Bambucha Grinds

If I’m not mistaken, this place has been closed for awhile. I’m not giving it one star. I’m not rating it either. I went there before about a year ago because I had a voucher. I went back a few months ago, and it wasn’t there anymore. I had to get credit for my one voucher that I didn’t get to claim.

Congrats, Bambucha Grinds on your one year anniversary! when I went at the beginning of June 2013, it was the first day of your newest addition, the cheese steak sandwich. I devoured it and now I’m so stuffed. I came in by chance and I am glad I did. I would like to make a particular comment, thank you for acknowledging my presence straight away with a greeting… it’s what ultimately got me to decide to have lunch at your place. Thank you!

I honestly need to black list this place. Even though the people who work there are nice, that does not make up for the sub-​par food. I really wanted to like it, and I thought that they would have the same quality food as Aloha Island Grill, who was there before.
I’ve had the chicken katsu with rice and mac salad twice, and a sampling of my co-​workers fries. Both times, same result. The katsu is made from a frozen chicken breast that I think is pounded thin. What gives this away is that the breading always falls off… a sign that there’s too much moisture on the chicky before it is breaded and fried. It tastes ok, but is definitely not the normal katsu we’re used to. It is much too thin, and the breading falling off is really annoying. The mac salad leaves a lot to be desired as well. It is basically overcooked macaroni, mayo, and lots of pepper. As for the fries, they are standard issue fries… nothing special, but they are nice and crispy.
If Bambucha Grinds improves on their execution of the katsu and mac salad, I think they would do much better. As I said, I want to like it there, because I always enjoy friendly service, especially in non-​friendly downtown. But unfortunately for this one, friendly faces do not make up for sub-​par food.

Love Bambucha! Burgers are so good! Fries are awesome! Everything is so Ono! Love the staff too! Lots of Aloha served there.

I finally revisited this restaurant after my last review and I’m glad to say that they have definitely improved!
I’m very happy that they took my advice and put out their condiments! Their mac salad was better than before, with a little bit of veggie crunch to it (when before it was pretty much just macaroni + mayo). They also added a toss salad option!
Still great service – friendly staff! Quick turnaround. Still clean.
I got a regular sized hamburger steak plate again, this time knowing that it was a «mini» size. I think people still might get confused if it’s their first visit – they should still make it clear somehow that the regular size is more of a «mini.»
I also saw that they now have a breakfast menu! I will have to check this out before work soon.
I love that Bambucha Grinds takes Unilocal reviews seriously! That is the way Unilocal is supposed to work!
Will be back soon! (:

This is there second weekend open for breakfast and we happened to be downtown so we stopped in.
Full service breakfast and lunch menu. They have breakfast sandwichs, platters (plates), omlettes, french toast and pancakes.
We got the loco moco platter and an omlette and it was only $ 16 and delicious! Fresh made beef patty with a yummy gravy. A perfect portion if your really hungry. The omlette was tomatoes peppers onions and cheddar. Best omlette I’ve had on Oahu. The food comes out as its finished so its hot and there was less than 2 minutes between dishes.
Wait staff is new to waitressing but they did everything great. The chef was really nice and came out to talk to us. There’s outside seating only but its nice because your off the road.
The only issue would be parking. There’s a lot on alakea that’s only $ 2 which worked for us because we had other things to do. We’ll definitely be back!

Tried this place for the first time glad I did. Ordered the bacon bbq burger combo. Was very good nice size pattis very filling. Would go there again I would recommend this place.

OOMFF (one of my favorite friends) and I were sadly disappointed with our Bambucha experience. We had high hopes as the staff is friendly, air was heavy with yummy smells and the menu looked ono but it’s stretching to give this place 3 stars as the food was very… bland. From the side of chili and rice to the hamburger steak to the shredded shoyu chicken… all plates that would normally be BURSTING with flavor… it was all very very bland. Supreme disappointment.

Now, I work south of King street, so that can mean only one thing: I don’t cross Hotel Street. It’s nothing personal. It is simply, that is where we Makai people of downtown view as the border and beyond it is the unknown. Yet on this fair day, I found myself with some extra time to travel and find new spots in the urban jungle. As I stumbled across the Remington College building and we searched for a spot to hit up, where to I go? Well, a friend suggested Bambucha Grinds and said they were well priced and offered up good sized portions. He didn’t lie, it was very much true. The portions were larger, the prices reasonable, however I found the flavors were simply ok.
The menu isn’t the largest, but it is focused and serves up your standard plate lunches that you would come to expect. It definitely helps in menu choosing. The shoyu chicken was interesting with the shredded chicken marinated in a shoyu sauce that was reminiscent of kalua pig. The flavors were there but slighlty missed the mark and finally umph to make it great. The beef stew was your normal beef stew but could have used a tad more salt to make the flavors come out.
Portions come in regular size which is in a hoagie sized container with a decent amount of rice and salad (mac or toss). At first glance it might seem little, but as you eat it comes across as the plate that doesn’t seem to empty. The bambucha size is much larger at first glance and is only a buck more. Lesson: If you’re hungry order the bambucha.
Service is quick and plates come out pretty quickly which is much welcomed in downtown where time is of the essence. Prices are reasonable with the regular plates at about $ 6 and the bambucha a dollar more.
Definitely might have to make the trek there again, and maybe try one of their burgers on this go!

Awesome staff GREAT FOOD.
great for college students!

Good place for lunch! Came here with my girlfriend on a visit to Honolulu and I was very impressed. She dragged me here saying that I must try the local food. Have to say (begrudgingly) that she was right. I ordered the Broke Da Mout Plate Lunch with Shoyu Chicken, Beef Teriyaki, and Chicken Katsu. Everything was so tender, the meat was juicy and flavorful. Coming from the mainland I had never really had anything like that so it was a good introduction to local Hawaiian food. A++ would eat again

I came here for lunch because they had a buy a plate and get another plate for free promotion for this week. The promotion applied for only their Shoyu Chicken or Beef Stew. After reading a Unilocaler gripe about their beef stew, I opted for their Shoyu Chicken.
Their Shoyu Chicken is not your typical recipe. Instead the chicken is shredded like kalua pork and it tastes lean and not fatty. I liked the taste of it although not quite shoyu-​chickenny. Contrary to what other Unilocalers have reported, I felt their bambucha portion was good-​sized. No complaints on their version of shoyu chicken.
I have to agree with other Unilocalers that the mac salad is flavorless. I think it needs salt or better quality mayo. Stopped eating the mac salad after a few small moutfuls as I didn’t want to eat on tasteless calories.
The staff is friendly and pleasant to deal with.
Would I return? I’m not opposed to returning although will pack my salt for the mac salad…

Today for lunch I decided to try a new place that just opened up recently called Bambucha Grinds. They are located on Bishop Street in the food court (street level) of the Remington College Building in downtown.
Upon entering this eatery I was immediately greeted with a smile by the very friendly staff.
This place has a limited menu with offerings of burgers ($ 5.50-$ 6.75), salads ($ 5.00-$ 7.00) and several different plate lunch offerings. Some of their specialty include hamburger steak, beef stew, beef teriyaki, chicken katsu, shoyu chicken and loco moco ($ 6.50). The prices for the plate lunches vary as it depends on what size plate lunch you order, Bambucha Size ($ 7.25), Regular ($ 6.25) or Broke Da Mouth which is 3 choices ($ 9.25).
From the menu I ordered the regular size (slightly larger than a mini) beef stew since that is one food I have not eaten in quite a while. Their beef stew had chunks of lean beef stew meat, sliced carrots, diced potatoes and chopped celery. It is served with a scoop of white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. The consistency of their stew is similar to soup as the brown gravy was very watery. It was quite disappointing that the stew lacked all taste and flavor along with the macaroni salad. The only ingredient I could taste in the macaroni salad was mayonnaise.
Although the portions were just right, unfortunately this dish will not do it for me. With the many different ways of preparing beef stew, I prefer a gravy that is thicker, tomato-​based and exploding with loads of flavor.

I love this guys burger! I can’t speak for other foods cause I have not tried them but the burger is pretty good. I am a huge burger fan, and when it comes to burgers all I care about is lots of meat, that is not overcooked, and actually looks good inside the bun. When I looked at this burger not only did it have two pieces of meat, but the size was very welcoming and had a very tasty McDonald’s like thousand Island dressing inside. Since no one else commented on it yet, I recommend this burger to pretty much anyone who is a burger lover!