On a bright and sunny weekend afternoon, a few of our Crew Members stopped in at Bubble Puff & Tea in Kapahulu:
Just outside the Bubble Puff & Tea store on Campbell.
Located across the street from the Kapahulu Zippy’s (near Domino’s Pizza), Bubble Puff & Tea specializes in desserts, coffee, and tea drinks, including gei dan jai, a kind of egg waffle sold by street vendors in Hong Kong, and Jalea, or flavored, iced Jelly Drinks.
Free Wi-Fi and curbside pick-up!
The Bubble Puffs, or egg waffles (also known as egg puffs, eggettes, or puffettes), are cooked in a six-sided, iron mold and come out light and crispy on the outside and soft and dough-like on the inside.
(Sort of like a KC Drive Inn Waffle Dog, sans Hot Dog…)
The honeycomb-shaped treats are dotted with rounded puffs that are hollow on the inside, hence the name:
A fun diagram explaining the "Bubble Puff" name.
Guests can choose between regular and macadamia nut varieties, with choice of free toppings – either chocolate, coconut, condensed milk, cinnamon, or powdered sugar – and for $1 more enjoy the popular Asian street food a la mode!
Inside the store...
Other menu items at the Kapahulu store include Honey Toast topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream, chocolate Lava Cakes, and smoothies.
It’s a small store, with two tables on the inside and a few on the outside. Parking’s limited to what you can find on the street, making free curbside pick-up very handy indeed.
Since the desserts take some time to make, we decided to grab a Jalea, or Jelly Drink, to go:
A Matcha Green Tea Jalea, or Jelly Drink, from Bubble Puff & Tea!
The Matcha Jalea (we opted for soy instead of whole milk) comes with green tea-flavored jellies resembling thick, shiny rings (we mistook them for ice cubes at first) that are meant to be broken up and stirred around inside the cup with the wide-mouthed straws provided.
Similar to the Grass Jelly Drinks you find in Asian markets around town, the Green Tea-flavored Jalea was cold and refreshing – sort of like drinking green tea Jell-o through a straw…!
Although we didn’t get a chance to try their namesake specialty item, we’ll definitely be back soon to give the Bubble Puffs themselves a try.
Menu items on display.
For the time being, the Kapahulu store’s only open on the weekends; on weekdays, you can find the crew from Bubble Puff & Tea at these other locations around the island:
Windward Mall on the 2nd Floor, Wednesdays, from 3 to 8 p.m.;
The International Market Place Food Court in Waikiki, Thursday afternoons from 4 to 8; and
Momilani Community Center in Pearl City, Fridays, 3 to 6:30 p.m.
Click here to check out Bubble Puff & Tea’s page at Taste Of Aloha.com!
Tags: Bubble Puff, Bubble Puff & Tea, Bubble Puff & Tea Hawaii, Bubble Puff & Tea Honolulu, Bubble Puff & Tea Kapahulu, Bubble Puff & Tea Oahu, Egg Waffle, Gei Dan Jai, Hong Kong Egg Puff, Jalea, Puffette
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