Kalihi Market

If u like Samoan and Tongan food this is the place to go

Go please. Kalihi market in the process of renovating and stocking items of clothing and accessories in this space.
Next door, the same owner has opened up, Jin’s Market.
There, they have renovated and expanded their Polynesian (mostly Samoan) hot buffet line. They sell hot bread, pineapple tarts as big as your face, palusami (insert drool), and their cold poke, mussels, etc. is still pretty fine. The hot corned beef is now lean and tender albeit each piece has a hefty chunk of fat sturdily attached to it. The meat kind of needs it, it’s so lean. And when you microwave it, the fat melts into a sizzling pool of flavor.
I always get a «to go» carbo load of at least one of the following items: steamed plantains, bananas, salty steamed ulu, taro in coconut cream or the bestetstest, purple Okinawan sweet potato in coconut cream.
Sadly, minus one star for the lb. of cold, marinated taegu shrimp. It was sour. Not vinegar sour, turning spoiled sour. Not good but it was the only thing disappointing yesterday. And, well, frankly red-​faced to admit, I still ate it! Howwwl!!! I stuffed 50 dollas worth of food into 2 shopping bags, not of all of which made it to my fridge. And, OK, I ate the sesame oil flavored ahi at midnight. (Well, it called my name…)
Shelves stocked with East Asian and Polynesian canned goods. Odd items, some, to say the least but being an odd food adventurer, I bought some canned liver pâté and fried onion in a bottle. The fried garlic in a bottle looked interesting but my pocket book said to wait until next time. Of course, there are an assortment of corned beef cans, all attractively lined up with the kitschy cows facing the front.
They only take cash but if you’re short, you can always walk the 5 steps outside to Kalihi Mkt. where although not finished with the renovation, still has a working cash machine. It will hijack you $ 1.75 for the favor.
I’m pretty sure I saw a sign that said they would not take food asst. cards for their hot, prepared items so it’s best over all to take the green before you even visit.
I’ve barely touched on the hot food items so go if you feel so inclined to venture into Kalihi, where all the akamai find good grinds!

This review is based on the fact that they had an ingredient I need that no one else had.
Huh, today alone, we’ve been to 5 different super markets looking for plantain bananas: Times, Safeway, 2 different Foodlands, and even Don Quijote. None of them had it. We were just about to give up. And then my husband suggests we check a polynesian market. this was the first place that came to my mind, and YES! They had plantains!!! Thank you for saving the day Kalihi Market! Without you, our pastele stew wouldn’t be the same…

Parking might be scarce at times but it’s worth it if you’re looking for fresh samoan/​tongan poke, and authentic samoan/​tongan food. This is the place to grab a plate. It’s not set to dine in, but that’s okay. This hole-​in-​the-​corner has an array of quality polynesian dishes that is hard to find anywhere else on the island. Oh, they make their own samoan breads and desserts too. Sometimes they even sell containers of vana (sea orchin) which is better than any sea orchin you’ll find at any upscale sushi restaurant… and you can take that to the bank;) BTW, I heard the same owner opened up another location, also in Kalihi.