Kalei`s Lunchbox - Pukalani

My wife and I dropped in for a mid-afternoon lunch. We were happy with the cleanliness of the place, and it is nice and bright. The specials were posted outside and the Kalei's Bento sounded great. We got it and a chop salad with no protein to split. It came with Mochiko Chicken, Prawns, Beef, and Macaroni Salad. We wished we hadn't got it to split... Wow was it good - every bite was excellent! The staff were friendly and greeted everyone as they came in the door. The were happy to answer questions about the food for those not familiar with it. We'll be back!

Perfect take out lunch at Kalei’s. We took out to get lunch during our lunch in Kaleakala crater and it was delicious. The food was really tasty, I loved the Brussels sprouts and the Mahi plate. Only thing I would complain about is that we ordered ahead to get it at a specific time and it was not ready when we arrived, we had to wait an extra 10min but that’s fine.

After having a disappointing roast pork plate from their Kahului food truck back in 2016, I never went back in fear of consuming more middling dishes. Either I chose the wrong dish or they improved as the ratings and positive words have become consistent. I had to run Upcountry to pick up a birthday cake from Komoda Bakery anyway, so I thought it'd be the perfect time to try Kalei's new brick and mortar spot in Pukalani. They must be doing well to open up vertical digs! ATMOSPHERE: The quaint eatery is located in the Pukalani Terrace shopping center. The dining room gives way to their open-view kitchen with a few tables outdoors. MENU: Breakfast items (8am - 10:30am), Hawaii-style plate lunches, burgers, salads, noodles, keiki menu and desserts. FOOD: Chow Fun - $5.00 It has been trying, trying to find an authentic, local-style chow fun. Located, finally! Too many places put in unnecessary garnishes and ingredients, but not Kalei's. They did, however add in an odd meat which actually worked, sliced lap xuong, which is a dried Chinese sausage that has a sweet-salty flavor (works wonders in fried rice, BTW). A little splash of shoyu and lots of black pepper equals heaven. Highly recommended. Teriyaki Chicken - $12.00 The grilled thighs were a bit dry and finished with a sweet-salty teriyaki sauce drizzle. Good, but I wouldn't order it again. Hamburger Steak - $11.00 Patty texture is what makes a good hamburger steak great. Prior to this, only the now-closed Archie's restaurant in Wailuku and my version satisfied me. Yes! Thank you, Kalei's, for giving me three homemade patties with a crunchy exterior, moist interior, covered in a tasty gravy. Mushrooms & onions also make for a better dish in which I added them for $1.00. Another highly recommended dish. Their house mac salad was good too, and comes with most if not all of their plate lunches. SERVICE: Herein lies the only reason this isn't a 5-star shiner. Approached the counter, no greeting. I told the girl I have a pick up order and gave her my name. She couldn't find my order and said I probably ordered from the wrong location. I showed her my online confirmation in which she then stated that their online orders don't print out receipts (meaning food orders that come in). SMH. If this is a known glitch, fix it. She did assure me that they could have my order ready in 10 minutes which held true. The gal who brought me my order instead of calling my name and making me come back to the counter was professional and apologetic; thank you for that. Add another star. OVERALL: Don't order online; call it in. My spouse even commented that I should order food from here more often. That says a lot, trust me!

We stopped at the Pukalani location on the way to Haleakala. The Maui Lani Kalei's Lunchbox location is much better than this one. It took us about 25 minutes to get our food. The kitchen appeared a bit disorganized. Everything we ordered (except the salad) was much too salty. Even the kids complained about the salt level. We couldn't finish anything except the salad. The Loco Moco was overcooked and dry. The beef patties were much too salty. They were skimpy on the gravy. When we asked for more gravy, they tried to charge us extra, until we explained the loco moco was far too dry and inedible. The Mahi Ala Kalei was also too salty. The fish was overcooked. Did not taste as good as it sounded. The saimin was also too salty. The noodles weren't as chewy as the Maui Lani location. This location gave one large fatty piece pork in the saimin. The Maui Lani location gave well-seasoned char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) pieces already cut up. The mac salad had much too much mayo. The shrimp salad was the best thing we ordered. Fresh ingredients, good dressing. But who goes to a plate lunch place for a salad?