobster roll or crab lobster pasta. I ended up choosing the crab/lobster pasta and what a big mistake. For $40 USD, it looked really appetizing but when I tried it not only was the lobster tail so rubbery and gummy and hard to chew but extremely bland. To cut through it, I had to cut the lobster tail so hard that it went through the plastic container. I choked it down because it was expensive and as I went to pay it had the tip option in which I bypassed it but then the young kid that was working re-did it again, said something to the girl in the back and made me feel guilty for not tipping so I tipped but honestly, for what???? For him to ring my order in and do his job?Ridiculous. I should have bypassed that option again when he gave it to me the second time to prove a point. I don’t have a problem tipping when exceptional service is provided or food is brought out to me but this wasn’t the case!!! Beware people. I can’t speak for the other items since I only tried this but this such a big disappointment to me that I had...