This is my favorite place. The salt and pepper squid is the best and only place on island I can find it! The batter is amazing - must try!!! Nothing else I would have wanted to eat on Mother’s Day!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Andrew Hendrickson
Hole in the wall. Only good thing is great price. Atmosphere is zero. Had fried eggs and bacon
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 2
Kim Chiu
Stopped for a late lunch after kids needed some refueling. Old school Hong Kong style cafe with enormous portions and good food quality. Really interesting to see the fusion with hawaiian favorites as well. Kids want to come back one more time before we leave the island.
Luke K
Orange chicken is the best I've ever had, the friend rice is great, and the musibi selection is amazing. A must go if you're in the area. 10/10
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken
Stephen R
This is a new place, about 1 year old. A highlight is the delightful waiter/cashier who is smiles, positive vibes, and sets a nice ambiance. The place seems to be built in an old filling station building, but the dining area is new, bright, airy and sparkling clean - 6 tables I believe. The menu list is enormous. The formula (from several samples) is a very generous portion of a protein, such as pieces of fried chicken, or fish, served in a styrofoam basket (a lot of business is takeout) with several large scoops of white rice and/or macaroni salad. Neither of us could finish our servings. I found it a little disconcerting that the meal was so simple, they don't seem to have things that are more complex such as sauces. Don't look for subtlety, just what is says, good quality and tasty. I advise ordering several items and sharing them rather than several orders of the same thing. Now for the fine print. There is one unisex restroom. To get there, you go out the front door and around right into an unremodeled garage area which looks somewhat threatening compared to the restaurant interior. There is a minimal size toilet "room". The good new is, it is in excellent condition and very clean. There is no sink in the toilet room. Going out from the toilet you turn right for another 10 feet to find an industrial style sink, perfectly fine with soap. I did not find a way to dry my hands, but maybe I missed it. If you are going to be offended by the toilet option, best go elsewhere. My rating is for the food, not the washroom. (One more point - "barbecued" here seems to mean cooked over a fire, but does not mean barbecue sauce.)
Aubrey O
the best orange chicken! also recommend the teriyaki beef and the honey walnut shrimp!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken
Dan Hickman
The food was fantastic. We had the rainbow meal for our family. For 45.00 bucks this place had the best bang for the buck and quality of any dinner or lunch place that we have eaten at. We do a 2 week Hawaii trip every year and have been to various islands.
Very good fried chicken legs, there is no second place
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Casey Swann
(Back story, please skip if you just want recs): My husband and I are staying at the Hilton resort at Waikoloa beach. Now, it’s amazing, don’t get me wrong, but we bought a 12” pizza and a mediocre pasta for $90+ last night. Plus, we’re not really resort people and both grad students (the only way we could stay here was a very generous gift from my father in law), so we decided we needed to travel away from the resort to get some type of Asian-Hawaiian food (because weirdly there is not one Asian eatery at this hotel).Food: This place came highly recommended, but my god were we blown away. We LOVE any type of East Asian cuisine, and this did not disappoint. We ordered a ton to just eat for the next few days: Mahi mahi misubi; seafood combo with chicken katsu; crab Rangoon; house fried rice; Singapore noodles; and Aloha Sai mein. The protein is unbelievably tender and well-seasoned in all the dishes. This was genuinely the best fried rice and Singapore noodles I’ve ever had. Crab Rangoon was really good and less sweet than crab rangoon I’ve had on the mainland. Aloha Sai mein broth had the flavor of wonton soup with amazing bbq chicken. (Sai mein is kind of like ramen.) The misubi is DELICIOUS and quite filling. We got 4, but that was probably overkill. Prices were very reasonable given the amount of food you get!Service: first of all, the nicest people run this place. We ordered our food in two batches (first to eat there and second to take back to the hotel). Both came out very quickly, and the woman at the counter brought both out to us at our picnic table, explained everything we got, and made sure we had a secure handle on the very heavy bag of takeout.Ambiance: Low-key and down-to-earth (pretty much the opposite of resort life). It is not fancy by any means, but it’s comfortable, and there are tables outside and under cover.10/10 would recommend if you want to get off the beaten, touristy, over-priced path of the west side of the big island.
Parking: Not super busy when we went, but we easily found a spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood, BBQ
Chanceton Ke-a
With being a student at Kohala High School and being right next door Rainbow Cafe is the place. Right after school, most of us students love going to Rainbows and go for the great grindz. At Rainbows, they offer a variety of food like Chinese, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, and mostly food locals like. They prices are great which they range from 5 to 20 dollars per plate. Rainbows also offers catering with price ranges of 40 to 120 dollars for small, medium, and large pans.
Parking: With Kohala being small, it offers a small parking but it does work out
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: BBQ Chicken, BBQ Chicken Burger, Crab Rangoon, Burger Combo, Orange Chicken, Seafood, Kalua Pork Mini Size Order, Mix Bar B Q Meats, Crispy Ginger Chicken
Small unpretentious clean place, it was a grocery store converted to a takeout/sit-down restaurant. If you're in search of a swanky restaurant, then keep moving. If you're looking for decent seafood and Asian fare, then this is the place. Prices are very reasonable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Susan Crotty
Underwhelmed- thought we’d try the Hawaiian traditional loco moco. I think it is likely way better than what they served as everything felt warmed up. Not super clean. We sat outside and it was subpar. I’d skip it next time and try really anywhere else.
Alex B
Least good but also the cheapest food we’ve had in the area - and we’ve tried nearly all of them. Fish burger was small, so was the BBQ chicken burger which was rubbery and had skin on and wasn’t BBQ. Overdone fries. But it was fast and the folks are nice.
Jordan Grenier
Great prices and food portions. A nice place for fast Chinese takeout.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
C C
Amazing breakfast!! Worth the stop, for sure... and a great price.
This is my favorite place. The salt and pepper squid is the best and only place on island I can find it! The batter is amazing - must try!!! Nothing else I would have wanted to eat on Mother’s Day!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hole in the wall. Only good thing is great price. Atmosphere is zero. Had fried eggs and bacon
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 2
Stopped for a late lunch after kids needed some refueling. Old school Hong Kong style cafe with enormous portions and good food quality. Really interesting to see the fusion with hawaiian favorites as well. Kids want to come back one more time before we leave the island.
Orange chicken is the best I've ever had, the friend rice is great, and the musibi selection is amazing. A must go if you're in the area. 10/10
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken
This is a new place, about 1 year old. A highlight is the delightful waiter/cashier who is smiles, positive vibes, and sets a nice ambiance. The place seems to be built in an old filling station building, but the dining area is new, bright, airy and sparkling clean - 6 tables I believe. The menu list is enormous. The formula (from several samples) is a very generous portion of a protein, such as pieces of fried chicken, or fish, served in a styrofoam basket (a lot of business is takeout) with several large scoops of white rice and/or macaroni salad. Neither of us could finish our servings. I found it a little disconcerting that the meal was so simple, they don't seem to have things that are more complex such as sauces. Don't look for subtlety, just what is says, good quality and tasty. I advise ordering several items and sharing them rather than several orders of the same thing. Now for the fine print. There is one unisex restroom. To get there, you go out the front door and around right into an unremodeled garage area which looks somewhat threatening compared to the restaurant interior. There is a minimal size toilet "room". The good new is, it is in excellent condition and very clean. There is no sink in the toilet room. Going out from the toilet you turn right for another 10 feet to find an industrial style sink, perfectly fine with soap. I did not find a way to dry my hands, but maybe I missed it. If you are going to be offended by the toilet option, best go elsewhere. My rating is for the food, not the washroom. (One more point - "barbecued" here seems to mean cooked over a fire, but does not mean barbecue sauce.)
the best orange chicken! also recommend the teriyaki beef and the honey walnut shrimp!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken
The food was fantastic. We had the rainbow meal for our family. For 45.00 bucks this place had the best bang for the buck and quality of any dinner or lunch place that we have eaten at. We do a 2 week Hawaii trip every year and have been to various islands.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Katsu, Orange Chicken, BBQ
Very good fried chicken legs, there is no second place
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
(Back story, please skip if you just want recs): My husband and I are staying at the Hilton resort at Waikoloa beach. Now, it’s amazing, don’t get me wrong, but we bought a 12” pizza and a mediocre pasta for $90+ last night. Plus, we’re not really resort people and both grad students (the only way we could stay here was a very generous gift from my father in law), so we decided we needed to travel away from the resort to get some type of Asian-Hawaiian food (because weirdly there is not one Asian eatery at this hotel).Food: This place came highly recommended, but my god were we blown away. We LOVE any type of East Asian cuisine, and this did not disappoint. We ordered a ton to just eat for the next few days: Mahi mahi misubi; seafood combo with chicken katsu; crab Rangoon; house fried rice; Singapore noodles; and Aloha Sai mein. The protein is unbelievably tender and well-seasoned in all the dishes. This was genuinely the best fried rice and Singapore noodles I’ve ever had. Crab Rangoon was really good and less sweet than crab rangoon I’ve had on the mainland. Aloha Sai mein broth had the flavor of wonton soup with amazing bbq chicken. (Sai mein is kind of like ramen.) The misubi is DELICIOUS and quite filling. We got 4, but that was probably overkill. Prices were very reasonable given the amount of food you get!Service: first of all, the nicest people run this place. We ordered our food in two batches (first to eat there and second to take back to the hotel). Both came out very quickly, and the woman at the counter brought both out to us at our picnic table, explained everything we got, and made sure we had a secure handle on the very heavy bag of takeout.Ambiance: Low-key and down-to-earth (pretty much the opposite of resort life). It is not fancy by any means, but it’s comfortable, and there are tables outside and under cover.10/10 would recommend if you want to get off the beaten, touristy, over-priced path of the west side of the big island.
Parking: Not super busy when we went, but we easily found a spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood, BBQ
With being a student at Kohala High School and being right next door Rainbow Cafe is the place. Right after school, most of us students love going to Rainbows and go for the great grindz. At Rainbows, they offer a variety of food like Chinese, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, and mostly food locals like. They prices are great which they range from 5 to 20 dollars per plate. Rainbows also offers catering with price ranges of 40 to 120 dollars for small, medium, and large pans.
Parking: With Kohala being small, it offers a small parking but it does work out
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: BBQ Chicken, BBQ Chicken Burger, Crab Rangoon, Burger Combo, Orange Chicken, Seafood, Kalua Pork Mini Size Order, Mix Bar B Q Meats, Crispy Ginger Chicken
Restaurantji Recommends
Small unpretentious clean place, it was a grocery store converted to a takeout/sit-down restaurant. If you're in search of a swanky restaurant, then keep moving. If you're looking for decent seafood and Asian fare, then this is the place. Prices are very reasonable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Underwhelmed- thought we’d try the Hawaiian traditional loco moco. I think it is likely way better than what they served as everything felt warmed up. Not super clean. We sat outside and it was subpar. I’d skip it next time and try really anywhere else.
Least good but also the cheapest food we’ve had in the area - and we’ve tried nearly all of them. Fish burger was small, so was the BBQ chicken burger which was rubbery and had skin on and wasn’t BBQ. Overdone fries. But it was fast and the folks are nice.
Great prices and food portions. A nice place for fast Chinese takeout.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing breakfast!! Worth the stop, for sure... and a great price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5