Carval Cafe

Loco moco is ono they have these infused teas that are really excellent as well give it a try!

I tried the slow braised ribs and it tastes good. However, they raise prices because they know people who work around here have limited places to go. A 16 ounce Arizona was $ 2.75 are you kidding? Only eat here if you are restricted to this area and can’t leave for a while.

It ain’t no huevos rancheros. It’s a salisbury steak with an egg on top, called «Loco Moco.» But I guess that’s sort of what they specialize in. There’s a few different things like sandwiches of the day and pastas of the day, but for the most part it’s all beef just prepared in different ways from your basic hamburger to loco moco to chipped beef sandwiches.
They offer small side salads and white or brown rice as sides.
This place is pretty much open to serve the office workers in the Waterfront Plaza. They’re open in the morning and shut down after lunch, so I wouldn’t plan on being able to eat here unless you work in the area.

I had the egg white frittata and all the ingredients were very fresh and it came out pretty fast.
Their coffee was decent. And the staff seemed pleasant. I would recommend this café.

First off they didn’t have half of the things on the breakfast menu. When we asked why they didn’t have the French toast she said they use the same ingredients for lunch and then ran out from the last time. The cashier didn’t know much else about the menu couldn’t even tell us what type of cheese for use in the omelette. Oh and we did get the omelette and a cheese was definitely old and tasted sour.
The coffee and the bacon hand cut are good therefore they get two stars. Some improvements that could be a good breakfast place but I think their efforts are concentrated elsewhere.

Just had soft shell crab and popcorn scrimp po’boy. Excellent thought I was in Nawlins!!!

Went for a late afternoon lunch, nice clean interior. As I always do, I ask personnel who works at a restaurant what’d they eat, and was informed the roast pork, fish, and braised ribs were the most popular. Went with the braised ribs as I think I’ve had it before. Ridiculously tender and flavorful. The garlic sauce topping is very flavorful but not overwhelming. Only reason I didn’t put 5 stars was the portion size wasn’t that much (still a decent amount). I wish they sold items via a la carte, because I was dying to try the fish as well.
Definitely a great stop and dine location

Carval Café is one of those rare downtown eateries for lunch where everything is good. You could throw a dart at the menu, and whichever selection it hits, you’d be happy with your meal.
Breakfast is also great here too.
Unlike many other popular downtown spots, Carval Café has very responsible wait times for their high quality, made-​to-​order lunches.
My favorites include:
Grilled vegetables on foccacia
Tomato bisque soup
Cajun soft shell crab and popcorn shrimp po’boy
Carval Cobb Salad
Great selection of homemade teas as well!

Stopped in here early one morning, around 915. Looking for something decent to eat since I rarely am in the area. Stoops into Carval Café and I was not disappointed. Only one server, the Philippine lady behind the counter and two cooks. I ordered the cream cheese filled blueberry French Toast and a side order of over easy eggs with Portuguese sausage. The food was awesome! If your in the area, this place is a must for breakfast!

Update 12−1−15: Food truck out of fried chicken again, so I decided to try what was billed as bacon wrapped pork roast. Honestly, I could not detect any bacon, either visually or by taste. But he scent emanating from the container was drool-​worthy, and the taste did not disappoint. Fork-​tender slices of pork topped with sautéed onions and mushrooms, covered all over with a light brown gravy. Melted in the mouth. More, please!
Update 10−29−15: Carval Café now has a food truck on Coral Street at lunchtime, in between Ala Moana Blvd. and Ilalo Street. (Hint: It’s a busy truck; check your order for accuracy before leaving. All three of our orders contained errors.) Finally tried the shortribs — wonderful! Boneless, fall apart, garlic juiciness. Just in time for Halloween — no vampires will come near me after all that garlic. The salad dressing was different than what we usually get at their place in Restaurant Row — kind of a creamy herb version that was good. One person ordered the fried chicken and ended up with hamburger steak. (As I mentioned, check your order before leaving.) Fortunately she ended up enjoying it very much.
Original review: As a lover of fried chicken, Carval Café in Restaurant Row has some of the best in their pepper fried chicken. I know, the name sounds a bit off-​putting, but don’t let it stop you. You can barely detect the pepper. But you can detect the crispness of the coating (which is not too thick) and the juiciness of the chicken inside. I get it with all tossed salad — fresh greens with their house dressing. (They tell you they don’t have any other dressing, but one time I asked for and got ranch — blech. I think maybe the container wasn’t shaken up.)
We try and get there between 11:30 and noon, when the line isn’t so long yet. Others with me have tried the vegetable panani, baked chicken breast sandwich, Cobb salad, and tomato soup. All were given the thumbs-​up for freshness and taste. Orders are made fresh, so you may have a bit of a wait.
Once, to save time, I wanted to phone in our order. No one answered at any of their numbers. I think at peak times (they’re open breakfast and lunch only) it’s all hands on deck at this family-​owned business.
The 19, 20, 55, 56, 57, and 57A buses stop in front of Restaurant Row, going in both directions. Heading toward Waikiki, the 42 stops in front across the street on Ala Moana Blvd. The 42 stops across the street on South Street as it heads toward downtown and then Ewa. If you are on a cruise ship that docks at Pier 2, Restaurant Row is a few blocks away, an easy walk.
If I can ever get past the fried chicken, I want to try the short ribs and the bacon-​wrapped pork chop.

Out of the places to eat at Restaurant Row Carval is the most popular and serves really good food. If I leave the office at exactly 12pm there’s no line, but come 12:30pm the line can be out the door.
I recommend the chicken breast sandwich which is really tasty. Once I ordered their panini sandwich of the day, turkey pesto, and it was so flavorful. It was big too: two sandwiches. When we first started working my coworker and I told each other that we both had to try this place… I didn’t tell her that I’ve already been three times!

My office is in restaurant row and this is one of my regular lunch places. It is so good and so fast.
My regular is the Cobb Salad, which is presented impressively with generous portions of avocado, cheese, bacon, chicken, mushroom, egg, etc. It’s a fantastic little salad.
I’ve come here several times with co-​workers and everyone’s dishes are equally delicious, solid meals with quality ingredients, served neatly and quickly. One thing I really like is how efficient it is – its a lunch place, and they concentrate on getting your food to you quickly so you don’t have to waste much time on a lunch break.

It’s a decent nice place to eat early in the morning, the cashier is really nice & she has my gfs eggs the way that she wants them cuz she’s very precise on that:) small menu but that’s ok.

If you find your self during the lunch hour in the old restaurant row area you must try this place. They have the best shrimp bow boy sandwich on this island. They have great plate lunches that are better than the regular plate lunch places in town.

Minus one star because the folks who seems to be either managers or owners running the front of the house were less than friendly. What they managed to get right was the braised short rib plate. It was tender and flavorful. I’ll definitely go back to try their other offerings… Maybe I’ll just kill em with kindness. The place is clean to boot!

I’ve worked in Restaurant Row for a few years now and this is one of the few places that I can always count on for a quick and healthy (or not healthy, depending on my mood) bite to eat. The owners are always at the front working hard and making sure that your order is perfect and delicious. Although the prices are kind of high for «plate lunch» food, they always use prime ingredients and the portions are not bad.
Here are my top five recommendations:
— The poke bowl is always fresh and comes with a tasty, tangy dressing (a little over $ 9)
— The iced tea of the week (I’m addicted)
— The loco moco
— The cobb salad w/​their house made creamy basil vinaigrette
— Whatever the Panini of the day is

Started work in the area and exploring lunch places. Carval is a great place to eat lunch. I had the fried chicken and lunch partner had the pork chops. The chicken was light, moist and crispy. One of the best fried chicken I had. Plate also came with white or brown rice and green salad or mac salad. Pork chops was said to be ono (delicious) also. Curious this place doesn’t get more reviews as this place has been around for awhile, food taste great and reasonably price.

The board outside this place in restaurant row said to me, «hey you catered from us before… and, you’re looking for a healthy lunch since the sushi place is closed.» Walked in to see the specials. Noticed the gourmet lunch specials were $ 10 -$ 13.
Customer service 2 stars. Not friendly or helpful (like I was an inconvenience to the man taking my order). The lady who gave me my order was a pleasant.
Food 5 stars. Ordered brown rice, tossed greens, roasted garlic & tomato mon chon & green tea. The rice was the high quality brown that is cooked to sticky perfection. The tossed mix spring greens was a hit with me as it was fresh. No old lettuce that is brown or slimy. Equally delighted with the smooth garlic, onions with tomatoes over nicely sautéed mon chong was a happy party in my mouth. Only 2 capers though.
Parking validation in Restaurant Row complimentary for 1.5 hours! Yes, 5 stars!
Restrooms available in Restaurant Row. 4 stars
I would recommend it for the food and parking!

This place ha amazing food! Organic greens. Juicy furikake ahi with a choice if brown or white rice, greens or Mac salad. The people that work here are so nice! Love how clean this place is and a cozy atmosphere!

This restaurant is conveniently located on the lower level of Restaurant Row and made the perfect spot to grab a quick lunch outside during my three days of training on this side of town the past few days when the option of eating and reading my book at my desk just wasn’t an option.
What I really liked about this place was the fact that despite the busy lunch crowds, the service was friendly, and things are prepared fresh to order, and in an efficient manner. They also have daily/​weekly specials that ranged from furikake ahi (which I had twice I liked it so much) to poke bowls, and roast beef paninis.
The prices vary from on the lower side for a mini plate lunch to a bit higher for lunch but you do get a choice of greens or potato salad (yay for healthy choices) and white or brown rice. And the portions were pretty nice.
Next time on here for training I will definitely come back.