Beard Papa now in Hawaii!

For those of you, myself included, who have been waiting for Beard Papa to come to Hawaii permanently, your wait is finally over.  The first of several Beard Papa's Hawaii locations officially opened for business yesterday (the soft launch was on Wednesday, September 21).  While I wasn't able to get there at 7:00 am for the kick off, I did make it there a little later on in the evening.  They had run out of the "premium" cream puffs for the day (matcha), but I did get a few of the original ones.  Boy were they delicious.  I can't wait for one to open closer to home.  Hopefully that will happen in the months to come.

This shop is inside the Food Pantry on Kuhio Avenue.

Addendum: While the cream puffs were delicious, I didn't think they were the same as the ones I got from Shirokiya.  At Shirokiya, the pastry shell was much thinner and lighter and the cream filling was a bit smoother with more of a "fresh" vanilla flavor.

Beard Papa Kuhio
Located insided the Food Pantry
2370 Kuhio Avenue
Telephone:  808.922.8726

Comments

[Victoria]

hurrah!!! :)

[Cin]

Aren't the cream puffs the best? I don't want them to open one in Melbourne because I may not be able to tear myself away from the shop!

[clare eats]

awww
well I want one in Sydney!!

[Reid]

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for stopping by!

Hooray is right! =)

Hi Cin,

The reason why I love these cream puffs is because of the choux pastry shell. It really can't be beat. Too bad I couldn't have tried the matcha ones...ah well, maybe tomorrow! =)

I don't think I'll be able to tear myself away either...at least not for the next month or so. =P

Hi Clare,

I wish. Maybe I should ask about franchising huh? Do you think Beard Papa will do well in Australia?

[Rachel]

mmm anything that looks like a giant profiterole will do it for me !!!

As to whether it wll do well here, Sydneysiders were crazy about krispy kreme when it first opened and you had people queueing up for an hour and a half to get the stuff but now it has died down. I would definitely buy it if it came to sydney ... what do you think clare?

[Adam]

Wow. I would have thought you'd have had one sooner in Hawaii, given the state's popularity among Japanese tourists.

Congrats on landing one. Don't eat too many!

[Big BoK]

i wonder what the cost of franchise would be for here.. in canada..??

[clare eats]

I reckon it would do really great... if it did quarter as well as KK you would rake it in... you would need to flood the market with stories of 6 packs being used as celebrity bonboneries first though :)

[milgwimper]

Man between you and RONW I am in trouble. *does thr I WANT A BEARD PAPA IN THE SOUTHBAY DANCE* I love cream puffs they are one of my weakness. Maybe it is a good thing it isn't here. We have several Krispie Kremes here and I have to say I am not too fond of them.

[boo_licious]

Lucky Reid! I love those puffs. Sadly we don't seem to have any in Malaysia but they do have it in Spore.

[stef]

you lucky lucky lucky guy! i would love to have me some beard papa cream puffs.

[Olivian]

Ooooh, I love cream puffs! Do these puffs have whipped cream or a custard filling? And, 'ya think Beard Papa will ever venture to Orange County, CA?

Mahalo,

Olivian

[Clinton]

Hey Olivian,

Papa Beard will be opening up another place in the Hawaii Kai Foodland soon. The one in Waikiki is directly in back of the International Market Place in the Food Pantry next to our other cousin's place on Ahua and Kuhio.

Hey Reid, meet one of my cousins from Orange County. You've already met my brother.

[Veruca Salt]

I thought I recognised this little bearded man from somewhere. (interchange train station near Osaka, Japan)

The custardy, eggy, buttery smell was intoxicating.

Love your blog. AG from Grab Your Fork put me on to it. Saving it as a favourite so that I can get my daily grindz!

[Reid]

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for stopping by.

If you have hoards of Japanese tourists there in Sydney like we do here in Hawaii, I'm sure the bearded one will do well.

As for those of you who reside in Sydney, I would think that if you like cream puffs, you'd definitely like these.

Hi Adam,

It took us a while to finally get one of these shops and like you mentioned, I don't know why it didn't arrive sooner. Maybe no one wanted to buy into the franchise until now.

BTW...I've already had close to a dozen. I think I need to stop now!

Hi Big BoK,

You can try and check their website for more information:

http://www.muginohousa.com/

I would think it would be about US$150,000 or so.

Hi Clare,

These are like a million times better than Krispy Kremes.

Hi Milgwimper,

One might be cominig to Northern California soon. According to the website, they are opening a location in Hollywood in a couple of weeks.

See the announcement on their homepage.

Hi boo_licious,

I was so happy to have the opportunity to eat them when I was in Singapore. I had them at Taka and there was also this chocolate thing that I didn't get to try. I heard it was really good though. Maybe they'll open one in KL soon. They already have locations in Indonesia!

Hi Stef,

I know! I feel so lucky that they finally opened up a shop here. Maybe I can bring some for you the next time I visit Seattle.

Hi Olivian (and Clinton),

Welcome! I see that Clinton is bringing the whole gang over! =)

Well, I guess you're both in luck. They are opening up a shop, not in Orange County, but close enough...I guess. The next shop will be opening on October 8 at the Hollywood & Highland complex!

Hi Veruca Salt,

Thanks for dropping by my blog and thanks so much for the compliment. I'm glad you enjoy the site.

The mascot is so hard to forget...even cute in a way. I actually find it quite odd.

[Jo]

Yea, I don't have a clue what the Krispy Kreme draw is. I like the little "Bearded Fellow". Something about him just makes me hungry for something... ::blushes::

[Cin]

I first encountered it in Singapore too, Reid. We were wandering the food court in Taka and the smell drew us over - thinking what IS that?
In NYC, we tracked down the store and went out of our way to visit it at least 2 or 3 time during our stay :-)
OKay, okay, they can open one in Melbourne - hey we don't even have a KK here yet! We always have to grab some from the airport for friends on our way back.

[Rachel]

Hmm the last time I was back in Singapore cin and boo_licious, the craze was papa roti. I didn't see this beard papa stuff at all but then again, I didn't go to town. I didn't understand the craze about papa roti at all! It tasted just like a sweet bun with coffee icing on it.

[milgwimper]

Jo,

I agree krispy Kreme is too sweet! But I have a weakness for cream puffs.

I wonder how they bake their puffs. do they coat their choux pastry with pie crust before they bake it or afterwards, andthen double bake. I feel like experimenting.

[kyle]

Beard Papa is back at Shirokiya too. The ad said they will be there until the 2nd of October. Only thing is, seems like they only have the vanilla type, at least they have parking.

[Clinton]

I don't think I'd ever stand in line for no pastry...but I did drive 50 miles for a Krispy Kreme when they first opened up in La Habra a few years back. Now they're all over the place and I won't even drive 2 miles for a free doughnut! I do like cream puffs but not that much...

[Jo]

Yep, I keep pondering the choux/pie pastry deal myself. There are several in the New York area... catch a hop and we go adventuring leaving the guys at home with the kids and fishing poles?

[Reid]

Hi Jo,

Hungry for what?

Hi Cin,

Did you get to try that chocolate thingie with the self melting center. Oooh. I wish I had, it looked really good.

Hi Rachel,

When was the last time that you were in Singapore? I was just there in February and didn't see anything "Papa Roti" in sight.

Hi Milgwimper & Jo,

Perhaps you can experiment together. There is a recipe for choux pastry here on Maki's site:

http://maki.typepad.com/justhungry/2004/04/basics_choux_pa.html

And here's the completed cream puff:

http://maki.typepad.com/justhungry/2004/04/cream_puffs.html

Have fun!

Hi Kyle,

Yes, I saw that Beard Papa was back at Shirokiya. In addition to parking, they also have a very long line. My friend waited in line for about an hour.

There is also parking at the Food Pantry in Waikiki. When I got there, there was just a short line. The wait was about 5 minutes.

Hi Clinton,

These really are worth waiting for. When Beard Papa first opened in New York, there were lines down the block. The first time they came to Hawaii, the wait was about 2 hours. You can see my post here:

http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/11/beard_papas_cre.html

Hi Jo,

You can take a day trip to the Hollywood & Highland complex. Beard Papa will be opening on 10/08.

Lucky you!

[Cin]

Hang on - what chocolate thingy are we talking about here? Did I miss it altogether...wait, did it look like an eclair cos I think I vaguely remember something like that. Hmmm, I think we did try something other than the puff but it wasn't as good.

[Rachel]

I was back in S'pore in April Reid. I don't know which came first, papa roti or rotiboy but their signature bread is very similar. Anyway the rotiboy chain actually has a website, www.rotiboy.com They make other buns too! Visit and drool the sweet and savoury breads of chinese bakeries !! my hubby's favourite is still the good old char siew bau be it baked, puff pastry or steamed bun ala yum cha (dim sum)