kulu kulu

Beautiful desserts, but not much in terms of taste. The Mango Mousse and peanut butter chocolate cake was nothing to write home about. Doubtful that the other desserts are any better for the price you pay. The girl at the counter was courteous, but completely unhelpful and the eating area needed more air conditioning. Definitely will not be returning.

The service at this location is just OK. The dessert is overpriced and tastes «meh».
The best part of my order was the jelly drink, but I don’t know if I’d go back just for that. (Considering that the drink is $ 5 and they don’t validate parking unless you spend $ 50.)

I got 8 bears. 4 custard and 4 chocolate custard. They didn’t taste that good, maybe because I didn’t eat them right away when they were warm.

I’ve picked up on the feeling that dessert is just as important as the main course. But in this case, I put dessert first before breakfast. Is that so bad? After a nice yoga session in the morning, I immediately felt for something sweet as a reward. I know it’s not the healthiest of choice but I didn’t care. I was going to extinguish the craving and there wasn’t any way around it.
After all the self torture of all the photos from Kulu Kulu’s website and reading reviews, I had to do something about it. So I walk in to this cute little bakery and there it was. Lots of bright colors, fruits, sugar coated everything staring at me from their cold shelves waiting for me to devour each and everyone of them. I love that there are ample of indoor seating if it’s too hot outside (AC room) and a couple of outdoor seats and tables to appreciate the alfresco. The bakery offers a wide eclectic array of baked goods and drinks ranging from danishes, cakes of all sorts but not limited to just ones mentioned (fruit cakes, tarts, mini waffles, affogatos, shave ice, lattes, cupcakes). It seems as their selections change monthly. For the month of August, their line up is the Kulu Kulu Zoo.
The Zoo theme consists of:
–Chick Chick Puff $ 2.95
–Matcha Gator $ 4.50
–Lion Roll $ 3.95
–Bunny Mocheese $ 4.50
–Bear Puff $ 2.95
So I pave my way in to try their Bear Puff. I taste my way into this fantasy and the puffiness from the shell had given a nice easy crunch to my first bite. The cream was very settling and not disturbingly too sweet (thank goodness). It was a pretty exciting experience and the size was graciously generous. My second choice was a simple cheesecake. I will add that the cheesecake was just as delicious with a different crunch and texture on the crust and with just the right amount of richness to it. I am hooked.
**Don’t forget your stamp cards**
For every $ 5 purchased, you earn one stamp. Each card will need 20 stamps to be completed. $ 10 free for any cakes when card is fully filled. Don’t forget, with your Unilocal check-​in, you can earn 2 free stamps (must purchase a minimum of $ 5 to get the two free stamps)
Kulu Kulu in waikiki is located in Eaton Square, next to Da Smokehouse BBQ & Pub. Same shopping complex as Food Pantry. Street parking only or best to walk.

I really enjoy their green tea jelly drink! It’s a bit pricy for $ 5 a cup, but I can’t help give in! The green tea jelly covers about a third of the cup, and they pour cold milk on top. You can choose 2% milk or soy milk! Their other desserts are sweet, and they offer a lot of cake slices, and yummy sweets. I’m not a fan of their strawberry short cake. It’s sweet, has strawberries in it, the cake itself is soft. However nothing is too special about it, and it’s about $ 4 – 6 for a small slice of cake. I mean very small.
The service is friendly but they are really there to do their job. They will say hi if you greet them first and answer your questions if you have any.

Every pastry is very delicious and light. I’m not a desert lover but I can never say no to kulu kulu pastry! They should start making cupcakes ;)))

Another yummy bakery on Oahu! This location seems to best serve just the surrounding community, as there isn’t very much parking available and free & metered parking is hard to come by.
I walked in and asked the lady to give me their most popular item. She suggested the strawberry short cake. Judging by the Unilocal reviews, I don’t think this is their most popular item, but then again, I did think we both had trouble understanding each other. I decided to try her suggestion anyway!
HYPES:
Strawberry short cake was pretty yummy. Very light and airy. Definitely not a heavy cream base or cake batter in general. You’ll devour a whole piece just fine without it feeling too rich in flavor.
Service was quick and easy. Though we had some communication barriers, she was delightful!
Presentation was awesome! Awesome use of color and display.
GRIPES:
They don’t have everything all the time, as most bakeries won’t. But they didn’t have any cream puffs or macarons available which is what I was sorta hoping for.
I already mentioned above the lack of parking & the fact that her suggestion was good and tasty, but unfortunately didn’t strike me as amazing and wanting more.
For now, I feel this place deserves a solid 3.5 stars based on my experience today, but 4 for good measure cuz I feel like they have more tricks up their sleeve (& Unilocal doesn’t allow ½ stars)
I will stop by again for sure and try more items!

parking: street parking on Ala Wai or Hobron
cost: $ 4
restrooms: none in the place
the food:
— Diamond Head puff, custard and chocolate stuffed
This place is located next to or in Eaton Square on Hobron Lane close to the Food Pantry. It’s usually empty inside. It seems the cream puffs are their specialty. They look like giant cream puffs or medium sized malasadas. I think the dough and the exterior is crunchy and well made, not too sweet. However, I think there was just too much filling and it was too overpowering and sweet for me. If you’re in to that then maybe you’ll enjoy it, but I’ve had better. Try the malasadas sold in the Farmer’s Market in Waikiki
Overall, would skip the Diamond head puffs, try something else here

Super delicious shortcake!!!
The cream has all the keys and soooo yummy!!! It didn’t have much sponge and looked like mostly the cream (it’s the way it’s supposed to be maybe) but the cream is the most delicious part so it is really good!!! Even the cake is good I need to give only 3 star because this shop never picks up the phone call. I wanted to order a whole cake once and needed to get a whole roll cake another time. I called each time but it just took me to voice mail and I could never reach them. I even went to ask them about it and was told they didn’t answer any calls… so inconvenient. The customer service over there isn’t any good. I think this shop exists more as a cake factory rather than a retail
cake shop. A few days ago when I went to get a whole cake on the pic they were bringing some boxes and trash from the front door and saw me but didn’t greet at all and no hello… Even it’s a Japanese cake shop they don’t say Irasshaimase! when you come in. Shirakiya shop will give you much better experience for sure!!!

SWEET PLACE!
i go weekly … and you can find emergency b-​day cakes here … I love this place
kind ladies at front … very important for me :)

Decided to try out this place and glad we did! Presentation was amazing. Customer service was amazing. Everything tasted… amazing! Got green tea jelly with soymilk, diamond head puffs (green tea and chocolate custard), baked cheesecake, kulu kulu green tea bits (white chocolate infused and covered with green tea) and soft soufflé cheese cake.
The best was the diamond head puff chocolate and the baked cheesecake. All that for under $ 20. Yes they may seem a wee bit pricey, but honestly, for flavor, it is completely worth it!
Location was very convenient for us because we live close by! Yay!

Located on the bottom level of Eaton Square, to the left of Da Smokehouse, is this cute little Japanese/​European style bakery that serves sweet, rich, calorie loaded treats — but what delicious treats they are! I haven’t visited their location in Ala Moana, but it’s easy to see why they are popular where they could expand and open a second shop in Waikiki.
I’m a big fan of the incredibly rich and delectable chocolate cake slice they serve, as well as the strawberry shortbread cake slice, which uses fresh strawberries. The mango and green tea cake slices aren’t bad either, but I definitely prefer their strawberry and chocolate counterparts.
They don’t only make cake slices, but wedding cakes as well, which I haven’t tried but look impressive. They also sell cream puffs, which are tasty and come in either chocolate or vanilla flavor (I still think Liliha bakery is the reigning king of cream puffs). They also have jelly drinks which come in coffee, tea or ginger flavor (made with real ginger) — and you have the option to have it filled with whole, skim or even soy milk if you prefer. They serve coffee as well, which taste good, but I feel could be stronger.
There are a few seats inside, as well as some outside, which are shaded with umbrellas. There are also many metered parking spaces available in the area, so parking shouldn’t be a problem. The prices are moderate to a little more expensive (The slices run about $ 4.25 on average, which can be devoured in no more than 5 bites), so don’t leave without their punch card: For every $ 5 purchased, you earn one stamp, which when filled (20 stamps) earns you a $ 10 discount for any cakes purchased. If you frequent this area of Waikiki, I’m sure your card will fill rather quickly like it has with mine — with no other comparable bakeries within the area, Kulu Kulu is a winner and comes recommended from me!

It’s happened! I wished for a bakery and BOOM! There is a bakery here now! Please support it. So I can have fresh breads and coffee on mornings I’m in Hawaii. The case was full of cakes and fancy sweets but I’m sure they can make some butter croissants and muffins too eventually. Please! Support them all you old crotchety people who live in the leasehold condos around this place that I see walking your 2lbs yappy dogs. And blocking the narrow aisles of the food pantry and plowing people down on the sidewalk with your electric powered chairs! Ok about the actual pastries. They were good. They were very pretty too. Worthy of giving as gifts. But who cares. There is a bakery here. And the important thing is to get them to turn a profit so they keep the location and we will figure out the rest later. Ps it’s very clean. And has a menu in 日本語

Wow I feel exactly like I’m back in. Paris France what an amazing café and selection of exquisite and delicious pastries!

I might be in trouble. This place is less than a block from home. The lemon tart and chocolate custard puff is so good.

It was a little warm in there but very clean and cute. I ordered a ginger tea jelly with milk. They only have whole milk there bit since the ginger was so strong it went well together. I liked it except they need to filter out the ginger jelly a bit more because I am picking out the ginger fibers out of my mouth. I also got the a chocolate and a lemon tart. The chocolate was ok. But oh my was the lemon a delight! Nice and tart! Not too sweet and had a very nice balance. I hate it when you get a tart that doesn’t have a lemony tartness to it! Not here… I was savory each yummy bite!

Wow. The last time I had Japanese Style cakes was back in Funabashi Japan. My favorite are the Custard Cream puff and the Cheesecake Souflee.

Reasonably priced Japanese style patisserie. Not sure how this back-​street tiny café will find the customers to sustain itself but the quality and taste is a start. Not much room for relaxing. You’d be better off taking your items to go.

I was so pleased to find out that Kulu Kulu opened up another location at the edge of Waikiki in Eaton Square! All I was thinking today when I saw that it was their first day open was, «Yes! Now I can come here on all of my lunch breaks!» Oh gosh… And there goes all my hard earned money and burned calories in the gym… spent on tea jelly drinks! (For those I’d you who don’t know what a tea jelly drink is, I’ll explain more about those later.)
Overall, I’d say that this is a nice second location for Kulu Kulu. It’s small, but quaint. And there are a few tables inside and outside if you want to sit and enjoy your desserts.
They have most of the same cakes offered at the Ala Moana location, with the exception of the waffles… you know, those cute little animal-​shaped waffles stuffed with jellies and custard. I have to admit that it was rather disappointing to find out that this location doesn’t make the waffles. But, the one redeeming factor for the lack of waffles was that they do serve the tea/​coffee jelly drinks (tea or coffee jelly with soy or whole milk; mix it and break up the solid jelly to enjoy a delicious drink)! Check out my pic for a preview of what goodies they offer:
And, for those of you who are worried about it being in Waikiki, it’s more on the outskirts, closer to the Convention Center. So, don’t fear the parking situation (as I do when I decide to venture into Waikiki’s hot mess of a parking situation). There’s metered street parking, and it’s located conveniently on Hobron Lane. If you don’t know where that street is located, it’s near Wailana Coffee House. Here’s a picture of the storefront:
Also notable is that the parking garage is operated by ABM/​Ampco parking attendants. The parking there is, I believe, $ 2.50 per half hour… pretty steep if you ask me, but hey, it is Waikiki were taking about here. However, I’m not sure if Kulu Kulu gives validation… I need to check on that then update my Unilocal review.
Kulu Kulu will continue to be a favorite destination for light and tasty Japanese-​style cakes and desserts! I hope this location is here to stay!