Aaron's Kitchen

Small hole-in-the-wall place. Food was quite tasty but I think I was more blown away by the value. 3 choice plate is $13! Usually the more choices, the smaller the portions are but these were full sized portions. I ordered the fried chicken, chicken papaya and pork guisantes (pork and peas). My partner got the adobo, tinono and dinuguan. We also got two orders of the Shanghai lumpia. It’s frozen but still taste good! The guisantes little bit salty but all of that for $35! Wow! I was so hungry, I ate half of it before taking a photo! Oops

Excellent food and good portions. Grab and go and eat at salt ponds state park.

Love the flavors that the new owners put out. Na imas!!

Because of Covid, we couldn’t eat inside so we went to a local park that they recommended. Unfortunately, we forgot one of our bags, but they drove to the park to give us the food! Absolutely impeccable service! Chick-fil-A workers have absolutely nothing on the wonderful service. The food was also great too! Please stop by this place if you’re in the area!

I am in love with Aaron's. I bought 3 choice meal. Pancit, 1) guisantes, 2) chocolate meat, 3) chicken adobo and a bag of chicharon(filipino)

Delicious and affordable Filipino food in Hanapepe, we stop by every time we are in the area. I’m not an expert on judging filipino food but i think it’s pretty good and my kids like it. One, two and 3 choice plates are only $11, $12 and $13 and they don’t count noodles as the first choice, which is often a common practice. Halo halo and banana lumpia is made to order and worth the wait. There’s usually only one worker in front so sometimes there’s a wait, but it worth it. It’s take out only, no seating to eat inside, but it’s great food to take to a park or the beach. Staff is friendly and there’s plenty of parking- this place is highly recommended for some hearty home style Filipino food.

Love their halo halo, when ever I come back to the island it's a must to stop here for this refreshing dessert before continuing my drive.

Good portion and taste.

Just like eating in your grandpa or auntie's kitchen! The space is small and simple but clean. Lumpia are made to order and everything else is served up from a buffet line but is clearly made fresh. The perfect little spot for Ilocano food made with love.

A change in ownership this year brought the food to it's lowest level. It takes me about an hour from home to drive to this restaurant and I enjoyed the food in the past. I brought my takeout order to a nearby pavilion on the beach with an incredible view, took my first bite and actually spat it out. I tried the other food choices and it was BAD. How in the world could anyone serve food of this quality and continue to remain in business!!! What a shame. It seems like salt only was primarily used to season the food. I fed my meal to the chickens and birds in the area who seem to have enjoyed it. I predict that this business under the present ownership will not survive for much longer unless drastic improvements are made. FYI, there is a service charge for using a credit card.

The service was ok. Could use a lot of improvement. The food was mediocre. The lechon kawali was too fatty. There was barely meat. The pancit was not flavorful. It was lacking everything that a pancit should have. The chicken was the only dish we liked and the halo halo. I problem would not come back. The ambiance was ok

New owner Mae (May?) is doing this long time eatery justice I called it about 10 AM to see if Lechon Kawali was on the menu today. Fortunately, for me, the new owner May answered the phone. After letting me know that she did not have it on the menu today and since it was such a time-consuming dish, she was probably only going to be doing it on Fridays in the future. My disappointment came across clearly on the phone, since I would be leaving the island on Thursday. She took pity upon me, and this angel told me that if I came at about 1230 today, she would have it ready for me. Not only am I writing to praise her kindness, and her Customerservice, but it was truly one of the best versions of Lechon Kawali I've ever had. The pictures don't do it justice as I got the phone lens a little greasy since I started eating it immediately in the car. Trust me - she is killing it!! I wish I had ordered some of the adobo and other items as well. They are half as good as this dish was she will continue keeping Aaron's Kitchen a success.

Amazing authentic filipino food. We tried pork and chicken adobo, pancit and a beef dish..everything was amazing!

I loved going to Aaron's kitchen when I was in Kauai. They have cheap food that tastes great and I would eat here for my one big meal a day

Hella good. Chicken adobo and poncit was so yummy- this was my first time trying those dishes but my boyfriend grew up with it and he said it was hella good too! You'll miss this place if you're not looking for it bud definitely stop in! Friendly lady making all that food right there! Not even 5 minutes from Port Allen, so if you're getting off a boat and want some real Philippino food, check it out!

The first and last time we visited Aaron's Kitchen, was the last time we visited Kauai: 2011. If you are from the barrio in the Philippines, then you may be tempted to rate this restaurant 5 stars. The food is authentic, Northern Philippines Ilocano-style cooking. The food is healthy and delicious, no matter where you are from. The restaurant seems to primarily focus on the local working-class community, take out and catering. There are only a couple tables for seating, but they were quickly vacated for us visiting customers. If you are concerned about seating, have your food put in a 'to go' container and take it back to your lodging and enjoy. The servings are generous. Order a Halo-halo for your drink, and take it with you if need be. Don't be put off by the smudges on the doors and windows. Not sure if there are any restrooms. There is a good variety of entree choices. We ordered: Pork Fritada, Chicken Papaya, Chicken Adobo, Fish, Pinakbet, and Crispy Pork (which was just cooked). Pansit and Rice come with each order. Even though, I already knew what those tasted like, she gives out Free Samples! Chicharons are being bagged, ready for sale, and we also got a sample for that. Teaching my family the right way to eat Halo-Halo, they get to enjoy first hand from a pro. They were all very satisfying. 2 stars for the environment. 5 stars for the food and the friendly service.

After several failed attempts to get Filipino food, we were finally able to get our fix. We got the pancit with pinakbet and a halo halo. The pinakbet was a little too salty for me but loved the pancit. The halo halo was fun to eat. It contained so many hidden treasures - tapioca, ube, ube ice cream, agar agar, coconut, melon, condensed milk, banana, and maybe other stuff. Everything came out to $15+.

The chef should wash his or her hands after pooping. On our vacation, two members of our party got violently sick after eating at Aaron's. It was diagnosed as enterotoxic E. coli (ETEC). Look it up on the CDC website and you will see that it's due to poor restaurant hygiene. Beware- it ruined half of our vacation!

I don't really know Filipino food enough to have a great judgment/opinion on Aaron's Kitchen. I made the mistake of not trying some of the fried chicken and pancit. Aaron's is a total hole in the wall and more of a fast casual setting- the food is already made and service is quick. I ordered the chicken and pork adobo. Both dishes were very solid and I enjoyed the ginger/soy flavors. The chicken came in the form of braised chicken wings and the meat was extremely tender for both dishes. The pimiento was definitely different than the previous two dishes and had more of a Spanish type of flavor to it. I still enjoyed this, though. I should have ordered some other stuff and that was my mistake. In summary, I enjoyed my experience at Aaron's Kitchen. There was good value and quick service and, from what I have read, authentic food.

This place was hands down some of the best Filipino food I've had! It doesn't look like much from the outside but don't let that fool you! We ate here a few times during our visit.

A small little place to grab some food near salt Pond beach. The fam wanted to grab some food and found this place. The lady that worked there was super nice. Felt bad coz we had a big order and she was there working by herself. We ordered lechon kawali, lumpia Shanghai, dinuguan, halo halo, pusit and etc. All were delicious. Wish I had pictures Make sure you tip and wear your mask

I was born and raised on Kaua'i, and though I now live in California, I'm currently here taking care of my father. I've been making it a point to eat ONLY food that I can't get anywhere else, and to support small businesses. I'd known of Aaron's because they had a version of something I'd grown up eating: what we Kauaians would refer to simply as "Hanama'ulu chicken"--a ginger-spiced, salty-sweet fried chicken that I could not get enough of as a kid. Sadly, that restaurant closed down years ago, so whenever I'm on-island, I try to find places that offer that specifically-flavored chicken. And Aaron's has it. I ordered the chicken but also decided to just go ahead and sample other things from Aaron's that I hadn't had before. So I went a little crazy: bought a bag of chicharron (home-made pork rinds!), an order of lumpia, a couple of containers of tambo tambo (aka padarosdos, ginataang bilobilo), and a halo halo. The chicharron was sampled on the drive home. Whoa. Crunchy, shockingly not greasy, not overly salty, it very much got my seal of approval. Yum! Once I got home, the lumpia was next to be tasted. My mom's lumpia is the platinum standard by which other lumpia is judged, and Aaron's lumpia was good, especially since I had some spicy/sweet/sour sauce to dip it in. The chicken was as good as I remember it, and it has an advantage over another place on-island that has a similar offering--Aaron's chicken is boneless, which allows one to munch on it with a little more abandon than when the chicken has bones in it (or, maybe that's not a good thing, especially for one's waistline). It was time for dessert, and the tambo tambo (which had just been cooked when I picked up my order) was another entry under the "Yum!" column: it had actual cubes of ube (Filipino sweet potato, which seems to have gotten everyone's attention in the last few years), strings of chewy coconut, tiny tapioca beads, and the bilo bilo (chewy balls of mochi flour) were the perfect size and texture. The degree of sweetness was just right. I didn't want it to end! I had kept my halo-halo for later in the day, and by the time I enjoyed it, a lot of the ice had melted, so there wasn't that pleasant crunch of the ice that I'm used to when halo halo is eaten straightaway. It was also still really good! Not overly sweet, with ube ice cream and different textures in it from the different sweet beans, boba, and fruit in it. I'm definitely going back for the chicken, tambo tambo and chicharron! When (not if) you swing by Aaron's, I hope you enjoy those along with their other offerings!

This place is a hidden gem in the charming town of Hanapepe! Originally from the Bay Area, I find the Filipino food at Aaron's Kitchen one of the best! Their dishes have high quality and delicious homemade taste! We come here as often as we can and most of the time before or after heading to Salt Pond Beach. You will not regret it! Try the dessert, Tambo Tambo (coconut milk, purple yams, and mochi balls), squid stew and Mungo bean soup with bitter melon leaves! Mouth watering!!!

This was first ever experience with Filipino food and WOW! Glad I chose this place. It's quite small size wise but had good food selection and I tried all kinds of stuff I've never had before: mungo beans, chicken wings, pork adobo, banana lumpia and a noodle dish I don't know name of. Also had dragon fruit. If I misspelled anything I sincerely apologize! Not only was the food phenomenal but the service and atmosphere was truly awesome. The folks that worked there were kind, considerate, friendly and amazing human beings. I have nothing but good things to say!! Bottom line - eat here!!!

We come here all the time and the cook/lady is super nice and friendly. She makes the best turon! We've tried pretty much everything she has made - it's like home cooking meal. Affordable and delicious food!

Was craving Filipino food, and this was the closest place to where we were on the island at the time. Ordered the pancit bihon, pork adobo, mungo beans, banana lumpia (turon), and halo halo. Everything was delicious. My favorite was the banana lumpia. They fried them up right away and they were nice and crispy. Definitely recommend if you're in that part of the island! It could have been tidier inside and outside, but the food was 10/10.

We stumbled across AK as we exited the historic town of Hanapepe. We love to support local. The lady at the counter was super friendly and fried up some Lumpia Shanghai and Turon (banana lumpia) for us. My kids loved it - just like their Lola would make at home. Very tasty pork adobo and refreshing Halo-Halo! Reasonable prices too. Salamat for making delicious Pinoy food in Kauai!

This little mamas and papa's restaurant in back of old hanapepe Town is one of the the most best Filipino food you can get on the Island.I highly recommend eating and taking out food from here.YUM YUM!!!MAHALO

First time here and definitely coming back. Food was great and the staff was so helpful and friendly. Got a little of everything, pork and chicken adobo, pork gravy and fried chicken. The halo halo was amazing as well as the tambo tambo.

Was craving a halo halo after a long day at the beach. Yelp directed me to Aaron's kitchen. Loved this halo halo! The purple sweet potato was a different twist! But definitely satisfying! They also had Filipino dishes ready to order if your craving Filipino food.

The food is pretty good nothing too crazy, it's good if your craving some quick Filipino food. The inside feels a little unsanitary to be honest but other then that it's okay ! Yessah

I was skeptical (spoiled by Seattle's food scene) but the food was tasty, and the halo-halo was amazing! It's like a rice smoothie with bits of tapioca and ube and banana. That sounds weird but both my partner and I agreed it was shockingly delicious. Like bubble tea on steroids. Amazing stuff. In Seattle this would probably be four stars but it was a standout for me on the island so giving it five :)

The family was craving some home cooked Filipino food on day 7 of our vacation and some halo halo after spending the day at Salt Pond Beach. We walked in and already knew this place was legit. There was one mom and her son sitting at one of the tables watching TV and prepping some sitaw. The place felt like you were walking into a roadside home restaurant in the PI out in the provence. Most of the food was already made "turu turu" style on the hot table. There was probably 8 entrées to chose from. We order the chicken adobo, chicken papaya, and the beef tripe soup, each $6.50 for about a 1 pint container. Chicken adobo: Deep, thick sauce with the perfect balance of sour and salty and a hint a sweet which you expect in a perfect adobo. They use a whole chicken, so you can ask for white or dark meat. Chicken papaya: Full flavored broth with a hint of fish sauce. Green papaya was perfectly cooked and not mushy. Tripe soup: This was my favorite! Bizarre Foods status, but ONOLICIOUS! It had every part of the cows G. I. tract, slow cooked to perfection. The soup was clean tasting, evidence that they thoroughly cleaned the innards, but still had the perfect amount of funk to it! Halo Halo: Best on the island. The cantaloupe strings were a first, but it worked and put their halo halo on a whole another level! Overall, love supporting small family hole in the walls like this. They treated us like family, making this the best dining experience for my family and me on Kauai. When we got back to Kapaa, we were hating ourselves for not ordering extra for dinner.

This place was recommended by a Marriiot Employee for the deep fried lechon and lumpia. It was worth the drive from the east side of the island. The lechon and a cold beer...... mmmmmm mmmm good.

If you are looking for authentic filipino food in south west of Kauai this would be the place to be. The food was good. It's a small place with 3 tables. Most guests had some take away. You should know if you are dining in that they have no restrooms.

Delicious authentic Filipino food! Had the 3 choice - pancit, pinkabet, blood meat and green papaya chicken. The green papaya was my favorite!

our first visit. location is slightly off/behind the main road. if you like traditional phillipino food, we are sure you will find something to your liking amongst the dishes offerings at their steam table. the fried banana lumpia sold out fast. so come early. also sell some produce like tomatoes and sauces. highly recommended.

Aaron's Kitchen is a hole in the wall in Hanapepe but they make the best halo halo!!! We visit at least once every trip to Kauai. They also make really good chicken papaya soup on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays.

Recommended by our local friends who know the owners we stopped in to this small place for Filipino food. It's a locals place but very friendly. 3 tables to eat at or do like we did and get it to go to the beach. We sampled a few but our favorites were the pimento pork, fried chicken and fried pork rind.

The food is amazing and the ladies are even more so. We had pork adobo, pimiento and some lechon and lumpia. Great meal!

Always a delicious way to escape from having to cook after a long day at work!! Uncle Aaron's kitchen consistently serves up the best pinacbet, pancit, gisantes, pig feet, adobo, chicken papaya, blood meat, mongo beans and the lechon kawali is out of this world!!!!

This is defiantly off the beaten path, but the food is really tasty if you enjoy Filipino food! The adobo chicken and panic is delicious. The price is really decent compared to other restaurants on the island. The people that own the place are pleasant.

Great Filipino food. The owner was a very sweet and nice lady. Loved the chicken adobo. Next time I go I'll save room for halo halo.

Just have to recommend this little Filipino restaurant just off 50. The food is authentic filipino fare most served cafeteria-style. We had the three item combo and sampled the signature lechon kawali, chicken and pork adobo, and the halo halo for dessert. All authentic, like you remember it and plenty off it. Seating is spartan, dry-erase board menu, son working the register, filipino movie posters grace the walls. Despite being just past 7 and closing the owner Henry let us dine in. Instead of rushing us out, he shared some of his stories about working at the hotels for 20 years before opening his restaurant, named for his first grandson. Even gave my kids some free ube ice cream after he saw them picking at my halo halo. Straight-up Filipino food ilocano-style automatic for all the hard-working Filipinos and savvy travelers who happen to find themselves on the west side of Kauai. "Come back tomorrow," he says, "We'll have tinola." (One of the wife's favorites.)

Came here while on my Honeymoon to find local cuisine. A cool Hawaiian man had recommended Bobbies if we wanted Hawaiin food but it was closed by the time we got there, so we tried Aarons.. which was a few feet away. Aarons was Filipino small takeout restaurant. We ordered some sort of okra with eggplant mixture. I liked it, tasted like a southern style okra stew. We ordered 2 Abobo pork and chicken with white rice plates. It was tasty too. Best food we ate while in Hawaii thus far. On the salty side but whose eating this everyday day. They also had sautéed squid, we're adventurous, tried that too:) Finished off the meal with 2 melon shaved ice. I heard you haven't been to Hawaii unless u had a shaved ice. We enjoyed it. Spent about 35 bucks. Not back for a filling me align in hawaii. We could have easily shared 1 platter and asked for extra rice but hey, we were hungry.

Super friendly service. Great halo halo! The pig feet adobo and pork adobo are both super delicious. I'm totally coming back here. Oh, and the tambo tambo purple pudding is as good as they say. It's a sweet potato tapioca pudding. Mmmm.... I love this place.

Yummy Filipino food. I had the Pork Peas Pimento. Was greasy and good. Got the mini plate and it was a lot of food for me (but I'm small, so if you're hungry hungry, get regular size). They have a bunch of other selections for lunch. The Lechon Kawali is pretty good. Had that before. We got the pig's feet for my uncle and he said it was ono. Limited seating if you wanna eat here. About three tiny tables. We ate here, but didn't stay long. We didn't want to take up space for too long. Anyway, the food is good and the worker was really really nice.

This place stands out from most of what we've eaten on the island. We hadn't had the best of luck finding great food during our stay. We just happened to be driving by and glad we stopped in. We both had pork and chicken adobo.

Authentic Filipino homestyle cooking, cafeteria picks all tasty: pork tinuno, chicken adobo, chicken pimento, adobo fried rice, tambo-tambo. Warm, friendly family-owned and cooked, broke da mouth.

This is Regina. I'm using my husband's Yelp account. I ordered an authentic Filipino lechon (Roasted pig) at Aaron's Kitchen in Hanapepe to celebrate my father's 90th birthday. It was extremely expensive, so we were expecting something wonderful like a real fresh lechon that was cooked the same day and skin will be crispy that guests will enjoy eating. In other words, the quality was not good, its rubberized and very old and ugly looking. A typical lechon looks like the first photo. This is what we expected. What we got was the second photo. It looks like a road-kill pig, nothing like our expectations. I called the restaurant afterwards and voiced my dissatisfaction. The owner (HENRY BUMAGAT) in Hanapepe was very argumentative, dismissive and actually hung up in my face, stating "I HAVE NO TIME FOR YOU!" Wow!!! As a business owner, you don't treat your customers like the way he treated me. He lied, he hadn't warned me that he was going to give me a lechon that looked like a road-kill pig. "Aloha Spirit" is a great deal in Hawaii but my experience from this restaurant owner was far from "Aloha."

This little hole in the wall is where it's at! Sitting here we've watched all the locals come through and for good reason- the food is authentic and the owners know what they're doing, and are so generous and kind as well. This place is a highlight for sure!

All other places were about to close for the day. We had a choice to eat in Subway or try the Filipino place. Eating at Subway sounded to lame for vacation. We never ate Filipino food before. So we decided to try it out just out of curiosity. We were the only non Filipino customers. I guess that is the reason we've got a preferential treatment. The food was tasty and very inexpensive. We paid less than $10 for our meal. I liked chicken papaya, other type of chicken, that I don't remember the name and some dish that looked like a spring roll. I also liked fried banana. This place is a super good deal in my opinion.

Must try the lechon! So delicious, and also there pork and peas is great as well, can't eat anything there without the pansit! It can get busy at times, if your on the road and on the go, you can call in.

Try the Halo-halo...it's a Filipino desert thats like shave ice. Very good, and unlike most places that make it, most the ingredients are made in house. Must have in a hot Hawaiian day.

Not sure what happened to my review about this place in 2011. Worst food, worst service. I spent an hour writing up about this place. these yelps are fake!!!!

the good: fast since food is served cafeteria style and is CHEAP, you get alot for less than $10. the value got an extra star otherwise this is a 1 star. the bad: anything other than seafood is very greasy with lots of chunks of fat. Hawaiians actually like this but I don't. I may be rating low because I'm not a fan of Philipino food to begin with so 5 stars if you like chunks of fat in your food. no on-site eating: it is all take away

Went there on a Monday at 4:20pm. I had to open up a yelp account because the people who wrote these positive reviews must have been hallucinating. I don't want other tourists to go through my experience. Place: Did not look welcoming, they had 3 tables, 2 of them had sacs of eggplants and okras. There were 8 of us, we had to move the tables and chairs ourselves. They did not have public restrooms. We drove from Kapaa to this place because the write-ups were good and we were craving Filipino food but what a big mistake!!! Food: Did not look fresh. Food was salty. Lechon kawali was old even though we asked for fresh ones. Rice serving was a little scoop so be prepared to order an extra scoop. They only give you a plastic fork wrapped with napkin and elastic band to eat with on styrofoam plates. I found a fly in my beef tripe dish!!! That was enough for us to get out of there. An older lady came out to apologize and gave us 2 halo-halo. Service: Terrible!! Young lady at the serving station looked like she did not want to be there. We didn't feel welcome at all. I would not recommend this place to anybody!!!