Clau & Chui's Cocina — Restaurant in Oʻahu

My experience seems to be the exception, not the rule so keep that in mind if you read.

The food is absolutely delicious and flavorful. Nice atmosphere in the store while I waited for my to-go order.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the flavor, I can’t leave more than 2 stars. I ordered the birria burrito, 2 side rice, 2 side beans...so a lot of bowls. I glanced through my order when I got it and it looked like it had everything.

Drove 25 minutes home only to realize they FORGOT THE BIRRIA BROTH. Called the restaurant to make sure the burrito came with broth and the person who answered confirmed that it was supposed to. She offered to give me 2 bowls of broth if I drove back. Honestly, that wasn’t worth the gas and cold food ,so I declined. She then said that next time I come in, I could ask for her and she’d give me a discount.

I was okay with it until I started eating. There was a shard of bone in my half of the burrito, which rounded out the experience for me.

The restaurant wasn’t packed at the time. 2 other people dining in. 1 person who ordered right before I did and a couple who came in about 10 minutes into my wait. So there was no rush. I also tipped 25% on my order. Would have appreciated some form of quality control.

UPDATE: I did take her up on her offer for a discount a week later and she gave me $8 off the birria burrito that I ordered, which was fantastic. However, when I tried to leave a tip, she pulled it out and waved it at me to just take it. Like I was an inconvenience she just wanted to forget. I was confused by it and insisted she please just take it. She rolled her eyes, thanked me, then dropped it in the bin. Idk what her deal was, I was nothing but polite. I stopped recommending them to everyone after that. Maybe it was an off day but it still sticks with me. Original review was 2 stars, dropped it to 1...

This place is amazing!

It’s very hard finding authentic Mexican food on the island, especially one that is consistent with taste and value. In addition, if you are looking for healthier Mexican meals, or even vegetarian meals, that’s hard to find in absolute on the island. However, Clau and Chui’s restaurant surprised me with both prep and taste! I wanted a vegetarian meal, so I simply asked that they make a burrito without meat, and to add all condiments inside (for example, salsa inside) and This burrito was LEGIT delicious!! I tried a couple of other dishes, and found that the food was just as satisfying.

If you’re looking for a non-watered down, and authentic version of Mexican food, this is the most Authentic place that is consistently good. I travel to big cities a lot and am an absolute restaurant Goer, so this place hit the spot and am delighted there is finally a good Mexican restaurant to go to.

Additionally, you can finish off with their delicious Tres Leches cake! This cake is difficult to make, especially for those who have never lived on the Latin American part of the world, or have not been in their cultural environments to know exactly what differentiates between authentic and “trying.” The tres leches cake they make isn’t swimming in dulce cream, which would make it highly intolerable after a few bites. Instead, Clau and Chui’s tres leches is a perfect combination of moist and sweetness while not taking away from the consistency of the cake batter. I don’t know how they managed to perfect this Latino sweet dish, but the work and results shows big time!! I found out they also oblige with large orders of full sized cakes, so this is a major plus because celebrating birthdays with authentic culturally flavored cake just got easier...

food was tasty and place was clean however this is an example of a place with potential to fill. The skill of the culinary staff is not fully realized and overshadowed by the reality of trying to keep costs low in a very expensive Hawaiian economy. There does seem to be an inconsistency in their products. An example would be in the other posts about fish tacos and fries. Strangely when my wife and I ate here, the kitchen (or at least a portion of it) was visible from the cointer where we ordered but we never saw anyone there cooking which makes one wonder about when the food was actually cooked or if it is simply warmed up after a previous prep. Some tweaks to their operations and customer facing elements need outside expert refinement. Our chef answered some questions about the food and was pouring sweat, not a good look from the guy hovering over your food. A bandana or something would help. Also the cashier seemed to know little about the food. For example, ceviche was listed as a special and I asked about the ingredients to which she replied that she did not know, at all… and that is a bad sign. The product is the food, the employees should know...