HPR Bistro

What a total let down! I was excited I’ve been craving Tongan food all day. We ordered a 3 plates first one fish&chips, second plate sipi tao w/​manioke third plate with pulu masima, curry chicken, lu sipi, and kumala. OMFG!!! No TASTE! Everything tasted old and reheated.
We waited for a full hour and was told that the food is freshly being cooked at the moment. We also had a cup of otai that tasted more like water mixed with coconut milk gag!!! I don’t know if it’s do to my pregnancy or what. Driving all the way from San Jose to San Bruno for nasty tongan food. My husband and I solemnly swear this will be our first and last time.

You catered for a funeralnin SF this past weekend, disappointed with the food, didnt eat any of it, both days food was spoiled and the stench when opening it was not pleasing to the nose! A total waste! Sun it was the potatoe salad, it may have been smart to dish the salad into ita own container, instead ut was slapped right onto the ½ fish head. Monday the sapasui was spoiled, same menu from the day before, maybe the sapasui was too?! Disappointed I didnt get to taste the food!

This review is for their sunday buffet.
Service: I walk in and I see a server sleeping next to the counter. She wakes up and looks at me and looks at the other server. They just stare at me and I ask if I just look for a table by myself. They said just sit anywhere you’d like. It felt like I was intruding someone’s home. There were servers sitting on a table in front of the ONLY fan watching cartoons. It was hot inside. After finding my seat, one of the servers came with a pitcher of water and I thought she was going to pour it in my glass. She just dropped it on the table without saying a word and left.
Food: For 16.99 buffet… The food did not meet my expectations. It was not worth for the price. The raw fish in coconut was pretty good. However, it was pretty warm, it wasn’t on top of any ice. I’m pretty sure I’ll be hurting tonight from that. Everything else was alright. They had some stuff on the buffet line with no serving spoon so I had to grab a tong from another item.
Buffet here isn’t worth it. Unfortunately. I might give them another chance for their regular menu and update my review.

My first time eating here and i must say… FOOD WAS FRESH AND DELICIOUS. I have found my new favorite TONGAN (POLYNESIAN) FOOD RESTAURANT. I ordered their 3item combo which you have a choice of siaine loloi (green banana cooked in coconut milk), taro and kumala (sweet potatoes) that comes with it. I ordered nz sausage, lu pulu (corned beef laulau) and ota ika (tongan version of raw fish civche) Everything was cooked perfectly and well seasoned and it was hot and fresh too. I was actually pretty surprised because i have been to a few tongan restaurant here in the Bay Area, and was not impressed with their food. But this one was a winner and will definitely be back.

Ever since I ate my first homemade lu pulus, I’ve been craving them ever since. I finally got them here, and they were just as delicious as I remembered. Soft corned beef flavored with coconut milk and wrapped in leaves with slices of yam. Rest assured, nothing about this entrée is healthy, but honestly, that’s what makes it so delicious. A good treat now and then.
A very relaxed atmosphere. Nobody was there and the people working there were sitting at a table, chilling. The other thing is when I asked how many I would get, she was like, how much do you want? Which I wouldn’t think was weird except that there was no pricing on the menu, so I feel like it’s really easy to adjust pricing.
Cash only!

15 dollars for a giant plate of delicious tongan food. and yes, do get yourself a giant bottle of the otai (fruit coconut drink), you will not regret it. its okay if you don’t know what the menu items are, point and choose — you cannot go wrong. the highlights for me was definitely the raw fish in coconut, the lamb, and the coconut clam

This restaurant isn’t Hawaiian. But Unilocal does not offer «Tongan», «Samoan», or «Polynesian» as a restaurant category. Wake up Unilocal!
Dad’s home cooking! (if your dad is Tongan)
I’d seen this restaurant while riding Caltrain & Tongan cuisine caught my eye. My friend and I are local Caucasians, but we have traveled in Tonga together & II have been many places in the South Pacific. So I wanted to try.
Saturday night dinner before a movie, we seemed to be the only customers. Otherwise there were 4 adults (including the chef & hostess) and 1 child there & also 1 adult who had just left (& was surprised we were coming there to eat as we asked him where we should park). I think they were all part of the Tongan family that owns the restaurant. I think the big rush is on Sundays after church, as there were chafing dishes with little signs for each menu item standing by on the side of the room. I had called ahead 20 mins prior to check they were open & it was the place I thought it was, & let them know we were coming.
Everyone was friendly when we smiled (not very talkative) & the hostess said to sit anywhere. The simple menu was standing up on the table; the hostess placed it in front of us & answered all of our questions. Names of dishes in Tongan w/​English translations; same info on the white board. Auntie said to help ourselves & choose a drink from the fridge (an assortment of sodas, coconut water, and Bud Light in a can).
(Gee Corneilus, did you try smiling?)
The menu is a little different now than what’s shown on their web site at
The 3 item combo is now listed as $ 15, but what we found out later is that it’s actually charged as $ 13.76, and then plus 9% tax equals $ 15. (We had a tax rate increase in our county not too long ago.) Huge plate, my friend couldn’t finsih his.
I wish I had studied the Unilocal reviews before we went, then I would have known to ask for the otai drink, and ask whether they still offered grilled salmon or the HPR buger or burritos (we didn’t see those on the menu). Some of the other items that are on their web site (above URL) aren’t shown in the restaurant today. Everything we asked asked about was in stock that night. Also the side that came w/​our combo platter was 3 thick slices of taro, no sweet potato or plantain as others have mentioned & shown on their web site. Wish I had asked about that.
I ordered the:
–Ota (raw fish/​ceviche/​Tongan style poke): Outstanding! Very flavorful.
–Chop suey (I forgot Tongan name): Yummy, I love glass noodles.
–Lu sipi (Lamb wrapped in taro leaf): Very bland, a disappointmet. I was going to write a letter to the restaurant, but now I realize that I can share this review/​email them directly. My suggestion is to add a dry rub to the meat before wrapping in taro to season the meat before cooking. I think that would be a great improvement. Could try a few different flavors, from mild to spicy, e.g. basic seasoning, caribbean jerk seasoning, etc. Maybe not traditional Tongan, but a thought.)
My friend ordered the:
–Kuku (mussels): Very tasty, and I don’t even like mussels, I prefer clams. He thought they were great. Would be interesting to see this cooked with clams as another option.
–Ika (deep fried fish) Pretty good. Wish Auntie had asked whether we would prefer deep fried or pan friend style, as we usually prefer pan fried. However maybe she was thinking about how Uncle wanted to cook it that night.
–Lu sipi: Same disappointment
Our 3 thick slices of taro were pretty bland, but that’s taro. There was salsa picante on the table which I enjoyed on the taro. Also on the table was tabasco sauce, ketchup, and salt & pepper. (Auntie, we opened the ketchep, we should have said something… please make sure to put in in the fridge after our use!) It would be interesting to see if you tried cooking your taro with different flavor options. Again, not traditional, but it would be interesting.
We decided to have dessert @movie.
When we were finished eating and the bill didn’t appear I went up to the desk to pay Aunite.
Something strange: I had chosen a $ 2 can of coconut water and my friend a $ 1 can of Coke. Later Auntie brought us both glasses of ice when my friend asked for ice for himself. Later after I finished my coconut water, I got up to ask Auntie for some water for my glass of ice; Auntie said to take a bottle of water from the fridge (marked $ 1). I said «oh, no, tap water is fine» and I thought she said don’t worry, she wasn’t charging for it. But today I realized we were charged for 2 coconut waters, although Auntie had rounded down on the tax, asking me for $ 34 instead of $ 34.36 (& was surprised when I tipped $ 7 (I paid $ 41 in total)). So some confusion on the bill. But my friend hates it when I sweat the small stuff & he was paying anyway (just didn’t have cash on him)
Overall I enjoyed dinner very much. My friend is a little more finicky.
Wish I remembered Tongan phrases for hello, goodbye, thank you.

Walked in and the place was empty. Ordered a few items for my dad. You get three items for $ 15. Can’t comment or rate the food but I’ll give it two stars for the friendly service. The décor of the place is a little out dated but the flat screen tv was pretty cool. The menu is of traditional Tongan food. Really no parking available and the dinning area is a good size for dining in. Can soda is a $ 1 and they sell some kind of oil for $ 15. Location is pretty fair and I was surprised it was empty since San Bruno has a large Tongan community and other cities are nearby with many Tongan folks all over San Mateo County. Hope my dad likes the food, if so, I will be back cuz I can’t cook Tongan food… lol. BTW, they only accept CASH, NO Credit Cards, Debit Cards, EBT Cards, and no ATM machine. Lol… EBT!!! I think they will need the guy from RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE to get this place going.

Decided to try this place with friends since we were curious. We walked in and although there were some people there, we weren’t really acknowledged. We decided to get a table and then lady came up to us. We were told we should order soon because the cook will go on break soon. We decided to order different dishes to try their food. Unfortunately, some of the things we wanted are not available.
We ordered otai, we thought it was a drink only meant for one person. But it was actually a huge container that we were all able to share. This one I would come back to.
Our dishes came and they were huge. I don’t particularly remember what we had, but one thing I remembered was their polynesian poke. It had coconut milk which I thought was good, just needed more salt or something. My friend was not a fan or their food. It tasted homemade but needed more salt. I don’t know if I would come back for the food, but definitely for otai.

So I sort of agree with Cornelius. Same thing happened to me. It seemed like they were surprised that they had customers. Well, I decided to try it anyways.
Well I’m glad I stayed. The food was delicious. Massive portions. We couldn’t pronounce anything on the menu board, but luckily everything was numbered.

No. No, no, no.
We walk in. It’s Friday night. NOBODY is in here. Except, a 10 year-​old with a hoola hoop in front of a TV watching cartoons. There is a large woman (worker) with another women (worker) sitting at a table talking.
When we walk in, nobody acknowledges us at all. We have to ask them where they want us to sit. There are many tables, like 10 person table set-​up all over the place. They say we can sit wherever. When we sit down we notice the table cloths are plastic. Normally, when you go out to eat, you don’t want to sit at a table with a Party City table cloth. I feel like I’m at a little kids birthday party.
After 5 minutes, the «waitress» come over and stares at us. We say, «can we have menus?» She looks over to a DRY ERASE BOARD on the wall with 6 ITEMS on the menu and says nothing. «Is that the menu?» «Yes.» She says.
I don’t understand anything on the menu except the words NEW ZEALAND and … wait I think that may have been the only thing. We don’t know what to say. The «waitress» says, «we have a great New Zealand.» What the hell does that even mean.
We decide to leave, no RUN from this place.
To be honest, maybe the food would have been AMAZING. I wish it would have been, if I had the tolerance to even sit there for more than 5 minutes.
Such a shame.

My friends and I wanted to try out a new restaurant, and I spotted this place on Unilocal.However, when we were trying to find the place, we drove right past it! We circled around, and it’s the last business at the end of downtown San Bruno. We were the only ones in the restaurant, and some of the items on the menu were sold out. But I tried the taro leaf and corned beef, corned beef and cabbage, and chicken chop suey. The food was delicious!!! And there was so much that I had another meal!
However, don’t expect the best service. Expect a relaxed service, but with really friendly workers.

I was greeted by a very large Tongan woman who referred me to a menu on the wall. After making my choices she consulted another very large tongan woman to confirm whether what I wanted was available. There was an elderly gentleman sitting in the side watching a rugby match between the New Zealand All Blacks and some other team, I couldn’t tell. One of the women answered the phone and she spoke with a thick New Zealand accent interspersed with a few words in Tongan. I guess that would explain the NZ fish and chips in the menu. On my way out the elderly man turned to wave goodbye to me, so I waved back.
I ordered the 3 item combo, which is now $ 14 but still worth it.
I ordered my take out at 2pm on a Monday and the food was piping hot in the plasticware — so it was really fresh!
Ota (raw fish in coconut milk) — essentially a Tongan cerviche– fantastic stuff. Slightly spicy, and the combination of raw onions, green onions, coconut milk and raw and vey fresh fish is fantastic. The fish was cut into thick almost one inch cubes and they weren’t chinsy like in a fancy restaurant.
Lu Pulu — similar to Samoan Palusami and Hawaiian LauLau. Taro leaves around delicious melt in your mouth fatty cornbeef. I haven’t eaten any taro-​wrapped meat I haven’t liked.
Curry Chicken — lots of chicken cooked in a curry that is almost a thick paste. I like my curry sauce a bit runny personally. But it does smell great though.
3 cylindrical disks of taro root. It’s dry and pasty but I like it better than potato. It is completely tasteless and so complements the entrees well since they are quite highly salted.
Would definitely visit again.

Kind of an awkward business name for a family oriented slash not so well known type of Polynesian food restaurant. HPR isn’t quite screaming Tongan or Polynesian food… if ya know what I mean?! My husband and I were in the area looking for the local Indian/​Fijian store that sells Polynesian food and just by accident stumbled across this awesome hole in the wall! If it were not for their Tongan Food sign on the store front window… who would know?! Minus ½ a star for the obscure business name!
Parking is lame! Minus ½ star. Only street parking available and so finding one in front of the store (like we polys prefer it lol is a far cry its like Johnny Lingo buying Mahana 8 cows at Tanforan Mall… its super busy on that street so good luck with that! We parked in the parking lot reserved for business patrons to the right. There was a sign that said cars would be towed if they weren’t customers of that business. We ate in the car paranoid looking out for a police car to pull up and kick us out since we were there on a Sunday and that business was closed LOL. Yep, typical Tongan move right there but hey we couldn’t wait to bite into our big plates LOL
Edit: Ok I was just at the restaurant this past weekend AND [moded] they do have a parking to the left side of the building. It is easy to miss and small; you have to move out your car in order for another car to get out. still sucks, but it is there!
We had: Ota, lu pulu masima, taro, siaine, sipi, and deep fried fish! So ifo (yummy)! I was actually surprised with the Ota most! My aunt makes the best Ota and so I am used to certain flavoring and quality of raw fish in made Ota… this one came pretty darn close! The lu pulu masima was good. The taro leaves was cooked nicely moist with just the right amount of loloi. The haka was pretty good with loloi niu. I can’t wait to go back this weekend to try out the seafood platter this weekend!
If you are looking for authentic Tongan/​Polynesian food and you’re in the neighborhood. check them out!

Best Tongan food ever!
Make that, best polynesian food ever! As authentic as they come. Brings back memories of the south seas… white sandy beaches, lull of the ocean, lying under the coconut tree eating taro & lu sipi ahhhhh Paradise indeed!

Authentic, freshly-​made Polynesian food!
I tried the 3-​item combo which with lamb ribs, lamb in coconut wrapped in taro leaves, and raw fish in coconut milk. You could also get pan-​fried or deep-​fried fish, beef ribs, and some others I think. It also came with sides of taro in coconut milk and fried sweet potato. The portions were monstrous. Not bad for $ 12.95.
There are also a few items on the menu such as «New Zealand Fish & Chips» & «New Zealand Meat Pie.» The lady who was in charge (who was very nice) said that she’s Tongan, but her Mom ran a restaurant in New Zealand.
You can tell that restaurant skill runs in the family. The quality of food was amazing. It was freshly made in the kitchen and there was such a difference from most Polynesian restaurants I’ve been to in the states (the type that serve food from a steam table.)
The lamb ribs were melt-​in-​your-​mouth (literally) moist, tender & flavorful. The lamb wrapped in taro leaves had a nice consistency but needed a little more salt. But the raw fish was truly the standout dish, a generous bowl of perfectly cut cubes of tilapia, very fresh, with diced hot peppers in coconut milk. This was as good, probably even better, than when I had it in New Zealand.
The ambiance is very low-​key and the name is a bit too ambiguous. Many people who see «HPR Bistro» won’t have a clue that it’s an amazing Polynesian restaurant.
They offer a buffet on Sunday for $ 16.95, but the 3-​item combo for $ 12.95 was probably twice as much as I could eat, and I eat a lot.

4 Stars for me only because I don’t know where else in my part of the woods that you can find Polynesian Food that tastes like something I would cook up :).
I ordered their Fish & Chips. Serve was huge and well worth the $$$. Two of us shared it and there was enough to go around. I loved it, but found myself wishing that it was deep sea fish instead of the fish they used. (Not complaining too much though coz I enjoyed it regardless!!). Reminding myself to ask for extra Tartar Sauce when I order my next time.
We ordered the 3 dinner items as well. Not a fan of the Sipi (Flaps), but it was so good to taste the Corned Beef and Roast pork. Plantains and Sweet potatoes was also really good :). The thing with this place is they serve up Polynesian Food. If you haven’t tasted it before, you might have to get use to the taste. I should say this though — it’s an awesome place to get a quick Polynesian food fix. Service was good. Portions was good as well :).
Yes I would definately go there again :).

I drove by HPR Bistro one day and saw New Zealand Fish and Chips and Tongan Cuisine. I was intrigued. I missed Hawaiian food and I wondered what was the difference between Tongan and Hawaiian cuisine.
So me and hubs went to check it out. We were welcomed warmly and sat down quickly. I started with the otai drink. Otai is a fruit drink which originated in western Polynesia and is usually made as a refreshing accompaniment to large meals. The drink itself is huge! Fresh mango and coconut. It was delicious. It really set off the mood of island cuisine.
I ordered the sipi ta’o (roasted lamb), ota (polynesian poke), and lu puaka kapisi pulu (tender pork with cabbage). Tongan food is very flavorful, fresh, and tender. I appreciate how delicate the meat was.
Hubby got the seafood platter. Now, I must warn you, this is a HUGE meal. It looks like it can feed a family of 4! The fries were really hearty thick cuts of potatoes and the fried selection included calamari, fish, shrimp, mussel and imitation crab. On a bed of lettuce and three kinds of dipping sauce.
For me, this food was MORE similar to authentic Hawaiian food than L&L or Hawaiian Drive Inn. If you’ve eaten at Helena’s Hawaiian Food in Honolulu, HI and loved it, then come here.
I really love polynesian food because of the fresh ingredients, the various flavors, and the succulent meats. Will definitely come back.

3.5 stars for this Tongan restaurant
Portion wise you will walk out full !!! Like can’t breathe full!!! Me and a friend stopped by for lunch glad we did. We got to sample several things baked lamb, luau pig, corned beef with cabbage, polynesian ceviche and tilapia instead of rice they serve baked taro also what tasted like yams and the last starch I don’t remember the name.
Out of everything I tried I do recommend their corned beef with cabbage, baked lamb and their version of ceviche. The plates are three item combos 3 meats with a side of 3 starches which was baked if not steamed taro, sweet potato if not yams and the last starch I don’t recall
They also offered us a drink which kinda tasted like milk with jackfruit delicious!!!
I recommend this place if you want to have just one meal for the day literally it is that much food
Food *** ½
Price $
Service ****
Ambiance ****

Strait up Polynesian food in what use to be an old Italian restaurant. They’ve only been open for about a month and the Tongan family that runs it are all pretty nice. As a matter of fact, everyone in the restaurant was speaking Tongan except for us.
While their breakfast menu was standard and the New Zealand fish and chips looked interesting, did the 3 item lunch combo for $ 10. It’s not part of the combo but what I found interesting was that they also offered Mexican food like tacos, birria, menudo, quesadillas, etc.
Out of the items I tried, I liked their ota (polynesian poke/​ceviche). sipitao (baked lamb), and puaka (luau pig) the best.
The ota had island flava. The ceviche of coconut milk, jalapeño, onions, and tilapia made me want to get a tribal tattoo across my face like Mike Tyson. The sipita, even though a little fatty with not that much meat, were like lamb ribs in a sort of bbq sauce. The puluamasima (corned beef and cabbage) was a little tougher compared to the one at South Pacific Island. The food though is strait up authentic with a homestyle feel.
Instead of rice, you receive a trio of island starches: taro, banana with onion and coconut milk, and sweet potato. Super rich, couldn’t eat much of it.
Otai which is a refreshing drink made from coconut milk, mango, and jackfruit shreds, is a must order. Tasted sorta like a liquid halo halo or ambrosia fruit salad.
Huge portions and super filling. I didn’t even dinner that day!
Solid 3.5 star but might have to come back if I was super hungry.