This used to be a favorite place of mine - a "home away from home" when I miss Berkeley's Indian restaurants. I try to eat at Kamana about once a week or so, and drive all the way from Pahoa to do it. I arrived today during the end of the lunch time (1:30 PM). I sat awhile until someone brought water but no menu, then sat quite a bit longer without a menu, then had get up and get the menu myself, then sat some more, and then a little longer, and then finally left because no one seemed interested in taking my order. No one said, "sorry, we'll be right with you," or anything else that would have made the waiting tolerable. It wasn't even that busy! Many people have to order food and eat within a reasonable amount of time because they need to return to work, or have an appointment, or some such thing. They can't wait forever for someone to notice them. As for me, I am friends with a couple of their most loyal, devoted customers, and if I ever return, I'll go in their company so hopefully I'll be allowed to order something. I saw another woman leave too - and she had nothing at her table that indicated she'd eaten either. Fortunately, the health food store next door has hot dishes for sale, so that's where I ate lunch. With such ready competition next door, you'd think Kamana would work a little harder to acknowledge the hungry customers that come in the door. I hope the owner takes note of this review. A shame - I really liked this place, and always tip well. read more

The food was excellent when we were finally served. We had the Royal Platter and Palak Paneer. The only reason I gave it four stars is due to the horrendous service. The half hour wait to get someone to take our order and the other hour to get our food was too much. I consider myself pretty patient, but this was overkill. read more

Five Star strip mall dining at its finest!!! Honest to god! As an Indian food aficionado this is some of the best I've had in hundreds of meals at Indian restaurants. So much so that I'm still in the middle of my meal and had to take a timeout to write this! read more

Easily the tastiest, most flavorful Indian food I've had the pleasure of enjoying -- rivaling any of the multiple Indian restaurants I've tried in NYC. I ordered the non-vegetarian Royal Plate medium spicy & be aware, it is quite a feast! Just a few of the items in the Royal Plate include pakora & samosa for appetizers (with an amazing green cilantro mint chutney!), lamb curry (which I substituted for chicken curry), dal fry, naan, moist, aromatic basmati rice & of course, the chicken tikka masala. A knockout -- it's worth a visit here just for that. Creamy sauce + tender chicken, I'm addicted. Did I mention it was a feast? Will definitely enjoy the leftovers I took home for lunch tomorrow. read more

Kamana Kitchen - The Royal Plate feast. - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Kamana kitchen serves delicious Indian food. It is flavorful, simple and the portions are filling. No fancy spices and tastes just like home cooked delicious fare. We tried the Dal makhani and aloo matar. Both were just perfect. We again went the next day and tried dal tadka, Chana masala and paneer kadhai. I loved the first two. Paneer was average. The samosas were to die for. The place is a little on the expensive side. Typically a meal for two with no beverages would cost around $40-$50. But considering that you are in Hawaii and the quality of food, it's all worth it. The service was awesome too. The servers were friendly and would accommodate any special requests. TIP: The food is generally prepared mild. So if you like your Indian food spicy, you have to mention it to them and they dish it out just perfect! A must try for visitors to the Big Island. They also have their restaurant in Kona. I will definitely be going back. read more

This place is so delicious!! They have wonderful vegetarian/vegan and non vegetarian options available. The garlic naan is a MUST have. Cheese naan was good too. Food came out fast and service was excellent and efficient. Our host was pleasant and dressed very well. Definitely will come back again. read more

Kamana Kitchen - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Easily the best Indian food in the state. I know because this is the 3rd island I've lived on and probably tried everything Indian resto. The garlic naan is great, I love the palaak paneer and lamb vindaloo. Can't go wrong, everything I've tried has been super good. read more

Chicken masala, regular & garlic naan was excellent. I'm not a native Indian but I did eat at a lot of Indian restaurants. This satisfied my cravings 100%. Would definitely recommend and come back to eat here again. P. S. Medium spicy is pretty spicy. I'm Korean and can eat spicy food so medium was excellent for me. read more

Kids choice. Food was delicious just as it was the last time we came. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Kamana Kitchen - We had the lamb vindalu, chicken masala, paneer & cheese naan. All delicious. - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Good food. Great prices. I really enjoy how authentic it is. Delicious to eat. The service was fast.

Love this place. The people are so so nice and welcoming! Food is delicious. I love the biryanis...I've tried the vegetable and lamb and both were wonderful. Portion was huge so we took some home. The saag paneer is yummy, raita, naan...all great. It's just a fabulous experience...love eating here! read more

Stopped here for dinner on our drive over from North Kona. Ordered a veg thali and a non veg thali for 2 people which ended up being a lot of food. 2 people can easily share 1 thali. Saag/spinach was a standout item in the veg thali and and non-veg thali was average. Food had an authentic south Asian flavor but I've had better. Extra star for ambiance. read more

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The host/hostess is always very polite. The food is very good and I believe, quite authentic. We are learning to try new things each time we visit. They also serve Indian beer! The Ambiance is very nice and quiet where you can have an actual conversation with your spouse or friends or whoever joins you. It's a great place to go after a long day at work! read more

Excellent food and has been a favorite place too eat. However... a little disappointed this time around; I called in an order at 6:25 and they told me "10-15 minutes" but when I got here at 6:47 it wasn't ready yet. No biggie; I figured it would be just a few more minutes. It's now been an additional 20 minutes of waiting and nearly 45 minutes since I placed our to-go order. Not sure if it's their new system or new management but we've come here for years and it's never been this poor of service. read more

Nothing can be better for a vegetarian Indian couple to see a authentic Indian cuisine after long day of enjoying beauty of Big Island.This Restaurant was just 15 min drive from rainbow fall. We were running out of time as we had a flight to catch. These nice guys brought our food quickly..and the food was just awesome. We ordered paneer kadai paneer and naan, rice was complementary. We enjoyed our dinner. Staff was friendly and service was good. After dinner, Hilo airport was just 10-15 min drive away. read more

Kamana Kitchen - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Thanks to Yelp for showing me this gem when I was looking for a place to eat. AMAZING food & great service. We ordered the non vegetarian royal platter & shared it as well as a lamb dish & of course, extra naan bread. Food came out within 10 min of ordering & it was soooooo good. Prices were good for the amount of food we got & we had to take some home as they give generous portions. I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Kamana Kitchen - Samosa & some chicken apps with the royal platter - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Ordered the chicken Tandori, which turned out to be chicken bones Tandori, I mean really they were just chicken bones marinated in sauce and then baked, they were like little petrified chicken legs and back bones... maybe some people like to suck bones, but I found them to be a rip off... over all the food was not food. But if you do decide to eat there do not order anything without asking which parts come with the dish... fair warning. read more

Every time I come to Hilo, we make a point to go to Kamana Kitchen. We only happened upon this jewel by accident. The food is fabulous and reasonably priced. The service is always pleasant and attentive. We only recently found that there is a branch restaurant on Oahu! We are looking forward to trying this one soon... read more

First eating Indian food and it was great. My boyfriend and I only had the chicken tikka masala and chicken curry with cheese naan because we weren't sure what to get but we enjoyed the food so we're planning on going back to try more dishes. The service could be better but we did get our food in a timely manner. read more

my friend and I are craving some tandoori chicken and this place did not disappoint. super flavorful, good service. I recommend the tandoori chicken or the chicken maharani. garlic naan is also the best. it can get kinda stuffy since its not air conditioned and the food is spicy so make sure to ask for a pitcher of water which they will happily supply. read more

Just one word for this place- Awesome! We ordered pakore for appetizers and malai kofta, kadai paneer, baigan bharta and tadka daal for the main course. Each dish came with a bowl of rice. The quantity of the veggies was perfect. The flavor was really good, with just the apt amount of spices. The service was a bit slow but everything was freshly made and tasted delicious. Good option for authentic north indian delicacies. read more

I get the chicken tikka masala lunch special with a side of garlic cheese naan. Get the chicken tikka masala with a side of garlic cheese naan. read more

Tasty, Yummy, Quality of food is Amazing!! One of my fab five Resturant here in Hilo. read more

Kamana Kitchen - Chicken Tiki Marsala - Indian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

We tried the Hilo location as well as the Kona location. The Hilo one was nothing to write home about. After about 4 days in Hawaii the husband and I were craving good Indian food, so we decided to check this place out; and we left unimpressed. Mind you, we were super hungry people so we had a pretty low bar to begin with. Service is ridiculously slow, they get their orders confused, and the food is sub-par at the most. But then for our last dinner of the vacation, we decided to give the Kona location a try, clearly our Indian food craving has resurfaced. It's been two days since that meal and the three of us, including our 6 year old are still sick. My son was complaining of a bad stomach at night and started throwing up and the husband and I soon followed suit. Would definitely not recommend!!! read more

I have eaten here a few times and the food was delicious every time. I really appreciate that they offer vegetarian and vegan options. This time my table was looking directly into the kitchen. Both cooks and the manager who was doing paperwork had no mask on. I kindly asked our server to remind them to wear a mask. The manager put his mask on but the cooks did not oblige. This is when we canceled our order and left. this is unacceptable in every way. People are dying from this virus yet the management can't keep their staff masked or care enough to at least. No apologies or concern was shown when we expressed our discomfort. Sad. read more

Food was really yummy and the staff was friendly. It is really nice that they have several vegan options. I wish the vegan dishes were packed with as much flavor and "meatiness" as the meat items but they are really very good. read more

Very good Indian food at Hilo. We are from a place teeming with Indian restaurants and the standard of Kamana Kitchen is easily in the top 20%. They can get busy because there doesn't seem to be a lot of help in the kitchen. The owner is a humble guy who kept making sure whether we needed anything and if the food was good. The lighting is a bit too dull but we go there for the food! read more

Decent Indian food, but nothing incredible. One of the few Indian places in town, meaning they don't have to worry about competition, they serve the standard fare with a standard slightly overpriced menu. Maybe they envision this as a date place, but it is just normal good Indian food. read more

One of my besties came in and asked on more than one occasion whether the food she was ordering had any nuts, and the staff just said no. After two bites, she got a bad allergic reaction. It is extremely irresponsible and endangering to answer questions about allergies without having full certainty that the answers are true. If the waiter was unsure about whether there were nuts, or uncertain about the severity of the allergy, then they should have clarified before answering the question and bringing out the food. Instead, they endangered a patron's health. Just take your business elsewhere. read more

I love Kamana kitchen especially on a cold rainy day here in hilo. The lunch special is a perfect sized meal and I couldn't ask for more or less. Highly recommend read more

Vist once you wont regret !@ This restaurant have branch all over the island kilauea-kona, maui , Honolulu and this one !!! And. Incase if u wanna visti or make take out ( pick up ) order And specially have delivery option too ! @Doordash#doordash @bitesquad#bitesquad @Express#Express try once ! Push yourself once Then you will get pulled ,get attractedby yourself ! read more

I have ordered from this place twice in a row. First day we got the Garlic butter naan, Panner Tikka Masala (Hot), Dal Makhani (Medium). Second day we got Garlic butter naan, Chicken Tikka Masala (Hot), Dal Makhani (Medium). All of these are really delicious. If you want a really good Indian food to try this is the place. read more

Love this place! Their chicken tandoori is always so juicy and delicious! Definitely our fav, along with their cheese naan!

It's ok and good quality but small portions plus they don't include napkins or utensils with to go options.

Hare Krisha! I am so happy & excited to finally have a great Indian curry house in Hilo. The food is excellent, so fresh & good you can smell it from the parking lot. The saag paneer (spinach w cheese) and vegetable samosas were the best I've ever tasted, and the grilled lamb kabob was superb. The place boasts a real tandoori oven so the naan bread & meats were cooked perfectly. I also enjoyed the eggplant curry and vegetable biryani rice were ono-licious and extremely well prepared. These people know how to cook! I can't wait to try everything on the extensive menu. If you're looking for authentic & delicious curry done right, skip every other place and town & go straight to Kamana Kitchen. I've only been there once, and would give this place 5-stars except the service was lacking. I stopped in to check it out & ordered take-out to bring home a feast, it smelled so good that I ordered a lot of food to go. There was only one person on wait-staff and while she was welcoming and helpful in answering questions, you could see she was struggling to keep up with serving the diners in the table areas. There was a young girl at the bar taking the to-go and phone orders who was decidedly lacking in knowledge about the food. She kept pestering the busy woman serving the tables with the simplest questions on various menu items. Methinks this is a family run place, and this young lady must've been someone's daughter who would rather not be working in the restaurant business. Once my order was taken, I sat at the bar and waited - there was no bartender and the girl taking the phone orders didn't ask me if I wanted anything to drink or even offer me a glass of water. Kamana Kitchen opened recently so probably needs to get staffed up properly and train its personnel better. They did not yet have a take out menu available, and apparently there were some errors on the printed menu, so they'll need to get that sorted out too. In spite of the staffing problem, I highly recommend this place and think Kamana Kitchen will be very popular since it's already serving up some of the best food in town. read more

Great food but it takes forever to be seated and order food. For example I came in on a Friday night and was told wait time would be 3 minutes, it was 20 minutes and then another hour plus before I could got food. read more

Today we had take out for lunch. It's during COVID, so I appreciated the promptness and cleanliness of the reception pickup area. Service was friendly, attentive and efficient. The food was delicious and portions were generous. We each had a vegetarian Thali royal platter, and added an order of chicken tikka masala, gulab jamun, mango chutney, and mango lassi. The chicken tikka is always my favorite, creamy spicy and flavorful. Their homemade naan is the perfect accompaniment. The mango lassi is delicious and made with real mango. The platters were served in large compostable takeout boxes along with several smaller containers for each side serving. Appropriately named the Royal Platter because it was a feast for a king! Along with the Masala we had lunch, dinner, and tomorrow's lunch. The mango chutney is perfect with their samosa and just about everything else. And for dessert the gulab jamun (fried cheese balls in syrup) are so yummy as well. Everything was well worth the price and we look forward to returning. read more

Awesome! The food came very quickly, and was very tasty. There were separate menus for vegetarian/vegan people like us. Everything was seamless. read more

Wonderful service and good food! Excellent ambience. I ordered a Vegetarian Thani and they gave the appetizers separate from the food. read more

Very dissatisfied. Ordered chicken curry and chicken biryani, it was very bland indian food i have ever had. If you are looking more "masaledar" indian food this is not it. read more