Tiki Café

CLOSED. =(…
The main reason why I used to frequent this place was because they had good and cheap boba milk tea. (Note that I said «boba», not bubble.) Bubble is the froth you get when you blow through a straw with a drink. Boba is another way of saying those yummy tapioca balls.
They used to have awesome daily specials for $ 6 – 7. (e.g. Roast pork with rice, salad and a drink!) Downtown food can get expensive, but they were one of the ones that had the great deals.
Sad to say, they’re closed now. And I’m not sure what’s going in there or if there will be anyone there to take it’s place. But, if you’re looking for good boba milk tea or any drink with boba, now Downtowners will have to trek into Chinatown.
I’ll miss you Tiki Café! I hope you re-​open somewhere else soon!

just tried their taro blended bubble tea drink. it’s pretty good. nothing incredible or «must try» but very refreshing. i went with taro because i like Ba-le’s taro tapioca. the bubble drink was not quite as good in the flavor department, but it was a decent enough get.
don’t be scared off by the dive-​y appearance. come for the bubble drink and leave — you’ll feel refreshed!

I love their milk teas and oriental chicken salads!

This place is pretty interesting I’ve had this place booked mark for the longest. But everything when I take my lunch its always closed already. Granted I take my lunch pretty late like after 230pm but its because I start late also. So when I do want to try this spot, they are closed already.
One morning before work I had to walk by to go to longs and said holy moly, they are open. After I did my quick stop at longs. i walk over to Tiki Café to see what they have.
WHen you first walk in, there are tables and chairs scattered throughout. The inside feels a little bit run down, feels a little bit dirty, and dated some but most of those businesses on that side seem to be a little bit on the older side.
I noticed they have boba drinks and thats what they heavily display with pictures on the glass in the front of the business.
I look in the glass case to see what pastries they had and, they seem to have a good assortment. I didnt get that but what I did get was a Large Milk Tea. I’m a fan and almost addicted to milk tea as much as diet coke. And honestly saying i thought the milk tea was pretty darn good. I have tasted some junk milk tea but this one was pretty good. I wish it was a little bit stronger but over all i like it.
I’ve been there a few times already and recently i got a large milk tea and it didnt taste as good as the first two times I got it.
Over all, I’ll be coming back here again to pick up my milk tea esp when I can catch them open.

The first thing I noticed about Tiki Café is the friendly staff. I love their friendly demeanor. It’s very welcoming.
The food at Tiki Café is also reasonable and they have some great items.
The jasmine milk tea is delicious and for a reasonable price of $ 3.50 with bubbles.
For breakfast, i tried their egg sandwich, which was REALLY good.
For lunch, there are some spectacular deals. For $ 6.00, you can order one of their lunch specials, which comes with a fruit tea drink. Depending on the day, they may serve spaghetti, meat loaf, or some other choice dish. It oftentimes comes with two scoops of rice and salad.
The food is decent. However, their teas are some of the best!

If you’re in downtown and craving a bubble drink to get you through the work day, come to Tiki Island! Their bubble drinks are the best and reasonably priced at $ 3!

$ 6 for food and it comes with ice tea!
Came here on a recommendation from a friend. When I first walked in I saw the pork laulau on the menu and I was sold… but it was sold out by the time I got to the register :(Anyway I settled for the oven fried chicken. Which was delicious btw.
The good: lunch comes with a free iced tea! Pretty quick service and well priced entrees.
The meh: The place wasn’t sparkling clean but it could have used some work. When I saw papers in the window looking all yellow and curling I wasn’t sure if it’d be worth dropping in. But I’m glad I did, I wasn’t disappointed. Seating is kind of tight but its a small café so its expected.
I would come back and try their other drinks and hopefully get that pork laulau!

This small locally owned eatery in the heart of downtown Honolulu is the ideal spot to pickup a quick breakfast on the way to the office. At $ 2.50 including tax, the scone and large coffee special is a steal. This morning I opted for the guava scone which was moist, slightly crumbly and flavored with a layer of guava jam in the middle. I admit, the scone was so good I tipped the head back and gave the ‘ol bag dump to get the last few bits; no shame! The Coffee was fresh and hot, not too weak and not high octane sludge making it better than most but not the best. Rating based on scone (****), coffee (***) and overall value (****). If you’re tired of getting hungry by 10 am and don’t want another spam musubi, you need to stop by here for breakfast.

I love Bubble tea and I cannot hide it! Whatever you want to call it, Bubble tea, Boba, Momi… It’s these geletan balls that are so yummy!
$ 2.50 w/​o or $ 3.00 with Boba, what a great price in Downtown. The owners here are so nice and friendly. This is a great place to get your boba tea fix and not break your wallet.

Reading the current reviews, one might get the impression that the Tiki Café is merely a place to get delicious bubble tea, scones, and maybe pick up a sandwich. True, the reviewers are correct. Those are all fine items. But, focusing on these items would be like lauding the performances of Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson in the iconic 1994 comedy «Junior» while failing to mention its true star: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here, Herr Schwarzenegger is played by Tiki Café’s plate lunch. For only $ 6, diners can have their own food «Junior» after eating Tiki Café’s plate lunch consisting of the day’s entrée, two scoops rice, and tossed greens. The entrees change every day, but there are always two entrees to choose from (sometimes three!), which include meatloaf, spaghetti, Parmesan chicken, chicken curry, and many more! A drink is included with the meal, a fruit tea, whose flavor also changes daily.
For 50 cents more, the Tiki Café diner can have pork lau lau as an entrée, offered daily. It’s money well spent — certainly more so than the «Junior» movie poster signed by Danny and Emma that you’re saving up for.
As a final note, it’s straight cash, homie, no cards.

I will be coming here for the occasional lunch and bubble tea. Tried the ice blended taro bubble tea ($ 3.25) and loved it! The pearls were chewy and not slimy feeling, very rich taro taste. My coworker got a teri chicken plate lunch that included her peach ice tea ($ 6). It came with tossed greens and rice, very generous portions. I’ll definitely come back here to have lunch!

Finally, a great milk tea with boba place! and its cheep cheep! $ 3!!! :) what a steal! The interior is a little run down and dark. One of the big fish in the tanks looked like it was dying… or maybe it was taking a nap. on its side. at the bottom of the tank… Who cares? I don’t. The sandwiches are pretty standard, and it comes with chips, but not just any chip, PRINGLES! lol. I’ve never seen pringles served before… It looks like they also serve hot lunch + drink combo for $ 6. I will definitely be back for the milk tea and boba :) and maybe to see if that fish is okay!

This Tiki Café is the small café on hotel st/​fort st mall, not to be confused with Tiki Grill. Anyhow love the scones and love the milk tea and boba… its my niche restaurant for mini snacks. Foodwise in terms of the sandwiches and everything else its ok, so I usually will make Tiki a part of my eat hopping. Come here for a scone before some fried rice for breakfast or after a nice lunch.
Scone wise, supporting choices are chocalate, blueberry, and peach but I think the star of the bunch is cream cheese cranberry. Hot dang, you have a nice pastry that breaks down quite simply and with that toasted cream cheese block on top (that slight char on the cream cheese changes the flavor a bit, much like toasting a marshmallow) its really nice. Tiki Café, I like it, I like it.

I picked Tiki Café since the much-​touted Dreamer’s around the corner was not open (in spite of being well past posted hours)
Found Tiki Café to be a quaint little spot with several fish tanks and a couple of folks enjoying coffee, baked goodies and the morning paper. I had seen fellow Unilocalers mention the coffee and scone special, and my, those scones looked good!
However, I already had a big coffee, so I instead opted for the the Breakfast burrito special for $ 3.25. I had a seat for a couple of minutes, and that burrito came out HOT! It was a bit on the small side, filled with some eggs, rice cheese, ham (or lup cheong) and diced green pepper. My overall impression was this was a bit smallish, but it was a good size for a sensible breakfast. Good cheap price, about average in the taste department.
I guess the coffee and scone special may be the way to go. The folks at the counter were pretty friendly, and so that was nice. I’m looking forward to trying this café again!

I’ve been frequenting this place on and off for a while and mostly for my breakfast fix. The Scone & Coffee special is great in the morning, The scones are crispy flaky goodness I don’t know how else to describe them I love em I could eat a dozen. Their coffee is I gotta admit decent since I don’t know any better. I definitively am not a Gourmet Coffee addict I just know if it tastes good I’m happy if it tastes burnt or bitter I’m not so there! Humph! (had to add that in for fun) but what brings me back is the scones uh… did I say I loved them already? uh yeah ok…
Well I’ve also been here for lunch several times too and I found that hit or miss on the taste but the value is good for what you get. as you not only get the plate and salad but a nice fruity drink too! Okay I have to explain the hit or miss the food is pretty consistent but I guess I am not a fan of certain tastes and I usually don’t like that kind of spices on my Pork Chops, it is okay on Chicken for me but that you have to try it yourself as your preferences may be different than mine, and it is a good value.
The décor in the place is a bit dark with a bunch of fish tanks around and you kinda feel like you’re in a hidden place (feels great like you are hiding from anyone at work) The people there are friendly but not overly so that you get creep-​ed out like some places and did I mention the Scones? haha.

A recommendation came in my search for the perfect boba drink.
The hong kong-​style coffee tea was the best flavor, but the tapioca still didn’t trump Crackseed Center…
Give extra time at lunch as the line is out the door.
Best deal is the scone/​coffee to start off the day right.

the appearance seemed a little ghetto at first but the amazing service made up for it. my sandwich came out pretty good and it was insanely cheap. it came with a random bag of chips. I’m going to have to go here soon and try the scones and the daily specials.

if you haven’t had a scone from Tiki Café, you haven’t lived. They are nothing short of ORGASMIC!

I used to love Tiki’s milktea, but it seems as if the taste went downhill. Now its too watered down and doesnt have that much flavor. I ordered the mango iced tea today and asked for no sugar, and it still tasted really sweet! But its one of the only decent bubble drink places in downtown (yummy ice garden is pretty good also though).
So dissapointed in their scones too. they used to be buttery and flavorful, but now theyre kinda dry.

Tiki Café is located on Hotel street, around the corner off Fort Street from what used to be Taco Bell/​Pizza Hut.
One thing I appreciated about this place (and do appreciate about most of the places I enjoy eating at) was that the interior of the restaurant is kept rather clean and the service is great. Speedy and friendly (though most people who work there do not speak what most would consider perfect English), the Tiki Café is a must visit for anyone who loves (1) various Asian «bubble» teas, (2) good food (especially the scones and sandwiches), (3) low prices.
The last time I ate here, I opted for bubble tea and a club sandwich though they do have good lunch specials of sandwich, salad, and iced tea for 6 or so dollars (and that includes tax) and also have excellent scones. I prefer the pineapple scone, myself.
While I am not as particular about milk or bubble teas as I am about Vietnamese food (namely Phở) or weird Korean Bimbamboom noodles (see my sorabol review), it is still not exactly my particular beverage of choice. Still, as far as Bubble Tea goes, Tiki Café is highly recommended.
The sandwich was great too. Now, I know it is just a sandwich and, as far as sandwiches go, it should be really hard to mess up a club sandwich. Key word. should be. Trust me, I’ve had some very odd sandwiches in my day.
FYI on the club sandwich… Tiki Café uses un-​toasted wheat bread which I find to be a refreshing change from the classic toasted white. This is mostly because I am guaranteed to not suffer from toasted bread cuts all over the roof of my mouth. Another thing about these clubs that I enjoyed was the fact that the sprouts they added did not overpower the sandwich. Nearly on par with my aversion to mushrooms is my aversion to bean sprouts.
Nevertheless, this is a great & economical little place to eat. But be warned, it’s another cash only establishment.