Worth following and hunting them down…read more Very friendly service and they make it easy to order by using instagram messenger to place orders. Gandule rice was amazing and probably the best I've ever had, packed with flavor and ingredients that you can pretty much just eat it by itself. While the food is expensive, they do give a lot of food which increases the value. The pastelillos was also a delicious treat. Packed with ground beef and cheese and accompanied by their creamy sauce, it makes you wanting more. Overall very good food and would recommend.

We went to Puerto Rico this past June 2023 and fell in love with mofongo. You can't really find…read moremofongo in Hawaii and happened to find this place thanks to Yelp. They have authentic tasting dishes. Very friendly customer service and be sure to follow their Instagram to see where they are or when they are operating.

The best patele on island, I've tried many and always come back here…read more It's local comfort food. My favorite: The Ultimate Patele plate Gandule Rice, Patele, Patele stew on top and Bacalao Salad. It's takeout only, there might be a few seats outside, but it's fun to pick up a plate and go to a nice park nearby to eat your lunch/early dinner under the shade of a large tree. You must come to this tiny location in Waipahu to experience this deliciousness!

Restaurant with a catchy Pigeon English name. Located adjacent to the bus terminal in Waipahu on…read moreHikimoe St. Frontage of the shop was plain with a counter on the connected to the wall with four plastic chairs to sit on.. Looking to find a decent tasting Pastele. Decided to try Wat Get Kitchen. We ordered the Hapa plate. It comes with one pastele, gandule rice and bacaloa salad. My wife and I wanted to try the empanada. Unfortunately the fryer was broken. The Pastele had a good taste. The rice was ok. The Bacalao salad was made fresh as we were watching. Not a bad choice if looking for pastele. We were served by Cory. Funny and very personable. Enjoy.

Hubs and I love the Thursday Wai Kai Market! It's close enough to us where we can walk there. It's…read morea great break from cooking and cleaning at home lol. Best of all, we get to try so many new delicious local bites! We now look forward to our Thursday dinners! A few weeks ago we had already ordered our dinner at a couple other booths, but while waiting for our meals to be prepared, we took another lap around to plan for our next week's meal haha. I was excited to see a Puerto Rican food truck! It had been so long since we've had Puerto Rican; I was counting the days until we came back lol. I placed my order for the Tripleta sandwich and we took our stroll while waiting for our meal. I asked for no potato stix on my sandwich; personal preference, but I definitely know a lot of people who would've enjoyed the added crunch! It was ready just as we returned about 8 minutes later. Each bite was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and fresh. The bread was divine and soft, the best pair to the symphony of meats and veggies. I will definitely be trying the plantains next time! Along with more of their menu; everything sounds so yummers! For the meat sandwich lovers; the tripleta does not disappoint!!

I tried their food and it was good. I got the Pincho-con. It was $28. Flavor wise it was good but…read morepresentation wise I was disappointed. From what they posted on Instagram I was highly excited to get it but when I received it, the sauce wasn't mixed in with the rice. Also the person running the window was a young person. They weren't being rude but they did seem like they were bored. I ended up paying with a $50 bill for a $28 dish. So my change would have been $22 but instead I ended up getting $12 back. So.....like I said flavor was good. Presentation was disappointing. Service was meh. My overall score to this establishment is 2 out of 5. I won't be coming back because I don't trust the person running the window.

It's been a while since we got some pastele, so decided to phone order for lunch. Simple order, #5…read moreone pastele (hot) and gandule rice, 1 small order of pastele stew, and 1 side order of bacalao salad, and 2 pastele lumpia. Hubs picked up the order and brought home lunch. Side note, the last time I ordered the stew/rice combo, it wasn't enough for the Mr, and since there was rice at home, he ordered the stew separate. I was in a meeting, and would enjoy my food after I was done. As I stepped out of my home office, I see hubs hardly at any stew, and I asked him if he was waiting for me to eat. He said no, and told me "if you want the stew, you can have it". Oh no, I know exactly what that means, so I offered him half of my pastele plate. He said no, and he looked bummed out. I knew I would need to reheat my plate, as it sat for 20 minutes before I got to eat it. While I was reheating my plate, I took a bite of his stew. I had to stop and look at the stew and it looked different. So I took another bite. The taste was ok (not like the amazing stew in the past), but the meat had a different texture. One more bite.....that's when I realized and then asked hubs, "Is that ground pork? Is that why it's different?" And he agreed, "that's what it is! ground pork!" The flavor was a bit off too, but the meat made all the difference. My reheated #5 plate was fine, a little bit salty, but just fine, no complaints. Finished up with the pastele lumpia, which was greasy (usually is unless its fresh) and asked hubs about the bill. Well, I understand inflation is a terrible thing for small businesses and consumers, but my jaw dropped when he said it was $50. And he wasn't a happy camper about the price or the stew. -Sigh- I don't give up easily on places I've enjoyed for years, so I will be back, eventually.

Updated menu as of 02/27/2026. Menu on their website is pretty outdated. Came in a little earlier…read morethan our pick up time which is fine. Lady that helped us at the counter was super nice! :) coworkers said they came here a lot, but it's my first time- so we'll see. :) Okay wait- update on the food. Their stuff is mean! I wish there was an option for it to be more spicy tho because, Ho! That would be immaculate! definitely coming back if I'm ever in town again

A beautiful time capsule preserving the past of our home…read more The food was hot and fresh and perfectly done. Everything was seasoned so perfectly. The service is concise yet full of love, Perfect for weeknights or special occasions.

First time dining in after their renovation. New seating, definite upgrade from before. The New…read moremenus are colorful with many options. There are other items you can order like pickled bitter melon, ocean salad etc. posted on the walls and even catering photos. Service is efficient, courteous and friendly. Food is as delicious as ever. Hubs always gets the hamburger steak plate. I like the mild pastele and tripe stew. For a change I got their combination Hawaiian food. The chicken long rice is to die for- savor the broth, texture of the swollen long rice you can slurp or guzzle down. No shame- I add half a scoop of white rice to soak up the goodness and enjoy drinking it all straight from the little bowl. The haupia is excellent. I'm bringing home half the Kalua pig, the lomi salmon and the laulau- it's heavy and solid to enjoy for dinner. If you're a fan of local food with ethnic flair come here there's poke, kim chee, kalbi and even desserts now too.

Just woke up from a big Kanak Attack (food coma)…read more Came to visit for work and we were told to try this place. Loved seeing the pictures of everything. I had two interests on the menu and asked which one she recommended. She said Kachi Kachi all the way. Gondule rice, pastele on top, and covered in dioja stew. Bugga was mayjah! When she explained it to me, I stopped her mid way and told her that's what I want. nice little hole in the wall with great lady's serving! Who needs z quil when this plate can take me out easy!

Food is excellent home made delicious Thursdays or…read moreSaturdays Check it out always satisfied

As I browsed to see which trucks I haven't tried at Taco'ako Tuesday, I came across Kai's Pastele…read moreShop which I haven't seen before. I guess I'm the first to review this truck because I couldn't find any other posting on Yelp: Pastele stew - 4 stars - For $7.50 plus 20 cents tax (yes, this truck is one of the few that the tax is not included in their price) it pretty much tasted like the stew I make, but they had more ingredients in it. I like how they blended in cabbage, olives,. chunks of tomatoes and some other spices other than your basic carrot, potato, onion and celery in it. They gave a pretty big serving with two scoops of rice and watercress salad. Pastele - 3 stars - For $4 you can order the pastele ala carte. It's something I haven't eaten before, so I can't say if it's better or worse than other places, but it was something different to try - if you like spicy, it has a spicy after-bite to it. Goes well with the stew. My friend ordered the taco, and he said it was ok. However, I can't rate it since I didn't try it. Service - 5 stars - the man and woman were very friendly and answered my questions on what a pastele is, but more so because I didn't know what a pastele was or tasted like, he gave me a free sample to try, which is something not many lunch trucks would do. They also sell tacos and burritos, but I have to go back to try those too before being a fan of the truck.

I'm gonna be honest and say that this is the best Pastele place I've been to on the island…read more I can't say that i can compare it to an actual sit down puerto rican restaurant, since I'm not familiar with many around the island, but in comparison to all the Pastele trucks and stops Ive been to around the island, this one takes the cake! I've been to stops along the windward side, while heading down toward Koolau. There used to be (not sure if its still there) Pastele stops along the road. One of the guys that used to serve Pastele along with poke had decent Pastele, but his business was way sketchy. The dude would always "accidentally" miscount the money. He also inaccurately counted up the total of your order in his head. Not to mention his erasable white board was unreadable which made the prices even harder to determine. So don't go to that guy! Instead go to Kai's. Great prices (you don't have to worry about getting ripped off) and their Pastele ingredients are unique in texture. I'm really not even sure if they were made out of the traditional banana base. But i don't really care because they were just so awesome! They offer a a few different types Pastele with different types of meat all at different spice levels. Also several other peurto rican dishes which i still have yet to try are available. Next time I'm getting the seafood Pastele. I'm so bummed because they sold out the last time. I'm a huge fan of seafood and Pastele so when i saw it on the menu i just thought it was the coolest mix. (if you've never had poke with your Pastele you should def. give it a try)