Adela’s Country Eatery

We ordered the ulu and avocado pasta with shrimps and lechon. The garlic butter sauce has amazing aroma!! Everything tasted fresh. The portion is very generous. We could've just order one but we wanted to try more different pasta. Millie is super friendly. We'll come back again if we ever visit the island! -The young couple from Hong Kong

Food is always great! Service is above and beyond! Ambiance is limited by space but amazing what is achieved none the less!

Follow the reviews and call ahead to place the order. Some reviews say they will call you when it's ready, but I think they were too busy taking orders to call me so I stood in line and my order was ready when I mentioned I had called for pick-up. This is a takeout only place. I got the lechon with malunggay pasta! Amazing and it fed 2 people. Nice sauce and pasta is mild but the perfect bite is lechon dipped in the sauce with some pasta and onions.

Parking is scarce!

I needed to check out what all the hype was about this locally owned fresh pasta shop on the windward side close to Windward Mall. The pasta dishes were not overhyped because they were all very delicious and flavorful. However, because there is no seating and this is essentially a takeout restaurant, I wasn't able to enjoy the pasta immediately which took away from the overall experience. Enjoying the pasta dishes immediately after they are made is the way to go. You won't get to experience the full freshness of the meal unless you eat in the car in their parking lot. This is certainly a shame for such a great locally sourced handmade pasta shop. I ordered 3 best sellers on their menu, the Garlic Ulu, Taro Special, and Ube Special. My favorite was the Ube Special followed by the Garlic Ulu, and finally the Taro Special. If I had it fresh, the Taro Special probably could have been my favorite because the flavor was really good, but the sauce made the pasta soft and more mushy than I would've liked. Make sure you call ahead over the phone to order because wait times can sometimes take 40 minutes to over an hour.

The ube and lilikoi cheesecake were good, but did not blow my socks off. I've had better ube and lilikoi cheesecake elsewhere. The crust could definitely use some work. They should really use a shortbread macadamia nut crust instead of walnuts in a soggy underwhelming crust.

Lastly, this place is not cheap. Pasta dishes can run almost $30 and the cheesecake slices are about $9 each. Not the best value, but certainly worth a try if you are in the area, don't mind a long wait, and plan to eat in your car.

Based on a scale of 1 to 5.
1 is Nope. 5 is Oh Yeah.

Service: 3.5
Food: 2.5
Price: 2

Total points: 8
Points averaged: 2.6

Ordered:
Garlic Ulu Portabello
Avocado Seafood
Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia
$70

Tried friend's order:
Taro Special
Ulu Florentine

First impressions: Yummy!
After a few bites: Oily, cloying, why are people rating this 5 stars?

Aunty Millie had us immediately scan the QR for USA Today & urged us to vote them as number one.

The initial draw to this place was the excitement of eating noodles that taste like ulu or avocado or taro... hey, it's unique.

But after trying and plunking $70, it's a "can't go back". The initial good bites quickly morphs into a "i don't think this is good for me" feeling that lines our inners & leaves us wondering how much sodium did we just take in.

We couldn't taste the ulu in the ulu pasta, nor the avocado in the avocado pasta. We could taste the taro in the taro pasta and that was good for first bites... until we just had to close the lid of the takeout box & say "i give up... salt & grease, you win".

If enjoying heavily seasoned food with large portions, then this is the place for you.

If enjoying the actual unhidden flavor of an ingredient, clean eating & healthy... passing may be the way to go.

Adela's never disappoints! Couldn't leave Hawaii before coming here as well! This place just feels like home. Even after one year Aunty and Uncle still remembered my hubby. It's like we were here last week. They are amazing! If you have the pleasure of renting a car or driving around please visit Adela's. This isn't a maybe, this is a must! Also just a heads up. This place is super popular so be sure to order like an hour in advance (by phone) so you're not waiting for an hour. They make everything from scratch so it is going to take a while. When you get here - parking is limited but people are in and out so it shouldn't be an issue. The line is usually out the door - haha. What do you expect from yelps top 7 out of 100 places to eat in the US! If you're lucky enough to come out to Hawaii you need to come here!

I ordered the macadamia crusted fish with white rice and their mango sauce. This was spectacular! It was not heavy at all! I literally ate it all by myself! The fish was cooked perfectly! Not dry and not raw. It was perfect! The crust was sooo delicious! I can taste the nuttiness and richness of the macadamia and it was thinly layered and just heaven! The mango sauce complimented it so well. It had the right amount of spice. I'm not a huge spicy eater and it was just perfect! Omg I literally licked my plastic container. I also asked for plain white rice and it came with buttered green beans. Hubby ordered the malunggay noodles "loco style" with buttered garlic shrimp. I've never seen him eat something so fast! I cannot be happier! I wish I could give Adela's a 10! Best place ever!

Thanks Aunty and Uncle for always welcoming us and never forgetting us! We love you guys! Until next time!

The Trang Family

TL; DR - THE BEST LECHON I EVER HAD. EVER.

Humble exterior and interior. It's a small shop where you order to go only at the counter. There is nowhere to sit inside, so be prepared to eat in your car or take it back somewhere to eat.

You'll wonder if this place is worth it. Is it worth the wait? Is it worth eating in my car? Is it worth the drive?

HELL YEAH it is, especially if you order the lechon kawali and fried rice. This lechon will be straight out the fryer hot, have the perfect crispy skin, and tender/moist meat. They fry the portion in one piece and then cut it up afterwards so that the inside is left super tender and won't cut up your mouth or leave you needing to see the dentist for a tooth replacement. No hard lechon kawali here!

My husband and I devoured that plate in record time. It is that good!

This is an island traditional stop!
I love how you can mix and match noodles, sauces and meats. There's something for everyone!
We ordered the ube noodles w oyster/veggie sauce w lechon. Their lechon is crispy with a good fat/meat ratio. Well flavored.
We also had the braised short ribs w white rice. The white rice was a good balance as the meat was a bit on the saltier side by itself.
The portions are huge huge huge here. 2 orders fed our family of 5. It's a take out place, so no seating available.

5-stars all the way! I am so glad I got to make this drive to try one of the best restaurants listed on the top 100 list.

They make house-made noodles from taro, bread fruit, and manlunggay. I highly recommend ordering their garlic noodles (Ulu) with lechon! This is one of the best dishes I've had in all of Hawaii. I also had to try their lechon with garlic fried rice and egg which was also dynamite. Both dishes weren't salty and had the perfect balance of seasoning.

The wait time can be pretty long but it's still worth it. They do say your order will be ready in 30 mins to 1hr BUT it usually takes 20-25 mins. Also, order a slice of Ube cheesecake! It tastes like regular NY style cheesecake with hints of Ube flavoring. I will say though, the graham cracker crust is very thin so you won't get much of it.

I'll definitely come back!

Before heading over to Lanikai Beach, I decided to stop by Adela's for some lunch. I've been craving for a taste of garlic shop, and this shop had that. There's a parking lot in Adela's, which is rare in Hawaii. I entered the store, and wasn't sure what to expect. There's nowhere to eat inside the store, which is fine.

Millie's voice was heard as she greeted my friend and me. Her voice was soft, as she spoke through a headset. She guided us through the whole ordering process. We ordered the garlic ulu noodles with garlic shrimp, ube cheesecake, and haupia pudding. Don't forget to check in for the free Aloha drink!

I thought there would be a long wait for the food on a Friday, due to the reviews. However, it only took 10 minutes for our order to be ready. I did see a lot of phone orders. The pasta with lechon seemed to be a popular choice. Maybe the rain turned everyone away. Millie gave us some take out containers to eat our food in the car.

We had the garlic shrimp in a separate container from the noodles. The food looked amazing, and the portions are big. We devoured every piece of noodles and the shrimp. The noodles had a lot of flavor, and the shrimp was so soft. I'm not a huge fan of ube, but that ube cheesecake crust had a good texture. I wasn't a big fan of the haupia pudding, since it was a bit too mushy for me.

I definitely recommend Adela's Country Eatery. The shop offers great customer service. The food is amazing. Do call in for your order, since the shop is popular.