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My wife and I had dinner at Casseja's Malaysian Cuisine in Pahoa Village and were very pleased. It is a good addition to the town and I would encourage folks to try it out. It is a small number of tables nestled into exotic furnishings and provided an odd mixture of elegance and Pahoa street life.. How very Puna.
It is across from Luquin’s parking lot. (640-7672)
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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thats exciting....for those that are into having their indian fix, Malaysian has a good combination of indian, chinese and cambodian cuisines wrapped up into one country....great to see that we are getting appropriate cuisines for our little village.
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Any good recommendations on what to order here and what didn't work to their taste buds...in terms of too spicey, weird...i think that tends to be the case with food your not familiar with.
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The menu is all about variety. Can't imagine not finding something to your taste. My seafood platter was one of the best I've had, my wife's beef curry was too strong (green vs. yellow). Price was very reasonable. Although beer and wine are not available for sale, you are encouraged to byo. Fun to stroll through the crafts and carvings in the rear while waiting for your meal. They've captured the Puna funk.
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I'm so excited to be trying a new place out when i come back to puna, this should be a real treat.
....If anyone is brave enough to try out a new place with me, I would welcome your company since i'll be traveling alone on this trip....and would welcome a fellow punaweb's company in discovering some new treats.....
thanks,
noel - coming in june
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Well, on the advice of this board my husband and I and two friends headed out for dinner tonight at Casseija's in Pahoa. We were looking forward to enjoying a new restaurant in Pahoa. Unfortunately, we will not return. We arrived at the door and were completely ignored by the server. Finally, after several minutes we wandered around and had to move some tables and chairs to make a table for four....at this point there was only one other table occupied by two people. We sat down...and FINALLY the clueless server approached our table and advised us that they were out of spring rolls...before even greeting us. No problem...we ordered two orders of summer rolls with shrimp. We also ordered chicken wings off of the appetizer menu. Two of our party ordered red curry with chicken and another ordered the ono salad as an entree and I ordered the Chicken Cuisine. After a VERY long time...the summer rolls finally appeared... none of us could find or taste the shrimp in them....and these do not even require cooking..why so long??? After another VERY long time the two curries came out...but we were informed that the brown rice that had been ordered with them was burned...so white rice was substituted. After another VERY long time the ono salad arrived. After another 20 minutes, I was still waiting for my chicken entree...and the chicken wings appetizer had never been served. I finally had to get up and tell the server that I was no longer interested in eating. The rest of my party was finished with their entrees. The server informed me that the chicken entree would be "right out" and that there would be no charge...but the rest of my party had already eaten enough of their dinners to know that the food was not very good. The curries which had been ordered "hot" were very bland, although those who ordered them thought the "taste" was good....just not hot and spicy. It was basically 1/4 of a boiled chicken (the whole thing bones and all) in a bowl of yellow broth. The person who ordered the salad did not enjoy it. No dressing...just dry and overcooked ono on a bed of greens. While we were there, one other table of two came in. I heard them tell the server that the noise of the pots and pans being cleaned in the sink which is right in the dining room was very distracting and we agreed. Finally, we convinced the server to put on some music to cover the sound of the clanking pots and pans.....why all of this noise, I have NO idea.....so far only six people had been in the dining room all evening. After two hours...we left the restaurant...disappointed in the food (or lack thereof) and the ambience. This was the second time at the resaturant for one in our party....and he will never return. Too bad....but the lack of service and bad food does not bode well for this establishment.
We were looking for a fun and funky Pahoa dining experience...but we did not find it.
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Sorry Loretta, bet we had different chefs.
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We ate there, 6 weeks ago, sat outside, Prices were reasonably low, orders were timely, waiter was O.K. (had to ask for the table to be cleaned) and there was a local entertainer singing. 20-30 bucks for three people, plenty of food, plenty different menu choices, served timely, can't complain.. Had much worse at double, triple, plus, the cost.
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My wife and I had dinner at Casseja's also on Friday night. We were their first customers that evening and knew that they had some preparation to do, and offered to come back later, but they said no, that we were welcome, and asked us to pick any table. We were also told that they were out of Spring Rolls; no big deal.
We had their Seafood Plate and the Fish of the Day special.
Both were great. The veggies were great. The potato/onion/sweet potato/addition was unusual, but also good.
Ok, so the ambience was "Downtown Pahoa Elegance", but I guess thats that is why we like it here so much.
Dogone right we'd go back!
Bill
"Be kind whenever possible; it is always possible"
-Dalai Lama-
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We went there yesterday around 5pm. There were boxes & debris on the floor inside so we asked if they were open which they were. The cook wiped off our table and brought menus.
The waitress (her first night as a waitress) was very nice but the food was slow in arriving. We ordered spring rolls, ono & curry chicken. Though we ordered medium, food was bland. The cook explained later that she was afraid it would be too spicy. The spring rolls (appetizer) arrived when we were almost done eating.
Food was flavorful if bland but the vegetables weren't overdone; service mediocre. The floor badly needed to be swept. We were sitting by the window and the bottom of the windowsill was very dirty.
I'll go again in a month or so and maybe they will be better organized and cleaner. I'll also ask for very spicy food and wear long pants; I hate the feel of plastic tablecloth on my legs!
Markie
Markie
Markie
