Po’s Kitchen

Small mom and pop shop with bentos (small, medium and deluxe) for less than $ 10. They also have plate lunches (Teri beef, pork, chicken) also for less than $ 10. I recommend supporting a great place that has great customer service, cheap eats – that tastes good – and reasonable portions.

Interesting little mom and pop shop. I had the deluxe bento with little of this and that’s. It resembled food I would make for myself before going on a picnic. The owner lady was very nice.

Got a box lunch for hiking. Paid about $ 10 with a drink. Not bad, this lace is pretty close to the airport as well.

Best bentos I’ve had all my life since elementary school days. The prices are worth it and the customer service is always the best!

the bento boxes were just okay in terms of quality, they were fairly priced.

It had been suggested to go to Po’s Kitchen since it’s a mom and pop shop, old school, and you get a cardboard box bento. I was super stoked to get my little cardboard box, something about it makes me smile! When do you ever get a bento in a cardboard box anymore? I got the regular because I wasn’t too hungry, but by reading other reviews I should have got the deluxe lol! Oh well, anyways… The regular comes with rice, noodles, chicken, luncheon meat, hot dog, egg, hash, piece of teriyaki meat, pickled cabbage and mac salad. You get a little bit of everything with these bentos, it’s nice selection.
Very small store, worth a try coming here if on Kauai!

This is the old fashion, downhome, local, Japanese okazu take out bento lunch place. It is the closest thing to the old Lihue Delicatessen where they used to make bento lunches to go. Po’s Kitchen has three or four size boxes and all with a tremendous variety of small items including chicken wings, shrimp tempura, katsu, teri beef, spam, hash, rice, mac salad, long rice, tsukemono. If you’re taking a day trip to one side of the island for the day, this is a good place to pick up a bento to go. But before you take off, stop by Big Save and pick up a small cooler for your drinks. Before picking up your bento, give them a call to make sure they are open.

Not one of the better box lunch we had in Hawaii. Store doesn’t look quite clean. Food is fare. Had bone-​in chicken wings, feather-​on as well… Ham didn’t taste good either. There are better lunch places than this out there.

I had to go to Kauai today to do some work in Hanapepe & Lihue. Upon finishing my jobs today, I had to stop by at Po’s Kitchen. Didn’t know anything about this place, but of course you can find anything on Unilocal!
Upon reading the «Grand Master» writings of Emi H.‘s review on Unilocal,I knew I had to try this place, cuz she’s spot on wid’ da grind places!
An easy place to find… if you’re on Rice Street, just look for the Ace Hardware Store, and right behind the Ace Hardware Store is small light blue colored strip mall that has a few small local businesses like — Love’s Discount Bakery, Smiley’s, Daylight Donuts, & of course Po’s Kitchen.
When I got there today, I saw a bunch of local people, as well as mainland tourist walk out with their box lunches… as I walked in the store, I saw mama Po & a young girl. They were friendly, & greeted me right away, and asked me what I wanted…
Of course after reading the reviews, I knew I had to get the «Deluxe Lunch Box». What is in the «Deluxe Lunch Box» you say?
Well is was loaded with a whole bunch of things… it had the following inside
1. Two Rice Balls
2. Teri Beef
3. Three small Shrimp Tempura
4. Hot Dog
5. Slice of Ham
6. Two small pieces of crunch Fried Chicken
7. Egg
8. Chow Fun Noodles
9. Potato Hash
10. A Spaghetti Mac Salad
11. Pickled Cabbage
The food list is long, but don’t get me wrong, the food servings are small, so you get a little sample of everything, including the kitchen sink!
Overall I give the food a solid «4»! Service was fast & friendly. This place had only two small tables, so it’s basically a grab & go take out place. There is a lot of parking in the private parking lot, but when I got to Po’s around noon time, the parking lot was pretty packed. If you can’t get parking in the private lot, there is also metered street parking available too.
A neat place to get some local kine grinds, kinda reminds me of old time mom & pop okazuya shops. Chance ‘em! No can go wrong!

I’ve gotta agree with Pomai S on this one, Po’s deluxe box lunch is pure perfection! I’m always on the search for good okazuya because these little mom n’ pop shops have a very special place in my heart. As these baby boomer era shop owners are retiring these delightful lunch spots are disappearing from Hawaii’s landscape because they don’t have anyone to take over the business. Can you imagine a childhood without local Japanese comfort food? Why don’t you just take away shave ice while you’re at it?!
I loved visiting Po’s so much that I went back two days in a row! I’d recommend getting the deluxe box lunch for about $ 8.50 which for me was enough food for breakfast and lunch. Packed in a white box, I joyously opened it each morning to find an assortment of eats: shrimp tempura, fried chicken, nishime, tsukemono, two musubi, spaghetti mac salad, luncheon meat, teri beef, noodles, and probably something else I’m missing. I don’t know about you, but I think $ 8.50 is a steal for all that food! Located right behind Ace Hardware, you’ll find ample parking and the shop opens early so you can hit the beach or wherever your travels take you. It’s waaaaay better than the lunch I could have gotten at the hotel and I personally think it’s a must stop if you’re on vacation.

Po’s is a local favorite. I was super excited to try this place and it did not disappoint. The owner IS friendly and the food IS good and the prices are right!
The owner is a hard worker — they open at 6:00 — and I get the impression that she and the other workers bustle about working effectively until they close the doors at 2:00. She is a thin set woman who must have a high metabolism (I observe with envy — since I’ve only been on the island for six days and my waistline and thighs are already expanding from eating all the rice, noodles and sugar… sorry I digress),
I placed my order and waited while they assemble it. When I opened the box, I smiled — placed on top is a napkin and a plastic fork. Beneath the thin blotting paper your boxed lunch awaits… its a little bit of this and that — the thought that ran through my mind is this is what a loving Auntie would pack for your lunch. :)
Next time I come (yes, I’m returning before we leave) I am going to order the Teri-combo…cuz the box lunch comes with a piece of teri-​beef and one you will find is NOT enough. (Swoooooon). I also want to try her ‘football sushi’. They were on the counter, but I did not notice until after I ordered the deluxe box lunch.
If you want to eat like the locals, need a good grab n go of comfort food — well, then Po’s is your place. Its located right behind Ace Hardware (the BEST Ace hardware cuz it has a great craft section).
Feel free to call in your order… the phone was ringing a lot while we were there and the locals came in and did their pick ups. Not really a dine-​in location so don’t plan on eating here — especially if you have more than two people. Rather, go take your box lunch and find a nice spot on the beach and contemplate how did you get so lucky to be eating great food while gazing at amazing beauty!!! xoxo!

This place does one thing, and it does it well. Take a look at the picture of the box lunch at the top of the page. Does that look good to you? If so, Po’s is the place for you; if not, don’t even bother.
The size of the lunch is just about perfect for me, and the variety is fantastic. It’s just nice to have so many different things to taste, combine, and compare, rather than just slogging through a plateful of the same noodles or whatever in a typical meal. Highly recommended if you’ve got an uncomplicated palate and are looking for a cheap, VERY quick lunch in Lihue.

I’m not quite sure why there are so many good reviews here — perhaps because they’re all a little outdated?
I went here a few days ago, and don’t ever plan om returning. Getting excited after reading reviews — but keeping in mind that someone said that the quality has gone down — I went in with a smile but was instead greeted with a rude «whaddayouwant» and a glare. I’m sorry, was I not supposed to come eat at your establishment? I should have turned around right there and gone to Smiley’s next door.
Po’s offers local bento style boxes. Basically, you get a cardboard box full of random junk. I say junk because it came with: half a hot dog link, half a ham slice (not even sure if it was oscar mayer quality — spam would have been better), two poorly fried shrimp that were greasy, two fried chicken — mini drum and mini wing, two balls rice, nishime flavored jap chae, pickled cabbage, and mac salad for $ 8.45. This deluxe box tasted like a deluxe joke. She pulled the mac salad and cabbage out from a Tupperware next to the register. Who knows how long it’d been sitting out. The food was all room temperature when I opened the box, which wasn’t a surprise since she came out with it 10 seconds after I’d ordered.
Nostalgia is one thing, but iffy, lukewarm, poorly cooked food is not something I’d go back for, local institution or not. It was horrible. In fact, one of the worst meals I’ve had on island.

Good variety, I like that I didn’t have to select what I wanted in my bento and they have the small, medium, and large options. :)

Every time I fly back home to Kauai I have to stop by and get my deluxe box lunch. This is the real staple food of Kauai it has everything that I want and hits the spot every time. It never gets old.
My favorite thing that Po makes is the fried chicken. It is so crispy and juicy. The preparation never changes and it is always the best fried chicken I have ever had. The overall box lunch is very well balanced and is the perfect size. It gives you a taste of all aspects that a box lunch should include.
Overall this place is a staple of Kauai and everyone needs to try it at least once in their life. Visitors are welcome and everyone is treated with the same respect every time.
Quick service and high quality food.

Let’s take a second to flashback to my childhood (once again).
I think it was a class field trip in middle school, when I first learned about Po’s Kitchen. I had your classic home lunch, handmade by my mom. But, as I looked around me… I was one of the only students to have actually brought their own lunch from home. About ¾ of my class had picked up a bento from Po’s. It was like they had all gotten together & planned it!
With that said, it is definitely a popular stop for the locals… especially on a beach day. Or clearly, school field trips.
Pros:
–A locally owned business
–Specializes in bento lunches ~ okazu (ya) style (my favorite thing about this place)
–Three different sizes all under $ 8 ~ small ($ 5.95), medium ($ 6.95), deluxe ($ 7.95) (But while you’re at it, you might as well just go with the deluxe)
Cons:
–Pretty much no seating; it’s primarily take-​out.
–They’re only open for about half the day. (Usually 10−3ish)
–Portions could be better.
– …The same goes for the service. But then again, what can you expect when there’s only 2 workers (1 working the kitchen & 1 at the register). Of course they’re bound to get a little grouchy after a while.
P. S. Cash only.
31 Unilocal Review Challenge: #24/​31

When I was younger, we started coming here after Lihue Delicatessen shut down (that was hands down the best, sorry sorry). Anyway, it was a good place to get box lunch for school field trips. Everybody would go. I love the hash, the noodles, the chicken. I guess the whole thing. Haven’t been in a while and was told the quality has gone downhill recently. Almost inedible. But I wouldn’t mind going back to check it out myself. Maybe it’s okay now. Idk. Brings back childhood memories. School field trips. The owners (or workers?) are really nice. And they remember you from long time ago. Crazy!

I’m a «city boy» from Honolulu, and believe me, Po’s Kitchen’s «box lunch» on the beautiful garden isle of Kauai is on-​par with the best of busy-​body Oahu’s Okazuya joints.
On top of that, they «plate» their stuff in truly CLASSIC OLD SCHOOL OKAZUYA FASHION. Latahz with that abomination known as the styrofoam clamshell «plate».
Here at Po’s on Kauai, do they bother with Styrofoam? Hell no. How about a paper plate? Hell no, too.
Here at Po’s, they simply throw everything you order right in the «old school» cardboard box, lined with wax paper, then covered with wax paper. MY FRIENDS! THIS is what you call OKAZUYA in how it SHOULD be served!
As for the food, EXCELLENT in a very classic Okazuya style way.
Just go with the top-​of-​the-​line «deluxe» «box lunch», which for an easy «is this really neighbor island prices?» $ 7.95, you get a serving each of: wonderfully-​permeated and perfectly cooked Shoyu Long Rice, a slice of canned ham that’s fried so it tastes like SPAM (a good thing with the musubi rice!), an onolicious morsel of Corned Beef Hash, a deeply-​marinated piece of tender Teri’ Beef, classic Okazuya style Shoyu Hot Dog, a slice of sweetened egg omelet, 2 «savage-​formed» plain rice musubi, 2 pieces of small-​tailed shrimp tempura that’s battered «thick, glutenous» style and seasoned just right (no sauce needed), 2 pieces of fried juicy ‘n tender chicken wings that are battered crispy and also seasoned perfectly with simply salt and pep’, a small helping of pickled cabbage tsukemono that tastes pretty much like Takuan (pickled daikon), and last but not least, a most STELLAR, creamy ‘n simple tray of their «house» Spaghetti Salad (everyone calls it Mac’ Salad, but it’s not, yet tastes the same, thank goodness).
Po’s «Deluxe» «Box Lunch» plate is, simply said, THE «plate» (or, err… BOX LUNCH) that you NEED TO HAVE at the beach, right after you just got done swimming for a few hours.
ANY KAUAI BEACH + PO’s BOX LUNCH = HEAVEN ON HAWAIIAN EARTH.

Rating: ⁴⁄₅
Date (s) visited: many times.
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Atmosphere: ³⁄₅
Price: ⁴⁄₅
Parking: ³⁄₅
A hidden gem. A great place to grab a boxed lunch. If comfort food is your craving, then this is the place. I will definitely be back and recommend others to this establishment.
Food:
Great, cheap comfort food.
Service:
Nothing to write home about.
Atmosphere:
It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall. A mom & pop shop.
Price:
Not bad and no complaints.
Parking:
It can get quite packed during peak hours (Lunch).

Mrs. Po delivers with a smile. Old style lunch box contains musubi, chicken, Teri meat, egg, cornbeef hash, spam, «mac» salad –deluxe box has shrimp tempura.
Great if on a budget. $ 5.50-dlx $ 7.50. Meant to take and eat out. Fast, clean-​the secret place the locals go.