Kafe Europa

Ahh… the whole building closed down. Too bad. This was the best shwarma and baklava downtown. Hopefully they will reopen at another location.

CLOSED
sitting here today trying to decide what I will eat for lunch today reminds me that I can no longer walk half a block to kafe europa and get their delicious lamb plate… so moist, flavorful, and hearty without any hint of gaminess sometimes associated with lamb

CLOSED #@$%!
Another great place to get lunch downtown closes. I walked by, and I was shocked to see that this place is closed. This was probably my favorite of the four Mediterranean places in the area.
I loved the food here.
Great lunch plates: My favorite would probably have to be their Beef Stroganoff in a excellent sour cream sauce: so richly flavorful (very Russian… errr Armenian). I can’t think of anywhere else I would be able to find something like their Stroganoff around town. Their Shawarma was delicious, probably my favorite in the area. The Eggplant plate was another favorite. The Mixed Plate, Shawarma and Eggplant was the best bet. Plates came with Hummus, Basmati Rice and a Tabbouleh Salad. The salad is the best of its kind downtown: fresh onions and tomatoes.
Great pastries: The Napoleons were frigging delicious: decadently airy. The Baklava was perfectly flaky. They also had a great Tiramisu.
Great coffee: They had Illy coffee… enough said.
Delicious and unique Mediterranean dishes that will be missed downtown.

CLOSED.
Where will I ever find as good a napoleon and baklava?! cry cry.
Owners are moving to DC.

Today was their last day!
Hands down the best Russian Beef Stroganoff EVER!
you will be missed Kafe Europa! Good luck to your family where ever you may end up!

I would totally go back for the Napoleon pastry. It’s worth a return visit. I’m sad it closed.

Great pastries, coffee and lunch, lovingly made. This place deserves your business.

Hi Habibi’s!
I just wanted to say a great big thank you for feeding me your wonderful food over the past 5 plus years! Your smiles in the morning and that great lunch and oh my the Tiramisu — let me just say how heavenly!
I think I have tried everything on the menu with the exception of the Baklava — simply because I allergic to the nuts. You turned me on to some great coffee and what real Neapolitans are «suppose» to taste like. I can honestly say that I have never had anything bad from you at ALL!
I’m gonna try to get to you as much as possible from now til August. I want to thank you for your support — although you still have to see me dance! LOL!
I give you a very big YALLLA!
Gonna miss you!
Shirlita —
p. s. can i have the recipe to the white sauce? Please!

I have been eating here since 2004. In that time, they have the most consistent quality of food due to a mother and daughter tag team that make EVERYTHING by hand the old fashion style! They are the EPITOME of a family owned whole in the wall– serious you can’t fit a seating for two if you tried.
THE FOOD:) I salivate as I type! If this restaurant could be summed up in a few words it would be: Kafe Europa, the way food is suppose to be!
So in a nut shell, if the ingredients are not the good, they stop using it! They are not trying to taking over a corner of Downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. They just make great food because that is the way they’d like to eat it too!
The dishes are delicious. The prices are reasonable. The meats are seasoned perfectly. The portion size is appropriate. The pastries are ALL HOMEMADE! I COULD WRITE A REVIEW ON THE PASTRIES ALONE! Try them ALL! Napoleon is certainly top of the list for me. When you bite into it– as crazy as it may sound – you can taste the love that went into it! She makes the DOUGH herself every night! Needless to say the fresh cream as well! It is so good i have been known to hum and dance as I devour my to-​kill-​for treats!
EAT HERE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN FROM NOW TILL AUGUST!!! As an update: The tardus building has been sold and all it’s tenants are being evicted! I can’t tell you what shock and disgust this is to me! There isn’t a better place on the ISLAND to get food like this!

Dear Kafe Europa, your food is so delicious and lets me drift away to another place during my lunch hour and forget I’m sitting at my desk. Also since you spell café with a «K» it seems so much cooler!
I’ve been eating your food for years and even if your food comes in the Hawaii-​standard foam plate lunch box, it’s soo authentic.
Your hummus with pitas is outta this world and comes as a side with all of your plates. Your salad is a step up with onions and fresh tomatoes and your main dishes are to die for.
Chicken shaurma, lamb sharuma, grape leaves, eggplant… it’s all good. I used to work with a Lebonese coworker that had to eat at your shop 2x a week so I know it’s pretty authentic. He used to say the grape leaves were like being back home. Kafe Europa, that’s a compliment.
I wish I didn’t have to tell everyone on Unilocal about you since you’ll get busier than you already are, but it doesn’t feel right if I don’t share about my blissful lunches. :(
Dreaming of your food,
Me.

I like this place! I had a great grilled eggplant plate with terrific hummus, fluffy pita, and a nice salad. Plates go for $ 7 – 9 and I usually go here for a treat. The joint doesn’t have much character itself but I like the nice Armenian ladies who run the place. It’s always filling and delicious.

A lunch-​only place tucked away in an alleyway of food stalls in the Tardus Financial Plaza, featuring Mediterranean-​style plates like chicken and lamb on rice with hummus.
The owners are Armenian but I didn’t see many Armenian-​only dishes that would differentiate this place from the traditional Greek or Mediterranean plates you’d find at say Leo’s Taverna down the street.
Had the lamb and chicken shwarma plates, which included:
Side Salad– mixed greens with vinagrette
Side hummus– very good and creamy
Pita bread
The lamb and chicken appeared to have been stewed in slow-​cookers which gave them a nice juicy taste.
I had one of their handmade Napoleons– WOW. Super airy and flaky. Probably the best napoleon pastry I’ve ever tried in my life. I would definitely try the pastries again.
Service was a little slow as it’s a 2-​person operation, so not sure if this would be the place to go in a time crunch, but it’s takeout only anyways.
Overall it was decent, each lunch came out to about 10 $. I have had Armenian food before and there are some really unique dishes that cuisine offers, but unfortunately I thought this place didn’t really offer much in terms of unique food options.

I can’t believe I forgot about this hidden gem and I work across the street!
I got the #1 (lamb shaurma), and by golly was it delicious! I’m a lamb lover and when I saw they have lamb, I fell in love. The rice was perfectly cooked, the vinaigrette on the salad was divine, and the hummus was to die for! The lamb was amazing but was a bit too dry for me.
The prices are reasonable, the food is plentiful, and the location is top notch!
The one gripe I had was not getting the baklava!

Kafe Europa is on my weekly rotation of Downtown Honolulu go to places for a great lunch. It’s an Armenian family-​run operation, sometimes with three generations behind the counter. They make puff pastry delectibles before your eyes.
The food is as good as it looks. Their baklava and napolean are out of town! Filled with chicken shawarma and grilled eggplant over basmati rice with a side of hummus, pita and salad, their mixed plate is easily my favorite. I’m always coming back for more, especially on Thursday’s when the mixed plate is on special with a free drink. For $ 8, you can’t beat it.
BTW, I’m not sure I would classify this place as «Russian.» It’s really run by Armenians, which is a different country formerly under the USSR. In a post-​communist world, some may find the lingering Russian label offensive.

I think they’re actually more like 4.5 stars, but I rounded down because they are pretty expensive for lunch.
Food is really great: chicken shaurma and the mixed plate where they have chicken shaurma and eggplant. The plates have a decent amount of food and the plates come with rice, a small serving of hummus and some greens/​tomatoes/​onions with a light vinaigrette. It also comes with bread and a yogurt sauce. They even let me substitute more of the green salad instead of rice.
They are super nice and friendly there too!
But they do make each plate one at a time so it’s a little slower. If you’re in a rush, this may not be the place for you if there’s a line, but if there’s no line, they make your plate as fast as anyone else.
The plates are about $ 8 (includes tax). They have «daily specials» where you get a free drink with the meal as the «special» (as of July 2010):
Monday: Russian Beef Stroganoff $ 9
Tuesday: Chicken Shaurma Plate $ 8 (same price as the regular plate, but this one comes with a drink)
Wednesday: Russian Beef Stroganoff $ 9
Thursday: Mixed plate (grilled eggplant with tomatoes, chicken shaurma over rice and yogurt sauce) $ 8
Friday: Russian Beef Stroganoff $ 9
It’s a tiny little place but great tasting food, friendly service and supposedly all natural ingredients, no msg, no preservatives, no additives, local vegetables…
I’ll be back for sure!

Delicious! The baklava is comparable to my grandmother’s, and she would spend an entire afternoon making it. The hummus, tabouli and grape leaves are all excellent Armenian staples. So glad I found this place, the lamb plate is my favorite.

Ventured into downtown for lunch again on Friday. After looking up several choices on Unilocal,we decided to go to Kafe Europa. We both got the mixed plate ($ 8) — it came with basmati rice (yum), chicken (soso, small amount), eggplant tomato thing (pretty good taste but too oily), salad (buttermilk or vinaigrette dressing-​went w/​the vinaigrette, it was okay), hummus (yum), yogurt sauce (yum) AND half a pita bread (cold and burnt=sad face). Ick the oil from the eggplant soaked into the rice=pretty unappetizing. I would like to come back and try the beef stroganoff.

I love to support little hidden places like this family owned business. You will get very decent food, but it won’t be a bargain.

After reading all these great reviews I expected to be blown away. Unfortunately that did not happen. I did get here about 20 minutes before closing so I will definitely try to arrive earlier on my next visit.
Service was pretty good. The owner was really friendly and sweet. Just a small issue when it came time to pay. No biggy.
I had the Lamb Shaurma and my friend had the Chicken Combo. We also ordered an Iced Café Mocha and a Sea Buckthorn drink. I thought my Lamb tasted a little on the dry side. The portion of meat was also pretty small. I had to dump sauce all over it. This could be due to my late visit so we’ll see how it goes next time. I had a small taste of the Chicken Combo and that wasn’t too bad. Not as dry as mine due to the sauce it was in. My Iced Mocha drink was just ok. It was shaken cocktail style so half the cup ended up being bubbles. I took a couple of small sips and my drink was almost empty by the time I got to the car. The Sea Buckthorn drink was ok but too sour for my tastes.
Because I wasn’t able to get my «fix» at Kafe Europa we ended up going to Olive Tree Café the very same night. I definitely left there satisfied. I’ll definitely be back soon at an earlier time to see how they fare the next time around.

A great place to get european food.
I’ve had a few different dishes here including the eggplant, the chicken shaurma, and the stroganoff. All are very flavorful and very well seasoned — I thought the food was on the verge of being a little too salty, but at least the yogurt sauces that comes with your food helps balance the palette a little. Also, most dishes come with a nice light salad with homemade dressings, great hummus, and a pita bread to enjoy all of that stuff with. I’m told the pastries and coffee are the best you can get, but I’ve yet to try it — but I will soon and post another review!
The place is little above average in terms of cleanliness for a downtown lunch spot — it looks a little unorganized, but it’s clean enough and is actually all right. The ladies that work there are nice too. My only gripe is that it’s more expensive than your average lunch — but hey, when you get authentic european cuisine and good food you’re gonna pay for it.
The place is strictly take out — but there are a few tables in the hall area of the building that they occupy. I personally like to take my lunch out to bishop square and eat out in the grass.
Get some good real european food here. :)