Ailana Shave Ice & Cafe

CLOSED :(
We were so sad to see Ailana Shave Ice shut down. Not sure what happened, but they will be missed.

This is a great place for breakfast. Acai Bowl and shaved ice. I saw a notice on their window that they are moving to 808 Sheridan and change store name to Café Plumeria. I believe they will reopen later in the month.

It’s been a while since I have had any shaved ice. I am always on a lookout for a good old mom and pop spot. It’s location is near hookahhookah on kona street not to far from the Ala moana mall. It’s an extremely small shop with three tables inside and one outside.
I looked at the menu and decided to order a small POG with ice cream and fresh strawberries. I took a seat outside to wait while they made my order. I heard the ice machine whirling, and I did get excited inside a little:) I then looked in and noticed that it was ready. My small was HUGE! It looked like two people could’ve shared this dessert. I went to pick it up and stuck a straw on top to drink the excess when it melted.
I love my POG syrup flavor. I dug in a little deeper to spoon up some of the ice cream, and a piece of the strawberry. It melted wonderfully in my mouth. It was sweet, creamy, and cold. As it melted, I gladly slurped up the rest.
Love this shave ice and support Local!!!

I’m having major Hawaii withdrawals. I wake up thinking about Hawaii and go to sleep thinking about Hawaii. Then during the day, all I’m reading about is Hawaii and listening to Hawaiian music. Seriously. It’s been bad and my husband and I are making some plans to move out there someday because we love it so much. So what better way to spend my time then to write about some of my fave dessert places in Oahu.
After shopping for some threads with one of my besties, her wife and my family and I decided to stop by Ailana to indulge in some shaved ice. I ended up getting a small shaved ice with Lychee, Lilikoi and watermelon and topped it off with condensed milk. It was delicious and my son was loving it My friend ordered the azuki lover and they said it was delicious. The service was friendly and quick. I can’t wait to return and indulge in one of their iced creations again. It’s a pretty tiny shop but they have plenty of seats so you can relax and unwind with your shaved ice creation. They’re also a mom and pop shop so I would definitely support them. LOVE!

The matcha uji kujiki (totally massacred that name right there) was very refreshing. Their own special concoction of matcha, uzuki bean, condensed milk, ice cream and more was extremely complimentary to each other.
I wasn’t a HUGE fan of the homemade mochi, but everything together, totally made the walk in the hot sun worth it.
The owner was EXTREMELY hospitable and very caring to each and every customer. Something I value which is only too scarce in today’s world.

Came to Ailana’s 3 out of the 8 days we were here. I was going to rate it 5 stars again but will give it 4.5 due to the inconsistency of portion size on our last day. Two newbies were being trained in making our shaved ice and our orders took a hit. My wife ordered a small very berry cocktail and I ordered a large strawberry paradise. The orders took over 10 minutes because the newbies kept messing up the shaved ice so everything got backed up. The two previous times there was more shaved ice and a larger scoop of ice cream in the middle. Today it was obvious the sizing was off and the scoop of ice cream was more like a half a scoop. We liked it when the short girl with the glasses made our shaved ice. The orders after ours seemed to get consistently larger in portion size but one customer went back to the counter to ask for more syrup as there wasn’t enough put on initially. They need to work out the kinks in their training.
This time here we tried some flavors we didn’t try last time and also three of their new creations. The best was the Strawberry Paradise, the homemade strawberry milk is sweet and refreshing. A lot of the syrup was on top but not enough on the bottom. The Very Berry Cocktail allowed us to pick one additional flavor in addition to the coconut. We picked the strawberry milk, which went well with the coconut. We also had the Polar Bear, with the Calpico and condensed milk on the outside and the salted caramel syrup on the inside right before hitting the ice cream. The salted caramel had more salt taste than caramel but overall it wasn’t bad. My favorite here is still the Uji.
They use Dave’s homemade ice cream, which is local.

It’s such a shame that I never knew about this place sooner!
For my first Ailana’s experience, I had the homemade strawberry milk and calpico combo. The flavors were so tasty and not overly sweet. The ice itself was of a good, smooth quality and it mixed with the syrup so nicely. Yummy!
The staff here are also very friendly. There’s a small seating area on the inside. It can get a bit warm, but it didn’t matter as I was there to enjoy my shave ice anyway.
There are so many options and different flavor combinations to try and I really can’t wait to go back for more!

Now that I am back home and try to re-​create the Pitaya Bowl…, well let me say, $ 9.25 for the large bowl their price is quiet fair. The ingredients are not cheap!

Shave ice combinations are creative and we will have to come back many times to try all of them. The Strawberry Milk is a favorite, simple and refreshing! The Very Berry Cocktail is also yummy (try substituting the cranberry /​raspberry syrup for guava).
The new Polar Bear is so good! Salted caramel, Calpico, and condensed milk… triple sweetness! Very generous portions, which is always a plus! Quick, friendly service :)

So good!!!
Such a hidden gem. It is a bit of a sketchy walk from the mall, I thought I was lost but luckily there was a sign outside by the sidewalk to guide me into the right area.
My first time there, I was fooled by Unilocal and ran into the store super sweaty (it was hard to find haha) to discover that it had closed half an hour ago. The store owner informed me that the hours on Unilocal were wrong, they actually close at 5pm everyday and not 5:30pm. Anyhow, he still offered to serve me! Such a great guy. Of course I had to come back and try more creations the next day.
The ice cream in the center of the shaved ice complements the syrup and toppings well. My shaved ice started melting into an ice block and water mixture by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl. My only suggestion is that I wish the store was air conditioned so it wouldn’t melt as quickly!

I’ve been to Ailana a couple times back in high school, but I just went in the other day and I don’t know if it was the hot weather but it tasted better than ever!
I love the unique and various flavors of shave ice they offer. I got the Uji Kintoki and it was amazing! It’s basically green tea shave ice topped with azuki bean, mochi balls, condensed milk, and ice cream in the middle. They add just the right amount of syrup so that it doesn’t over power the other toppings. It’s a must try!
But their menu isn’t just limited to shave ice; they also have smoothies, waffles, acai bowls, and much more. It’s a great place for something cold on a hot day! In addition to that, the staff is very friendly and welcoming! I will definitely go back!

Waiola is the one I grew up with but this one is my other favorite even though I never grew up with it. It’s more Japanese style, but that’s what I love about it. Strawberry Milk, Haupia, and all the other homemade flavors are great… They’re so unique to here.
I used to work near by but moved to the mainland. I still drop by whenever I come back and I’m so glad they are still serving the same stuff.
Once in a while, the kids that works forgets to put enough syrups so it soaks into the middle… When that happens, just let them know and they’ll add more syrup.
Their uji kintoki (the green tea, azuki, mochi, and ice cream shave ice) is one of my favorites, even comparing it to the ones I casually had in Japan.
If you want natural flavored shave ice that’s not overly sweet, this place is perfect. :). I love it.

Unfortunately a tad bit disappointing.
I came here in search for shave ice on a hot day, and read good reviews so went in excited. I got the small with mango, guava, and green tea with azuki bean. While the ice was certainly refreshing and a break from 85 degree weather, the ice was not as fine as I had hoped. In fact it was a quite chunky, watery, and the quality lacking compared to Waiola and even Your Kitchen. The syrups were good but nothing special.
Next time I will try to strawberry condensed milk and see if that makes a difference. But overall very much of a disappointment.

Who wants shaved ice at 7 am? We do!
We were about to leave in a few hours back to VA and decided to grab one last shaved ice. So glad Ailana Shave Ice & Café was open. They offer breakfast, shaved ice, drinks, etc. This mom and pop shop is super cute with the sweetest owners. They offer homemade syrups and mochi. Indoor and outdoor seating in available. Their shaved ice is on point. Generous serving of fluffy shaved ice with fresh fruity syrups. B’s fave was the Grape and I really enjoyed the Strawberry Milk.

A friend and I came in a few days ago and I have to admit — I had my doubts that any shave ice shop would be able to beat my favorite one, but this one sure does give it competition!
I came in with a friend at about 4:45, believing that the store didn’t close until 5:30. Sadly, they do close at 5:00pm instead, but the lady who owns the shop kindly let us finish our shave ice after 5pm! She even offered a couple of people sitting outside to come back in, very sweet of her!
As for the shave ice, you can bet that my experience was just as sweet– the perfect amount! We ordered a large «Strawberry Paradise», and it is the perfect amount for an afternoon snack for two. The strawberry milk flavor they make isn’t too sweet or creamy, giving it the perfect balance to cool off in the heat. The price was nice too, around $ 6 for the large, only $ 3 per person!
If you’re looking for a place to get a reasonably priced sweet treat, I would recommend this place to any of my friends visiting the town area!

Everything there is amazing!!!
Shave ice addicted… now! Lol. Haupia with strawberry milk shave ice and fresh strawberries and blueberries with ice cream and condensed milk!!! Ummmm yes please how can you not!

What happened?! Came here the other day with friends, the guy was training a new girl. I ordered a small with haupia and strawberry milk. The ice was so hard and packed i had to chip away at the shave ice, its usually so soft that my spoon just plows thru the ice. I wasn’t looking at who actually made my shave ice, was it the trainee? or the old guy? IDK? The consistency was totally off!
I really liked the strawberry milk flavor, its made with real strawberries, and you can see the tiny strawberry seeds. I usually like the haupia flavor too, but this time it was almost non existent! I don’t know if it was because the strawberry overpowered the haupia or if they didn’t put enough sauce or if the sauce was just weak, either way i just didn’t really care for the haupia this time.
I don’t know what went wrong today. Im not giving up quite yet, i’ll give the haupia another chance before i decide to throw in the towel.

Two Words: Acai Bowl! Delicious, Yummy, Onolocious, Heavenly. Trust Me, you have to try it!
I read about Ailana’s Acai Bowl on a «Best Acai Bowls in Hawaii» list and wanted to try it. Their bowl contains: blueberries, strawberries, avocado, banana, mochi balls (2 types), almonds, granola & mint. A large order cost me a little over $ 8. Presentation is beautiful, taste is great. I loved it!
The owners are so nice. We had a nice experience here and will definitely return!

I stopped by Ailana after a workout last week to cool off with some shave ice. Located just outside of Ala Moana mall, their store front is just a building over from the Bank of Hawaii. Inside there are a few tables and pictured menu items posted on the walls including both their specialty shave ice and various breakfast items.
I ordered the tropical trio combo on the wall, which consisted of mango, papaya & coconut flavors along with ice cream underneath and condensed milk on top. I thought it was fairly average as far as shave ice goes.
Given that most shave ice is generally the same (sugar syrup + ice is hard to screw up) the thing that I feel separates the competition are, in order of importance to me, ice cream flavors, number of syrup options and topping choices. Ailana comes up short in the first two categories and maybe somewhere in the middle for the third.
Overall, while it was decent, I certainly feel that there are better shave ice options around. Thus, ‘Meh. I’ve experienced better.’

When you ask someone where their favorite shave ice place in Hawaii is, I’m sure you’ll get a bunch of people saying Matsumoto’s or Waiola’s. But for me, my hands down favorite is Ailana Shave Ice. The texture of their shave ice is always on point and each bite is always soft and never crunchy. But what really sets Ailana’s apart from the others are their flavors. All their flavors are homemade and made with real ingredients. No store-​bought bottled syrups here! And although all their flavors are delicious and should be tried at one time or another, I always get strawberry milk with condensed milk drizzled on top. So good and the absolute best way to beat the heat on a hot day. Prices are more than reasonable and you’re never gonna break the bank treating yourself here. I luckily work only a minute or two away, so I’m shocked I don’t have a million cavities at this point.
I’ve also noticed that they’ve started serving breakfast and lunch items, so I’m gonna have to sample their cooking one of these days.

As good as it gets as far as shave ice is concerned and I think I’ve tried them all (not a fact I’m particularly proud of, BTW). Their house-​made syrups are so much better than the garden variety HFCS-​based ones found elsewhere and they really get the ice consistency perfect. Staff is always friendly but realize quality takes time, so be patient. FYI, they are soon relocating nearby and changing their name to Plumeria Café per signs located in the store.