The Pastele Shop

The food here is so ONO! If I had to pick my favorites it would be the panadeśa, and the pastele stew! The panadesa is just pastele meat wrapped in phyllo dough, it’s like the flaky napple crust from napoleon’s bakery at zippy’s. The pastele stew and rice is perfect! They fill the bowl side-​by-​side with stew and rice instead of stew in top so it’s easy to scoop even bites :)
Parking is always kinda junk, because the parking lot is odd and small but it’s worth it!

Pastele lumpia craving!!!
So, I’m not s big fan of pastele but a little over a year ago I tried a pastele lumpia from one of the vendors at a market/​craft fair and I was hooked!
My sister mentioned of a shop in Kalihi that made and sold pastele stuff including lumpias. I just had to try it. So, one day in the early afternoon, I stopped by at this hole in the wall location. Actually, it’s located near Gulick in the opposite corner of the gas station. There are a few parking spaces right out front but be aware that it spills out unto a very busy street so if you’re trying to reverse out be prepared to either wait a while or peel out at any opening and opportunity you get.
I had a feeling that The Pastele Shop would be cash only and as I entered I caught visual of the handwritten sign confirming my assumption. No wait at all as I was the only one there. However there was someone else that came in after I did.
So, as I was on a clear sought out mission, I kept it direct. «Do you have any Pastele lumpias today?», slight turn of my head saw that there was, in fact, a tray of them. A little pricey at just over $ 2 each but well worth it!

I’m so glad this restaurant is still around in my neighborhood! Just had two pasteles for lunch and they’re so savory and filling. It hits the spot after a crazy morning. I love how affordable the place is.
I understand that it’s the food that makes a restaurant famous. The décor needs an upgrade. It’s a bit plain and sterile. I am not sure why there are a lot of sun wall-​hangings. Some color and better decorations would reflect the flavors that the restaurant serves and make it a better experience for patrons who eat-​in.

Location: On the corner of N. School St. and Gulick Ave in Kalihi.
Parking: Private lot, and it does have some slopes and steep areas, so just a word of caution. Better to enter from School St.
Ambiance: Small hole in the wall restaurant with a very casual appeal on both the outside and inside.
Food: In my opinion, they have the best pasteles and gandule rice in town.

I visited this place back in May with high expectations. The restaurant looked unsanitary and only a thin curtain separated the kitchen from the front desk. The cashier seemed nice. The pastele I ordered actually tasted good but other than that the rice was tasteless and dry and the cob salad (bacalao) was a joke. It was literally salad with shredded cod fish on top, not remotely close to my the correct way (PR dish). It was a definitely a one time stop. I think the cooks need to expand their knowledge on Latin cuisine and focus on the entire menu, not just the pasteles.

Was not impressed! Not much flavor and dry. Young girl at counter not friendly at all. The place had food on the floor in the dinning area. It just looked run down and dirty. When the girl went into the kitchen through the thin raggedy curtain I could see in the dank dark kitchen. It looked like there was no pride in taking care the business or building or appliances. The salad was so bogus. That’s not how that sort of salad is suppose to be made. I’m Puerto Rican so I know! The rice was tasteless and dry. This was a bad representation of our cultures food. I call it laziness, unmotivated and loss of pride in the food and culture. I’m not returning to this place.

Loved it, have to try the chocolate banana lumpia

My fav place to get my pastele and gandule rice fix. The pastele has great flavor and texture. Also must try the pastele lumpia-​very filling and the fried chix is tasty too.

Place sucks… They don’t stick to THEIR OWN hours of operation. Always closed… TERRIBLE.

Omg!
I love pastele !!
I remember when they use to cost $ 2.50 per pastele, Now it cost $ 4.40 per pastele.
Let me tell you they are worth every penny!
The Pastele’s are sooo sooo yummy!
They remind me of the Pastele shop in Maui I use to go to growing up.
Thank you Pastele shop!

I’m from PR and this is nothing near puertorican food. I’m sorry but I didn’t like it at all.

Gandule rice and hot pasteles are simply the best. But the true hidden treasure are the fried chicken! Go early, they always sell out!

A little late on this review but as the old saying goes…
Here we go…
From start to finish this place is good!
Pastels stew has got to be one of my hands down favorite dishes here. Followed closely by the bacalao salad and their fried chicken.
Very friendly service that made us feel like long lost family.

When you need pastele, head straight to The Pastele Shop! Nice shop with friendly staff but more importantly delicious goodies to go with your pastele including gaundule rice. Awesome neighborhood spot!

When you think of restaurants in Hawaii, you wouldn’t expect many to serve Puerto Rican food. And yet there is a surprising amount of places that do. This is in part to the immigration of Puerto Rican workers in the early 20^th century to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. And bringing along their cuisine with them.
As a result, you can find pasteles on the menu in many local restaurants in Hawaii. And yet, I never had a single pastele in my life even though I grew up in the islands. I decided to rectify that by checking out The Pastele Shop.
This hole in the wall eatery is located on North School Street, two blocks west of Kam Shopping Center in Kalihi. It is located on the left side. There is parking in front of the shop. Beware that the parking is slanted on a hill. The interior is no frills. The counter is right in front with a few tables in the back to eat if you are dining in.
The food here is local style Puerto Rican food. There are a couple Puerto Rican restaurants in Seattle and the offerings are different than what is found here. There isn’t any mofongo here for instance.
The main offering here are the pasteles as the namesake indicates along with a few other items. Pasteles are similar to Mexican tamales and joong, the Chinese rice dumpling. They are wrapped in banana (or is it ti?) leaves and steamed.
I got two pasteles which were about $ 4 each and a bowl of pastele stew ($ 4.95). The pasteles here were flavorful and the pork is tender. Having tried this for the first time, it did look and taste like a tamale. There was no discernible difference. The only issue with the pastele is that they are quite oily. So make sure to grab a napkin to use after unwrapping.
I got the pastele stew for my dad, but I did get a little taste of it. It was delicious as well and much less messy than getting a pastele. It reminds me of Cuban picadillo. If you are looking for a hearty meal, get this.
If you are interested in what localized Puerto Rican food in Hawaii tastes like, The Pastele Shop is a good place to start.

My best friend since the 1^st grade is the 1^st person who introduced me to pasteles. She also lived right across the street for me so I would go over to her house often and mostly because there was always something good at her house. Always! She has always been a picky eater but pastel was something she liked and so was gandule rice.
So my recent visit to California, I stood with my friend who is also Puerto Rican, speaks fluent Spanish and comes from a long line of INCREDIBLE cooks (I can vouch) recently had come back from visiting family in Puerto Rico and brought back homemade pasteles made by his grandmother. So when I walked downstairs to his mother asking me if I liked pasteles, I immediately said yes because I haven’t had one in so long. Not really thinking about how great this pastele might be because it’s homemade and it’s from his family I took my first bite and fell in LOVE! A few people say food is to a man’s heart but no one says anything about food being to a woman’s heart!
Coming back to O’ahu I craved pasteles and knew that the best ones had to come homemade but again, I’m wrong. I was on Unilocal,wandering around and found that someone reviewed the Pastele Shop and I’m thinking to myself, aw man. But she reviewed it with 4 stars and sure enough, the business had 4 stars. So I’m thinking to myself that I should just try it out because I’ve spoken to a few people who talked about getting really good pasteles and one was in Waipahu and the other one in Kalihi and this must be the one!
I don’t know much about the origination of this restaurant but it is a gem. Everyone should stop judging places by it’s location and the looks of it from the outside because what they serve is pure delight. I ate my food during traffic because I couldn’t wait anymore. Once I took tat first bite, I had to stop and savor every second. It’s packed with pork and i love the black olives. You can also get them spicy!
If you’re ever in town and craving pasteles, stop at the Pastele Shop!

They never disappoint. They have the best pastele and grandule rice I’ve had on this island so far, perfect portion size for the price. It just melts in your mouth like butter. Cravings satisfied as always!

Omg no way not the real anything. The Pasteles are bland, the Gandule Rice bland, the cod fish salad omg bland…
Drive to Wainiae side and go to Mailii Pastele Shop then you post and tell me… It’s worth the drive

Hands down my favorite place to get Pastele. I usually will go and buy the frozen ones and take home. It’s now about $ 4.50 one. It definitely comes in handy when I don’t have time to cook dinner. It tastes good after you just microwave it.
The parking for this shop is really small. But if I ever find myself near School Street, I definitely like to stop by and get me some.
The staff is always really nice. I’ve never had a bad experience. If you want good Pastele I recommend this place.

The only othere pastelle that we like is from the guys selling out of Kaneohe. We truly like the food here, and the prices are excellent. I enjoy the rice a bit better from the Kaneohe guys, but it’s almost equally yummy at this place though.
OK, not I’m hungry, going to eat here for lunch today for sure!!!

For me, this is the standard by which all pasteles are measured… and yes, I’ve been lucky enough to try homemade «grandma’s recipe» pasteles from more than a few sources! Not only are the Pastele Shop’s pasteles super tasty & just the right texture, but I absolutely love that they offer a MILD-​version (for spice-​wussies like me). I usually get mine to-​go, and smother it with shredded lettuce & sour cream at home… I’m not sure why, but that’s how my mom’s always done it. Another great option here is to get frozen pasteles, which are perfect for long-​term storage or travel.
Last but not least, if you’ve never tried their pastele lumpia, you really owe it to yourself to try. Seriously, all of that pastele goodness PLUS it’s deep-​fried & crunchy? Yes please! =) Okay, so maybe it’s not a good idea to eat this on a daily basis… but sometimes you just need to reward yourself with one of these babies. Or two, if you’ve been especially good… and I know you have been, right? 0=)

What is a pastele? I still have no idea, really. If you’ve tried Chinese food, it’s similar to «jung zi» (mochi rice with various types of beans and meat). I ordered a spicy pastele with gandule rice and salad (one of the combos). GET THE SPICY PASTELE. It’s not too spicy (for those that cannot spicy — try this anyway!) and the flavors dance a happy dance on your tongue.
The gandule rice (Spanish rice, same thing) is super good as well! The flavors really stand out and combined with the spicy pastele, this combo makes my tummy go whoooo hooo! If I could, I would pass the salad though. It’s interesting, but the pastele and gandule rice are the stars of this small hole-​in-​the-​wall.
The décor is severely lacking here, but you come here for the food, not the atmosphere. Service is super friendly; don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t know what an item on the menu is!
Other pluses: lots of free parking, funny sign about free calling to jails outside. :)

Parking is limited but usually there’s a spot open. Pasteles on tap can’t get any better than that.