Where are the Best Malasadas in Hawaii

Our Hawaiian Islands Search for the best Malasadas

by Celeste Lipford and Terry Lipford - last updated on 7/19/2024

In 1878, Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores went to Hawaii to work in the plantations. These immigrants brought their traditional foods with them, including a fried dough pastry called "malasada." Today, there are numerous bakeries in the Hawaiian islands specializing in malasadas. Below you will find our list of the Malasadas Shops we have visited while in Hawaii, as well as some of the other well known shops that we have not yet visited.

As we are enthusiasts of many things Portuguese, and especially pastries, we managed to find a few of the better known Hawaiian bakeries that have a good reputation for top notch malasadas. The above list is comprised of shops that we have visited on our previous Hawaii trips, there are many others!

There does seem to be some doubt that malasadas are actually Portuguese, and we tried to find some when we were in Portugal (take a look at our most recent trip to Portugal) - to no avail. However, history shows that they came from a Portuguese Island and came to Hawaii when in 1878, Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores came to Hawaii to work in the plantations. These immigrants brought their traditional foods with them, including a fried dough pastry they called "malasada." Today, there are numerous bakeries in the Hawaiian islands specializing in malasadas. Click the Wikipedia link button below to learn more about the Portuguese in Hawaii story.

In Portugal there is a similar pastry, called filhó: The dough is made with flour and eggs, then left to rise before shaped into balls, deep fried and sprinkled with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

We at first attempted to create a "ranking order" of the bakeries that we have visited, and admittedly some were nicer than others. But the reality is that they were all delicious and we enjoyed each and every one.

We found a good list of the "top rated" malasadas bakeries in Hawaii on the "Hawaii Magazine" site, click here to read their list. Obviously, there may be other opinions or other sites, but their list is pretty good.

There are of course, many other bakeries that offer malasadas in the Hawaiian Islands;

• Click here to view a Google Search Results List.
• If you are a Yelp enthusiast, here is their list of the top 10 malasadas bakeries in Honolulu.
• From the "Go Wanderly" website check out their Maui list.
• From the "Hawaii Guide" website check out their Hawaiian Island List.