Honolulu Café

Overpriced. There I said it. A lovely café nonetheless, with simple sandwiches with your choice of bread. Fancy a light lunch, go for Naan or rye… otherwise, sandwiches, half or full, come with a side of potato salad (which I found delicious) or tossed greens.
I had the turkey, which always gets points for having cranberry sauce, but it was just coldcuts and not fresh sliced… boooo to cold cut turkey.
Other than that, there was nothing really extraordinary about the place. Oh, my friend I had lunch with said their clam chowder (which was a hearty and sizeable bowl) was the most amazing thing she’s ever had. So kudos to that.
But yeah, overpriced for a simple sandwich.

Extremely friendly staff and delicious food options. Ham & Egg croissant, steak & cheese sandwich and the tomato and basil soup are the best! Their coffee is swell too :)
Some folks are saying the prices are high. Downtown has high prices most places. Considering that, I think they are comparable.

The staff are helpful and attentive, and the place is very clean — they do everything right, but the food is still just «okay» and the prices are WAY too high for lunch
I guess they can keep high prices because it’s downtown, but idk, $ 12 for a sandwich meal is too steep for me.

Well first time stepping inside this place… I started looking in the display case. I noticed a very moldy and green salad. After letting them know they replied oh that’s ok that’s just the display one. I mean why would you display a rotten salad if you don’t want people thinking you’ll make them pay for a rotten salad?

I love their lunch. I always order something different and it comes out really good. Love their soups and potato salad. The bread they use for the sandwiches is to die for. They do a heavy hand of mustard and mayo, I get it without.
I also like that there is always plenty of seating.
I hope to try the breakfast soon.

Great Manapua’s!!! Good variety of food… Great friendly staff…

The location is great for downtown business workers. There is a lovely and relaxing outdoor seating area.
I used to buy a morning coffee or espresso here on my way to work (before I started brewing my own tea). They have good-​quality coffee and espresso beans.
The lunch menu is okay, but its pricey and not spectacular or interesting.
The service is fast and friendly and they have coffee and lunch punch cards.

Disgusting food, rude service. Don’t eat here. Ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and was given two pieces of dry bread with no flavor. Smoothie was made from concentrate, no real fruit in sight.
If you want an Asian lady making your American food, then go here but don’t be surprised when it tastes nothing like what American food is supposed to taste like.
When you ask for a refund, no sorry. This reminds me of the time in Thailand when I ordered calamari with tartar sauce and they came back with ketchup and mayo mixed together. That is not tartar sauce lol!
They won’t refund you either like an American place does if it messes up your food.

Been coming here for awhile now, things have gone down in quality and up in prices. There are no stoves so things are heated on a grill so the food is nothing special. The one thing i will give them credit for is the corn chowder soup.

It’s good food but the price is a sticking point for me. Overly priced for the amount of food. If you have some extra money to burn or in a rush you’d be hard pressed to find another like breakfast and lunch joint in town.

I ordered their chicken and vegetables soup and yikes! I took the cover off my soup and I swear there was a layer of herbs on the top of the soup. I am kicking myself because I didn’t take a picture. It was the most tasteless soup I have ever tasted. It was just water, herbs and vegetables. I think the chicken ran away that day. I took a sip, but stopped because I was too afraid of all the herbs getting stuck in my teeth!!!
They are way overpriced and their staff (even the owners) are not friendly at all. Maybe I went on an off day or something since people have said how nice they are, but that day they weren’t. I am not a fan of this place, but to each his own.

You can find me here most Friday’s for their delicious clam chowder, even on a hot day. Their Lunch time Trio of half a sandwich, cup of soup, & salad is a good buy. The coffee is fresh and potent– perfect for picking you up. Owner Dave, is hard working and always on the go; his friendly staff remember my face and my usual upside down caramel macchiato. Their hollandaise sauce for their eggs benedict is fabulous and reminds me of my Aunty Renatta’s breakfast meals. I enjoy this little escape in the middle of busy downtown Honolulu.

THE SPECIALS ARE TEMPTING
Passing by and reading their specials, it said, «Trio Special: ½ sand, soup, and salad for $ 9.95.» Because I love a good deal combined with the fact that I love to try a little bit of everything, I opted to try it. I got a smoked turkey sand (with cranberry and mayo), mushroom soup, and green salad with house vinaigrette. The sandwich bread was very thick and crusty, so the first few bites were pretty difficult– unless you have a snake-​like dislocated jaw. The turkey was deli style (not roasted like I had originally thought). It didn’t have any hints of smoky flavor and the cranberry sauce did nothing to enhance the sandwich. In fact it tasted like walnuts for some reason which was very distracting because I kept looking for the walnuts. The sandwich wasn’t anything special, I probably had better at Subway. The soup had zero mushroom flavor, but very creamy and buttery. I took the excess jumbo bread and gave it a dip in the soup which made me think that type of bread was better suited as an accompaniment to the soup. Salad consisted of micro-​greens and were fine.
Ambiance there is very nice, coffee shop like. If you eat in they will bring your plate to your and take your plate away when you’re done.
In all, I was probably more excited at the prospect of a deal than I was about having ate there. It was fine, nothing special.

This café has a really great location downtown with both indoor and outdoor tables. The breakfast is ok and definitely worth going for but it’s not super delicious like Pagoda or Yogurstory. Will try lunch next time.

Great little place downtown off of bishop street. very nice folks running the place. Had both breakfast and lunch over two days. Good experience on all accounts. Had the tuna sandwich, which was very tasty. could have used a larger portion size, but overall good enough. definitely will be back on future visits to HI.

A solid, if pricey, downtown lunch spot.
The good:
— Thai Lemonade. So refreshing! Fresh lemonade turned green with parsley (if true, that’s a departure from the more-​ordinary thai basil — it didn’t taste particularly basilly, so I presume it is indeed parsley in there).
— Salami & Cheese sandwich with white bean salad
— Half Sandwich, Soup, and Salad Combo. Two half-​sandwich choices, two soup choices, and a pile of mesclun greens and Italian dressing. I had smoked turkey with lettuce, tomato, cranberry spread on a baguette — good, but toward the end, the stiff bread wound up squishing my sandwich innards into my fingers. The soup (clam chowder) looked a little broken, but the texture was fine. No clam grit, and generously-​sized potato chunks, clams, and onions.
— Big dining area, both inside and outside (covered).
— Large, friendly staff
The okay:
— Long-​ish counter wait to place our order, but our food was ready the instant we sat down with our drinks.
— A little spendy. My sandwich/​soup/​salad combo and large lemonade was $ 14.
Three lunch plates (steak sandwich, chicken with pesto pasta, and a chicken succotash today, all $ 12 – 14) in addition to their selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads. Limited choices of muffins, bagels, cakes, none particularly remarkable. Full espresso bar with loads of Monin flavoring syrups. Breakfast menu of omelettes, etc in the mornings.

7.29.13.
I decided to check this place out after a coworker had mentioned how great this place was! …and I’m glad I did!
I was on the hunt for their pasta, which looked super delish in other Unilocalers picture posts… sadly it was not on the menu that day (p.s. check their online menu for schedule & pick up a hard copy when you’re there)!
I opted to go with one of the choices of the day – these are listed on a board inside & near the door – the Ham & Triple Cheese (~$ 9). This was panini style and came with wheat bread. I was a little shocked/​disappointed that everything here was so pricey… however my sandwich was still super delish; it caught the attention of a couple of my coworkers (noses). I think the best daily deal is to go with the ½ sandwich, soup AND salad for about ~$ 11.
This café is a gem that has been overshadowed by the presence of its neighbor, the Bishop Street Café. I def have passed by this so many times without noticing it! I would def want to come back again an perhaps dine in; it does have a small enclosed self-​served seating area with a calming atmosphere – a perfect break from the chaos of the downtown hustle & bustle.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #210/​365

This is my good ol’ standby when I can’t settle on what I want to eat. Nice thing about here, there are daily specials that change — variety!!!
Also, ID card is accepted here. Be sure to try the Thai Lemon-​aide!

I’ve come to this place a few times during the work week. I am a fan of the food, but it has nordstrom café-​esque prices for some of the stuff, and I think (depending on what you get), you might be paying more than you should. Today I ordered two meals and two soft drinks, and it was over $ 32.
I got the spaghetti last week, and it was pretty good. I opted to get the corn chowder soup, and it was delicious. I would highly recommend that soup.
Today, I got the pesto fettuccine, and it was better than the spaghetti. I opted for a side salad instead of soup this time. I wish I would have stuck with the soup! The salad is just mixed greens (like the kind you get in a bag at the grocery store) with Italian dressing on the top. It was pretty weak, and although I realize pasta may cost $ 12 just for the pasta elsewhere, I’d expect that there would at least be croutons or something else on the side salad.
My favorite purchase from here was the pasta salad and chicken on top of mixed greens that I got on a different visit. I brought it to a meeting, and quite a number of people asked me where I purchased it. It was a special though. I wish they would make it everyday!
My boyfriend has ordered the steak sandwich on baguette the last couple of times. It has onions and cheese, and he likes it enough to keep ordering it. He gets the veggie soup as his side, and he says it is good, but it tastes like vegetable soup you would get anywhere.
I have tried some of their paninis, and they are pretty good but pretty standard. Most of them come with mayo and mustard. They do cost quite a bit less than the specials though.

Honolulu Café is a cute place to have lunch if you work in the downtown area, walk over, and don’t feel like eating the bland food at Bishop Café. You pay at the register and receive a number, pick up your drink at the drink bar, find a table, and they deliver your food to you. However, my first experience was mediocre, at best. Good thing I had good company.
Espresso: Burnt.
Tuna Salad on Naan Bread (½ order): Meh. The tuna salad wasn’t bad (not oniony – I HATE oniony tuna salad), but because of the lettuce and tomato, my bread became soggy and mayo-​water dripped all over my hands. The naan was more like a pita or flatbread, and not so much a naan. The sandwich came with a side salad of mixed greens, which was nice, however, the «citrus dressing» was horrible. It tasted like thick, spoiled orange juice.
Potato Salad: I took a bite of my co-diner’s potato salad and really liked it. It had large chunks potatoes that were the right amount of firmness (yikes) and the salad wasn’t too mayonaisey. It tasted like a cream of potato soup? Yum.
If I return, I will probably try one of their soups and definitely get a scoop of the potato salad.
Also, 10% off if you have an ID card.