Polynesia Cafe

So sad: a no name «veggie» place has replaced the old Polynesia café. Very limited menu, slow service, staff with an attitude and end result was two portions of cold «lazange». Sorry won’t be back.

They closed last week! No more awesome breakfasts. Boo hoo!

I haven’t been to that many restaurants in Kauai but thus far this has been the most affordable, healthy and tasty of them all. I had the Thai Peanut Tofu entrée, the spicy ginger mixed with lemonade, and a cranberry raisin oatmeal cookie for dessert. Delicious.

Don’t come here for the shave ice. Almost ¹⁄₅ of mine had no flavoring at all. seriously… get with it.

I had to send my benedict back because the egg yolks were not runny. When we sent them back, they said, «how do you want them?». We replied «with runny yolks». They said «we don’t make them like that.» Ummm, ok. They re-​did the eggs but it was odd because I thought that poached eggs by definition have runny yolks. Maybe it’s island-​style or something that us tourists don’t know about. Overall, they were pretty nice about it all. Just found it odd that they have a different definition of poached eggs than the rest of the world.

Tried the mixed plate with the teriyaki beef and chicken, the fish tacos, and some of the kalua pork off the hawaiian mixed plate. The final verdict:
–Teriyaki was alright. Decent amount of food.
–Fish tacos were spicy but strangely bland. I have no idea how they do it.
–Kalua pork was wayyyy too salty.
I’d give it another shot but I’m not sure it’d be worth it.

Pretty good deal, good food, fast!

Ate breakfast here. Got the breakfast taco and also the Blackened Ali Eggs Benedict. I liked the fact they had my red rooster sauce (sirracha sauce) to top my eggs with. Nothing spectacular about what I ate as I think there are better options out there for morning food. Their «thing» is serving gourmet food on paper plates. Not sold on this place.

nice place to stop while you’re driving around kauai — i got the hawaiian variety plate with kalua pork and lomi lomi salmon on a bed of rice and lettuce. that was probably the most vegetables i’d ever seen on a plate lunch in hawaii before :)
tasty place, i’d go again if i found myself in this tiny touristy chinatown-​y place off the highway. plus, they have a full freezer of lappert’s ice cream!!! what’s not to love.

$ 15 for a plate lunch and a soda … seriously? I thought my wife and I could share thinking it would be traditional plate lunch — wrong … the plate lunch we had included chicken teri and kalbi with rice and mac salad … the chicken was tough and the kalbi was missing the bones, so not the traditional kalbi … plus the mac salad was horrible … luckily Bubba’s is across the street so I went to grab myself a burger — felt sorry for my wife though as she was stuck with the plate lunch … no wonder the times we were at the Ching Young Village, this place was always empty. avoid!

Decent food horrible service. They forgot one entrée we ordered.

Shave ice here is good, and comes in a cute little container too! The ice is finely shaved, not packed in, and wonderfully flavored.
I ordered the mango, coconut and guava with snowcap (condensed milk) for $ 4.30. Gotta say, it’s good stuff, but the prices for the portion aren’t exactly great. Presentation is good and all, it’s just that the amount of shave ice is relatively small.
But I can only vouch for their shave ice, and I bet their food would dock them a star. ($ 13 for a tiny dish of fish and chips? Next!)

The macadamia nut crusted fish with pesto is yummy! What a great dinner. Also enjoyed the Hawaiian Plate.
The girls behind the counter were great, personable and friendly!

super bomb! this place had tons of asian and mexican veggie selections. I had a tofu salad with awesome papaya seed dressing, and dave’s veggie fajitas were fragrant and filling.
the outdoor seating was great, BYOB. Once again, the counter help was a little special, but I probably wouldn’t even try to think if I lived there either.

major advantages are the covered seating area just in front of this place and the $ 5 smaller portions menu (not that good but cheap and sufficient portion for such heavy food in hot climate.) it’s CASH ONLY, says so right on the register. my so-​so 1^st impression was completely transformed by the Ahi Eggs Benedict — wow that was amazing.
oh — they don’t sell alcohol, but better yet you can walk over to the Big Save for a tallboy/​bottle of wine and drink it on the lanai with your food. that’s livin’.

We tried the chicken sandwich and pork sloppy joe for dinner. The chicken breast was VERY small and not worth the $ 10 you pay. The pork sloppy joe was decent, though dry and needed sauce to give it a little flavor and moistness. Our sandwiches came with fries which were quite good. The fries were probably the best part of the meal.
Not a bad place, but I imagine there are better ways to spend your $ 10.

We always eat here at least a couple times while in Hanalei or Princeville.
Just a quick and casual place with all outside seating and good food.
Order at the counter and grab a table. Their slogan is «Gourmet food served on paper plates». Food is very flavorful. I always go for Mexican choices. The quesadilla, fajitas etc. always good and fresh. They have a mix of America, Mexican and Asian as well as local food… so something for everyone.
Killer homemade desserts too!

Jason S and I have angered the Shaved Ice Gods… Koloa Shaved Ice closed their shutters in front of us yesterday, while Wishing Well in Hanalei was not opened today… and Shaved Ice Paradise was closed by the time we got back down the road.
Hmmm what to do, what to do. Cannot do another day without Shaved Ice. Oh look, besides ice cream… Polynesia Café also sell shaved ice!
The goods is that the price is very reasonable for Kauai (as far as shaved ices goes, though you could always argue whether you’re getting $ 4 worth of ice and syrup)… the lady pours loads of syrup on your ice and they only charge 75c for cream top (or ‘snow cap’)!
The bad is that there is quite a wait. The shaved ice shape was not so… traditional… but given everything else, is that all so bad?
I really liked it here. Though Jo Jo Originals still have the better flavour choices.

Remember… you’re in Kauai on the North Shore. Most small home sites are $ 1.5 Million. Everything is going to be expensive. So, we thought this place was reasonable considering the other places around. The surroundings aren’t much. but the food is good for the price. They have everything. breakfast (the Eggs Benedict were pretty good), lunch (try the Kalbi) and dinner (grilled Ahi tuna). They have a large espresso machine and also serve Lappert’s ice cream for dessert. Most meals will be $ 18 per person, before dessert.

Decent mixed plate. Kalua pork was tasty and so was the poke and lomi lomi.
They make it low carb for you with making yucky rice. I ate everything but the rice.
Kinda pricey and the counter and stools were filthy and black.