Ala Moana Poi Bowl

Pretty good! Sometimes I go here for a quick before work snack or for lunch. They have a lot to offer for Hawaiian barbecue entrees. I usually get the beef curry and kalua pork with cabbage. Buttery and tender.
The cashier ladies are never very happy. I don’t know what they deal with day to day, but it’d be nice if they didn’t look so angry and displeases all the time.

When I’m at the Makai Market food court at Ala Moana I often bypass the Poi Bowl. It’s just something about Hawaiian food being at a food court that does’t appeal to me. I was sick of eating at the same vendors and decided to give this place a try. I’m glad I did.
I got the kalua pig and cabbage, and squid luau combo. It came with two scoops of rice and a side salad. The kalua pig was moist and tender, exactly how I like it. I don’t know why so many other places make it dry. The squid luau was good and savory. It had pieces of squid in it that was easy to chew. I prefer my squid luau on the sweeter side but this one was more on the salty side. It was still flavorful.
The lady who helped me was nice, even though she gave me the wrong salad dressing. I told her that I wanted Thousand Island. I opened the package without looking and started to pour it on my salad. The dressing came out clear, so I turned the package around and looked at it. It was Italian. She gave me two packages of dressing, so I went back and exchanged the other one for Thousand Island.

Good Hawaiian food for a decent price. I’ve gone to places that charge double what Poi Bowl does and has the same quality and quantity.
I got the local boy special I think that’s what it’s called and loved every bite! Keep in mind I’m 35 weeks pregnant and have been craving Hawaiian food for weeks now. I wanted good Hawaiian food but didn’t want to hurt my wallet. Poi bowl it was!

Half the time we eat at the Ala Moana food court, I choose to get food from Poi Bowl. I believe Poi Bowl has the best Pork Lau Lau. I’ve had my fair share of Hawaiian food. I know quite a few people who claim that Young’s has the best lau lau, but I beg to differ. I’ve tried Young’s, and it was to bland for me. Poi Bowl’s lau lau is fatty and well seasoned. The amount of fat they put in there is just right to keep it juicy and flavorful. Today, I ordered the Local Boy Special which includes chicken long rice, kalua pig, lau lau, lomi salmon, haupia, and rice or poi. Everything was above average, and the lau lau was once again the highlight. Although they have been gradually increasing their prices, they are still reasonable. I’ll be back again to visit soon!

Awesome stop for Hawaiian food. Get the Local Boy because you get a nice Hawaii food variety. If you aren’t too hungry then this is a good dish to share for an snack between meals.

This is great comfort food. We’ve been going to this place for years. I love their spaghetti but everything is good here. The kailua pig is excellent as well. My husband loves the chicken long rice. Compared to other restaurants in the Food Court, prices for plate lunches are very reasonable and portions are generous. You won’t go wrong buying good local food from the Poi Bowl. It’s onolicious!

Here for breakfast. $ 6.09 breakfast special. With Portuguese sausage. It comes with one big scoop fried rice and two eggs with you choice of meat. Its good for the price.
The foods okay. We were one of the first customers of the day so it should be really good but it was okay. Fried rice was a little dry but I liked it. Eggs came out the way I ordered it.
Service was fast because no one is around. Lol
I love that ala Moana is a lot nicer now. I love the look of the place.

I had the beef stew and it was really tasty at it’s price. It didn’t hurt that I ate the stew with some musubi I got from iyasume though, so I might be overrating.

In my humble opinion, Ala Moana Poi Bowl is the only place one should eat at Makai Food Court. It’s not just Hawaiian food in Hawaii; it’s GOOD Hawaiian food in Hawaii.
Everything is served plate lunch style, so you can pick and choose one, two, or three choice combinations. All plates come with white rice and choice of green salad or mac salad. I usually go with green salad with kalua pig, chicken long rice (a MUST for all mainlanders), or beef stew. The portions are GIGANTIC. Large, generous scoops of everything. For a two-​item combination plate with a drink and a piece of haupia (because, you must), it usually comes to about $ 11 – 12. Not bad considering you’re in Hawaii, where everything is overpriced.
My family likes to go to Makai multiple times when we visit Oahu, so the employees here get to know me and my order, which is nice. As long as it’s there, I will continue to frequent Poi Bowl whenever I am in Honolulu!

I needed some delicious fast food at Ala Moana. I picked this place based on wanting some comfort food.
Ordered a 2 item combo plate with Tripe stew, Beef stew, mac salad and two scoops of rice.
I was taken back to my kid years. It was delicious and tasty. The beef was tender. 10 bucks for a filling meal. Two thumbs up. I’ll be back again on my next vacation here.

I love coming here when I go to Ala Moana. I always get the chicken long rice and kalua cabbage with a side of either poi or lomi salmon. The lomi salmon was really salty the last time I had it which made me a little nervous to eat there again. But the long rice is my absolute favorite. The only thing that I actually don’t like so much are the workers. I love the food but the ladies that work here aren’t very friendly. One of the cashiers actually yanked the money from my hand and didn’t even thank me after I got my food. I will recommed this place to others that like hawaiian food or want to try something different.

Not a bad place to get Hawaiian style food in the Ala Moana food court.
I had a 3 choice: soyu chicken, squid luau, and pipikaula stew with a side of poi. Good choices.

Been coming here forever. Not much more to add on the other reviews. The service is always good and the ladies know me and my daughter, who always gets the same thing. Food is great and a great value. For a food court in the mall, you can’t beat their regular mix plate special for under $ 10.00. It’s a hefty plate of baked spaghetti, teriyaki chicken, rice, kalua pig and cabbage… mmhmmm!
Makes me wonder why so many Hawaiian food places are so expensive. C’mon we’re in Hawaii! Local food should be the cheapest and exotic food should be more expensive. Why is it that local food is so expensive (Alicia’s and Helena’s comes to mind) And don’t say it’s quality because I make some of the same stuff at home and it’s not that expensive… and my friends say it’s better (ha ha pat myself on the back). Anwyay, if you’re in the mall and crave local food and want your monies worth; eat here!

I love me some Poi Bowl! It can be pricey depending on what you order, but they do give you quite a bit of food. It’s a great place for someone visiting to try a taste of local food. It’s by far not the best authentic Hawaiian food, but a pretty decent idea of local cuisine for sure. It’s located in the Ala Moana food court. which if you have been there, you know how packed it gets. It’s hard to find a place to sit if you go on a weekend. My favorite is the bbq chicken plate with mac salad and rice. And also their haupia is really good! It’s definitely worth visiting!

I got the «Hawaiian Plate» and I’ve had much better. The food was just okay, and the poi was not very smooth. I would not eat here again.

Good food, cheap, accessible and very local. The Ala Moana food court, or all the places in the mall is a good mix of local joints and national labels. The local mom & pop places can always use your support.
This place is simple, the food sincerely native and you won’t be disappointed. It’s probably the most affordable shop in Ala Moana these days with all the high end stores.

The tripe and squid luau was hella good! 20 bucks for all of this. Kinda pricey. You could get two four choices at like a yummys for the same price but, I’m not complaining.

The Ala Moana Poi Bowl has been here since as long as I have been coming to Hawaii, before the shopping center was remodeled and expanded. So it holds a special place in my heart wherever I come for a visit as Patty’s Chinese Kitchen is gone and all the places in the Makai Food Court other than the Poi Bowl don’t look familiar. So I always order the Local Boy Plate with my favorites, poi, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, kalua pork, laulau and haupia, yum yum

Ala Moana Poi Bowl is located in the Ala Moana Center’s Makai Market Food Court. With that said…
Poi Bowl has always been a place for simple local comfort food. It’s not a place where you’re going find gourmet food or expensive seafood dishes on special, but some of the items that you’re likely to see all the time in Hawaii.
Curry and Beef Stew
Pork or Chicken Adobo
Spaghetti
Kalua Pig
Kalua Pig and Cabbage
Hamburger Burger Steak W/​Brown Gravy (Made To Order)
Hawaiian Plate
Pork Guisantes
Chicken Long Rice
Shoyu Chicken
You won’t find any Hamburger and fries here, just those simple dishes that you grew up with.
They also are open at 8:00am Mon-​Sat & 9:00am on Sundays for breakfast when most of vendors are closed, small basic menu in the morning.
*Regular and Mini plate available, along with Hawaiian Sun juices.
*Overall 3.5 Stars*

There are so many other better options to choose from than the Poi Bowl. I’ve ate here a couple of times and both times they were pretty bad. I don’t know why I even bothered the second time around. I think my friend also chose to eat here, so I decided to give them a second chance. I guess I’m just a Hawaiian foodie snob because I’ve been spoiled by often eating at Yama’s Fish Market for their delicious kahlua pig and Ono Hawaiian Foods pork laulaus.
My laulau plate here was nothing even close to those two establishments. The laulau was small, dry and tasted fishy from the chunk of butterfish stuffed inside. Both times I couldn’t even finish my plate. I used my soda to wash down the sad bites of laulau that I took.
You can count on it being the last time I will ever order anything from this restaurant in the Ala Moana Makai Market food court. Why bother eat from here when there are so many other better restaurants out there such as Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, Paradise Café, Yummy Korean Barbecue and Cheeseburger Factory, to name a few.
For all you visitors, you need to step out of the shopping center to get yourself some real local hawaiian food.