Cousins Seafood & Bento

I WILL NEVER GO TO COUSINS SEAFOOD AND BENTO AGAIN.
Friends, I am so disappointed in Cousins Seafood and Bento in Hilo. I ordered a spicy poke bowl and a side of spicy ahi. There was still skin and bloody parts in the food. I called and politely asked if i can get my money back. When I returned there I was kind and polite and explained the situation to a gentleman. I told him that i got the bowl and the side. He said that for 5 dollars he cannot guarantee the quality of the fish (Im sure that the Health Department and the Better Business Bureau would find this interesting). He said he would return my money, but asked me not to order the poke from them anymore, then he threw the food in the garbage. I asked him why he had to ask me not to order their poke in the future, because it was rude. He repeated that because its 5 dollars, he cant guarantee the quality of the fish. Then he walked away. So I told him that I have had bad poke before, and that their poke was not bad, but it still had on it the skin and i had never had poke with the skin still on it, from anywhere. I asked him why he was being rude when i was polite on the phone and polite when I walked in there. He had the audacity to tell me that by asking me not to order their poke anymore, he was being polite too.
I am so angry and disappointed.
ON TOP OF THAT I called back and asked to speak to the manager. She said she saw the exchange between be and the worker and she had nothing to say on the matter. NOT EVEN AN APOLOGY.
If i knew id be treated this way I would have taken a photo of the food before I returned it. That’s not a good way to treat customers, and more importantly, as a local hot spot, they should know how to show some ALOHA.

We got to Cousins about 15 minutes before the posted closing time, and there was a short line. More people came in after us, and even after 7:30, and they happily served everyone. Between our group we got 2 orders of the garlic chicken, a fried chicken, one pot roast, one mixed plate with pot roast and fried chicken, one Mahi sandwich, and a 2 pack of the poke bombs. The food was great, especially the poke bombs, which were OUTSTANDING. It’s a legit place, and if we were going to be on the Hilo side longer we’d go there again in a heartbeat.

My favorite is their shrimp pasta, but the poke bombs and garlic chicken are also really good!

I wasn’t a fan of Cousins when they first opened but this little business has surely grown on me. Aside from the limited parking and minimal seating in a very tight waiting area, the food is quality for a great price. The salads though simple are freshly prepped. The Ahi plates are never over fried, always moist and seasoned perfectly. The sweet potato salad is the perfect compliment to any plate lunch here. If you’re looking for a comfort snack and you’re a poke lover try the poke bombs. Talk about fresh, creamy and a lip smaking good. They have a decent menu that includes a few local favorites such as Laulau Plates and a value deal Kalua Bowl topped with Lomi for $ 5.00. Service here is exceptionally fast and the staff is top notch friendly. If you’re looking for a casual low key lunch shop with some local flavor this is a great spot.

So happy I discovered cousins. This place is so good. No skimping on the portions and delicious. This is definitly my new goto spot. So good,

Boycotted one of our places that we go to often due to customer service. Though I do believe in 2^nd chances decided to go back on a Friday 30 mins before closing. Different cashier this time around. Got busy before close but still service with Aloha. Maybe the last girl was having bad day. Anyways service was way better this time and food so Ono as always. Mahalos! Support local business!

Delicious food. Price is right. Kitchen is right there in front of you, so you can see all the going-​ons. Love this place.

I have used Cousins a few times now to catered events and they do an excellent job! Their food is truly tasty and delicious which you don’t get with some caterers who cook for quantity and not quality. I would recommend using Cousins for any of your events, rather it be for a group of 20 people or a group of 100 people. They are accommodating to any special requests and are the best local food on the Big Island, hands down!!!

Only tried the poke bombs but kept going for more… parking tight but not a problem but then I avoid conventional dining hours, eat when hungry!

GARLIC CHICKEN!!! The chicken is sooo good! The outside is crispy without being super oily. It’s covered in a garlic sauce which has great flavor. The inside chicken is juicy. Very good! Along with rice, you have a choice of 2 side salads. I usually get the mac salad and the sweet potato salad. Great combination!
I’ve also tried the ahi sandwich. It’s awesome!
The staff are really friendly locals!
Good prices, ono food, and big portions.

Cousins provide good fresh food at a great price. I’ve tried their complete dinners and sandwiches and have not been disappointed. In fact, I’m having dinner from Cousin’s tonight. I have two broken arms and my daughter worked 10 hours today. No time for cooking.

This place always smells so delicious! Everything I’ve tried from here I love! The poke bowls, bentos, but my favorite is the shrimp! You can’t go wrong with $ 5 deals they got! I’m glad I found this place

Cousins Seafood & Bento: a great option for a person who needs a quick and flavorful lunch.
Cousin’s, for me, is located very conveniently on my way between my workplace and the university, so it’s always a lunch option. The main deciding factor as to whether or not I pick up a bento from them is how packed the shop happens to be (it can get really packed). Of course, the fact that I even have to worry about something like that bodes well for the food served there.
Always greeted with a great attitude, as you enter Cousins you can see a nice big menu with all of the different kinds of plate lunches that they serve. You can also see stacks and stacks of bentos sitting on the counter to your left. These are typically what I gravitate towards. There are regular and seafood bentos there, but I do find myself gravitating more towards the regular bentos. These will run you about $ 6 a pop, but they’ll definitely fill you up, so I’d say it’s a pretty good value for the price.
I can’t speak to how good the full plate lunches are, as I’ve only gotten the bentos from Cousin’s, but if their other food is any indication, I’d assume that they are just as delicious.
All in all, the most humbug thing about Cousins is the fact that it’s a little difficult to get parking most of the time, but that’s no real deal-​breaker in my book.
If you’re in the area and are looking to get some tasty and affordable local style food, look no further than Cousins Seafood & Bento!

Best place for lunch, especially for UH or Hawaii CC students. The poke bowl was only $ 5, can’t beat the price!

Visiting Hilo for the first time and wanted some ono grinds to eat at the beach. The Hubs got the grilled shrimp and I got the steamed mahi. We both got the tossed salad and purple sweet potato salad on the side.
Wow! Everything was so good! The shrimp and mahi were seasoned just right, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the purple potato salad was so simple yet so good. Will be coming back for more, mos def.

Good place with good service. Its a «grab and go» kinda place because they don’t have tables inside. Good place for a quick bite.

I guess you could say that today is off to a great start! Got me some poke bombs and a ribeye and shrimp plate. The poke bombs were ‘onoloa. They’re basically cone sushi filled with spicy tuna and topped with fish eggs and green onions. Oh boy did they hit the spot. My plate consisted of a perfectly cooked (well) 8oz ribeye steak, which was so buttery soft that the need to chew was rendered unnecessary! The steak was seasoned to perfection. The shrimp were lightly dusted with flour and pan fried in garlic butter. The shrimp was so flavorful that after every bite I swear I heard the heavenly host sing «hallelujah.» The only thing that I would critique would be the mac salad. The mac was warm, and warm mac is illegal! I think if they had prepared it the night before and had given the salad time to settle or «miko,» it would’ve made for a much more palatable experience. I give today’s eats 4.5/5’s!!!

Good place to get a bento. Everything is made fresh and the fried fish we had in our bento was really crispy. My wife ate hers two hours later and it was still crispy. My only wish was that they added furikake to their rice.

I’ve come here several times, each time getting the garlic shrimp plate. I love it. If I came here more I would try other things but Cousins has terrible parking and most times I just don’t have the time to risk not being able to find a spot.
Today, however is my day off and I have no other engagements, so I decided to give Cousins a go. When I got there, sure enough, there was no parking and I had to wait in my car for a spot to open up. As I waited, two more cars showed up and together we formed a 3-​car line in the very cramped parking lot. If you’re in a hurry, and it is lunch time, it’s probably best to go somewhere else.
Anywho, I had the garlic shrimp plate, again. And like usual, the garlic shrimp was amazing. It’s nice and buttery and just crispy enough that you can eat it shell and tail and all. They cook it when you order it so it does take some time, but it’s worth it to have it hot and crispy.
If it wasn’t for the horrible parking situation I would probably rate Cousins 5 stars. But as it stands, their parking is what keeps me from becoming a «regular» and is why I’m giving them just 4 stars.
Recommendation: garlic shrimp plate. It’s delicious!

5, $ 5 dolla…$ 5 dolla bentoooooooo!!! :)
So I’m back in Hilo today… got up early & flew in to do a quick commando raid. But before I skipped town by 11:00 AM, I had to go back to Cousins Seafood & Bento to find out what the $ 5 dollar bento was all about!
Did my jobs quickly this morning, & stopped my Cousins to get my $ 5 bento for my breakfast. I must say… I like a good deal! But sometimes cheap is not always the best. But for $ 5 dollars… it’s not a bad bento, but I wouldn’t run home & tell my mom about it!
For $ 5 bucks I got a little egg, luncheon meat, breaded fish (that was real good, kinda like the Zippy’s fish), breaded chicken, and some kind of marinaded beef on white rice.
They did have a $ 6 dollar & $ 7.00 dollar bento too… these bentos appeared to look tastier, but I stuck to my guns and went for the $ 5 bento, as advertised in the window.
I think if I’m ever in Hilo again, I will go for the better bento, or maybe a plate lunch, but at least I took care of my curiosity about the $ 5 bento! Still worth it to check out! Chance ‘em gang! :)