Cafe Bliss

This is one of the cutest cafes I’ve personally ever been in! With comfy couches and pretty pillows, my eyes were wide open looking at the furniture as it looked like it’d be more comfortable for me to lie here and sleep than to go home into my own bed! Not that I was here for a nap.
Located in Samsung Plaza, this small café boasts of charm. Stopping by to get some dessert after dinner one day, Café Bliss was the choice, since I wanted something similar to shave ice. Amongst the three of us, we decided to get the large green tea shave ice (or patbingsoo as you can call it) to share. You also have a choice of coffee flavor If you don’t care for green tea. Since the patbingsoo is made to order, you do have a short wait. When the shave ice came out, I was stoked. Topped with azuki bean, condensed milk, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, papaya, kiwi, banana, mochi balls and ice cream, I couldn’t wait to dig in. I was about to scoop up the portion that had the most berries (since I liked berries) until she told us it was better if you mixed it all up then took your portion. Delicious and fruity, the only thing I wanted more of was a green tea flavor, but I wasn’t sure if the fruit and ice cream masked it all. I haven’t tried patbingsoo in Korea, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I thought it was great! After eating such a big portion, I really wanted to spread my arms out, lie down, and nap. But that’s not very ladylike so I never do that (unless I’m too drunk).
The two ladies working here are so sweet. They told us there was free wi-​fi and even told us the shave ice is buy two get one free! I don’t know if that special is still going on, but it doesn’t hurt to try! Upon leaving, they validated our parking since the attendant was still there.
I don’t know yet, but I think I just found my new study spot!

This gem of a place is simply the best café in Honolulu. They serve great dessert and stiff drinks. Highly recommended, ask for Annie, she’s the best owner and awesome customer service!

I feel really bad for writing this, but it has been nagging me. I just went today and immediately, I had to write a review.
First of all, the place overall is a nice place to chill and hang out with friends. We had a whole group of 10 and the lady that worked there was very kind to us. However, I don’t think she’s the owner. The owner is a older Vietnamese lady that looks really pissed off half the time. Maybe they co-​own? I don’t know. Anyways, overall the place is great but they have a huge business model issue going on. I can’t decide whether it’s a café, a sports bar, or a cyber café. It’s like, all things at once. Nice to have options but I feel like they should define themselves a little more if they really want to get the place going and attract their intended customers.
Moving on to food.
HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT
Pat Bing Soo (Azuki Shave Ice): I actually had this once about a year ago when this was still Coffee Day. However, I actually think the one they make now is worse then Coffee Day, not that the one then was any better. Why is there papaya in it? It’s a really bad combination with ice cream and azuki. I really dislike how mushy it gets. Also, the ice cream scoop is still as small as ever. For $ 7, I rather eat something else.
Acai Bowl: This was actually okay. Only thing is they opened up in Honolulu where there are so many other places with amazing acai bowls. If you never tried an Acai Bowl, it’s pretty good. However, if you are a fanatic for it, this will disappoint. We were watching them make it and they use frozen fruit which explains the semi-​sour aftertaste.
Annie’s Delight Dessert (?): DO NOT GET THIS. THIS TASTES LIKE PUKE. They explain this as their version of Halo Halo but it’s really just the Vietnamese jelly dessert. It was HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. It was a bunch of jellys (no taste), lychee (sour), and other stuff which I do not know the name, drenched in evaporated milk basically. At first it was ok, but that putrid sour taste started coming off random stuff in there like the lychee and weird jelly thing. It tasted like PUKE. I am not joking. Out of the 9 of us, no one wanted to eat it. It was that horrible. And I paid $ 7 for it. I cannot get over how bad this was. PLEASE do not try it. If you choose to, don’t say no one warned ya like I wish someone warned me.
Overall two stars because they spent at least $!0,000 renovating and I feel bad considering they just opened and probably aren’t breaking even. Also FREE WI-​FI!!! It really is a nice place but the dessert really sucks. I’m pretty sure they want to sell alcohol but don’t have a license considering there was Jack Daniels and stuff behind the bar. When we walked in the lady was cleaning corona bottles off the table. So yeah! We’ll see how long they’re there for. I’m looking more forward to this place I passed by called Cooland? Looks like the next best thing.

This is my first time eating «patbingsoo» and I have to say… it wasn’t really that great for me. I ordered the green tea flavored Azuki shaved ice for $ 6-​$ 7(small). It was basically shaved ice with barely any «green tea» flavor (very bland, almost like they poured some tea in the ice to make it green tea), then it was covered with a layer of Azuki beans, a bunch of fruits and a scoop of ice cream. The combination of the fruits for me wasn’t the best either, it was kind of random where they threw in anything they had (jack fruits, kiwi, strawberries, grapes, and some other chopped fruits). The overall shaved ice or «patbingsoo» was pretty tart given the only thing that provided some sweetness to it was the tiny scoop of ice cream. It was sort of like a fruit bowl to me with some shaved ice on the bottom. I ended up eating only half of the bowl.
The famous «Annie’s dessert» was really bad… I’m not sure if it was just this particular bowl that we received but it was horrible. It tasted like the Vietnamese coconut milk jelly drink you can find at Vietnamese restaurants BUT watered down… The liquid (because there was barely any ice) was very bland and when I took a spoonful of the «liquid with some strawberries» that were floating in there, it was grossssss. It tasted like barf… I really didn’t want to describe it like this but the strawberries were extremely sour and when mixed with the liquid that contained coconut milk… the result was pretty gross. We had a party of 9, and NO ONE wanted to eat it!
The last dessert we had was the Acai bowl. The Acai bowl for me was the best amongst the 3 desserts we tried tonight. The bowl had scoops of Acai sherbet. And was topped with honey, granola, bananas, and strawberries. It was sweet and yummy! But to be honest, you could get this anywhere… there was really nothing in the dessert that stood out to me as to to I would «have» to go there for their dessert. I could get this at UHM campus at the lunch wagon…
As for the place: I liked the atmosphere, it was a nice place to sit and hang out with friends on the comfortable couches. The lady who served us was really nice!:) But I would recommend them to hire more help because it seems like she’s running the whole place by herself… and that could be pretty exhausting and service wouldn’t be as fast.
Overall, I thought the experience was alright… I would probably go to coffee or tea though if I was craving for some shaved ice:9

Checked out this place late at night based on a friends’ recommendation. Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered their shave ice and it was refreshing, delicious, and different. If you you’re thinking their shave ice is like the one you get on the North Shore, thing again!
Their shave ice is filling and eye catching, with assortments of jellies, fruits, and delicious flavors. Add in their Azuki beans and the dessert is a winner. I wanna try their large azuki bean shave ice, but it is rather pricey at over $ 13. Definitely something you wanna try when you bring some friends.
If you wanna try something new, this is the place to go!

Ever since I returned from Korea I have been on the prowl to find patbingsu in Hawaii. So far I have only found one other place where it’s served, and that’s at Ireh Restaurant, which is just a few minutes away. But patbingsu lovers rejoice! There’s finally a new patbingsu place on the island!
Now for all you locals, patbingsu is basically shaved ice that usually has a variety of toppings such as azuki beans, condensed milk, ice cream, mochi, fruits, etc. Here it’s called azuki shave ice which comes in three flavors, coffee, green tea, or fruit (for the shaved ice), and comes in three sizes (small, medium, and large).
So far I have only tried the (patbingsu) azuki shave ice, size medium with green tea ($ 10.21 with tax)
Before eating my patbingsu, I did my best to remember that this is NOT Korea and I that I shouldn’t expect or compare it to my past experiences. But my first spoonful was actually pretty good! What threw me off was the papaya and pineapples… Yes that’s right! It’s a Korean dessert with a Hawaiian twist! It wasn’t a bad thing but it did take me by surprise.
The old Coffee Day got a nice makeover. The interior is now pretty modern and chic and makes a great after meal hangout or study place. The service is pretty good and the two ladies working were really nice and pretty. I love the wide array of television screens and computers and the fact that they now accept credit cards, through the use of the iPhone credit card app. It will even send your receipt to your phone! Oh and if the parking attendant is out don’t worry, they will validate your parking. But if the lot is full you can always find street parking or park at Walmart.

My friend and I stopped by the other say to get some dessert after dinner. This is where Coffee Day used to be but it’s under new ownership! I went back again today with family and got a chance to take pictures and talk with the owner. She said Coffee Day closed around two months ago and they closed for three weeks for renovations. So I’m guessing Café Bliss opened around a month ago with new attitude! The owner used to be a sweet Korean lady with some… interesting hours (their official hours said they closed at 9pm, but sometimes I would be there at 8:30pm and they would be closed.)
There are some similarities between Coffee Day and Café Bliss. Namely, the menu is the same. I’ve only tried the azuki shave ice (patbingsoo) and it’s just as delicious as I remember! They have three sizes: small ($ 6.95), medium ($ 9.95), and large ($ 14.95). My friend and I (2 people) polished off the medium pretty easily. The large/​jumbo fed my entire family of five people and we were stuffed! It’s definitely worth the price! The azuki shave ice is shave ice topped with some kind of powder, strawberries, papaya, pineapple, mochi, azuki, and ice cream. The owner recognized me from the other day and suggested that I try Annie’s Delight Dessert next time (which means I’ll be back soon!).
After the renovations, I noticed that the décor has a much more modern feel. When I went in the evening, there was pretty loud music playing and the lights were dimmed. When I went in today during the day, the music wasn’t present but the lights were still kind of dim. It’s a pretty relaxed place to study and have a snack or chill and catch up with friends. They also have computers in the back (I’m not sure if they charge?) for use. In case you find yourself at a lack of words or the conversation with your company is starting to stale, there are TVs all around to save the day! Just pretend you’re VERY interested in what’s playing on the screens.
The owner is very sweet; she’s very young and Vietnamese, but don’t worry! The previous owner taught the new owner how to make the same delicious patbingsoo. The only (small) gripe I have is that the shave ice melts so fast! I’m not sure if there’s a way to slow down the shave ice melting rate, but if that could be fixed, that would be AWESOME! I love coming here for dessert/​snack and the atmosphere is very relaxed. I can tell I’ll be back VERY soon!
Oh, they also have longer hours so now we all have another option of late night desserts! They’re open til midnight every day (I asked the owner about their hours since they weren’t posted yet). Another thing they’ve improved on is that they accept credit/​debit cards now! It’s pretty cool because I got to sign my name with my finger! It reminded me of finger painting in elementary school! Oh, the same things in life bring me such joy… They also provide parking validation if you dine there (: I’m not sure if they have free wifi, but i’ll let all you wonderful Unilocalers know as soon as I go back again!
31 Unilocal Reviews Challenge: #4 of 31