Great guava and baked ahi combo plate. Great price and great service. Cant get enough of this plate.

love this place...simple, good, healthy food for the soul : ) BIG grin read more

One of the few places that has roast turkey done right! Easily one of my favorite roast turkey plates on the island, and their opa was also great as well. 6 bucks mini, around 8 for a regular, their prices are awesome. The rice is great, I've had both white and brown. The Mac salad is done perfectly, just the right amount of mayo. The turkey is moist and tender while the gravy is thick and flavorful, I suggest getting it 'all over'. Mainly a takeout joint, there are two small four seater tables outside. The chicken sells out FAST, so get it early if you can, next on my to do list is the famous guava chicken (it sold out by 11 last time I tried to order), I suggest calling in your order or show up before 11 because the line and wait gets longggg. Definitely worth it though ;) read more

IT'S ALL GOOD - I initially went for the Guava Chicken but I go back for the grilled fish especially the grilled mahi mahi and salmon. Don't get me wrong. The guava chicken is best of the crispy deep fried and sauced chicken you'll find around. It imparts a tangy slightly spicy flavor without being overly sauced. But it's the fish that seems prepared with extra skill here. It's really easy to over cook fish and just slather it with sauces. Pongo's puts a very slight sear on the fish and pairs it PERFECTLY with your choice of buttery sauce or drizzle (recommend the wasabi) that enhances, without overpowering, the subtle flavor of the fish you're eating. The resulting flavor, texture, and savoryness of the fish stands out not just among local plate lunch places but among less casual restaurants as well. Parking is a hassle but well worth the effort so don't let that scare you away. read more

Absolute favorite place for lunch in Kalihi! They have a variety of food to choose from and the price is so reasonable.

Today we had the Ahi with the garlic/shoyu sauce was yummy as usual and filling.. Had my. Side order guava chicken to go with my plate . I recommend Pongos Kitchen for your plate lunch fix , good prices and filling . Forgot to take a pic of our lunch , ate first and was too late ,all gone . My regular Kalihi plate lunch kitchen .. Thanks Candace read more

Pongo's is my go to lunch place whenever I don't bring home lunch! :) I LOVE THE GUAVA CHICKEN!!! I work around here, so it is very convenient for me because It takes about 5 minutes or less to walk over. I rather walk because parking is such a hassle and it can be tough! They get really busy here, so I'm glad I can just call in my order & pick up! Love this place and their food!!!! read more

love yall's seafood! thanks for the free plate lunch yall gave me 10 years ago. gotta come back soon!

I'm kicking myself for not coming here sooner! I love plate lunches especially when it's not the normal fare you'll find at L&L's (no diss to Eddie). It's located right next to my old elementary school. It's a small hole-in-the-wall shop but just look for the long line of folks outside during lunchtime. Parking sucks so you may have to make a few rounds, but let me tell ya, it's worth the trouble. I tried the #1 combo plate with the guava chicken and baked stuffed ahi. So ono and all for under $9. That kinda awesomeness is tough to beat. Came back a second time to get the warmed spinach salad with salmon and tofu. Also a great tasting, healthier option. So if you're ever in the Kalihi area anytime from 10-2 Mon-Sat, come check them out. It might be easier to go with someone who can hop out and pick up the orders for you though. Just saying. read more

Pongo's is the literal definition of a little hole in the wall, and what a gem of a find it was. The guava chicken and sesame chicken are excellent, and the portion size for the price is great. Staff was very friendly. Its street parking only. Overall great experience and I will be visiting again. read more

I was in the area looking for a place to pick up lunch and Yelp took me here. It did not disappoint and what a cute hole in the wall local place where you get a yummy quality plate lunch. A hidden gem and the friendly awesome service will definitely keep customers coming back. I ordered the warm spinach salad with grilled salmon and tofu, it was cooked perfectly and soo ono! I really wanted to try the spicy guava chix but since I went close to closing time they were sold out and yet they were able to find me a few pieces so I could sample it, thank you! That was so sweet of them! WOW! talk about a teaser. Now I want to go back and try everything on their menu. read more

Went here yesterday for lunch with my family. My mom and I shared the ahi steak with ginger sauce and my sister and her boyfriend shared the hamburger steak. Both were super savory and really filling, even for sharing! The lady also brought out some extra roast chicken they had made for us to try and that was also very delicious. The chicken was juicy! This place is awesome and I'm so glad I found it for us. Great aloha here! read more

If you NO TRY dis eatery, den you da LUUZA. I brought home 4 mixed plates to share and EVERYTHING was Ono and I mean Broke da mouth Ono. Restaurant quality 5 STARS! Everything FRESH! Everything like "where have you been hiding all my life?" Soooo gooood! Dressings, sauces, seasonings were all KILLAH. If I had some money, I'd move them to Waikiki and become an instant Billonaire, and start a franchise, and be one, fat, happy camper! Mahalos for the Kanak Attack in Kalihi. read more

best place ever! great for and great service. i keep forgetting to bring cash for the tip jar LOL i paid with my card and they wouldn't take a tip from that. lol read more

Another great hole in the wall in kalihi. I've been telling my husband that I want to try this place for awhile now and I've finally fulfilled my crave. I ordered the guava chicken and baked ahi plate. The door was amazing but the portion size was minimal. Don't get me wrong the plate was more than enough for my two daughters and I to share and we still had leftovers however the portion size was small! I will definitely be back though because the food was tasty! read more

Friendly staff, good food, fast service, and reasonably priced. Guava chicken was FIRE

Great food choices. If your first time there get the guava chicken. Its the bomb. One if the best hole in the wall places in Hawaii. A lot to chose from and its all good it just depends what you want that day. If you can't decide they have combo plates. If you are a vegetarian no worry the have something for you too. Staff is great too. Seating is all outside so on hot or rainy days its not a good idea to eat there. read more

Staff is always friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The food is AWESOME!! My favorite is Opakapaka, brown rice, and tossed salad. Their dressing is delicious. read more

This place is a great lunch spot especially if you are looking for real local Hawaiian food. They have plenty of different plate lunches but I especially like the grilled seafood dishes they make like: grilled ahi bellies(mmmm yumm, and so fresh!) Mahi Mahi plate is so onolicious!!!, If you ever get a chance try the grilled salmon bellies...mouth watering! There is always a black board special and I recommend that you always check, cuz they get specials like opaka paka, seabass, or Opah. I also enjoy other plates like Kalbi, fried chicken, guava chicken, and shrimp. All plates come with a nice tossed salad,rice, mac salad or sweet corn.. Make sure you get the garlic butter drizzle on top of your goodies. Pongos is inexpensive , the staff is very friendly and they just make great local food! I will always go back and you should try! tell I sent ya! read more

Pongo Pongo Pongooo!! This is a decent spot for a plate lunch in the Kalihi area. Baked ahi is pretty good. I would say pretty on par for the price I guess. I'd pay a little more for a little more fish, just my opinion. Also a standard regular plate lunch in Hawaii is two scoops of rice and one scoop of salad. They give one scoop of salad and a slightly larger scoop of rice. Last thing to say is parking is horrible here. If there is a space on the road I'll consider stopping in if not I'd pass. read more

Guava Chicken. OMGEEEE. If you want it though, you need to get there earlier in the day. I have been later in the lunch hour and they have been sold out. Don't expect to have parking near by. I like to take someone with me to go get the food while I circle the block. Super cheap --- I can never finish the mini size. read more

They r the best!!! Stuffed Ahi n guava chicken sooo good! Go early because there's a long line by 11 o'clock. Candace n Tracy make everything delicious!!! The best!! Check them out!!! read more

One of the best things about my sort of new job is discovering all the great restaurants Kalihi has to offer. My coworkers and I recently discovered Pongos, via Cheap Eats on Hawaii News Now. It's pretty much this hole in the wall plate lunch place, that if you blink you'll probably miss it. On this visit I had the grilled ahi steak with ginger green onion sauce. I heard they had pretty big portions so I opted for a mini plate (about $6). It came complete with rice and your choice of mac or tossed salad or corn. The fish was a little on the drier side but the ginger green onion sauce totally made up for it. The mac salad was a little tooo mayonaisey (i think I spelt that wrong) for my taste, it was like L&L mac salad, I don't know why but I expect way better mac salad. On the downside, we weren't able to phone in our order (which really sucks when you are on your lunch break and pressed for time). We had three people in the office trying to get through and no one picked up. Also by the time we went to get our food they had ran out of fried chicken (which I hear is AMAZE-balls) and the roast turkey. All in all my stomach was satisfied with Pongos! read more

Very good and fresh food. Brown rice and salad options on mini and regular plates. Only negative is parking is only street.

odd place, difficult to find, no parking...worth it! this small little take out joint packs some flavor! lots of choices, all of it really good. if you like fish, here is really good and fresh! one of the better plate lunch places your going to find. gotta love the drizzles they put on the food. lots of choices, depending on what you eat...i would just ask which they think is best for whatever dish you order. plus instead of the usually mac salad, you can have a choice of tossed salad or corn! but who eats a plate lunch without mac salad? You also get choice between white or brown rice. If i want fish, i like the baked ahi. although, a couple of times i have gotten it later in the day when its dried out a bit, but still tastes good. fried/garlic chicken is what i guess its known for...its good too, but if you want it, go early because they seem to run out of it quickly. They also have other kinds of chicken...roast, guava, etc... I love hamburger curry, and here its pretty darn good. screw it...all the food is good! order whatever you like. i would recommend a mix plate so you can get variety. bonus if you have someone else with you so you can share! read more

Love pongos. Very generous with their portions. Their baked ahi is delicious and their shoyu chicken was so tasty. A regular came with three huge chicken breasts! That was a lot of food! Parking sucks though. read more

I love this place. I eat here regularly for lunch because of the fresh fish plates. Always cooked to perfection. Reasonable prices too. No great atmosphere but take out always works. read more

I love Pongos!!! I am so glad they did a Tippr coupon because I would never have found out about this place!!!! This is definitely a testament to when a groupon type offer really does work, because not only am I now a loyal customer but I have also made my coworkers loyal customers. We have our mail room office out on Sand Island and I am always there around lunch time so I was so happy to have found this place which is right around the corner. Also, there really aren't many places to eat around Sand Island that have healthy options but Ponogo's does!!! I love love love the grilled salmon over bed of fresh spinach with the hawaiian salsa on top. I would eat it every day if I was out in the area! Thank you to Ponogo's. It is probably by definition a whole in the wall, but it is a nice, clean, well kept one. Highly recommended. read more

Wow. Why didn't I know about this place sooner? Their turkey plate was great. The warm spinach salad and salmon...yum! Their hamburger curry is really good! The plates come with fresh corn kernels or salad. Either one are great. A must try are ALL the chicken plates. BUT you MUST come early because they sell out of the chicken and baked ahi quick! I had a chance to buy the last two pieces of boneless sesame chicken. Oh man so good! And don't forget the desserts. On this day they had cornflake cookies, Rice Krispies chocolate chip cookies and butter mochi. Darn I should have bought more bags. All the desserts were gone by the time we got home. Ha! read more

Guava Chicken is one of the best things I've had since moving here. I make it a point to come by here at least every other week. The tropical sweet and slightly spicy flavor is on point. I get the mini, because regular would have me miserably full. Even the mini fills me up pretty good. Parking is definitely the part that sucks about coming here, but then again, it sucks throughout most of Honolulu area, so I couldn't dock them points for that. read more

Went again and this time... yay! Ordered the Guava Chicken plate, regular, and I have to say it's delicious! Served with about 5 good size pieces of chicken, one scoop of rice (brown is what I got) and tossed salad. The "Guava" on the chicken isn't too predominant. It kind of tastes like a sweet chili sauce. But no matter, very 'ono :) read more

Fast, affordable, good food. They were out of A LOT of stuff that is on their menu--wish that they would denote that on the menu instead of waiting till you order to tell you that they are out of what you want--but lots of variety and the staff is very nice. Worth finding! read more

This is a great place to eat a plate luch for lunch, they have daily specials and i've tried may 3/4 of the items on the menu and all are good but my personal favorites are the Guava Chicken and the Baked Ahi, order that & you will not want to go back to work. The nalo greens that come with any plate lunch is good and I like that they have the option of either brown or white rice. A friend of mine catered some food from there for a party and everything was good, everyone like it. The only drawback was that parking is kinda scarce and don't expect to eat your food there because there are only 2 small tables. Other than that it is definitely worth a try and I'll will be back again! read more

I actually shouldnt write a review so this place stays a hidden gem. Fresh fish cooked well for a really good price. Not sure why there arent more plate lunch places with fresh fish and quality like this. read more

This is a small hole in the wall place. There is a table and a few chairs outside to sit and eat at. There is only street parking available. The food is made fast and fresh. I always order the opakapaka plate with brown rice and tossed salad. I am still trying the many different sauces that they offer. Price is reasonable and the staff is friendly. This is a great place to come for a plate lunch. read more

Love the guava chicken! I don't know how many times I've tried to order a guava chicken plate for lunch only to find out they already ran out. Call your order in before 11am. There's hardly any parking. You'll need a partner to jump out of the car and grab your order while you wait around the corner. read more

My co-workers and I used to frequent Pongo's a lot. Right now we all *think* we're dieting so no take out lunches for a while. This place serves killer guava chicken and garlic chicken. I'm a huge fan of their hamburger curry, too. Pongo's moved back to serving boneless chicken pieces, I think we all cried tears of joy on that day. Prices are very reasonable and they give a good amount even on their mini size. Sometimes they have homemade baked goods - totally worth picking up some banana bread when available. Closed on Mondays. Street parking only = crappy, non-existent parking. read more

This mom and pop shop has bad parking and limited seating but the food and history speak for itself. It's a great restaurant with cheap food, and even the baked goods are good too! read more

I usually eat the grilled salmon or guava chicken. AWESOME! We call in our orders for lunch and it's easy to pick up and go. Sometimes the food is a little inconsistent in the quality but it's usually good. Only issue is parking during certain times. Plus the way people drive in this area. read more

I remember the days of their lunch wagon in Kalihi. Now they are too fancy for my taste. Used to just love the interaction with the three beautiful ladies, now....they all out of view in the back. Chicken plates are all winners still yet, guava chix my fave. Come back out of hiding ladies, you are the reason we went there! BTW portions are still HUGE! So a mini would fill you up unless you like "pound" as Bradda Sam used to say! read more