MAHALOHA BURGER
ADDRESS: 2233 Kalākaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815 (Royal Hawaiian Center, Floor 2)
INSTAGRAM: @mahalohaburger
It was day one of my trip to Oahu with my brother Kevin and sister-in-law Alina, where we had just taken a 5.5 hour flight across the Pacific from LA. After getting settled into our hotels, we found ourselves relatively hungry, even though it was only 4PM local time. The jet lag meant that it was right around dinnertime back home, so Kevin and Alina recommended that we head over to the Royal Hawaiian Center food court to check out Mahaloha Burger.
The two of them had tried Mahaloha Burger the last time that they visited Oahu and definitely spoke highly about it. Now, it was time to see whether it held up the second time around as well. As expected, the main thing you were going to find on their menu was the burgers, including their signature — the pineapple teriyaki burger. In addition to the burgers, there were also hot dog options along with fries or onion rings to complete out your meal.
I don’t think that I had eaten a burger with pineapple on it before, so I felt like I almost had to try their pineapple teriyaki burger since I had the chance. The garlic fries sounded like just the right side order to complement the sweet flavors from the pineapple and teriyaki. Since I wasn’t going to be getting cheese on my burger, I decided to add in some avocado slices to help give the burger that smooth, creamy texture as well.
The Royal Hawaiian Center was absolutely jam-packed, but I guess when it is a tourist destination right there in downtown Waikiki, it was always going to be busy. The food court was home to a number of other places as well, serving up all different kinds of food and drinks. It was probably no more than 10 minutes before we got the call saying that all of our food was ready to go, and we took the trays over to a nearby table in the food court area.
Both the burger and the fries definitely had a good look to them, with the burger stacked pretty high having lettuce, caramelized onions, pineapple, 1/3 lb. patty of ground beef, and avocado. The garlic fries had plenty of minced garlic topped on there, along with shredded Parmesan cheese. I was definitely getting the strong aroma of garlic flavor as well, and I was very much looking forward to giving the fries a try.
I decided to go for a bite into the burger first, getting all of the ingredients in that one bite. There was strong sweetness coming from both the teriyaki sauce and the pineapple, and savory flavor that came from the mayo and caramelized onions. Those different flavors, along with the smooth texture from the avocado, worked pretty well to complement the beef. Overall, it was definitely a solid burger, with it getting a bit messy with the teriyaki sauce and mayo dripping out the back of the burger as I was eating it.
Low key though, I think I might have enjoyed the fries more than I enjoyed the burger. The fries themselves were super crispy on the outside, and seasoned well on the outside with the minced garlic and Parmesan cheese. That savory and pungent flavor from the garlic and Parmesan was really prominent, and it’s probably one of the garlic fries that I had tried in recent memory that really delivered on the flavor profiles. Definitely something that I would order again if I returned on a future visit.
Kevin and Alina had the fond memories of eating at this place during their previous visit, although they did mention that perhaps some of the “first-time visit” luster to the burger joint had worn off slightly. I found the food to be tasty, but I wouldn’t say that it was good enough to draw me away from the plentiful other options to try around the island. It definitely hit the spot as our first meal after a 5.5 hour plane ride, but there are definitely other places in the immediate vicinity of the downtown Waikiki area that would be worth exploring over this.
Let’s now take a look at the Mahaloha Burger Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Pineapple Teriyaki Burger **
1/3 lb. ground beef patty, served with lettuce, caramelized onions, mayo, teriyaki sauce, and grilled pineapple. Pictured with avocado slices.
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** Garlic Parmesan Fries **
Fries topped with generous amounts of minced garlic and Parmesan cheese.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Mahaloha Burger:
Food: 4.25 / 5
Burgers were definitely their specialty, with eight different options to choose from. Hot dogs were also on the menu, along with sides of fries and onion rings as well. The flavors were pretty good, and the food overall was tasty.
Atmosphere: N/A
With this burger spot being located in the Royal Hawaiian Center’s main food court, there wouldn’t be a true atmosphere rating for this spot.
Service: 4 / 5
For being a mall food court, the speed of the food getting out to us was pretty average, with them taking probably about 5 – 7 minutes before our food was ready.
Price: 4.25 / 5
The burger and fries together came out to about $20, which I thought wasn’t too bad of a price point, given the location and amount of food that they gave you.
Overall:
12.5 / 15
(83%)
Categories: Hawaii, Restaurants
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