Foodland

Before checking into our vacation rental, we stocked up at Costco. However, there are always the supplemental supplies that need to be purchased. Foodland and the nearby Safeway fit that bill, although I’d come here first for selection and pricing. At the same time, keep in mind that in an Island community, everything is more expensive.

By far, the poke is the best on the island. truth be told, best I’ve ever had! The sauces perfectly wrap their mouth watering flavors on the fresh fish. Add a scoop of white steamed rice and you get a homicidally delicious meal!
Don’t forget to get some beer to go with your poke;)

I went to Foodland first, because it’s where I am accustomed to shopping at whenever I’m in Hawaii, but they offered ZERO organic options (boy, has my food preferences changed!)… and they are SO MUCH MORE expensive than Safeway or Papaya Foods! Like, really? I thought Foodland was where the locals shop. Heck… how could locals afford Foodland??? Papaya Foods had organic offerings that were the same price or cheaper than Foodland. All the locally made items had artificial colors and/​or soy oil… and we avoid both, so I was bummed about that. The only thing Foodland is good for is their butter mochi. Decadent. Even if it’s not organic… definitely heavenly.

4 stars for the poke, rest is whatevs. Definitely get the store card — doesn’t cost anything and will get you a discount, sometimes fairly significant. Wish they had this store in California.

I liked the fact that everyone there was very helpful. I got a holiday gift certificate that allows me to get a ham and a turkey with all the fixings. The certificate was for $ 75.00 so anything over that I’m responsible for the payments.
Okay, so here I go shopping looking for my Ham and Turkey. I finally got it and asked the butcher if he could cut my turkey in chunks like a chicken hekka cut. He looks at me weird and says «sure why not». I also ask him to cut my ham into ¾ inch slices. The butcher goes yeah I can but it’ll cost you $ 3.00 for the cut. I say «that’s fine, cut um». He comes out and starts apologizing. «I’m so sorry I gotta charge you but it’s our policy» I kept saying it’s okay it’s okay, no worries. I just thought he was so sweet. Anyway after Having those things cut up, I decided to get my fixings. (Fresh veggies, herbs, and bacon)
I reached the checkout and this cashier got me. I handed him the gift certificate and he looks at me funny. He reads the bold and fine print out loud and then he goes «well geez thanks cooperate for making these» I ask him «you okay or what?» He goes «yea yea I’m fine» this guy is blowing my mind. He reads the gift certificate again and he says «now I gotta pay the extra out of my own pocket.» And flys the certificate on his register. Oh my goodness I had to ask him again if he was okay. This was trippin me out. Hahahaha! I told him that he is not responsible for the over payment that I am responsible for the payment. He goes «woah I thought I had to pay um» omg dude I think he needed a smoke break. So he rings up my things and ask me «where’s your fixings?!» Hahahaha oh boy, guess what happened next…
I’m still trippin!!!

Poke was fine, but not the best on the island (Ishihara Market, hands down).
Spam musubi was SO GOOD though! I don’t know what they do to their spam and rice that makes it taste so good. I’ve tried to make spam musubi at home, and it doesn’t taste like the spam musubi at Foodland :(

Loved the Poke. Fast and Easy! Lots of selection. ½ of a pound was to much for me.

This is only for review of the poke. Don’t do it.

This is the first place we stopped by yesterday for lunch.
They have many selection of pokes at the deli section. We got a sample of a few items to try it out.
We got some friend chickens as well.
Everything was tasty. I would recommend it to someone to try out the poke here.

This is a terrific supermarket with a great selection of food for take-​out including poke, salads, fried chicken, sandwiches, etc, an extensive bakery, fresh produce, meats, and normal supermarket items. That’s saying a lot when Safeway is only one block away! Staff was very helpful and very friendly, and were quick to explain items to you. I really enjoyed their Garlic Fried Chicken, spicy poke, and Spam Musubi! I appreciated the fact that the cashier took my phone number and gave me the same discounts as the local residents. THANK YOU! A great supermarket with a local Hawaiian flair!

I really like this grocery store. The staff are so nice there and they have a great fresh food/​deli section, which makes for a more affordable place to eat while visiting the island. They also have warm Spam musubi ready to pick up and go for a quick bite. Good size fresh bakery area too. Produce is fresh and nicely displayed and store is clean. Small souvenir area, but still pretty decent, plus I love their reusable bags (very cute designs).

We stayed at the Westin in Princeville so this was within walking distance and a casual seafood/​sushi/​local dining option. We ended up going twice — our first night on the island and for lunch after doing the beach and waterfall portion of the Kalalau trail. Great poke, seaweed salad and sushi rolls.

Is it sad that my favorite place to eat was a supermarket? Maybe but i won’t lie about it!
Their selection of poke is ridiculous, and i tried about half of them. Also, the prices were great when you are used to paying restaurant prices.
Overall, you have to love a place where you can pick up cat food and bomb ahi poke.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the poke bar!
There’s like 20 different kinds of poke they sell here at the poke bar, and you can try them before buying. The prices are very very reasonable, most flavors are $ 10/​lb. They also have a fast food grill counter selling pork and beef briskets with 2 sides. The food was definitely very tasty and reasonably priced. We came here several times for lunch.
The staff were nice and mellow. Not very fast, but that’s to be expected on island time. Easy parking and the bus stop is right outside the entrance.

My family and I went to Kauai during the summer and this was the best place to eat. They have so many varieties of poke, it was unbelievable! And the counter service was very friendly. Since my kiddos are not that into poke, they have other deli stuff like spam musubi, which my kids love! And they have everything you need to make a dinner (we stayed in a condo with a kitchen), so it really cut the cost of eating out!
All in all, when vacationing on Kauai, you really don’t need to bring anything from home other than your clothes. They seriously have everything at Foodland!

This store had everything we were looking for… but we were surprised how much more expensive it was than Safeway… which is a nicer store.

I bought the tuna poke, smoked octopus and seaweed salad by the deli counter and they were all satisfying. Good value due to portion size, priced well and there are several seasoning options. I bought a G2 gatorade on sale, fuyu persimmon and apple bananas for snacking. I checked out the multitude of baked items and there are some tradiotional Hawaiian baked goods including taro and banana bread.
The employees are friendly. At the cashier, I was asked for my phone number and made a member of Foodland in about 5 seconds. I received an extra $ 3.00 off my purchase. I walked here from the Coconut Courtyard by Marriott.

I liked shopping local when I was in Kauai, and this was the best. I grabbed some poke, musubi and honey melon. What is a honey melon, you ask? Seemed like a cross between honey dew and cantaloupe and ten times sweeter! The poke was delicious and so was the piece of fried chicken I got.
The deli service is a bit pokey at times but if you’re hungry, just flag them down even if they’re in an in-​depth conversation with their coworker. They can continue after giving you your poke.
They have all your other regular favorites and it’s actually decently priced if you sign up for their customer discount with your phone number. Why not, you may decide you want to go there again and again.

The deli counter had such terrible service.
You’ll need a members card to get the discounts on the sale items, but if the cashier is nice enough, you might be able to slide by using someone else’s account.
5pm on a Friday night, we wanted to some togo food for our cruise to several outlooks. It took forever to wave someone down to try to get our selections even though 2 were 2 other guys behind the deli counter. I asked them if someone could help me and they said, oh someone will be with you shortly and what seemed like an eternity, someone finally showed up. The signature poke looked a mess with bits and pieces from other pokes next to it. I ordered only 2 items because the counter guy took forever to punch in the correct code for the poke. I was overcharged because he still selected the wrong code after 5 tries.
Overall the poke was good, but not worth the hassle.
I’ll stick with Fish Express, Koloa Fish Market, Costco, and Big Saver for my shopping needs.

Foodland has a huge selection of freshly made poke. I literally lived off of their spicy ahi poke for the 6 days I visited Kauai. Half a pound of the spicy ahi was about $ 7 and was surprisingly more than enough to spread out for lunch and dinner.
I also bought freshly caught Kauai shrimp and it was seriously the best shrimp I have ever had in my life, a sweet, yet unique flavor on its own.
The peanut butter mochi is a must try as well as the guava chiffon cake.
Definitely a great place to stock up on all of the essentials while visiting this beautiful island!