Kalena Fish Market

First off, it’s cash only. Secondly, call in your order!
We had to check out this spot since my daughters name is Kalena. Ordering here was a bit off putting– the lady at the counter is all business, no service. It’s enough to put you off your meal. We had to wait about 25 minutes for our food to cook, and my husband was getting testy as he watched people order after him and get their food. Benefit of the doubt, I am assuming they called in their order– which I would definitely recommend you do!
We were definitely pretty hangry by the time we god our food– Fish Jun, Spicy Chicken combo and the BBQ Ono special, so we walked across the street to the picnic tables at the park and dealt with the Chickens trying to get at our food. One bite in, all was forgiven– and my picky 8 year old loved the BBQ Ono. The fish Jun was amazing– and I didn’t even notice there was a sauce for it until it was too late!
Next time we are on the island, I will definitely stop here again– but I will be more prepared next time and call the order in!

I took my aunties visiting from Oahu this morning for lunch — as I was visiting from Maui. In the past, I have always had a good experience — although the service is slow.
It was about 11:30 and I had wanted to order the fish Jun plate. The lady said they were out, so I ordered spicy chicken plate, mandoo soup and two Mochi desserts.
Soon after, a gentleman (who seemed to be a frequent customer by the way the lady greeted him) ordered two plate lunches of fish Jun … And he was Able to place his order.
This was an injustice and I felt I was mistreated due to my NOT being a return, frequent customer.
I plan to boycott this restaurant whenever I visit Kauai — which is atleast every 3 months. AND I plan to share my review with others.

My husband and I came in for lunch and ordered spicy fried squid and the maji jun, respectively. The portion was generous, came with rice, and with 4 ban chan selections. My favorites were the cold sesame noodles, marinated eggplant and pickled daikon.
Fantastic and wholesome food — you should eat there!

Best meat jun… fish jun… fish katsu in town… gotta try it… desserts pretty good too…

Best Meat Jun on the island! Gotta make this a stop!!! We are here two days in a row.
Meat Jun takeout comes with 4 choices of sides.
Top 5 Eats for Kauai!

We had a employee picnic on Saturday, so I ordered 6 side orders of their delightfully yummy meat Jun. They don’t really have catering menu, so hence the side orders (just meat jun). The meat jun was a hit! No leftovers to take home. But believe me this is the best meat Jun on Kauai.
The picture was taken in haste… Sorry about the clear wrap and fuzzy picture.

No frills service but outstanding food! You would be lucky if you got a seat to eat your lunch. I love their Medium Lunch Plate of Meat Jun with a side of fried daikon & fish cake (or eggplant & tofu). You won’t be disappointed!

This by far has to be one my FAVORITE plate lunch on Kauai! No exaggeration on my part I swear… I’ve been going here since high school and I’ve never been disappointed. Perfect place if you just need something on your lunch break. They give a pretty good portion of food + you can call ahead to place your orders and pick your sides at the place. I recommend getting the meat jun! That is definitely my favorite! And if you wanna get a combo plate, you can mix of up and get half something else. I like the meat jun & chicken katsu combo! SOO GOOD! **mouth watering as I type* my mom really likes the fish jun and the Kalbi is also really good! You have a choice of either a mini or a regular. The mini comes with 2 sides and the regular comes with 4. My favorite sides here are the seaweed, tofu, and noodles. I even love the noodles so much that I usually get 2 portions of it: P there’s a lot of sides to pick from so there will definitely be something for everyone.
I tend to get my food to-​go, but the last time I paid this place a visit my mom and I decided to sit down and eat inside. It’s nothing fancy and it only has a few tables but it is definitely worth your buck. Love this place and it’s always one of the first places I go to eat when I go home to Kauai.

Locals cried when Kalena Fish Market closed and feared it would be gone for good. But they’re back, and busy. Definitely call in your order in advance so it’s ready when you get there.
The Fish Jun is a winner. Marinated in a sweet, soy based sauced before it’s dipped in egg and pan fried, there is so much flavor in the fish even before you dip it in Fish Jun Sauce. The Kalbi is another popular choice. Meaty, oily, juicy, lick your fingers goodness. Plates come with rice and 4 choices of ban chan.
If you are looking for homey Korean takeout, look no further than Kalena Fish Market.

Kauai locals are funny about making recommendations. It feels like there is an unspoken pact to guide a tourist to a touristy place so as not to risk disappointing them and perhaps more importantly NOT to bad mouth any place where another local might be making a living. The most often response I got from, «Where should we eat?» was «Duke’s.»
Duke’s is beach side spot near the Lihue airport where they serve up predictable touristy fare that would never risk offending anyone. It is a safe bet, but you won’t find anything there that you might not also find in half a dozen other tourist destinations. Duke’s could be transported whole to Bar Harbor, Maine, and continue operations without missing a beat or dollar of revenue.
I pressed one local about a good place to eat fish. They directed me to a place across from the Walmart in Lihue called Fish Express. It turned out not to exist as far as we could find despite a long exploration of the area and no help from Google.
At wits end, my girlfriend turned to Unilocal’s «nearby» feature and we landed at Kalena. Thank you, Unilocalers. Thank you. Kalena was the sort of place we were hoping for, a place where the locals eat the good stuff, tucked away from the brisk crowds of tourists.
Kalena is a small, mostly carry-​out place, that serves Korean food. Some of the best fish you will eat on the island is served here. They offer a daily fish (and chicken, beef, pork) in a couple of Korean preparations.
The two most popular preparations are Katsu and Jun. Katsu means breaded in Panko and fried. It is a little dryer. Jun is bathed in egg an pan fried. It will be a little moister. Both are delicious. We also tried BBQ marlin, griled with a sweet Asian BBQ sauce
The ambiance is small fish market deli, and your food will be served in a Styrofoam lunch plate, think lo-​fi bento box. The place feels like a counter in front of the cook’s home kitchen.
With your fish, you will receive a small portion of vegetables chosen from under the counter. Tofu, spicy Daikon, Kimchi, long life noodles, and potatoes were among the selections. The Kimchi was good. The Daikon was great. The long life noodles were beautifully prepared, just al dente, and not soggy with too much dressing. Terrific.
There is a city park across the street where you can take your meal.
One final note: My girlfriend and I sat eating lunch and in walks our local who’d recommended Fish Express. He was a little startled to see us, then a bit sheepish. Yeah, Fish Express my ass.

Cash only!
Who would’ve thought that a place called a fish market would actually be a hole in the wall Korean restaurant /​take out place? I certainly didn’t think so. I was informed that this place used to sell fresh fish, but I guess not so anymore. I got to hang out with fellow Kauai Unilocal elite Nali N and her family on a recent Labor Day 2014. It was nice to hang out with a Unilocaler on a holiday while enjoying good food — especially when it’s among friends and a holiday. The Kalena Fish Market is a hole in the wall, mom and pop operation that the locals seem to like. While its a far cry from the ones I am familiar with on Oahu, Kalena’s is a pretty good choice to come to whenever you’re feeling the urge for home style Korean. Only bummer is that its cash only. Oh well. The restaurant itself was very small, with a few tables to sit down and enjoy the food.
Kalena Fish Market is located in the town of Lihue, on Rice Street, where majority of Lihue tends to gravitate towards. In the regards to parking, there is very limited parking here, but since we were here on a holiday, we all lucked out with that. Chances are, finding parking on a normal basis would probably be harder, since this place can be popular. Parking can be found in front of the eatery and across the street in front of the county park playground. Or wherever you can nearby. With that said, the prices were high and shockingly familiar to what I had already known about Korean fast food places. $ 9 or so for a plate of white rice, 4 choices of vegetables, and your choice of entrée or soup. Majority of the entrees on the menu were priced nearly identical, so there was not much differential in pricing.
The restaurant was simple and clean. Almost like dining at a friend’s house, but different. We all opted to dine in and it was pretty fun. The conversation was light and good. Thankful that I had cash on me, after buying ice cream at the Tropical Dreams Hawaiian gourmet ice cream shop in Wailua. Had enough for this foodie adventure at Kalena Fish market. I ultimately had the Japanese miso soup, which went pretty well. I hadn’t had miso soup in quite a while, so it was nice to have such a delicacy dancing in my mouth. Loved the soup, especially when you put hot white rice inside to make it an instant meal. Along with the vegetables, it was something that will fill you up and not let you down. Only problem was that the potions for the vegetables was somewhat smaller than I had expected, but that’s how it is with Korean takeout restaurants. The service was average and felt like a cafeteria style place.
I’m sure there are other Korean restaurants on Kauai that are just as good as Kalena Fish market, but for now, this place is pretty good. The miso soup that I had ordered had hit the spot, so that was a big thumbs up right there. The overall experience here can be better, especially with the ambiance and décor, but what can you expect from a short order restaurant? Get in and out with your order, was pretty much the gist of it. The company with the fellow Unilocaler and her family was great. Kalena fish market presents a mixed bag. While the prices are up there, you’re in Kauai. No better place!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Support local!
B

What a great place! Kalena’s is a little korean a little local. You get your choice of korean sides with every entrée. Their seaweed is sweet and tasty and their katsu expertly fried. Their meat and fish jun are both cooked well. I like this place but it can be a little slow, and not much décor, but their plate lunches pack a punch! Check them out, you won’t regret it :)

Found this place on Unilocal and had high expectation but it was okay. The place is small and the price was a bit expensive than the menu I saw on Unilocal.Their Korean side dishes were okay. The portion was pretty reasonable.

Oooo, I forgot about this place. Haven’t been here since high school, but the food is good. I always got the Meat Jun. MMmmm. You get to pick your sides. Nice. Would go back for sure.

Probably the best lunch plates my bf and I had during our 1 week stay in Kauai. They give you big portions and its yummy! Its a bit of a Korean fusion which I love! When we arrived we were the only people there and it was around 12.30pm. I was expecting a long line.
I ordered the lau lau that came with two Korean sides and a side of this yummy tomato salad. I was not able to finish so I ate everything except the rice which they give you two scoops of.
My bf got the bbq marlin. He was given so much fish! His came with three Korean sides. You get to pick!
Reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that the service is a bit slow even when we were the only people there for a while.

A true hidden gem for delectable plate lunch with a Korean flair.
BBQ Marlin is AMAZING. Don’t know of any other plate lunch joints on the island serving this and let me tell you, it’s delicious. For around $ 8.95 you get a generous portion of BBQ marlin over steamed rice and your choice of 3 Korean style side dishes (kimchi, tofu, seasoned cabbage, etc.). We were able to share one plate for lunch and were completely satisfied.
They also have Katsu, Kalbi, BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, Bibim Bap, Chap Chae, Soondooboo and more.
Can’t wait to go back for more as soon as we get back to Kauai!
Note that they are only open for lunch.

we did not have a great experience here, which was very disappointing as i had high expectations for it based on the other reviews i read on here!
first off– trying to find korean bbq on kauai is difficult. i grew up on oahu where you could find them all over the place– but that is not the case with kauai. there is a place in kapa’a that is korean bbq but they don’t have all the veggies (bean sprouts, watercress, glass noodles, etc…) which is what i LOVE. i had just about given up and then we met these two locals who told us to go to kalena’s. i was SO EXCITED about this lunch– you have no idea. but it did not meet up to my expectations at all.
i am vegetarian so i ordered the veggie plate (which is why i have been looking for a place that serves them). the portions were SO SMALL– they were ungenerous and stingy. the rice was about one scoop of rice patted down to make it flat. usually they pile meat on top of the rice but i wasn’t having any meat. there definitely should have been more rice. then i ordered my sides– bean sprouts, kim chee, tofu and seaweed. the lady at the front (who was not friendly at all) put a pinch of each of the veggie sides on the plate. i literally was only given 4 pieces of tofu that were the size of an inch! i asked if i could have more and she said it would cost $ 0.75 for each extra that i ordered. the amount of veggies she gave me for each side could be eaten in 2 – 3 bites. wtf!?!
my mom ordered the bbq chicken plate and had the same issue with the veggies but she was given copious amounts of chicken! i take issue with this– i have studied nutrition and eating more veggies than meat is conducive to a long and healthy life. i am part hawaiian but i eat very healthy– which is often not the case with other members of our culture. the fact that they give you way too much meat for your body to process in one sitting and just a few bites of vegetables to me contributes to the illness and obesity that our culture (and really the westernized world) is battling today. despite getting so much chicken most of it was fatty, it was undercooked and it was not bbq’d. it has some kind of orange sauce on it instead of being bbq’d on a grill or given with bbq sauce. my mom actually got sick from eating it later in the day (i will not go into detail here).
so that was our experience. all the other reviews comment about the generous portions and i am assuming from my own experience that all they are talking about is the meat. the veggie and rice portions were certainly NOT generous. and according to my mom the meat was not good at all.
i am sorry to write such a poor review but for anyone looking on Unilocal for korean bbq that is tasty, abundant and healthy– this is not the place.
if you know of something else on kauai that meets my standards please email me! i will drive across island for it!!!

where to begin?!
i frequent kalenas several times a month. i must say that it’s my favoriteeeeeeee place to eat lunch on kauai. if i had the opportunity, i’d probably eat lunch here 2 or 3 times a week.
my usual: chicken katsu & the shoyu potato. they have so many side choices, but i’m rather picky so i always get the same thing.
lots of different choices on local/​hawaiian plates as well as korean dishes. i’m not sure how authentic it is, but i know my dad really enjoys the bi bim bap.
it can get realllllly busy around lunch time, so it’s good to call ahead if you know what you want. there are a few tables to sit down at inside, but you might be better off walking across the street to kalena park and sitting on a picnic table.
service is friendly, and the food is great. definitely not over priced for the taste and portions they give!
next time you’re in lihue, give kalena fish market a try ^_​_​_​^
(cash only, mon — sat 10 — 3)

What’s with everybody saying Kauai has crappy food places?
I never have a bad experience at Kalena Fish Market.
For $ 7.50 or so you will get fresh good food, four side choices (bean sprouts, tofu, noodles, mac salad, medium hot kim chee, seaweed salad, cabbage. etc), and plenty rice. I usually get something with fish.
There’s fountain sodas (Pepsi) and canned juice and drinks. If you’re a messy eater you should ask for extra napkins because otherwise you will just get a fork with one napkin. Or chopsticks.
I’m not sure if they take plastic but I have only ever paid with cash. Sometimes it’s super busy so might as well eat at the park across the way.

Day 6
This morning we got up and packed. Sadly it was our last day here. We asked the valet for a good local lunch plate place, he recommended Kalena’s. It’s on the corner of Kalena and Rice. When we got there, all we saw was a hello kitty store and the fish market Upon looking closer, the food place is next to the fish market.
I believe this place is Korean owned, They have ½ of the menu that is Korean eats like chop chae and bi bim bop. When ordering the food, you get 4 choices for sides like kimchi, mac salad, sprouts. I got the LauLau and HS got the Katsu. (pictured)Both were really good and really fresh. Everything on the menu seems to be $ 7.50. This is a good find and a win with the locals. Parking here is a bit hard so you can park across the street and walk over.