Aina

Malasadas are nothing compare to Leonard’s in hawaii. Short rib loco moco wasn’t really a loco moco, it was a green hipster interpretation.

Grindz, if you’re out there reading this, I sure hope you guys got to try Aina before they ended their pop-​up service last week. It’s a real shame if you didn’t because they certainly could have taught you guys a thing or three about how Hawaiian-​inspired brunch should be done!
While this review is slightly belated (their six month pop-​up run ended on May 11^th), Aina isn’t gone forever (they’re working on new dishes and pop-​up ideas). Still, I’m glad I was able to make it before their hiatus, though I regret not coming back for another meal. What I said about Grindz may seem harsh, but as much as they’ve failed me (on multiple occasions, no less), Aina has (mostly) succeeded. The menu wasn’t super extensive (only a half dozen entrées), but every dish sounded great. What’s more, every dish that we saw pass by both looked and smelled fantastic!
Although it was a definite bummer that they ran out of malasadas (the last order went out just ahead of us), I was stoked to try the KAHLUA PORK BELLY ($ 15). The meat was grilled nicely, ridiculously tender and juicy, and not all that fatty. The poached egg was cooked perfectly as well, and I loved the use of the kimchi to add some heat and acid to the dish. I do wish the portion was a little larger though, as there wasn’t a ton of pork belly to be had.
The one knock I had with our meal was that I do wish the portion were a little larger for the money. As good as the pork belly was, there wasn’t a lot to be had. The Guava Mimosa I had was pretty fair though ($ 7) and tasted great (sorry, no picture). Otherwise, everything was great, including the service. I just hope I get another crack at those malasadas again!
Mahalo, Aina! Hope to see you again soon!

Island food remastered!
My second time at Aina, and for very good reason. Our first taste was in March, where we befriended the owners Cheryl and Jordan. Their hospitality made the experience extra ordinary. The average wait on the last Sunday was 2 hours. We called in early and they were happy to put our name on the waiting list to minimize wait. Super nice!
We have tried the entire menu now and can honestly say they took all of the best Hawaiian style foods and fine tuned it for West Coast palates. Our favorites include the potatoes, pork belly, chicken katsu, and sausage with Brussels sprouts.
Every table was adorned with a bouquet of tropical flowers. Service was attentive and timely.

I was fortunate enough to have brunch at Aina while I was home for the weekend in the city in early April. I just happened upon their Unilocal page while searching for places that served local food, specifically malasadas and Aina came up time and time again. It was a sign and we made a point to have a meal there before we flew back to LA. Aina is located on a stretch of Cortland that has some coffee shops, bakeries and other small businesses. I found the neighborhood to be quite charming, to be honest. It was a perfect location for a pop-​up brunch spot. And we were lucky enough to be in town on one of the two weekends they were open that month for brunch service.
We waited only a few minutes before we were seated at a table off to the side for 2. For starters, it was a no-​brainer that we went with the guava malasadas served with haupia custard. Now you have to know that I consider myself a malasada connoisseur. I always make a point to have them at the various yearly Hawaiian festivals in the Los Angeles area. And I’ve had the famous malasadas at Leonard’s Bakery on Oahu so I feel like I know what I’m talkin about. Ha! Aina’s malasadas are LEGIT. They are fluffy, light, slightly crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside. Dusted and covered in sugar and served with delicious haupia custard. I also love haupia as the coconut flavor is essential to Hawaiian cooking and haupia pudding is so tasty in many baked goods served in the islands… I almost ordered another one. I regret not doing so.
For my entrée, I went with the kalbi loco moco. It was so delicious and tender… I can taste it all over again as I type this. Amazing. It was served with short grain rice, sunny side up eggs, mushroom gravy & hearts of palm pico de gallo. It was a modern twist to a classic loco moco but it didnt disrupt my idea of that classic Hawaiian dish. The presentation was beautiful, the dish was delicious, even the curve-​edged plate was perfect for eating and scooping up the loco moco. And yes, I could have eaten another one. It was that good.
My lady friend got the entrée with the lap cheong as she loves dishes served with chinese sausage. It was served with poached eggs, smoked mushrooms, okinawan sweet potato purée, watercress & toasted sweet bread. It was very good, as well. I’m a big fan of okinawan sweet potato and anytime I have a chance to sample that in any way that it is served, I’m all over it. I had a couple of bites from her dish and it was very tasty. The crispy lap cheong is a winner in every way. This dish was also presented quite nicely.
Aina… Thank you. You brought a little bit of aloha to my trip back home to the city. And what I love most is that even though the food served is a modern interpretation of classic Hawaiian dishes & flavors, the love is still there. The aloha spirit is still in the food and anyone that knows Hawaii knows that is the essence and beauty of the islands.
Service was friendly, courteous and with a smile… Aina is a true gem. Bernal Heights, I envy you. Go there. As soon as you can… Chee-​Huuu!

4.5 Stars but I’m rounding up to 5 stars for this review.
My best girlfriends and I walked around bernal heights hill early on Sunday morning. We arrived at Aina exactly at 9 AM and there were already people sitting inside the restaurant. We were seated right away and checked out the menu.
I’m so glad my friends are open to eating family style so we were all able to try out plenty of dishes.
We ordered the following;
Guava Malasadas with Haupia custard
It was my first time having malasadas so I have nothing to compare this to but it was good and reminded me of a doughnut.
Poached eggs, kalua pork belly
I didn’t have the pork belly but my friends loved it.
Chicken Katsu with carrot purée
Good but not my fave
Guava and taro french toast
I LOVED this. I probably could have ordered two and left happy and fulfilled.
Kalbi loco moco
Delicious. The short ribs were cooked to perfection and I loved the sunny side eggs with rice.
Portuguese sausage and brussel sprouts
LOVED! This along with the french toast were my faves. Highly recommend.
The service was fine. Everyone was welcoming and I love their whole concept. I can’t wait to bring my husband and son here. Definitely worth a visit.

My mind is blown.
Came here on a Saturday for brunch. Te place was packed and my friends and I were lucky enough to snag a table outside where it was actually warm and sunny… in San Francisco! Right?!
I love that my group of friends are happy to do family style, because we all get o try a bit of variety! So between the 5 of us, we had:
MALASADAS — $ 6
Fried doughnuts w/​haupia custard, a traditional coconut dessert.
Every time I see any round doughnut that looks like this I always wish for there to be a filling. In this case, I was fine there wasn’t because the filling was on the outside! These are made to order so when we received this, it was warm! It looked like it was tossed in cinnamon and sugar, placed on dish of haupia (coconut-​milk) custard. This is what we started our meal with! Delicious!
FRENCH TOAST — $ 6
Guava and taro french toast, macadamia nuts, applewood bacon & coconut foam.
This came out as one thick pink slice cut in half. I appreciate the french toast not being dry. I don’t really taste the guava nor the taro, but this bad boy was served on a thick sweet coconut sauce, topped with crushed macadamia nuts and pomegranate seeds… it was an amazing combination. It wasn’t too sweet but full of macadamia flavor! Oh by the way there’s a huge strip of perfect bacon that is placed on top – crispy and tasty.
CHICKEN KATSU — $ 14
Chicken katsu, sunny side up eggs, somen noodles, katsu dip
I love this dish so much. My favorite part of this would have to be the somen noodles. It’s like the best Hawaiian macaroni salad you ever tasted, but instead of macaroni, you get soman noodles, which is white Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. The chicken katsu was crispy and delicious (careful it’s served super hot!) with a dipping sauce. Oh man I am drooling as I’m writing this…
SCRAMBLED EGGS & BACON — $ 12
Scrambled eggs, applewood bacon, dino kale, crispy potatoes.
This is pretty much your standard «american» breakfast plate with the eggs and bacon works. What’s unique to me are the crispy potatoes – I never seen it cut this way before! It’s like they cut a potato in half and slice a cross in the center so that there are more crispy edges… GENIUS! Very crisy on the outside and yummy! I didn’t try the kale but you know… it’s kale.
KALUA PORK — $ 15
Kālua pork, celery root purée, rainbow swiss chard with truffled crispy wonton, micro greens. Kalua refers to a traditional Hawa’iian style of cooking in the ground, using an imu.
Oh how the pork was tender and full of flavor! Slightly sweet and savory, with the celery root purée that reminded me of aioli. The crispy won ton was amazing – thinly cut, crispy and just so much fun to eat! What an amazing dish.
PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE & BRUSSELS SPROUTS HASH — $ 14
Portuguese sausage and brussels sprouts hash, short grain rice, green onion salsa verde, sunny side up eggs.
Oh my goodness, the sausage and brussel sprouts is a perfect pair! And then you let he yolk ooze into it… this dish was fantastic!
LEMON PINK PEPPERCORN SPRITZER (w/​soju) — $ 7
What a beautiful drink this was! It was sprinkled with pink peppercorn! This drink had a slight sweetness to it.
POMEGRANATE AND FENNEL FIZZ (w/​soju) — $ 7
I didn’t like this as much as the Lemon Spritzer but it wasn’t bad. If you like the tart taste (I don’t) then you’ll enjoy this… which is also sweet.
Overall everything tasted wonderful! I was happy to know that a lot of the ingredients were healthy too (brussel sprouts, kale, chard). Who would have though you can combine healthy vegetables with amazing meats to make such a great meal full of flavor!!! Ugh… I want to come back. I really do.
Sigh…I’ll be dreaming of you ‘Aina…