Panya

Located next door to Tango Contemporary Café I Panya Cafè. Underneath the Hokudo Building.
Parking: parking is free after 9:00 which is pretty awesome. Not sure how much it would be before 9 though.
Service: weekdays is slower than weekends as always and we came on a Tuesday night. We got seated right away! You also have the option to sit inside or outside. Both ways, you will get good service because the waiters serve both and they seemed to be very on it on our visit.
Food: Very tasty and worth the price. They have a lot on their menu and there is ALOT to choose from. Rice dishes, fish, noodle dishes, stir fry, there is a lot to choose from. They also serve brown rice for you healthy goers. I recommend their crostinis for sure! I got the Okako Don and it filled me up nicely. also came with miso soup which was a big +. There are no condiments on the table so you’d have to ask for them (eg: salt & pepper, soy sauce).
Their desserts are stunning and to die for. Their Japanese cheesecake comes with a white sauce and I literally started laughing while eating it because it was the best cheesecake I’ve had so far. It’s a different texture and the sweetness is very balanced with the cheese taste. Must get!
Other than that, I really recommend coming here. The vibe is very cute and urban. Definitely coming here again!

Poor customer service.
We stopped by to pick up some pastries to go. The place was about ¼ full so not busy at all. No greeting as we walked in. As a matter of fact one of the waitresses almost bumped into us yet didn’t say a word. We approached the pastry case and the lady behind the counter glanced over but kept doing her thing. «Hi, I’ll be right with you,» is what any other person in the customer service industry would say. Not here.
Having dragged the kids here already and seeing they were getting hungry, I was committed to this place now. (If I was alone I would have walked out.)
So I politely summoned her over and started the ordering.
The pastries could use some signs or labels. Just by looking at the filled rolls and puffs we had no way of knowing what was inside, if anything. No fruit or meat poking out, no telltale leakage of melted cheese or chocolate. Nothing. We had to play 20 questions to figure out their offerings. «What’s inside this one? What about this one? What about this one? What did you say?» Funny thing is that their other case that had only three cheese cakes (that are easy to identify by the fruit) had signs but not the pastry case that actually needs it.
To be fair, this is more of a sit down and order place so perhaps they don’t cater to the take out crowd… but I’ll never know cuz I ain’t coming back. I was thinking I’d try the laksa one day but Papa’s Tea House in Pearl City seems to have their laksa game face on.
Pastries themselves were fine but with the limited selection and the limp customer service, there’s no point in thinking of Pan-​Ya as a place to pick up pastries.
Plus one star for free and easy Sunday parking.

Yup just about right, its just a thing to do before a movie if you are Ward Center. The drinks are fine and the service is OK, but the only thing on the menu that is worth the while is the cold tofu salad. Please don’t order pasta, because it tastes like it fell out of a can. The pastries are great however, so feel free to get some to go, because the ambiance is blah and loud at times and the staff is OK, there are many other place in walking distance to have dinner and drinks this place is not the one in my opinion.

+outside seating
+free/​validated parking in the Hokua Building
+variety of American, Italian, Asian dishes and full bar, as well as desserts.
–service can be amiss:
–service can be slooow
–the reservation process is kind of a mess
–pricy for what you get
I must say, even though I only give this place 3 stars, it’s still one of my go-​to places since I can have a nice sit-​down meal, an iced coffee and a dessert, or whatever easy to meetup location with my dog in the outside seating.
–location and parking–
located across the street from TJ Maxx and Nordstrom, in the Hokua building. They offer free and validated free parking in the Hokua building guest parking.
–seating–
there are several tables outside that can easily accommodate groups of 2 – 4 people, or can be pushed together. There are 2 very large group tables as well. Inside is a modern contemporary feel with a couple booth/​seat tables that seat 2 – 4 people each, some open area tables that seat 2 – 4 each, that could also be pushed together. There is also some seating at the bar.
–food–
For the breakfast menu, there isn’t really anything unique about it — eggs and toast, loco moco, no special or unique flavors, and a little more spendy for what you are getting. Breakfast for one person, with a drink will probably run you about $ 15 – 20. I think the breakfast menu goes until 10:30 ish, then they start the lunch menu.
For the lunch/​dinner menu, there are a few dishes that are my go-​to, because they just seem fresher or nicely done at Panya. These are the dishes:
*hand-​made spicy wonton appetizer (a little bit of shrimp and meat in there, with the right amount of heat)
*the summer roll (this has some nice thick pieces of shrimp, that they actually properly clean, and freshly rolled)
*the steamed fish with tofu (steamed white fish filet atop some thin slices of tofu, with green onion and hot peppers, with a shoyu spicy oil sauce)
*pad thai — this is the sauciest pad Thai of any place I’ve tried on-​island… (I’ve tried Bangkok Chef, Ngon, Phuket Thai, Souvaly Thai)
*seafood laksa (I like the coconut broth on here, and has 2 kinds of noodles, fishcake, shrimp. I never finish this and take it to go — eat the soup in the morning with rice next day).
*panna cota — like a nice creamy jello, served with fruits around the panna cota
*side fries — like a thicker shoestring style, with some seasoning.
Otherwise the rest of the dishes are just average, but pricey for what you get, ie a $ 16 burger, $ 14 ramen… $ 9 cocktail… $ 4 coffee/​tea. The desserts somehow taste like they may have been freshly made, but only some, then frozen and thawed out the day they put them in the case. They don’t all taste fresh made the day of service.

I really wanted to give this place more stars, but I just couldn’t…
Food: Delish. Decided to get appetizers instead of a big meal. Ordered the gyoza, crostini and caprese salad toast. My daughter and I enjoyed it!
Service: Seems very stiff. Not friendly at all. Host was irritated with us because I thought there was a sign in board, so I turned the clipboard toward me but it was a tally sheet. She came and rudely turned the clipboard back toward her. Okay, sorry. Next time, be at your post where you are suppose to be. Wait help? Meh! Loosen up and a smile wouldn’t hurt. As I was sitting toward the front, I noticed that everyone was like that. No warmth at all… Really cold. Maybe they were irritated with me that I brought in my Starbucks coffee. Sorry… Wanted to throw it away but couldn’t find a rubbish can. At least I brought it out with me instead of leaving it on the table. Lol!
Dessert: OMG! This is what saved them. Got two of the packaged sponge cake. 2 of the berry Danish and a custard cupcake. I was in heaven!
Will I be back? Maybe just for dessert. Take out only. :-)

The food is actually pretty good. We had a club sandwich, pastrami sandwich and chef salad. The club was $ 15.00, the chef salad was $ 18.00, and the apply juice my daughter ordered was $ 6.00!!! Absolutely insane prices. It’s in a good location. The food is ok… Doesn’t taste bad but a little on the bland side. The price is a deal breaker for me!

2.5 stars if there was an option.
I went there on a Sunday during lunch for something to eat before dropping my friend off. The inside looked pretty busy but the outside lanai had some seating and we were sat right away.
–The outside is alright I suppose… Nothing really to say about it except it looks like someone’s outside patio. It feels like it could be spruced up a bit but hey that’s not exactly why I go out to restaurants anyway.
–service: I won’t put my server on blast because it could be because had an off day, that’s fine. Also, was she taking the entire outside by herself? Or was she also taking tables inside that’s what I’m wondering. But, she came around to take our drink orders and I asked her opinion about appetizers. I know it was an accident but she spit on me while explaining and kept talking :(I brushed that aside and went with her choice of the salmon crostini.
–food: The crostini was very salty! I could barely taste the salmon and the added capers just added to that. It was bland and salty, I wouldn’t recommend it. My main dish I asked for the Mabo tofu with white rice and my friend has gotten the loco moco. As it comes out the dishes seem fairly small for the price. My friends review of the locomoco was okay, nothing worth getting again or reminiscing about except the huge price tag… My Mabo tofu came with miso soup which came with the entrée though I wish it had come earlier. It tasted a bit like nothing honestly, just super light and watery. I work in a Japanese restaurant and I couldn’t stand the taboo! I had a clam chowder earlier and that was the highlight of the entire meal. Back to the Mabo tofu, I asked for it to be spicier which it was. The problem was that it came with no rice! I searched underneath everything and nowhere to be found. I asked the server where the rice was and she said «it’s not underneath?! I’ll bring you some right now.» And now the wait began… I waited at least 5mins when she came back around and apologized and said she’ll be right back. Then another 5 – 7 mins had past. That’s when she came back and forgot what rice I had gotten! By that point I was a bit upset and my food being cold by then I just didn’t want to eat anymore.
Drinks: I had gotten the orange fountain drink which was just terrible. Honestly maybe 1.50 for that watered down oj which tasted like just disgustingness. I wish she at least refilled our drinks a bit faster to.
Maybe she had an off day I don’t know just writing what I experienced this day. I never stiff unless everything is completely terrible and I sill have her something times are hard. I ended up buying pastries to take home to eat instead thank god for that.

The food is consistent but a bit pricey. The ramen I had was okay. Customer service is not overly good. But it’s consistent and fast. Great if you don’t like to be disturbed every two minutes. The first time I came here I had a young guy wait or & he was the friendliest. Super nice and on point. Haven’t seen him lately though. Big bummer.
Their sandwiches are probably a better deal than if you’re thinking ramen. The ramen share prolly their worst quality items.
The four stars is for their ambiance. Beautiful vibe and décor. I could go here everyday for that reason. Modern, clean, slightly upscale & hip at least for Hawaii.
Great if you’re going to meet professionals and classy friends for dinner. There’s no dress code but I suggest not dressing sloppy.
Free parking. Just get validation. There’s also a nice lanai but seems like it can get hot. Maybe suggest mist machines? Unless I missed it.

When I think of Panya the first thought that always comes to my mind is ‘Laksa’. I’m well aware that Panya does serve other food and a lot of people love the bakery, but to be honest when my boyfriend and I are in the mood for soup and not really craving ramen or hot pot, Panya’s Laksa is a delicious spicy alternative to that!
One evening we came here for dinner and only really had 58 mins before they closed to order and eat. Luckily we got seated and we ordered the Laksa (as usual), cold tofu, and the Panya steak salad. If you are ever in a rush in deciding what to order I recommend ordering these because they were all very good! As far as service goes, I wasn’t too fond of our waitress being too rushy or eager while I was still deciding on what to get, but she was nice and recommended the steak salad to me and got our food out to us in enough time. I don’t regularly eat steak, but was very pleased with how theirs came out (I get my meat well-​done); juicy, tender, and easy to eat with the salad. Overall I was satisfied with our dinner. Hopefully next time we won’t be so full so we can order one of their delicious desserts!

Pros:
— trendy atmosphere and quick service. They were very accommodating for our reservation change.
— the garlic toast with crab salad topping appetizer was very tasty
— the bread pudding and green tea azuki bean roll were the best
— decent prices for the amount of food we got
— free validated parking after 6pm
Con:
— the tiger shrimp and clam speghetti was not what I thought it would be. The shrimps were not peeled, I did not seen any onions, bacon was soggy, and there was no cheese
— the signiture japanese cheese cake was not very special. Kind of bland tasting compared to the other deserts… maybe it needed some fruits?
Overall it was a good experience. They just need to choose a couple foods on their menu to specialize in and make them great because most of it tasted mediocre.

Baked goods taste so fresh, truly you can see they prepare their baked products with care and quality fresh ingredients. The reaction from most people with they see baked goods from Panya versus just a regular bakery is not the same, it always draw attention and hard to pass up. They carry a selection of both savory and sweet goodies, hard to make a decision because you will be happy with either. The dough is so soft and fresh the sweet is never overly sweet, and the savory can include meat products.
Today, I had the ham roll, topped with a creamed corn sort of?, but it was great, something I’d like to eat again.
Price is sorta hefty at an avg. price of $ 2.50 per pastry, a dozen can cost you an average of $ 30.00. Surely able to make an impression if you buy a few to share with everyone during a business meeting…

I remember panya back when it was in ala moana. I didn’t really like it then and so never really had the urge to try the ward location even though I go to ward at least once a week.
The food is a nice mix of different Asian styles: Singaporean laksa, Thai pad Thai, Hong Kong style ramen, Japanese gyoza etc. They also offer more local and American dishes as well as baked goods and desserts. Prices are a little high… Most entrée dishes are in the $ 18-​$ 22 range, even salads.
The first time I tried this place, I sat outside. It was hot and muggy and street view isn’t very impressive. The inside has much more ambiance, but ask to sit where there is lots of foot traffic, otherwise you won’t be waited on.
When I sat inside, one waiter came to take our order, another brought our food and we didn’t see another wait staff until we had to flag someone down for our check. Does that kind of service deserve a tip? Idts. Our waters were not refilled, no one came to ask how we were doing and it took forever for someone to notice that we wanted the check. In our long wait for the bill, I also saw the hostess wipe the food off the table and onto the floor when she was clearing the table. Lol worse than my 6^th graders.
It’s unfortunate because I actually really enjoy the food and drinks here. I’m ¼ Singaporean (I love telling everyone this, can you tell?), and I looooove laksa. This is pretty much the only place in Hawaii that I would eat laksa. The ambiance is also nice for girls nights or date nights. Whatevs, probs won’t be back anytime soon.

Very tasty salads and pretty nice atmosphere
FOOD:
The menu is a little crazy with Italian dishes, sandwiches, and asian-​fusion dishes. I think Panya should stick to a cuisine and do it well.
That being said, I ordered the Salmon sashimi rainbow salad and it was WONDERFUL! Again, there was a lot going on (salmon, lettuce, wontons, picked ginger, apples, onions, strawberries, tomatoes) and not every bit was the same flavor, but I loved everything packed into the salad and practically licked my plate clean.
Some of my co-​diners did not enjoy their dishes as much, but I was very happy with my order. :)
SERVICE & SPACE:
The location is nice, with plenty of free parking at Ward (score!) and the seating area is pretty lovely as well. We sat outside at one of their large tables (comfortably sat a party of 8 — awesome!). The staff was alright. There’s an air of stuffiness when you’re ordering and they bring out the food, but at the same time 6 of us were served at one time and then it was another 5 minutes until the other two were served (and three of our diners ordered the same dish!)
PRICE:
Well… my salad was $ 18. :/​It was a pretty good salad, but I’m not sure I would have ordered if I was paying.

If you haven’t had Panya’s Japanese cheesecake, well, then you aren’t living. Seriously, the cheesecake here is delectable and simply divine. A friend of mine is quoted as saying that she just wants to «pour the vanilla sauce all over her face.» Haha, it’s true! #talkingboutyouRENE #thatsaucetho
You’re probably asking why I started with the dessert first, well, because you shouldn’t leave here without dessert. #yourbellysaidso #justsaying All in all, Panya is a great choice for lunch with a friend (or friends), pau hana with the co-​workers (if you like them, haha), for a date (first, second, third, or even the fiftiest — whatever!), with your family, or even by yourself. The ambiance is my fave here. There’s inside seating (super modern feeling with a cozy bar area) and outside seating (I feel like I’m on an episode of RHOC! — except without all the drama, ha!). (And, for mommies like me, their baby changing table in the restroom is convenient, at the perfect height, and in a big restroom all to yourself.)
To me, the food is good — you kind of have to find what your liking is because there’s so much they offer that it’s easy for people to criticize. But, I’ve never really been disappointed here. A few things I love are the happy hour appetizers (baby octopus being my fave), seafood laska, sandwiches (crab sand WITH avo being my top choice), and the pad thai (I like to go with the shrimp). Don’t get me wrong there are many dishes to choose from beyond what my faves are — honestly, Panya is one of my fave restaurants that I usually can choose something different every time I visit. What would I change about the menu? Well, the prices, because they aren’t cheap. But, I get it… it’s on the bottom floor of a super snooty, fancy condo and in the up and coming fancy Ala Moana/​Kakaako area. So, I’m pretty sure the rent ain’t cheap.
Parking is free in it’s own parking garage, but you can easily find parking next door at the TJ Maxx/​Nord Rack lot and walk over so you can work off some of those calories shopping around. #speakingfromexperience Anywhoooo, Panya is one of my lunch-​date-​with-​my-​gal-​pal fave spots, so I’m def recommending it as a fun option with a lot of food choices… just remember to stop at the ATM to get some cash — and hey, don’t you dare forget about DESSERT ;)

Panya Bistro is totally underrated, probably because it is a bit pricey, but I thought the food was surprisingly good and I enjoyed the modern ambiance. Plus, they allow you to bring dogs!
Panya is basically a hodge podge of Asian foods.
* Edamame — 2.5 stars: skip this.
* Potstickers — 4 stars: Surprisingly good!
* Curry — 3.5 stars: Standard, good. Huge portion of tonkatsu.
* Laksa — 4.5 stars: So savory, satisfying, and flavorful. Loved it!
* Thai beef salad — 4 stars: A healthy portion of tender beef, and citrusy dressing.

Panya is the perfect place to go for a nice girls lunch and that is exactly how I came across this place.
First off, the atmosphere is really good. Not too noisy, great décor, and it’s AC’d so that’s always a plus in Hawaii lol Our waitor was friendly and was sure to have our waters filled.
We started off with some iced teas. I had the Strawberry and mint shaken iced tea. It was light and refreshing! For the main course, my friends and I decided to get 3 different items and share them. We had the Baked Seafood with mushroom cream sauce over egg fried rice, the loco moco, and the fried pork chop with portobello mushrooms. All 3 were DELICIOUS! My favorite would have to be the baked seafood dish. At first, I was scared that it would be too heavy but it was actually very enjoyable.
Make sure you save room for dessert! The Japanese Cheesecake was a slice of heaven! It was so light, yet creamy. It came with a cream sauce to be poured over which made for a nice video and an even better dessert.

Panya has pretty good food but wow are they expensive! Small dish of poke there was $ 14, and our garlic shrimp pasta dish was $ 19. The happy hour menu was reasonable five dollar drinks including well drinks, some beers and wines. Food on the happy hour menu is pretty much just little appetizer dishes five dollars as well. Service was pretty attentive and food to table time was good. Ambience of the restaurant was fine I have no complaints.
So overall, good food but a little bit too pricey for me for what it was. Wouldn’t mind coming back but it’s not on my urgent return list!

The new Panya is located in the Ward area next to Bank of Hawaii. Near the new shopping area. There’s free parking in the center as well.
Let me first start of off with the service. It is good but not great. The hostess was nice and sat us down pretty quickly but after that the waiter/​waitresses didn’t seem to acknowledge us till after 10 minutes when I asked the hostess who walked past our table if we could have water. After that, the waiter was pretty good at servicing us. In fact, we got our food very quickly.
The food was pretty damn good! The Japanese curry was great. Not so thick. I should’ve ask if they could make it spicy but next time lol. My wife got the seafood laksa. It was pretty good too! I’d say it is one of their best dishes.
There is also a bakery there so they call it a bistro. I guess that’s what it’s about. The baked goods are pretty good :)

My first time at this location and I was impressed! Free ample parking which is a huge plus! The interior is really nice with modern décor. Outside seating is also available.
We came around 8:30 on a Saturday night and were quickly seated. Waitress was really attentive the entire time and was very nice.
We started with a crab salad on garlic toast, I had the loco moco, while my husband had the house specialty dish, seafood laska. All items were very good and you didn’t leave feeling bloated and heavy.
Five stars for free parking, great service, and awesome tasting food!

Extremely disappointed in the service Panya now has to offer. Actually, its just the cashier who helped me today (june 25 at 430PM). Sassy right off the bat, probably had a bad day or just really hates her job. I came in looking to buy a couple slices of the delicious cakes they have. I asked for the prices and she casually said «uh like $ 6». When I asked for the strawberry shortcake she says «around the same price». You’re not even busy, why don’t you look it up? Not sure if she was new but all the other cashiers knew the prices off the top of their heads. She did check for me, but I settled on just getting one slice and getting the heck out of there.
Normally, or ALWAYS, at bakeries, they would immediately put it and pack in a box for you after asking if you wanted it right side up or on the side. Every cashier at every bakery has never failed to ask me that. However, she grabbed the cake on the plastic part (which is really thin) and just held onto it while telling me the price. I was already irritated by then. Anyone could tell you that if they were there, the airs I was receiving can be off-​putting.
I asked if she was going to put it in a box. I noticed it was being placed on its side which I noticed, by experience, will smear the frosting easier and requested it right side up. She slammed a new box on the counter and repacked it. In the end, my strawberry was squashed and I had finger indents on the cake through the plastic part and I don’t even want to talk about the frosting. I requested for her name outside from one of the other girls (whom I heard her name started with a C or a K because one of the employees called for her another time I was there) and ignoring my question, she asks if I want to see a manager.
I figured it shouldn’t be such a big deal and I really don’t have time to sit down and talk face to face about grumpy employees. I clearly asked for exactly what I wanted. Seeing that I was just going to be going nowhere with this, I decided to just leave. I just hope the cashier knows not everything goes unnoticed and customers know when they’re getting crappy service. Its really more about the service rather than the cake packing «skills» It may just be that one time but I’m sad to find that the super nice cashiers who used to work there weren’t there anymore.
Tip: you don’t need to smile till your lips tear or even need to know everything off the top of your head. Just do your job when asked and don’t huff and puff if you don’t know the prices or if you have different requests. This isn’t the first or second time I’ve heard from friends receiving glares and crappy service from «a female panya cashier» and I can’t imagine the C/​K girl outside or the previous cashiers acting that way. I’ve worked in retail/​food industry long enough to know that this isn’t quality customer service and its a shame because I love panya! These 2 stars are for the yummy cakes they make and the nice parking attendant:)