Gourmet Express

Again– I am too slow to review.
If I could get a time machine — up there on my wish list of top 10 things to do would be to get Elite Status 10 years ago.
But alas I am forced to write reviews of places I have been to that are now closed.
Here is my quick 2 Cents though.
WE kinda need more places like this that had good choices, healthy fresh prepared food, that had enough variety for the whole family.
Also– one of the best ways to get Keiki to eat their vegetables– is that they don’t see me making it for them– aka me lopping off the two ends of a carrot and saying «here eat this!»
My point being– if they try it prepared differently then they might like it the next time I offer it when it looks all fancy and prepared with something else that they want to eat– cause they picked it.
Now it is Grylt that I also find interesting. Good location right in front of the Starbucks so you can’t miss it as an eatery location.

So far everything I have had here was good. I absolutely love the greek side salad. If you look at their kitchen it is really small so everything will not be made to order but it is still great. I’ve got nothing against a little microwave now and then. Its better than crwoding around a bunch of food warmers fighting for elbow room with sweaty housewives in yoga pants.

The price is decent for the amount of food they give, and they do try to be healthy with options for brown rice, and many vegetarian dishes, or traditional dishes made with turkey instead of beef /​pork.
They serve wraps, plate lunches, and some items off the top of my head, are vegetarian chili, turkey enchilladas, mexican street tacos, savory shoyu chicken… they usually have some kind of fish plate special, and they have a stir-​fry bar where you choose your protein, veggie, and sauce.

BEWARE FOOD POISONING!!! I got the absolute worst food poisoning from this establishment! I ordered the quiche and it was a horrible experience. They knew it was old and they still served it to me. I was vomiting all night! I am nursing a newborn and what they did was negligent and despicable! A week later when I was at the mall, I told them what happened to me and they couldn’t have cared less! I got a ‘oh sorry’ from a cook in the back but the manager on duty refused to even acknowledge what I was telling her. Do not eat here!!! Horrible horrible company!

Gourmet Express is part of Kahala Mall’s little food court. It is tucked in next to Whole Foods, near the Apple Store.
This restaurant/deli’s food is definitely not MADE TO ORDER. I was very disappointed when I ordered the vegetarian lasagna and the center was cold. I should have been tipped off by the «Express» in the restaurant name. NOTHING is MADE TO ORDER. Everything you order is microwaved, which means that everything is heated unevenly. I was disappointed and wished I had gone to Whole Foods instead.

Stay away from the grilled veggies, they were basically inedible for me – hard, weird tasting, but I did grab to-​go at 8:45pm…maybe they were sitting out all day? I asked the boy at the counter if he recommended the pesto chicken or the shoyu chicken, which made me more indecisive until he said I could have half pesto and half shoyu! So accommodating! It ended up being a dollar or more more than either plate to have both… so Idk if I would do that again. I liked the pesto chicken more than the shoyu, and I actually ate brown rice (I usually hate brown rice) because it tasted pretty good with the pesto.

Gourmet Express has recently become one of my favorite places to eat in Kahala Mall recently. They’ve got a great selection of healthier dishes, vegetarian options, and some good hearty dishes, like beef stew.
I usually get the furikake, or garlic pesto ahi, or the beef stew, which are items on the special menu, but they seem to always have those options available. You’ve got the choice between white and brown rice, and you can pick two salads from their assortment that’s sitting on ice at the near end of the counter. The Greek salad is a definite winner. They’ve also got cornbread mini muffins available at the register, so you can add it on to accompany your meal if you like. They’re pretty tasty!
They’ve also got some interesting stir-​fry options, and an assortment of burritos and pastas that I want to check out on some of my next visits.
The service here is usually pretty consistently good for a take-​out counter, and the food comes out hot and fresh!

The wraps are great! The chicken pesto wrap is my favorite and I could have for lunch everyday. Service is slightly slow but they do make everything to order. There is no seating but there’s always someplace to sit in Kahala Mall.

Went to Gourmet Express last night and was disappointed with the ½ wrap and salad combination. I’ve been to this place quite a bit and always was satisfied with the combo, although the last time I was there was a year ago. Don’t know if owners changed but the wrap, chicken dijon, was tasteless and not up to par. The Greek salad, however, was the same.

Who-​woulda-​thunk? This place is veggie friendly! …and any place that is veggie friendly is a 4 star place indeed!
So, yes, this place is vegetarian friendly. Which means, when I come here I’m not bound to just one item on the menu. I actually have a choice! I ended up getting the chili which was pretty spicy for me, but I won’t complain!
Unilocal 365 Challenge #253/​365

Love this plave! although it looks kinda iffy, the pesto chicken is by far, hands down fork lickin good! They might not be the most friendly people behind the register but they make cheap, delicious food and enough to last you two to three meals! love left overs!

I was walking around Kahala Mall today with my bf and we saw a couple eating soft serve ice cream. Looked around and saw that soft serve ice cream icon thing. Not sure what they are called. First seen it at Panini Grill, but nobody wanted help us. So we continued shopping. Then heading out the door we saw it Gourmet Express.
Standing at the counter waiting for my order to be taken, a man behind the counter was making another order and looking at me. He kept looking at me and then went to the back room to get another lady. She came out and looked dazed and confused. She asked me is there an Asian man standing over there. I look to my right and said uhh, yes. She yells out, excuse me sir your order is ready.
Ok. That was weird. She took my order and we get our soft serve ice cream cone! It cost $ 3.15 for one. I think that’s ridiculous. It also had a different taste or texture. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Should’ve just gone to McDonald’s and pay $ 1.20.

I had a short amount of time to grab a quick lunch at Kahala Mall today. I wound up eating at Gourmet Express. I wish I would have had a little more time to go somewhere else.
My seared ahi wrap was huge, but lacked any flavor whatsoever. It looked a little bland, but tasted a lot bland.
I seriously doubt there’ll be a next time…

their chicken fiesta wrap is frikken delicious!

Bleecchhh. I ordered the mexican fiesta wrap and the caribbean chicken plate with a side of orzo salad (w/​side thai sauce). Everything was pretty flavorless and boring. Also, on the pricey side as well. Typical joint that tries to do «gourmet’ or healthy /​tasty food and fails at the tasty part.

i am beyond disgusted with this place. ordered the shoyu chicken today, got it back to work and once i opened it up saw that the chicken was totally undercooked and literally still running pink when cutting into it. went back and spoke to who i assume is the owner. she was completely unapologetic and took one of the uncooked pieces out with her hand and slapped another piece on top of the contaminated rice, etc. this makes me want to vomit. i tell her that i don’t want to argue with her and that i really don’t feel safe or good about eating a bleeding piece of chicken, i just want something else or my money back. she tells me that this is how all their chicken is, its always bleeding and if they don’t drain the chicken properly it still runs pink and «don’t worry». really? is gourmet express going to take me to the emergency room for salmonella poisoning? this is supposed to make me feel better? she takes the same piece of «new» chicken puts it in a take out box expecting me to take this gladly and walk away. i do take this and walk away and dump everything in the trash. i don’t have time to argue with people who clearly do not understand food safety or any basic sense of customer service. i will never go back to this place. in case you didn’t know, gourmet express, aloha salads is right next door and whole foods is right around the corner which is where i will be eating my lunches from now on.

They have a stand in the mall for take-​out. 3 stars is A-​OK! I had the Thai Chicken plate, with a drink it came out to about $ 10 and the portions were GINORMOUS! [sic]
Their menu was likely developed by a very hungry person because it ranges from Quesadilla to Grilled Opakapaka to Veggie Tamale Pie to… well, Thai Chicken!
The ladies were real nice to me and I could see myself eating there again if I’m stuck in the mall, again.
Auf