Helena's Hawaiian Food

Perfect spot for home cooked food arriving from the airport, or leaving, and even to call and order take out and eat when you get to your accommodation. Parking is pretty difficult, the lot is small on a busy street, there’s some street parking but can get busy. This was our first stop arriving on a Wednesday afternoon. They’re closed Saturday-Monday so weekdays are the best. You can sign up on waitlist on Yelp and make sure you wait outside after signing in, we made that mistake and walked in not knowing. They have QR codes for the menu. We didn’t know that the Menu sets A-C are recommended for one person. For a group of 4 the server understood what we meant and made our orders family style. We for sure wanted to try their short ribs, kalua pig, limo salmon, luau chicken, Mac salad, rice,

Excellent! Went for lunch on a Friday, it was busy but there were some seats. Parking was somewhat difficult but doable if you are able to walk 1-2 blocks. We ordered one of the menu’s that included short rib, the salmon salad, pork, side of rice + the coconut finale. We also included a fried fish that was recommended. Everything came out of the kitchen rather fast. First, the salmon salad: we liked it, but we think it was normal, we are no experts in that dish. Next, short rib: excellent. Tasty, great color, goes very good with the rice. Fried fish: juicy, cooked to perfection. Pork: tasty, also goes very well with the rice. To end lunch, we tried the coconut (“jello”). It was good, just not used to eat it with onion. Price was super reasonable as it was a good amount of food. D

So first, I just want to set expectations. When you order large size especially the short ribs, don't expect the portions to get big plates. All entrees are delicious and different from Hawaiian fast food. We ordered the short ribs, luau chicken (like Laing), watercress with beef (like Malunggay soup), and LauLau. I highly recommend all of them! At first we felt it was overly price for the amount you get but after eating the food altogether, it was actually a lot and quality was very good. I would say price is more like $35-$40 per person. Service - Friendly. Atmosphere - ok.

Helena's came highly recommended during our visit to Hawai'i, and we finally had the opportunity to check them out. Upon arrival, we were able to order immediately. While there was seating available, we opted to order our food to go. We ordered the long rice chicken, a small order of Pipikaula-style short ribs, macaroni salad, and fried butter fish. It didn't take long to receive our food. For the prices, the portion sizes seemed a bit small. When we finally ate, we felt that the food didn't meet our expectations. The short ribs were a bit tough, the butter fish was excessively salty but the vinegar helped balance it out, and the macaroni salad was probably our favorite, but not the best one we had in Hawai'i. After trying Waiahole Poi Factory's chicken long rice, which was incredibly fla

Helena’s has been on my food wishlist for years and I finally made it on this trip for a late lunch. I can’t stop thinking about how delicious it was - easily my favourite meal I’ve ever had in Hawai’i. Enjoyed the Laulau (tender, rich, and flavourful), the butterfish collar (so fresh, light, and crispy) and poi (love how it balanced the richness of the Laulau). They brought out a plate with raw sliced onion and a lovely coconut dessert plus a small side of local salt - pro tip I learned the midway through the meal: dip the onion into the salt and eat with the food and it’s the most amazing flavour enhancer (nice salt and acidity)! Hours later my onion breath lingers land i’m trying to figure out if I can come back before my flight tomorrow to try the dry aged beef ribs. This restaurant a