Sconees Bakery

I don’t know why this place doesn’t have better reviews, but I’ve been going here for years! Even after moving to NYC, I always find my way back here because scones elsewhere don’t come this good, and lemon, guava, and lilikoi bars simply don’t exist on the mainland! I love them so much that I oftentimes pay a visit right before leaving home and end up getting a bunch of scones and bars to share with my friends in NYC. Anything that doesn’t get finished just gets tossed in the freezer and defrosted when I’m really craving them!

I was on a hunt to try the fruit bars and wasn’t able to find parking in the lot. However, I was able to find street parking with time left on a meter (bonus). Ordered a couple Guava, Lilikoi and Lemon bars to go. I also bought a slice of the Lilikoi cake and Banana Bread.
The bars were larger than I thought and had a nice thick but flaky crust. The fillings were moist and flavorful. I liked the Lilikoi bar best, but also enjoyed the Guava and Lemon bars. I personally thought the flavors were a bit subtle and would have preferred stronger fruit flavors in all 3 bars. I also enjoyed the Lilikoi cake too and thought it was flavorful.

I need to come back and try more like the lililkoi bars. Mama san did not seem to be in a very good mood. Not a good impression for a first time visit. Still, bought two bars since we were here to give a try.
Lemon Bar $ 1.25
Very cheap price I got excited because I love lemon bars. With that price I could buy the lot. Alas, although the size was nice for the price, the taste just wasn’t there. I’m not even sure if there was any lemon in there. It really was that weak.
Guava Bar $ 1.25
Same for this bar. No guava taste.
If you’re looking for something sweet to eat these treats could satisfy. If you’re looking for that taste you may want to look else where.
I will give it another try because this could have been an off day, couple of bad batches. Hope they have the lilikoi bar when I do.

I wanted to like this bakery because the guy who helped us was really nice, but the lillikoi bar, blueberry cream scone, and cream puff we had were not very good. The only good thing was that the prices were good and parking (metered) in the parking lot behind the bakery was easy.

I feel like I was really failed by Unilocal reviews with this place. I’ve been there twice now and have tried an array of their baked goods, and I feel ripped off. Not because the price was high, (the prices are quite low), but because I went off 4 star Unilocal reviews and this bakery is just blah.
I first visited Sconees about a month ago. I had just visited the Chocolate & Vanilla bakery right next door and had purchased some goodies there (which by the way were fabulous), and I figured why not and went into Sconees next. It was towards the end of their day so I ended up getting a bag of croissants at half price (score!), two brownies, and a couple of scones in assorted flavors.
The croissants were ok, though it’s the first time I’ve thought too much butter was used in that pastry. The scones were alright, though a bit dry which is really surprising since scones are their «specialty». But the brownies… wow…awful. I couldn’t get through even one, and it wasn’t because it was too big. The presence of chocolate flavor was barely there, they were extremely dry, and just incredibly bland. Had I been blindfolded, a brownie would be the last thing I thought I was eating. Overall a very disappointing trip.
Yesterday I decided to go again. I figured maybe if I hit them in the morning when they first opened their product would taste better. (Though it’s pretty sad if a bakery’s product tastes worst throughout the day.)
I bought a blueberry sour cream scone, a cream puff, and a huge piece of chocolate cake that looked delicious on the tray. Sad to say, Sconees did not deliver once again.
The scone was very dry and I actually choked while eating it. No amount of milk was going to help get that down. I three most of it away. The cream puff looked yummy and reminiscent of my youth, and that’s where the happy memory stopped. The pastry was hard and dry and not at all like what a cream puff should taste like. The only good part was the actual cream. I couldn’t get past the second bite. The texture and dryness was too much.
By this point I was pretty annoyed. I was saving the chocolate cake for after dinner, but to be honest I did not have high hopes. And sure enough, it tasted like the brownie. Not very Chocolatey and very bland in flavor. I don’t know how cake can look moist and delicious and be that DRY and BLAND, but they figured out the trick.
At this point I will definitely not be back. And shame on you Unilocal for misleading me. Either people are talking up this place to make their review points better, or everyone in Kaimuki has lost their tastebuds! I’ll be sticking with Chocolate & Vanilla bakery next door in the future.

Parking always sucks but the scones & breads always make up for it! Banana, blueberry & lilikoi breads are very moist! Heard about the lemon bars but haven’t had the chance to try one just yet, haven’t seen any when I went in.

tasty scones and breads. I tried the apricot scone and corn cake. The scone was ok, and the corn cake: awesome! I better come back again :)

Yikes. Not sure which is worse, the service or the scones. OK I take that back, the service was way worse. We came here the day before Fourth of July and so I called before we arrived to ensure it was open. The lady was difficult to understand and very curt. When we walked in she wasn’t much better. No smile. Complete lack of friendliness. I asked her what was popular and I felt like I was bothering her. Mind you, we were the only ones in the bakery. So she had a choice of talking to the scones or to us, I think she rather talk to the scones.
The spam roll was pretty good-​it had a wedge of spam baked into a soft bun. The blueberry cream cheese and chocolate chip scones on the other hand were simply OK. They were decently moist but lacked any wow factor that would bring me back.

Got here by 6:30am and nabbed street parking… with no one waiting. Yes, that’s the best!
Love sconees! Not your typical moist scone (ew, I hate the word moist HAHA), more on the dry-​side, like a biscuit… but something about it makes me want more! I always get the chocolate chip ones, those are the best! This morning I also got some blueberry cream cheese, blueberry, and apple. I also got 2 lilikoi bars and 2 blueberry bars. Gosh, these are so dang delish! I think each mini scone and bar was about $ 1.25-$ 2 (I paid $ 25 total).
Greeted by a local filipina lady who helped me pack my dozen scones while eating her breakfast or something — her mouth was full so she couldn’t really talk to me. haha! She seemed a little annoyed when I didn’t promptly order and know exactly what I wanted… but eh, gave her the benefit of the doubt since it’s early in the morning.
When I was ready to pay and I looked around for the cc machine, ughhh, CASH ONLY! I guess it’s been awhile since I last came and I forgot. She just pointed across the street where I saw the Territorial Savings and I had to run across to pull out some cash from the ATM. Not bad, $ 1.75 fee for the withdrawl. lol, next time I’ll remember.
Always best to come early in the morning because they run out of the good flavors (i.e. choco chip and blueberry cream cheese)! I haven’t run into really warm staff here, but no huge complaints. As long as I’m fast with ordering and remember to bring cash, I’ll be ok (mental note for next time).
Even with me having to run across the street for the ATM, I was in and out of there within 10 minutes. Nice! Although it’s a little drive from town and work for me, it was worth it to come here this morning and get some fresh scones to bring to our coffee hour at work. :)

Me: Babe have you ever had pastries from sconees? *feeling pretty special because he probably hasn’t*
Boyfriend: Yeah, there used to be one in Pearl City too.
Me: *no longer feels special*
After eating lunch with my mom at Hale Vietnam, we ended up at Sconees on the way back to our car. There are a few other bakeries in the area and Sconees is definitely not «hip» or «trendy» looking. In comparison, it looks like an old school bakery that has been there for ages. But those are the best kinds, am I right?
We ordered a peach scone and a corn bread and it came out to a little over $ 3. The corn bread could have been a snack for 2 – 3 people… not kidding. Think 2x the size of zippys corn bread. It wasn’t as rich or buttery as other places, which I appreciated since I like to convince myself that despite eating out so much I’m being «healthy» in the little things. If you like your cornbread lathered in butter, it probably won’t satisfy you. The peach scone was also not very buttery and more on the dry side. However, I don’t remember ever having a scone that wasn’t «dry» since it tends to be the consistency of the pasty itself. It was good but was a bit lacking in peaches. Load em up with those fruits please!
Next time I’d like the try the apple pie, other fruit scones, and the guava pastry that everyone raves about. I probably should have Unilocaled what to order before hand but it’s okay; that’s what round two is for!

I love the lilikoi bars! I have to buy 1 at a time or I’ll gobble them all up without sharing, lol. I’m also a fan of the banana bread, cornbread & scones. I prefer the fruit flavored scones like blueberry. Safer for your waistline to buy the smaller scones. Or just indulge & eat everything you want.
TIP: Melt butter in a pan to heat banana bread or cornbread (on both sides)! YUM!

I really love their lilikoi and lemon bars. Really ono! Their guava bars not bad too, but gotta try the passion fruit and lemon!

Someone dropped off a box of lilikoi and guava bars to our office and they were gone in minutes. I won’t disclose how many of those I ate, in fear of a coworker reading this and discovering that I’m the reason why there wasn’t enough bars to go around.
Fast forward to today. No line at the bakery yay! (then again it’s a Monday at 1pm). Most of the scones were out as well as the manapua but they must’ve known I was coming since there were a lot of bars left. For only $ 1.25, you get a big piece of lemon, guava, or lilikoi goodness on a decadent crust with a light coat of powdered sugar. Hey, you might get diabetes after but some things are worth it.
Unfortunately my coworker caught my Instagram post and I’ve been guilt-​tripped into sharing my sugary babies at work tomorrow. Darn social media.
Other info:
Located facing out towards 12^th ave next to otto cakes
Same metered lot as verbano, koko head café, etc
Pay the meter! Enforced 24/​7, I’ve seen popo doing some meter checking there
Cash only I believe so hit up the ATM before you go

Amidst the new bakeries that have popped up in the Kaimuki neighborhood on 12^th Avenue is Sconees which opened up in the area over 15 years ago. As the bakery name indicates, scones are what they are known for.
As the tale of the bakery goes, the bakery’s scone recipe comes from the now defunct Liberty House (now Macy’s) local department store chain. One of the bakers there became the head baker at Sconees, though I am not sure if the recipe has changed or not over the years.
I vaguely remember buying scones here a long time ago. I decided to walk down memory lane and try them once again. The building storefront is non-​descript. As you head inside, the bakery interior is pretty plain as well like nothing has changed over time. The bakery is small, so there is just enough room here to order at the counter and take your baked goods to go.
Perhaps I had ignored them the first time I was here, but this bakery offers up more than just scones of which they have many flavors of. They have other baked goods like butter mochi, fruit bars, muffins and even baked manapua! And the baked goods here are economically priced, not like they were some artisan handcrafted delicacies.
I got a couple mini scones, a baked char siu manapua and two fruit bars for about $ 7 – 8. The scones are just as good as I remember so I don’t think the recipe has changed. They aren’t buttery tasting, but they don’t need any toppings either. It has got the right amount of crumble and flakiness.
The baked char siu manapua was okay. It probably needed a reheat in the microwave, but it was fine. Meat filling was average. You can find better manapua in Chinatown or down the street at Happy Days.
As for the fruit bars, I got one of each of the guava and lilikoi. These are like a fresh and bigger version of the tropical fruit bars that Cookie Corner has. They are very tasty. Both were good, though I like the lilikoi one a little better.
If you like reasonably priced no-​nonsense baked goods, Sconees is a place worth checking out in Kaimuki Town. Particularly for their scones and tropical fruit bars.

A mini bake shop hidden in an alleyway? That sign just made us stop by. It looked like it’s been here for a loong time. There were a lot of scones. There was a line… must be popular.
OMG…a blueberry jam gyoza… no wait. it’s a dessert. It’s sooo cute. It’s like a flatten gyoza. I think they put jelly or jam in it. Quite sweet. I also got the blueberry scone, its kinda dry… can’t taste much of the flavor.

Blueberry and cream cheese scone is delicious, not too dry, as scones tend to be! Also tried the mini apple and cream cheese turnover, which was tiny but flavorful! The ham and cheese pastry was good but too much bread and not enough ham and cheese. A good neighborhood bakery.

The scones are really fluffy but slightly dry. They are pretty good in size and they have lots of flavors to choose from.

Coming back from Kahala, I stopped by Sconees to take some baked goods home to share. This is one of the many dessert shops on 12^th in Kaimuki, a bit farther towards the freeway than the rest. Inside was the friendliest Filipino lady who was more than happy to give me all of the corner pieces and recommendations on what was good.
I probably should have come earlier as a few of the items were sold out when I got there but I did end up going home with a handful of scones, fruit bars and powdered fruit turnovers. The scones were average, the turnovers were underwhelming but the fruit bars were pretty good.
Overall, I don’t think this place was anything special but they did have a good variety and the pastries were mostly above average. I did like it but I don’t think I’d come again. Thus, it was «A-​OK».

If you like sconees, this is your spot. This is a random little shop on the corner.
The people working the store are friendly, and the store is small.

Sconees is a great little bakery in Kaimuki that serves a variety of baked goods. They have a variety of flavored scones in two sizes — mini and regular. They also sell little fruit pockets, lemon bars, blueberry bars, banana bread, and cornbread.
If you need to pick up some pastries for the next office meeting or potluck, head to Sconees. Not only will you be the hero of the party but you’ll also be helping out a small local business.