My standard for excellent malasadas is Leonard's in Oahu, and I've been trying out malasadas all over Hawai'i Island and have been disappointed each time. Most just taste like a regular donut you can get anywhere, but not at Pono Pastries! What a gem! First off, the service was friendly and superb, and you can tell they care about their products and your experience. After ordering, I asked the server what her favorite malasada combo is, and she surprised us with her favorite on the house: a guava malasada with guava filling. She was so right on! Delicious! The ube malasada with ube cream tastes just like ube (it's quite annoying when an ube food doesn't taste like it!). The regular malasada with haupia cream was safe but delightful. The dough consistency is just right. Nothing like Leonard's, but in a league of their own, especially how the malasadas are still great to eat the next day. Malasadas from other places tend to be greasy, so eating them later tends to be unsavory. Pono malasadas aren't greasy and tastes just like they did when we ate them for breakfast the next day. I also appreciate how the server packaged everything with care. Overall, the experience and food made me forget I was at a depressing mall food court. I plan to return to this depressing place to experience the joy of Pono Pastries malasadas. Finally, my search for great malasadas on Big Island is over. What a treat! read more

Pono Pastries - Malasada with haupia filling, ube malasada with ube cream filling, guava malasada with guava filling - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Located at the food court at Queens Marketplace. Don't let the display fool you. The filled malasadas are in the kitchen. There's a few in the display case like Ube, plain, churro, etc. We had ours the following day. Happy to say still very good and plenty of filling. I got lilikoi and daughter got strawberry. Hubby got a cinnamon bun. Park in the back of the Marketplace and enter into the food court. read more

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We grabbed some malasadas near our vacation rental, and they were incredible! They were generously filled with fresh fruit and absolutely delicious. The shop is inside a food court, so we brought them back home to enjoy with a cup of coffee. read more

Pono Pastries - Ube, Guava, Pineapple, Mango, Pistachio Cream, Custard, Chocolate Cream, Passion Fruit - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

If a place sells malasadas, I'll be there. My husband and I shared: - Malasadas: Ube Cream, Lilikoi Cream, Mango - Mochi Donuts: Li Hing Mui Mango, Lilikoi - Poppyseed, Ube - Banana Macnut Cinnamon Roll The malasadas were great. The Lilikoi and Mango were my favorites. The Mango was my favorite mochi donut. I wish the Lilikoi didn't have poppyseed. The cinnamon roll was delicious as well. I do prefer Malasads that are warm, but these were still really good. read more

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Malasadas were great! Great serving size, soft bread, and creamy filling that wasn't too sweet.

Pono Pastries is a must-stop in Waikoloa Village, especially if you love trying fun donut flavors. It's a small-batch donut shop, and their pastry case was packed with options when we came in. We were a group of 6 adults, so we went for a dozen to sample a bunch. They were running a promo where you buy one dozen and get one donut free. We appreciated the staff's flavor recommendations. A few that stood out were mango, passionfruit, and ube. For me personally, the filled donuts were a bit overwhelming and I'd choose a plain malasada next time, but I'm still glad we tried them. They also had mochi donuts, and the mango mochi one was sweet and chewy, exactly what you want from mochi. Overall, definitely worth a try if you're in the area and want a dessert stop with lots of variety. read more

Pono Pastries - Dozen; choose your fillings - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

The pastries here are so delicious!! Nice and chewy donut with a generous amount of filling on the inside. Service was great and the cashier was very friendly. Seating is indoors and "find your own" among the shared food court area. Loved eating in this food hall and will definitely be coming back. read more

Pono Pastries - Double Ube Malasada and Cinnamon Sugar Apple Pie Malasada - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

This rating is based just on their malasadas (donut without the hole). They are located in the food court within Queens Marketplace in Waikoloa. Beside malasadas, they also have mochi donuts, cinnamon rolls, and some drinks. They have lots of malasadas with filling, but I prefer the plain ones. They were warm, pillowy, and so good. read more

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We tried 3 shops while on vacation on Kona. Pono Pastries was by far the very Best! Very friendly service! The malasadas were filled to order and boxed warm with care! When handed the box was surprisingly heavy! These plump pillows on first bite excitement popped as my tastebuds were tantalizing with delicious goodness of combination of filling and pastry! You should be here to get one or a dozen! We ate them over the next several days and they were still amazing! Please come to Colorado we need you! read more

Pono Pastries - Mango! Yum! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

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The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. The environment was great and clean. The mochi donuts were delicious and the malasadas were light and delicious. read more

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Wow! I'm going to have to call this a hidden gem. The donuts and MALASADAS!!!! The fillings are fantastic and the price is in my opinion underpriced. $2.50 a malasada and $2 a donut. The MALASADAS are filled to order...doesn't get better than that! read more

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We came for the malasada and we were not disappointed. I had the custard filled. My companion had the mango filled. they were both delicious. The beverages, however, were tiny and expensive. Nice outdoor seating. We found this location difficult to find based on the address in yelp. The business said the address is correct but Apple Maps takes you totally to the wrong place. It is located in Queens marketplace read more

My friend got me these while she was in Hawaii and they were still so good by the time she brought them back to me in California. We got the malasadas in ube, pistachio, bavarian cream, and lilikoi. They were all so good but my personal favorite was the ube. They're super fluffy and filled with rich cream. Highly recommend! read more

This is the cutest little bakery in the Queens shopping center area. They have yummy malasadas and mochi donuts in delicious flavors. Both are light and fluffy and make you feel like you're eating air, which means you eat more. But I'm not complaining, because they're good! Service was done with the smile and so amazingly nice. It's definitely a great place to stop by if you're looking for a sweet treat. Oh and if you happen to miss out on their malasadas, you can always head over to the grocery store and pick some up (they carry them here as well). Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area or staying nearby. Tons of parking available and if you come on Thursday afternoon/early evening, you may even catch the Farmer's Market as well. read more

A delicious, pretty new food court pastry shop in the Queen's Marketplace shops in Waikola. The food is delicious and the best part, it's very reasonably priced, an island amongst some very expensive neighbors! They have great malasadas, mochi donuts and more. The items are fresh and the malasadas are hot with great fillings. YUMMMM! read more

Pono Pastries - Hot Malasada - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

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The best Malasadas on Hawaii !!!Especially if you enjoy Malasadas filled with Hawaiian fruit flavored jellies and creams. These are big & plump. They don't skimp on jelly or cream. They are full and flavorful!!! They travel well. I brought this box back to San Diego and they still tasted wonderful!! read more

Pono Pastries - A baker's dozen Malasadas: 2 each - pineapple, mango, lilikoi, guava, haupia, coconut. I ate the 13th which was pistachio! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

The donuts and malsaladas are amazing. My only gripe is this place opens at 11 or whenever the food court opens. Which is a tragedy for a place that basically sells donuts. It needs to open at 6am. read more

I am a malasada bigot, I think I have tried almost all available malasadas in Hawaii across the four main islands. My favorite is Pipeline in Oahu. On the big island I like Zippies in Hilo or the Rum Shack in Queens Waikaloa. And yes, not a fan of Tex, sorry to all the Tex fans. So when Pono opened I had to try it. According to the owner, the recipe for the dough is their own and they make all the fillings as well. Overall, I think the base malasada is good, along the line of Tex but a little better (just my opinion). Not as good as the Rum Shack but much cheaper. I tried the pumpkin pie and haupia fillings and they were really good. They have a great selection of mochi doughnuts and savory malasadas along with drinks. I think they will do well and Pono's is worth the stop. Glad to have the option for decent malasadas in the Queens food court. read more

Pono Pastries - Menus - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

We got the Malasadas and used it as "the birthday cake" for our celebration. They have different kinds of fillings including pineapple, mango, chocolate, ube, lilikoi among others. The donut is huge so we split them into quarters so more people got to taste different ones. They tasted good! read more

So good! My family loved the malasadas and one of my kids loved the mochi donuts. We had to get seconds! The only bad thing was they were not open early so when we went there at 9 trying to get some treats, they were not open. read more

Delicious malasadas! We especially loved the ube filling and the guava filling. They are huge and very, very filled. The shop runs out of malasadas by the early evening so come during the day! Also, they are very reasonably priced! read more

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The gals at the counter were so sweet! Not to mention the quality of the donuts and fillings. All of the flavors packed a bunch, with an amazing texture. You HAVE to try this spot 10/10. read more

Pono Pastries - Coffee/strawberry hibiscus/chocolate macadamia nut mochi donuts - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Truly great malasadas. The filled ones are fabulous and truly FILLED. And the prices are the best on the island. read more

Pono Pastries - Filled malasadas - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

I lived in Honolulu all my life tried all the places that sell Malasadas on Oahu this place is as good or even better than most places but my favorite is still Champions Malasada too bad they closed down. read more

I had the most amazingly delicious cinnamon roll. One of the absolute best I've ever had! Super friendly folks with great customer service. Can't wait to try the malasada. read more

Had the most delicious malasada there today. Fresh and wonderful Bavarian filling. Price was really good too. Staff weee friendly and helpful. Very nice addition to the Food Court @ Queens Marketplace. read more

I've had regular Bavarian cream at other doughnut places and their Hawaiian Bavarian cream was absolutely delicious! Will definitely be returning! read more

BEST MALASADAS ON THE BIG ISLAND!!!! super delicious and made fresh to order. I definitely will be back on this trip and in the future!!

Malasadas was majah. Coffee was majah. Service was action. One of the best Malasadas I had so far on big island.

Amazing malasadas! The haupia was my favorite. Soo good you should definitely give them a try. The staff is super friendly and nice and gave great customer service. read more

Pono Pastries - Haupia, plain and chocolate - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Abraham super helpful! They have a lot of different options and drinks to choose from. read more

At Pono Pastries they have an amazing family atmosphere with their keiki helping take and fill orders. We just had to try nearly half their menu and everything we ordered was delicious! From their miso caramel cake donut to their jalapeño and cream cheese filled Malasadas. It is definitely added onto one of our stops on the way to Costco. read more

Pono Pastries - So many amazing flavors!!! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Oh WOW! We were searching for malasadas. They were MASSIVE, only $2, and so so delish! We also got a macadamia banana cinnamon roll for later, and it did not disappoint. Even without the tropical garnishes, it might have been one of the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. Super fluffy, perfectly baked (not like the half raw ones at a certain mall chain). The service at Pono was so very warm and kind, too! read more

Only had the mochi donuts. Didn't try the malasadas. The donuts tasted stale and way too sweet. I tried 4 different varieties and preferred the chocolate macadamia one. Only one server was there so there was a wait. The filled malasadas have to be filled once you order so it takes quite a bit of time. read more

We bought a dozen assorted mochi donuts and malasadas. The mochi donuts were dry and the malasadas were just regular -- nothing exciting. We also tried 3 different cinnamon rolls which the person behind the counter said would be the best we ever had. Not really. read more

These are some of the best donuts I have ever had with choice of amazing fillings! Also very reasonable price.

Pono Pastries in Queens Marketplace is Ono delicious. Many choices for filled malasadas. Today we got a bakers dozen to take to our grandkids and he made them fresh for us! read more

Delicious malasadas and cinnamon rolls! Get there early before your favorite items sell out

Family run, customer friendly, beautiful delicious malasadas! And the little lady offering a coupon for another family establishment in the area! read more

First time in Big Island and hands down these are the BEST Malasadas! The quality and love they put into their malasadas you can tell once you taste it. Great customer service. Can't wait to come back! read more