Kilauea Bakery UPDATE - Kilauea, HI

I love you, Kilauea, and your little bakery too. The lighthouse is magic, there are breathtaking birds and beaches...but really, I'm just here for the pastries.

Grandpa got a slice of sausage pizza, grandson got a slice of Cheese. The cheese is abundant on a thin-crust, and one slice is more than enough for a main meal.

I'm Italianed out, but they have a lot of choices for lighter fare. Grandma loved the bagel with olive tapenade, and their list of soups was enticing. I'm gnawing on a Roll full of salty ham, a bit of cheese, and plenty of potato. It gets bigger than it looks when you eat it.  

Their main attraction is their pastries, and their glass case houses a plethora of spectacular sweets. We have to try another Mac Nut Sticky Bun, and I'm nuts about these nuts. The Mango Bread Pudding is a new adventure, a fluffy, fruity, puff of wet bread and air, sweet but not sugary, textured for pleasure. The Vegan Chocolate Tart has a breadfruit crust, like a softer crumble-crust with a finish like a barely-jackfruit infusion, cushioning a rich cocoa silk.

I can count on one hand the Kauai restaurants I would want to visit again, and Kilauea Bakery is one I would visit again and again. The food on this island isn't exactly the biggest bang for your buck, but this bakery certainly is. 

Kilauea Bakery & Pizza - Kilauea, HI

If their breakfast is any indication, we should have had every meal here. 

The Breakfast Stromboli is an American burrito in a fluffy Italian loaf-crust. The bread is soft and chewy, packed densely with a peppers-bacon-and-egg scramble. 

For sweeter options, try their Macadamia Nut Sticky Bun, a crunchier shell encasing a firmly fluffy swirl of dough. The glaze is a translucent sugar, and it gives the pearly-white mac nuts a glow. It's a little lighter and a different kind of nutty compared to the classic pecans, but every bite is equally delicious.  

There's a sweet n' tangy Lilikoi Lemon Bar if you're looking for a little more fruit. The crust is packed nicely, and the filling is a thin enough layer to be not overwhelming. I guess I have a passion for passionfruit because this bar is my favorite thing in this bakery.

The creamy, milk-fluffy Mango Custard Tart is a very close second. Light chunks of mango embedded in an airy cheesecake-without-the-cheese cream is a cross between a very light custard and a not-so-processed cool whip. 

Try it, you won't regret it. Actually, just try everything at Kilauea Bakery & Pizza - you won't regret a thing!