Pā’ina Café

After some light shopping, we stopped by Pā’ina Café for a quick lunch. The layout of the store is nice, but the first thing I noticed as a first-​timer is that the menu is confusing. My eyes kept flipping back and forth between the two signs, but I couldn’t figure out how to order. They can really do a lot to simplify the choices because the line just piles on with every confused customer. I saw that many in the shop were eating poke, so I figure that’s what to order. I opted for the shoyu ahi tuna bowl for around $ 10. It was a good portion and there were some fried tempura pellets on top which added an interesting texture. The flavor of the fish and rice was good, and it had just the right amount of sauce. My friend ordered the kalua pulled pork sandwich and said that it tasted good but was the messiest thing ever. The sandwich bread didn’t really hold the meat because the sauce softened it so much, and it went everywhere.
I found the process to be somewhat chaotic. We didn’t get our drinks and had to ask a couple of folks behind the counter before getting them. There also wasn’t water in the dispenser, so I went up to ask for some (actually to clean up the mess left by the sandwich) and some extra napkins. But after standing around without being acknowledged, I had to leave the mess on the table as it was.
The place shows promise with the food. They just need to work out the kinks.

Met some friends here for lunch. There are about 6 tables and the place looked pretty clean. My husband ordered the poke crunch bowl with spicy tuna and I got the salmon bowl. The salmon bowl only comes in one size, and it was the same size as my husband’s large crunch bowl. Salmon poke bowl comes with tobiko, sliced red onion, radish sprouts and a mayo sauce. I ordered the brown rice which had a nice chewy texture. There was just enough Teriyaki sauce on the rice with some shaved nori, I liked that the rice wasn’t drowning in the sauce. I really liked my salmon bowl but my husband thought it tasted bland after eating his spicy ahi. I tasted the spicy ahi poke and it was definitely more seasoned, had sesame oil and more shoyu. We each liked our own bowls better. Service was friendly and wait time not too bad. We will definitely come back for the poke bowls.

Quick and delicious. I recommend the half shoyu ahi and half salmon over warm brown rice. Wish I could eat this erryday.

I was a little confused at first when I saw this newer, brightly lit Paina Café in Ward Center. I’m used to seeing this café at Ward Warehouse, which is right down the street. However, this is a convenient location if you’re more toward the Ward Center area and wanting lunch or dinner.
On a normal Saturday around lunchtime, this place was definitely busy when my mom and I stopped by. We were going to get our order to-​go, but then a table opened up. Seating is rather limited, so I would recommend going for dinner on a weekday, or else be prepared for take-​out.
This Café is different from the one at Ward Warehouse because they also include gelato. I was looking longingly at the display, but decided to save trying the gelato for another time.
You can design your own poke bowl or choose one of the Café’s signature options. I decided to get a different poke variety than I got on my first visit (to the Paina in Ward Warehouse).
Even though it was crowded, fortunately, my mom and I didn’t have to wait too long for our order. Here’s what we got:
«Acai Bowl»: While my mom enjoyed the acai from here, she said the version from Kissaten is still her favorite. This small acai bowl comes topped with local guava, hemp granola, organic honey, fresh blueberries, strawberries and bananas. I tried a little bit of my mom’s acai; it wasn’t too bitter for my liking, but I probably would have liked it if there were a little more granola and honey on top. Still, it was a refreshing option for a summer day and I’m glad we got to try it.
«Regular Poke Bowl»: Since I got spicy tuna for my first poke bowl from Paina, I opted for the shoyu ahi this time around. I got it with brown rice and mild sauce. I also got it topped with furikake. The ahi tasted fresh and flavorful, but I think I still preferred the spicy tuna. The brown rice and mild sauce paired well, and the furikake topping provided some extra, welcomed crunch to my meal. The small size is perfect if you’re hungry and want to feel satisfied after; I was content but not overly stuffed. If I were getting this for dinner, I probably would have ordered the larger size.
«Kebab Bowl»: This bowl is part of the signature bowls menu, and it sounds amazing. It features white or brown rice (I would choose brown), a special teri glaze blend, shoyu or hot shoyu ahi poke with wasabi mayo drizzle, shredded nori, red onions, masago and radish sprouts. I would just order my bowl sans the onions and radish sprouts, but I’m curious to see how everything else tastes.

Paina café is low key one of the best poke bowls on the island, at least in my opinion. What I loved about the original location was how consistently delicious their bowls were. A lot of the reviews for this new location in Ward Center mention bad service, but I personally had a nice experience here. Really, I don’t even care too much about the service when it comes to grab and go places like this. As long as the cashier isn’t rude, I’m pretty happy.
There is a noticeably different vibe, but the food quality was lacking. The paina bowls I know are always seasoned nicely, with fresh tasting ahi and toppings. I don’t know if I got a bad batch, but the ahi tasted like it might have been frozen. Not sure if all of the fish is previously frozen, but it didn’t taste like it before. There was way too much mayo and sauce so the rice was drenched and I ended up with a blob of sauce at the end. Even the onions that come on top of the bowl were barely cut into big chunks. Maybe I’m comparing the new location to the original one too much, but the quality drops way below any of the other shops I’ve been to. If I have the choice to, I would choose a different location to get my beloved paina bowls.

They need to do better. Terrible customer service skills, super slow, soft drinks are just gross, no effort put into the food, tables just filthy and no one seeming to care.
We ordered the gyro and they didn’t have gyro meat so we ordered the BLT that comes with turkey. Waited almost 30 minutes for them to tell us they didn’t have turkey so they «added some stuff» to the sandwiches they gave us. Why spend that much time creating a new sandwich when we could have ordered something else or gone elsewhere. Got a refund and left promptly. No thank you to this one.

I LOVED the old location at Ward Warehouse. And service there was ALWAYS friendly and EXCELLENT.
Stopped in this afternoon at about 4pm because my Husband and I were thirsty. Saw the new location at Ward Center and decided to pop in for a quick soda. First of all, the girl behind the counter never greeted us. She saw us, but then «busied herself» with the gelato. Mind you, there was no one else at the counter in front of us, never mind NO ONE trying to order gelato… So my Husband cleared his throat so she’d realize that we were waiting. She comes over to the cash register close to where we were standing and STILL offers no greeting. She didn’t even say «May I help you?» or «What can I get you today?» — just stared blankly at us. We ordered a Sprite. Again, no greeting or response and she begins making the soft drink. We pay and then she hands it over to us. I take one sip and realize that it’s completely void of flavor. My Husband goes back to her and says, «Uh, I think you’re out of Sprite syrup…» Again, BLANK STARE. No apology… It took longer than should have been necessary for her to find someone else to replenish the syrup. She then gave us a new Sprite. We walked out of there with no «Thank you» or apology!
Well here’s MY thanks —- thanks for being so void of customer service today. We definitely won’t be back. After an experience like that, who’d want to go back and even ORDER FOOD?!? Very sad… as I used to be a pretty loyal Pa’ina Café customer.

If I could give 0 stars, I would… better yet, shut down both locations. The people, or kids who worked tonight, are dumb as f**k. wasn’t busy, four workers, three guys and a girl, just standing around l… I ordered an iced caramel double shot macchiato, bf ordered a strawberry iced tea… told me after I ordered that the macchiato is always served hot… but on the menu it clearly says hot OR iced… plus it doesn’t take a genius to make it iced, by adding f**king ice!!! What makes my trip here more irritating is that they forgot to make my bf’s drink. We told them we haven’t gotten it yet, so they just rushed it and made it. Before we left, he tasted it and got PLAIN iced black tea. I was just too mad to go and talk to somebody. However, I had a feeling these kids are too F**KING STUPID to understand simple matters and probably no manager around. Seriously, if you can’t make the simpelest of drinks, makes me wonder how they prepare the food. Dipshits.

Taste good! Clean! Love it
My favorite is crunchy bowl with spicy and wasabi masago. And mango iced tea :)
You also have to try the acai bowl too!

I don’t like this new location (across the street from Nordstrom rack). It is much smaller than the ward warehouse location and the service is incredibly slow and unprofessional. Also, I know no one who actually likes parking in the old ward center parking lot. The warehouse and Nordstrom lots have much more spacious and plentiful parking spaces.
While the food menu is the same, the prices are a little on the high side. A spicy ahi bowl is $ 9. You can still get a Hawaiian bowl with Kalua pig and Lomi salmon or the crunch bowl with tempura chips (aka rice crispies). They also have plate lunches, salads and sandwiches. They do serve gelato here, which is a nice addition, but a single scoop is $ 4. It didn’t seem like anyone was interested in ordering gelato either, so I wonder how long they keep the gelato before throwing it out.
There are only a few tables and they are not cleaned as much as they should be. I came in during restaurant week and had the seared ahi bowl with a drink for $ 10. It wasn’t great. Unfortunately, there are other places I would spend my money for poke bowls.

It’s a pretty chill place, not too bad on seating either. Was kinda bummed about the acai smoothies; kinda thought it would be thicker; but it seemed more juice like. Perhaps I should’ve specified that when I asked for the smoothie? The workers don’t really seem that friendly but it’s a smoothie joint so you can’t really hold that against them right? All in all, I’d come back to the place for sure. Not bad on the prices either, worth coming back to.

Last Thursday (10÷22÷15) was my time at this location, I’ve been at the Ward Warehouse one twice and they were always crazy busy whenever I went.
When I went it was completely empty, I walked in at a good time because I was able to order my food, sit down and my food made it out to me within 3 – 5 mins, which it should be that say since there was only 3 customers total in the store. However when I begin eating a whole mess of people came in and the place was packed in minutes. I observed the way the staff worked and I was pleased to see that they handled a crowd of people with ease.
This location is still really clean since it hasn’t been opened for very long, but I’m glad they take care of the place because I’ve seen businesses open for a couple of months and already look like the place needs a deep cleaning.
Anyway, onto the main event to which all people come to Unilocal for, the food. I got the extra large poke crunch bowl with mild sauce on my rice. The last time I went to the Warehouse location, the extra large wasn’t enough for me, however coming to this Ward Center location and having their extra large bowl was absolutely filling! I work near the Ward area so normally I would’ve gone to Foodland in Ala Moana to get my poke bowl fix but since that closed down I’m glad that I can come to this location and get a great poke bowl for the same price. I’ll definitely be coming back to try out their other foods.

OMG! The ahi tofu patties are the bomb. The plate comes with 3 pieces of tofu ahi, a house salad, red potato salad and then you choose your sauce. They also serve sandwiches, salads, poke bowls, acai bowls and smoothies. I haven’t tried anything else on the menu yet. I will definitely be back.

«Meal café!»
Although this location and the Ward Warehouse location are pretty much the same, this location is cleaner and great for people watching. With yummy poke bowls, yamakake style, you cannot go wrong. Affordable and fast, let’s eat!

Husband got the ahi gyro and I got the chicken pesto sandwich on wheat. both delicious! Freshest
Ingredients, the ahi was seared perfectly and sauce not overwhelming the rest of the flavors on the gyro. great flavors in both sandwiches. The wheat bread on mine had a lovely sweetness to it. Only thing is a combo meal with a drink and chips or pickle is an additonal $ 3.00 bringing the total for our meals to about $ 12 each plus tax, a little pricey for the size of the sandwich. But overall great service and food, this will definitely be our healthy lunch spot!

Nooo, you’re not seeing double or entering into the «Outer Limits»! I have posted these pics and reviews before but for some reason or other, the review have gotten consolidated with the original location at 1050 Ala Moana Blvd where I’ve never been to.
Recently, across the nation, a local Hawaiian food staple has become a culinary «darling» or is having its moment. What is it? Why, it’s poke (pronounced poh-​kay) which, we locals, have readily accessed in our supermarkets, mom-​and-​pop fish markets, local restaurants, sushi bars and often fresh home-​made at family gatherings. Poke can be made from various ingredients but the authentic poke is basically raw fish (usually ahi or aku tuna), inamona (ground kukui nut or candlenut), limu (seaweed) and sea salt. Modern preparations have refined poke by trimming and cubing the fish while adding other ethnic flavors such as sesame seed oil, soy sauce, Sriracha hot sauce, chile peppers, tobiko (flying fish roe) and mayonnaise. But, Hawaii is NOT unique in serving raw seafood. um, thinking of Japan’s sashimi, Italy’s carpaccio and France’s tartare. Hawaii’s poke uniqueness comes from its «poke bowls».
Speaking of uniqueness or originality, it was recently acknowledged by our local newspaper, Star Advertiser, that Pā’ina Café (this very establishment at its original location in Ward Warehouse) was the creator of the poke bowl. From that feature article, we were drawn in to trying this creation. We stepped into this sleek and clean shop that shares space with a hot/​cold beverage & dessert setup and quickly perused the colorful and boldly-​lit menu boards. A line started forming behind us and we offered to allow others to step ahead because we were trying to make our choices. Fortunately, those behind us were gracious and said they were trying to decide, too. Customer service was friendly and welcoming.
We ordered the large spicy tuna bowl ($ 8.75) and a signature Poke Crunch bowl ($ 9.05) both on white rice. We took a seat and waited for our order to be announced for pick up. The cubes of fish were evenly cut and well-​trimmed. The fish flesh was slightly firm, as it should be, and seasoned well. We enjoyed the spicy kick and the judicious use of mayonnaise that didn’t overwhelm the freshness of the fish. The Poke Crunch bowl featured a light teriyaki glaze, shredded nori and topping of tempura flakes which resembled Rice Krispies. The poke was really fresh, tasty and generously portioned over the rice (you have choice of brown or white).
OVERALL:
This newer 2^nd location of Pā’ina Café in the Ward Villages Shops is sleek, clean, modern and air-​conditioned. There are plenty of parking stalls in the nearby lots so you can dine leisurely. The poke was certainly fresh and there are multiple flavor and topping choices. Prices are a good value for the portions. This café is NOT a one-​trick pony as they offer many other menu items in addition to poke bowls. Whether or not you live in the Kaka’ako neighborhood, this café would be a great casual place to come dine at.