Aroma Caffé

This place isn’t closed, I was there two days ago. The espresso seemed a bit burnt, but it was convenient and the espresso drinks were okay. They do offer Soy Milk, but no Almond Milk. Most of the staff was very nice, but there was one grumpy older guy. The price was higher every morning; I noticed they had to look at the price list and type it all into the square register. I would go back only if I was again staying in the hotel.

They are no longer at Ala Moana shopping center, they moved to the Ilikai hotel. I haven’t been to their new location yet, but 5 stars ahead of time because I heard that they have acai bowls now!

Great food and drinks!
The staff were super nice and generous.
I’ll be back.

Great stong espresso!
I lika da crema!
Great friendly manager, Kara.
She knows her coffee.

Parking: There is always a lot of ample parking
Location: This is a pretty prime location in the mall, no matter what you will tend to walk pass it, if you are on that floor.
Coffee: The taste is phenominal.
Service and Staff: They are wonderful, very nice and accomodatiing and very qyick.

I am a caffeine addict. If I don’t have my daily dose of caffeine, I can’t really function. I was in need of coffee while walking around Ala Moana Center, but was in no mood to put up with the long and painfully slow line at the Macy’s Starbucks. I happened to be in the center of the mall level and spotted Aroma Caffe, so I thought I would make a smart move and get my coffee fix here instead of becoming even more grumpy at the Macy’s Starbucks.
Aroma Caffe was okay. I am not into all the frilly drinks with frothed milk, flavored syrups, and shots of espresso. I like my coffee plain. Since it was really humid and rainy today, I decided against a hot coffee and got an Iced Americano instead. It was fine. The service was friendly, but the price was a little steep especially when the medium drink (no small sizes), which is about the same size as a tall iced drink cup at Starbucks, was $ 3. I guess because it’s supposed to be Italian coffee? I don’t know. I don’t care whether it’s Italian, French, Columbian, or Kona Coffee… just as long as it has caffeine. The café also offers an assortment of sandwiches and pastries, which you can enjoy eating while sitting right above Center Stage. I imagine it must get pretty loud and noisy when there is a show going on.
Like I said, my Iced Americano was fine, but for the price that I had to pay, I’ll probably find another more affordable place to satisfy my caffeine cravings.

When I want a change from Starbucks and Honolulu Coffee Company at the biggest mall in Hawaii, I come here. The kiosk has a sign claiming to be authentic italian product from Italy, has the colors, and a very cool vespa sitting in front. So while I am sipping on my iced or hot drink, I can fantasize of riding a vespa around Italy. Ciao!!!

I had a LivingSocial voucher that I wanted to use up so when I was at the mall yesterday, I figured I might as well get some things to go.
As I was looking at the showcase, I was quite disappointed because all the fruit tarts, panna cotta’s that people had pictures of on Unilocal was not there. There were only cheesecakes and panini’s. I had really wanted to try their fruit tart and panna cotta. Oh wells.
I ordered the red velvet and traditional cheesecake along with a caffe mocha. As I was standing there waiting for my change, I saw one of the employees walk by with a store bought cheesecake pan, like the ones from Safeway or they probably got it from Sam’s Club. Another disappointment. I could have just gotten Otto Cake cheesecake for 50 cents more! Twice the size (AND TWICE THE FLAVOR!).
When I went to pick up my drink from the other side of the kiosk, there was liquid all over the sides of the cup and on top of the lid. I had to go wipe it clean before I could walk over to the other table to grab a straw. I was annoyed by that point because I was the only person ordering and there were three employees working, the person making my drink couldn’t wipe my cup down before setting it on the table?
The caffe mocha was alright, nothing I would crave for and nothing to rave about. I won’t be coming back and I’m not getting anymore vouchers for this place.

Terrible, dishonest business practices! Warning to all Living Social voucher holders. I tried to use my $ 12 voucher to buy a panini and coffee, and they refused to honor it.
The voucher clearly states that it is good for «$ 12 to Spend on Café Fare and Beverages at Aroma Caffé,» but they would NOT allow me to buy food with it. I was told I could only buy drinks, DESPITE the fact that there are no such restrictions on the voucher and that it CLEARLY states that you can buy «café fare AND beverages.» Elsewhere on this Living Social deal it also says the $ 12 can be used toward «food and beverages.» The worker acknowledged what the voucher said, but he claimed that this was his manager’s policy and he refused to accommodate me at all.
I am contacting Living Social and requesting an immediate refund on all these vouchers, and I am certainly never patronizing this business again. If only I could somehow reclaim the time and energy I wasted trying to make a purchase there in the first place. BEWARE!!!

I’ve seen a handful of awful reviews for this coffee shop. With groupon in hand and the knowledge of disgruntled Unilocalers, I was hesitant to come here. I actually visited this kiosk a couple times prior to today to study prices and selection. My experience, however, was rather enjoyable. The common gripes on Unilocal were non-​patrons being shoo’ed off the tables and astronomical prices. In all fairness, I have to disagree with both.
The shop is situated right in front of Ala Moana Centerstage facing Neiman Marcus on Mall Level, so a bunch of tourists and locals try to snag a front row seat without buying anything. There may be ten tables max, and I found myself with a handful of pastries and coffee without a single place to rest them. Hearing in my head the grumbles on Unilocal,I chuckled a bit thinking this is situational irony. But it’s true. If people don’t pay, that leaves patrons like myself SOL (seat outta luck for the PGers lol).
I also see why locals would grumble about the prices, but I also understand how insane the overhead must be in Ala Moana and that it IS a tourist spot. I’d be paying the same amount for a pizza in Rome or Ghirardelli in San Francisco. So what’s the big deal for an extra buck or two if the food is delicious? The Food Court is right below and can be just as expensive.
Hula music was blasting in the background making it difficult to order. If I worked here, I’d be awfully frustrated because I’d go deaf and get them wrong half the time. Both the female cashier and male barista were cordial. Not overly friendly, but professional. After a few exchanges of kind words however, we were quickly laughing and smiling with each other. It was nice to feel the barriers come down; almost a sixth sense of them being appreciated and my understanding of how difficult their job must be. They catch the afternoon sun right in their faces with zero shade while hot, grumpy tourists speak broken English demanding fast service.
I calculated in my head what my $ 12 groupon would cover before ordering. I originally requested a ham and cheese panini ($ 7.50), a chocolate caramel cheesecake ($ 4.50), and a small mocha ($ 4.50). The cashier quickly informed me that groupons don’t cover paninis. Fair enough. So I bought a blueberry scone and three strawberry filled cookies in lieu of it. I actually wound up paying only $ 1.52! SWEET VICTORY!
The barista noticed me waiting for a table with no success and kindly offered to bag my stuff. I trekked downstairs to the Food Court tables and began grazing. Off the bat, their coffee is delicious. On a blindfold taste test, I’d assume I was drinking Starbucks. The scone was warmed perfectly, and the blueberries were delightful. The strawberry jam cookies were a nice treat but the winner was the Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake. Give it a few minutes to warm up to room temperature and it melts right off the fork into your mouth.
THE TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Put yourself in their shoes, and you will be satisfied with the quality of their product.
I’d buy the groupon again if I had the chance and enjoy the rest of their menu. They get my thumbs up.

They have tiny little bottles of coke — I love those! This place is your run of the mill coffee station. It’s definitely okay. I’ve had really good experiences with the staff there, and one where they all seemed lethargic. But hey, they’re on their feet all day, so I cut them some slack.
The prices are pretty bad, which is what you would expect in a tourist trap in Ala Moana mall. Besides that, it is pleasant to sit on the weird little chairs and chill out in the middle of a shopping excursion. I’d go there again, if only for the little bottles of coke…

Since I had a Living Social deal for 12 dollars which had to all be spent at once, I decided to try a largo rosemary mint lemonade, a tuna panini, a red velvet cake ball, and a strawberry jam cookie.
The rosemary mint lemonade was very tart. It tasted more like strong lemon water to me than lemonade. I think it needed a little more sweetener.
The tuna panini was delicious! It was an Italian tuna mix with egg, tomatoes, capers, and olives. It apparently is brought in from Mix Café in Downtown, a really good panini place.
The red velvet cake ball was really good for the price of $ 1.25. It was moist and sweet and the outer chocolate shell was really nice. Gets a little messy though.
The strawberry jam cookie was disgusting. It tasted old. They put it in a paper bag and when I tried to take it out, the strawberry jam was stuck to the bag. It wasn’t even strawberry jam, it was like a gummy, gooey ball. The cookie was too soft and needed butter since it was too dry.
I would go to them for their paninis, but not for the cookies or drinks. I heard the cannolis were worth trying though.

I was rushed to order when I was the only person in line. I presented a free coffee voucher when immediately the cashier woman cut me off & said (very rudely) «Oh. We’re not accepting those right now». So I can’t tell you how the coffee was but the customer service was bad enough that I won’t be returning.
Note to the owner: You can’t boost your Unilocal rating on good coffee alone.

This won’t be the greatest review due to the fact that I wasn’t able to order anything. Why? Because the manager kicked me out before I could even get my bag down at an empty seat amongst all the other empty tables/​seats.
All I wanted to do was kill time, grab some coffee and do some work. I wasn’t able to do either because the overly aggressive, BUY NOW manager who came up to me and said that the tables (empty) were for patrons only. Even after I said, do you mind if I put down my bag (which was right in view of the register) before I order? He still had this look about him so I just picked up my stuff and went to Nordstrom’s coffee area. Not only did I get a tea and a snack (that I really didn’t want but I ended up buying it just because), I also got suckered into buying shoe laces and some other stuff after finishing a quick email that I had to send out. So lesson of the story: Manager: Be Nicer to your Potential Customers. Don’t drive them away because you want to be king of the empty seats.

As coffee is one of my favorite things, I have made it a mission in my life to try as many coffee places as I can (& hopefully one day I’ll be able to expand this mission internationally).
So…Where does Aroma Caffe sit on my list of «amazing» coffee shops? Well, it will probably take some time for me to truly figure that out. More than one visit, that’s for sure.
But, I’ll still go ahead and rate them on that one visit, as many of my reviews are based off of first impressions anyway. I can always update later, if things change.
First, if I was to rate them based on their exterior & overall atmosphere… I think I would give them 3 stars. The kiosk is really cute. I like the Italian vibe it’s giving off, and the color scheme is kinda cool. With that said, the counter tops… what?! uh, can’t you see I’m a short Asian girl? How do you expect me to reach that? Oh, & they serve quite A LOT for a little kiosk. It’s sooo crowded, perhaps a little too crowded.
Second, the menu. I love the «glass» thing! Sooo, what’s the word I’m looking for? …Futuristic — ish (Ok, maybe not the exact word I was thinking of. But it’ll do, I guess). For that, 4 stars.
Third, customer service. They’re pretty nice. Very attentive, which is good. And, they seem to know what they’re doing. So, I’d probably give them 4 stars for that too.
Lastly, my drink. I ordered an iced caramel macchiato. It was ok, not the best. As it was a CARAMEL macchiato, of course you’d expect the taste of caramel. I found it to be lacking flavor, a lot. I’ll say…3 stars?
Overall, that averages to a 3.5 stars. But… I forgot to say, they spelled my name right on the first try without me having to spell it for them! & that’s always a good thing for me. So, I’ll give them another half a star for that.
I guess, we’ll just have to see if my 4 star rating holds true. But judging by past ratings, perhaps I was a little too nice.

Ordered hot coffee, got it cold.
How does that happen?!
Layout of the front is horrible, especially for short girls like me who have to yell out my order to be heard. The space between the cashier and customer is ridiculously big (and crowded with snacks), so it makes it awkward to not just order, but give payment/​receive change.
Workers are so unfriendly! I get better service at Mcdonalds! Do you guys not have muscles in your mouth? Or are they just not capable of forming a smile?
Boo. I had high hopes for this place because they look fancy and are conveniently in the middle of the mall. But the price is ridiculous for the experiences I’ve had.
They’re pastries and coffee snacks are good though, so thumbs up to the pastry chef.

Nice attempt as an Italian espresso bar not worth the price.
This is a mall location, they tend to forget that. It’s not a real café but they are trying to put all the kitsch there.
There is plenty of seating, but it seems that everyone else except for caffe patrons were using them.
and it’s over $ 10 for a panini and an iced latte. that is a deal breaker.
small little painini that seems to be wet and thrown into a press. give it up.
i’m not the biggest starbucks fan but this place makes me glad that there are 2 starbucks locations at the mall.

Only tried a couple of drinks to test the waters. But overall I like this place, and I think I’ll be visiting again to try their pasteries and desserts. So I had an Iced latte and got to try a little of the strawberry black tea. First off, the tea was not my cup of tea particularly. It is a bit different and I would probably not be trying it in the future (but maybe then again cuz it was my friends, and maybe a better syrup flavor would do it justice, it was strawberry). Going on to the Iced latte though, I loved it, much better than Honolulu Coffee Company. Aroma’s latte was very smooth, yet strong and flavorful. I personally enjoyed how smooth it was that I didn’t need to add any sugar. This is better than HCC who’s latte’s in my opinion are strong, but also equally bitter.
One note though, my latte was a tad bit pricey, but I think the price was justified for quality drinks.
Also service was very friendly, blah blah blah. But I will definitely have to come here again and try their desserts that looked delicious!

I love the whole concept about this new little stand on the second floor of ala moana. It’s nice to look at and a great place to chill after a long day shopping. They have a decent selection of drinks and pastries. Friendly staff and great atmosphere. They were nice enough to give us this huge sample. Honestly I was pretty satisfied after the sample to eat the tiramisu we got.
Italian Soda (3.75): Was a bit disappointed with this because I wish it came with cream. But I did notice the coffee station after we were done so I guess I could have added it myself. Pretty decent but I think I have had better.
Tiramisu (5.25): This was a bit disappointing because I had high expectations on this one. It was really lacking cream. Also, the cake is soaked in a liquid, which is normal for most tiramisu, but this one was kind of bittersweet. I believe it has some kind of liquor?
Anyways, overall it’s okay. I would love to try their coffee drinks and the sandwiches smelled amazing! I would come back again.

New outdoor coffee shop spotted on the second floor of Ala Moana above Centerstage. Sure you have the Honolulu Coffee Company right upstairs, but there can never be too many coffee shops at the mall, right? They also serve teas and various desserts. I was in a rush when I stopped by so I just got the iced tea with blood orange syrup (recommended by the barista). Sorry, never again. Guess it’s not my flavor of choice. In all fairness, the barista said if I didn’t like it to let her know and she’d get me something else. I didn’t bother, but will try something different next time. The price also seemed a bit more expensive than other coffee spots at almost $ 4 for a regular cup. The employees were friendly though and even gave me a cute little piece of chocolate. Nice touch.