Before adventuring through the grounds of the Polynesian Cultural Center (read about our adventure here), our family of four had lunch at Pounders Restaurant in the Hukilau Marketplace. Pounders is a full-service, air conditioned restaurant that proudly offers produce fresh from island farms, organic beef raised in Hawaii, and seafood caught in nearby waters.
Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing I noticed were the two display cases full of tantalizing pies, cheesecakes, cookies, and assorted pastries from Aunty Emily's Bakery. At this point I knew I would need to save room for dessert.
Since the boys were starving, we looked at the keiki menu first. It was very easy to follow - choose an entree, choose a side dish, and choose a drink. I love simple menus!
One of our boys wanted to build his own pizza, the other wanted a hamburger. Both wanted fries as side dish, and fruit punch for a drink.
After placing our order, we were then invited to the pizza station to build our pizza.
Here's what we started with - a prepared dough, pizza sauce and cut mozzarella cheese.
My son has made his own pizza before so he knew exactly what to do.
The cheese was the most fun part of the process for him. He said he was making a puzzle. He ran out of pieces towards the end, but the pizza man was more than happy to give him more cheese so that he could finish his puzzle.
After he was finished making his pizza, the pizza was placed in the kiawe-fired brick oven which was imported from Napoli.
After the pizza was baked, they plated it nicely with a side of french fries.
Here's the Little Buddy's hamburger (it's actually a cheeseburger on the menu but we asked for it without cheese) with a side of french fries.
The hubby and I shared three pupu items:
the kalua pork quesadilla, which was served with a side of mango-papaya salad...
and the snow crab cakes.
I've been telling everyone I know, including Gem, who has dined here several times (click here) for her most recent blog post on this restaurant), how much I loved the mahimahi nuggets! They were crispy, moist, and tasted so good. The next time we dine here, the hubby and I will skip the crab cakes and order two orders of the mahimahi nuggets, because he loved them too!
The kalua pork quesadilla took us by surprise, as the serving was much larger (almost double the size) as pictured on the menu.
For dessert, we ordered a cupcake and lilikoi roll.....
Pounders Restaurant at the Hukilau Marketplace is a great place for family dining in the Laie area. There is plenty of free parking, the service is friendly, it's very casual and low-key, it's air conditioned (!), and there are plenty of shops at the marketplace to browse through before or after your meal.
We rarely visit this side of the island, but the next time we do, we will definitely revisit Pounders Restaurant to try more of their menu items.
Mahalo to our sponsor for hosting our meal today!
Pounders Restaurant at the Hukilau Marketplace
55-370 Kamehameha Highway
(808) 293-3287
Reservations via Yelp
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