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    Malu

    4.6 (144 reviews)
    ModerateDesserts
    Closed 12:00 pm - 8:00 PM

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    Angela P.

    Ordered a custom cake to celebrate me and my twin sister's birthday and it was exactly what we wanted. We're big grand sumo fans and we had requested a cake shaped like a dohyo (the ring that sumo wrestlers fight in). He even got the salt and water buckets we wanted! He was also kind enough to let us borrow his plastic container for transport!

    Jay S.

    Malu is a nice dessert place they have soft serve ice cream and the roll cakes are delicious. Also tried the sesame jelly drink that was so refreshing too. The owner was really nice and friendly. The place is small and has a few seats if you want to eat in.

    Menu

    What a nice treat after dinner! We tried the strawberry jelly drink. Don't forget to mix it before drinking! It tastes just like strawberry milk with jelly pieces (kind of like boba). We also had the vanilla soft serve topped with fresh mango sauce, and it was delicious! It felt like eating fresh cut mango with your ice cream. They're generous with the sauce too, which we enjoyed. Just a reminder: make sure to get your parking validated!

    Part of the menu
    Dianna R.

    It's always good to see Taka. I've been coming to him for years. Today, he opened the door for us and remembered me after months of being away. I got a new job, so I haven't been around as much. But his quality is as good as ever. Today, all of the items were winners. I think he is getting used to the American palate more. I loved the Halloween decorations, and the bright pick paint always lifts my spirits. Inside the case is the special of the week along with some of the staple items. On the wall is the rest of his menu. If you want, he can make speciality cakes for you. He really is fun to see. I love his hojicha soft serve!

    Candied Pear
    Jackie K.

    First time visit. Met the owner Taka. Nice guy. He makes the cakes and goodies here. Ordered the original beef Kimbap, Coffee jello drink, Candied Pear and newly featured Pistachio pie. I parked on Makaloa Street metered parking per yelp tips. 75 cents for 30 minutes. Owner Taka makes the Kimbap when you order it! Great tasting. Coffee jello was a little sweet for me, but still delectable. The pistachio cake and Candied Pear were recommended by owner Taka. Great recommendations! Update: The candied pear was perfectly ripe. However the candied cover was sweet and ended up cutting up my mouth. Maybe a thinner layer? I ended up pulling off the candied cover and ate up the delicious pear.

    Storefront
    Nadine C.

    Where to go after dinner in Honolulu, Hawaii... This is a common question which the Yelp app can answer. I searched for "dessert" and found Malu. I had seen it at the Ke'eaumoku Plaza (the building next to Sam Sung Plaza). It was time to check it out! Because I strongly dislike paying for parking, we parked elsewhere and walked over. Malu is between King of Thai Boat Noodles and next to Wen's Tea. It shares the parking lot with Cafe Gangnam and Kickin' Kajun. Inside, the cozy fuschia-colored shop is ready for Instagram photos. The bright pink decor is quite memorable! There's bench seats with a few tables and chairs for indoor dining. Service was very polite and friendly. My friend asked a lot of questions and the gentleman was so nice. We learned that "Malu" has many meanings. In Hawaiian, it's protection. In other cultures, it's peace or conversation. My friend asked - what's the Korean word for "pink"? The gentleman laughed and said that he didn't know because he's Japanese! LOL! My friends got fancy desserts - a cream puff cookie and a yuzu mousse - and strawberry jelly milk drinks. They really enjoyed the quality and flavors! I can't do dairy, so, I got Kimbap - Korean sushi. It was made fresh - it was delicious! The beef was tender and tasty! The rice was chewy and the takuan was crunchy! Yum! I wouldn't mind returning - especially since Malu stays open until 8pm. Note: closed on Wednesdays

    Mont blanc chestnut cake 12.2022
    Jenny T.

    Teeny mega pink shop. Usually it is quiet and peaceful, but the pink is always bright and welcoming. No matter what day you stop by to have a dessert, this place always has something for you (different selections often from the creative chef) and the nice man there who makes everything! Sometimes there are seasonal/themed desserts available too, and you can also order custom cakes for special occasions. I have no pictures of the taiyakis but they were delicious each time. All of the cakes, soft serves, and kimbap are delicious as well! Every bite is flavorful (and not too sweet or overdone). Parking is not the best in that plaza, but it has always been a good time on slow days. I like coming when I'd like a treat to myself.

    Soft Serve w/Oreos & Chocolate (L) and Soft Serve w/Fresh Strawberry Sauce & Fruity Pebbles (R)
    Daniel C.

    M: Let's go get dessert... Me: I have to work... M: Let's go get dessert!! Me: I'm busy now... M: LET'S GO GET DESSERT!! Me: ok... I should be working but Mink wanted to get dessert so we went to check out Malu. She insisted we go but at least we went during off hours. Samsung Plaza had lots of open stalls and the place was empty. You can't miss this place because it's bright pink. Inside is cozy and they validate for 30 minutes if you dine in. She knew she wanted the soft serve with Oreos and chocolate. Mink ordered me the soft serve with fresh strawberry sauce and Fruity Pebbles. I think she got me one so that she could have two lol. It was pretty good and the Fruity Pebbles offered the soft serve a nice textural component to each bite. Mink was satisfied and got her pics for the Gram. Main thing is she's happy and had a good experience there. Glad I was able to come and give this spot a try. It was nice break from everything and the soft serve was quite good. Definitely worth trying and solid spot near the Ala Moana Center area. 4.5 stars

    From left to right: nama Choco, Mont Blanc, and cookie cream puff
    Mona W.

    It was my first time trying this place! I have seen the advertisements for this business and follow them on IG as well but never actually had the time to go there to try it! It used to be a soft serve place and I've been there once before it changed establishment! The boyfriend was the one who said we should go. I think he may have seen it online or something. But I was so glad we did! We got there and no one was in the shop! There was only one person working and I am assuming that's the owner of the shop. He was very nice and made our order all by himself! We had ordered the 5 taiyaki, 1 kimbap, and 3 desserts! We got the spicy tuna and cheese kimbap and that was soooo good!! It's very cute that the top was sprinkled with rainbow sesame seeds! The egg was like a tamagoyaki egg versus the actual pan fried egg so it gave the kimbap a slightly sweeter taste! For the taiyaki we ordered two spicy tuna melt and one of each of the beef, chocolate, and custard! Omg!!! It was all sooo good!!! I don't eat beef so the bf had that and he said that it's realllllyyyy good!!! The spicy tuna melt was so good too!! But the sweet taiyaki...omg!! Chef's hand kiss! The chocolate was soo good!! It's like chocolatey but minus the extra sweet flavor! It's like actual dark chocolate!! The custard was amazing as well! Like I don't usually like custard but this custard is like the ones I've had in Korea! It's not the super heavy cream or pudding like custard it's the more transparent and not so sweet kind!!!! All of it was sooo good!!! For the desserts we got the Mont Blanc, nama Choco, and the cookie cream puff! They were alll really delicious but my favorite has got to be the nama choco!! It's like a dense mousse cake but when you take a bite of it, it's like this velvety chocolate that just melts in your mouth! The Mont Blanc has this really nice layer of chestnut and cream and the crust is nice and crispy/flakey!! The cookie cream puff was probably the best cream puff I've had! Like the puff itself was crispy on the outside with the cream on the inside! But the shell itself doesn't break down and make the cream gush out when you cut into it. Like the shell stays in tact when you cut and doesn't crumble!! That's a miracle!! Like I've never had anything like that!!! If you haven't tried Malu, I would definitely recommend you try them out!! Definitely will not regret it!! The price is pretty reasonable as well! I mean we ordered all of that and it was about $40 something! We will definitely be back to try the other items he has as well!!

    Yayyy taiyaki!
    Li Y.

    Cute little boutique dessert and snack shop. One man show. Boy does the owner work tho; And he creates the cutest snacks and things. Check them out on their IG page or website to see some of his creations. First time I stopped by the shop was to buy a few dessert items for my friend's kids and kimbap for me. It was fun to choose! Saw that they also had taiyaki in sweet and savory choices and my favorite...jelly drinks! They had coffee jelly, matcha jelly, and mango jelly that day. Had to stop in later that evening with friend to try the coffee jelly! So delicious! Today I came back for the taiyaki and of course a jelly drink. Taiyaki choices include tuna, spicy tuna, beef, red bean, chocolate, and custard. Bought three to get the discount price. Ohhh swoon...I want more I WANT MORE!! Choices on jelly drinks today are coffee, matcha, and strawberry. Ohh boy, choices...such hard choices! Got the matcha jelly. Yumm so delicious! Looking forward to returning. Located in the Sam Sung Plaza on Keeamoku Street. Only the owner runs the space so if there is a line, expect to wait. I arrived first so my order was quick. The lady who arrived 4th while I was still waiting was not happy to be quoted 30 minutes for Taiyaki and Kimbap made to order. Taka, the owner, mentioned customers can order online at their website and he will start to work on your order before you get there. Small shop. Slightly small portions still, love the selection. Look for the bright cute pink shop. Thank you so much Taka, again, for your good service and delicious treats! Arigatoo ne, ja mata!

    Custom frog birthday cake
    Gillian D.

    A cute little Japanese dessert shop tucked away off Keeaumoku. They specialize in custom cakes, pastries, soft serve and even kimbap. I've come to Malu to get cakes for a special occasion, once for a custom birthday cake and just recently for their Valentine's special chocolate heart. Both 5 star experiences, especially the custom cake. They were able to perfectly capture what I was going for and were very responsive via email. My frog cake turned out great! The only thing was the cake needed to be buttercream based (instead of whipped cream) to accommodate my request for decoration. The inner cake ended up being like 60% buttercream and 40% cake and was a bit hard to eat. Their pastries are very delicious and are Japanese style so not that sweet. The nama choco is one of my favorites because it tastes just like Royce chocolate from Japan. Aside from the sweets, I've come here twice so far wanting to try their kimbap...but they were out of rice both times :( I don't want to give up on trying the kimbap because I hear it's really good! In general, I find that many items sell out by the afternoon, so come early. Every time I've come, only Taka (the owner) was working. He can only help one group at a time, resulting in long wait times even if there's only 2-3 people in line. Major props to him though for managing all that by himself.

    Ice cream with half Hojicha and Black Sesame topping sprinkled with color sprinkles! So yummy!
    Jody R.

    Met Taka, one of the owners. Super nice guy. We shared the soft vanilla ice cream with half Hojicha and half Black Sesame topping sprinkled with color sprinkles. So yummy! Will return. They also have beautiful cakes!

    Craig Y.

    Located off Keeaumoku St, Honolulu, Parking you have the option to pay for parking in the main lot or opt to look for street parking. The place is small a few tables. The desserts go pretty fast throughout the day we got there about a hour before closing and we had only 3 choices of desserts I got the double cream cookie puff and a bag of Chex style mix. Overall a cool place for desserts.

    Chanel inspired Chocolate Mousse cake

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    MOSA

    MOSA

    4.8
    (395 reviews)
    1.3 mi
    $$

    MOSA! was a complete sleeper. I walked in skeptical. The menu looked a little rough, the area…read moreoutside isn't exactly charming and when the bill came out to around $34 for three minis, I had that immediate tourist price reaction of, "Come on." Then we ate it. And honestly, it was worth every penny. The ice cream was excellent. Kona coffee, ube, vanilla, chocolate chip cookie dough, strawberry, everything we tried worked. But the thing that made it special was the texture. The shaved/crushed peanuts, the macadamia, the way it all came together with the ice cream and crepe. Simple idea, but done right. Rich, crunchy, cold, soft, sweet and somehow not heavy. The service was the other surprise. The girls working that night were incredible. Warm, patient and genuinely sweet with my kids. They walked us through flavors, helped us figure out what to order and made the whole thing feel fun instead of transactional. My son loved watching the peanuts get shaved and the Super Smash Bros. setup was such a random, perfect touch. It gave the place personality. I came in thinking this was going to be overpriced dessert. I left thinking it was one of the best things we ate on the trip. Five stars. No notes. I'll absolutely be back.

    Husband got this and said it's a 10/10 and to write a review for them! I'm not a fan of peanut…read morebutter or nuts but I trust that if he saying it's good, then it's good! If you look at the right side of the building you can see a tv, they let you play ninetendo gaming that you can play

    Photos
    Mosa wrap with 3 flavors and strawberries on top
    Mosa wrap with 3 flavors and strawberries on top
    Mosa Wrap $12.95
    Mosa Wrap $12.95
    Matcha strawberry and coconut ice cream wrap

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    Matcha strawberry and coconut ice cream wrap
    Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

    Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

    4.4
    (895 reviews)
    2.9 mi
    $$

    I love Pipeline Bakeshops Malasadas! I have been to several Malasada places in Hawaii but | love…read morethere's the best for the following reasons: 1. the size of the malasadas: some restaurants tend to make their Malasadas smaller and when places do this it ruins the overall texture and quality of it. The bigger the malasadas size the more airy and fluffy and more bread layers that will be inside. 2. their malasadas always taste fresh and the same quality each time. 3. their malasadas don't feel oily or heavy at all Overall I would highly recommend this place for their Malasadas! I'm so happy to have found them. I can back multiple times on my trip. They also have other desserts too that I have yet to try. They have ice cream, cakes, and other desserts Also tip: if you are ordering a malasada also order a coffee or a matcha drink to go with it. The cinnamon sugar from the malasada just matches so perfectly with a drink this restaurant is also a nice place for walking! There's lot of stores and restaurants to walk around! I'm trying to remember but I think there was a book off that was not too far from here! If you either drive or maybe walk. Service: staff was super helpful and friendly while I was there. I was having an issue with my online order because my phone was being glitchy and they were so nice in helping :) Also wanted to note their branding is so cute!! They even sell merch items too

    Everyone knows to go to Leonard's for freshly made malasadas, and the constant crowds there attest…read moreto their quality and variety (review: https://yelp.to/jaduiZfQRq). However, there are many alternative malasada purveyors throughout Honolulu, so I depended on local vloggers to find the best ones. This one popped up often on YouTube, and as luck would have it, we were dining at The Pig & The Lady on the next block. How calorifically convenient. We took the opportunity to stop by for a pre-dinner snack since they closed at 6PM. It's a cute shop with multiple sweets including quite a selection of housemade ice cream and delectable mouthfuls called Cake Bombs (Photo 10). We decided we would be good and ordered one unfilled Malasada each. Dusted with various sugar flavors, they were just $2.65 a piece. I went for the Coffee, while Jamie chose the daily special, Cinnamon (Photo 6). They were soft and tasty, quite comparable to Leonard's albeit a tad smaller. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing since we had dinner ahead of us. However, we let temptation get the best of us and shared a $5.50 slice of the Ube Haupia Mac Nut Bar, a yummy combination of sweet potato and ube topped with haupia (coconut milk pudding) on a macadamia nut crust (Photo 9). Truth be told, it stole the show from the malasadas. FOOD - 4 stars... the malasadas were good, but that ube dessert was next level AMBIANCE - 4 stars...really a takeout operation with a lot of temptations SERVICE - 4 stars...very calm and orderly TOTAL - 4 stars...yet another spot for sweet Hawaiian decadence RELATED - Exploring Hawaii? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/U7YPblfoMP

    Photos
    Interior during Malasada Day / Fat Tuesday, 2/17/2026
    Interior during Malasada Day / Fat Tuesday, 2/17/2026
    1/2 dozen malasada
    1/2 dozen malasada
    Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

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    Jejubing Dessert Cafe

    Jejubing Dessert Cafe

    4.4
    (706 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    Situated right off the parking lot before entering the Ala Moana food court. We skipped it at first…read morethen decided to try it after everyone was done eating inside. On the way back to the car we saw it again and decided to try the Strawberry Bingsu. Our party shared the bowl and loved it so much we decided to also try the Mango Bingsu. It was the perfect amount of fruits and sweetness to cool us down in the muggy afternoon weather. Good service. Clean dining area. Cute decor. Wish we had more time to try other desserts but we will definitely visit again when we're back in town!

    Good: Ordering is easy using a kiosk which provided clear instructions to the user. Quick service,…read moreeven near closing. At 8:30 pm, the place was packed, which is a great sign. Standard generous portion for a bingsu location, notably generous for an Ala Moana location. The location itself was free of insects despite being on a ground floor location with sugary desserts everywhere. Meh: The $14 (including 15% tip) dessert tasted too light and ice-like and appeared more translucent (rather than opaque white) than expected, leading me to think the milk was watered down, which may be how the establishment can make up the cost for the portion size while maintaining a spot in Ala Moana, especially given milk prices in Hawai'i, even if you're buying from Costco or direct from farmers. Also, tables were not cleaned after each party departed; that transparent puddle on your table might not be condensation and may instead be drool drops from the toddler who sat there before you. Overall: Good (not outstanding) experience. Knocked off 2 stars for combination of suspected diluted milk + unclean tables.

    Photos
    Injeolmi Bingsu
    Injeolmi Bingsu
    Mango sans the almonds
    Mango sans the almonds
    Strawberry Bingsu

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    Strawberry Bingsu
    Cha To Gelato Zen

    Cha To Gelato Zen

    4.6
    (173 reviews)
    2.0 mi
    $$

    Love this cute classy cafe with its authentic Japanese dessert and tea selection unlike anywhere…read moreelse I've been to in Hawaii. They have an interesting selection of Japanese flavored gelato including miso, black sesame, Kinako, azuki and green tea of course. There was a Yuzu ginger gelato which is more of a sorbet too. You can get traditional accompaniments like shiratama (mochi) and azuki (beans) . I only wish they had more non dairy options for us lactose intolerants. My friend got a Matcha latte which she really liked. Another friend got Kinako gelato with mochi topped with chocolate sauce that paired perfectly! I would take Lactaid to eat this! Teas: -Kabusecha kara which had a bitter umami profile . It started out nice and mellow and turned bitter at the end. Love how they give you the percentage of caffeine. -The Kansaku was a nice mild tea that our server Nana explained must be served at a lower temperature to allow the hand rolled leaves to steep properly . So if you like piping hot tea, don't choose this. -They also have traditional whisked matcha if you want an extra boost of caffeine and antioxidants! Potent! Everything is beautifully served in hand crafted ceramic dishes and presented on wooden boards with a simple flower. You feel like you're in a cozy cafe in Japan. They are open till 10:00 on weekdays and till midnight on weekends Thursday - Saturday . Love that you can find a late night place to drink good quality tea, but they can add alcohol if you want too! Nana and Kai were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful servers. The owner was next door at his other business, the very popular Andria Ibushi so we did not get to meet him. Next time!

    4 stars only because parking is kinda terrible, especially on busy weekends…read more love the diagrams about the different teas and flavors. really helps you choose the best tea for what youre feeling. fun gelato flavors, but i was boring and picked a normie one (azuki) lol combo is totally worth it, tea + monaka with gelato mochi balls & azuki def a relaxing spot, though not many seats on some nights they have a bartender so you can get match cocktails. unfortunately the night we went, they didnt have that worker =( will have to try again

    Photos
    Inside seating
    Inside seating
    Tea leaves with some shoyu topping
    Tea leaves with some shoyu topping
    New friends

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    Malu - desserts - Updated July 2026

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