The first time I heard about Papa Ole’s was from Lance, a reader of this blog! Thanks for sharing Lance! After his suggestion, I saw it pop up on my yelp feed and the pictures had me salivating. I. had. to. go. And go I did. I went a few weeks ago for the first time with some family. It was a great ride out there and the staff were very friendly. We ordered a pulehu ribs plate and a shrimp plate to share. It was not even 11 am on a Sunday morning and we already snatched up the last pulehu ribs plate, I couldn’t believe it! Here’s my sad part of the story, the ribs were SALTY. Like crazy salty. I could pick off grains salt to create a mountain if I wanted to…but the meat. Oh the meat, it was so good. Thick cut ribs…cooked medium rare – oh so tender and good. It was hard to get past the salt. I figured since we got the last plate, we had the saltiest bunch.
Well, I had to drive out to Laie this week for a meeting and I suggested to my coworkers to eat at Papa Ole’s and we did. Everyone got the pulehu ribs and sorry but it was so salty again! Don’t get me wrong, I know when you get anything pulehu or pipikaula style, it’s going to be salty but this is beyond what I can handle. One of my coworkers actually got a combo kalbi and pulehu plate and let us try a piece of the kalbi. The kalbi was very good. The seasoning was on point and they served it thick cut like the pulehu…unfortunately they also also cooked them to like a crisp. Even though it was cooked way over, the meat was fortunately still tender. I think if I do return, I would ask for the kalbi ribs done medium rare. Sorry for all the text, let’s get to the pics!
Let the rooster greet you. He just walks around like he owns the place. Pretty smart if you ask me, that’s some good crumbs he’s getting!
Portuguese Eggs and Rice Plate – $9.00
For the kids and it comes with toast too! I think this is overpriced so I wouldn’t get it again.
Sauteed Shrimp Plate – $12.00
This is like shrimp scampi style, a little bit creamy – pretty good!
Pulehu Ribs Plate – $12.00
Look at that meat, how can one resist? The ratings are crazy high on Yelp so maybe you need to try these yourself to see if you like it!
Pulehu and Kalbi Ribs Combination Plate – $12.00
My coworker couldn’t decide between the two so they said they can put both on the plate and charged the same price! Glad they did, I got to try the Kalbi!
Pulehu Ribs View
Kalbi Ribs View – it wasn’t too charred on this side but when we turned it over…it was completely black!
This is the size of their mini Pulehu Ribs plate. Great deal for $7.50, comes with 3 ribs!
Another thing – the first time I came here they asked if I wanted mac or green salad. We decided to get one of each. This past time, they didn’t ask us which we wanted so we got mac. I totally forgot about that and wish they had. The green salad and dressing is delicious and honestly, you should eat the greens to offset the ribs a bit. So just wanted to let you folks know about the green salad option! In case you don’t know, Papa Ole’s is located in the same shopping center as Longs Drugs and Tamura’s.
A picture from my first drive over…have a good one guys!