For over 80 years, the Kanemitsu Bakery has proudly served as a true local treasure in Molokai. At their location along the southside of the island, they stay busy whipping up fresh baked goods of all kinds. Starting late each night, they fill their ovens with decadent bread, pastries, donuts, and so much more.
As if that’s not enough, they open up their doors each morning for breakfast, and then keep serving food through the lunch hour. After that, Kanemitsu Bakery closes up shop briefly to get their star of the show ready for its big debut each evening.
Well-known only as Hot Bread, this simple treat is fluffy, flavorful, and tantalizingly delicious. It’s so good, in fact, that patrons eagerly line up in the alley late in the evening for a chance to take home their favorite flavors.
Despite the name, Hot Bread never comes out the alleyway door hot. Instead, it’s left to cool, and then split open down the middle. Inside, Kanemitsu Bakery adds butter, jelly, cinnamon-sugar, or even cream cheese depending on how you like it. If you go with jelly, you can choose between their raspberry, guava, strawberry, and blueberry flavors. You can also add mango chunks for an extra charge.
Once you have your Hot Bread in hand, you can settle down at the nearby picnic table to enjoy it or take it back to your hotel room. Many patrons swear by heating it back up before devouring the loaf, but it’s plenty good cold, too.
The most popular items at Kanemitsu Bakery include:
French Toast
If you’d like to start your day out right, you cannot go wrong with an order of French Toast from Kanemitsu Bakery. To make this iconic dish, they dip two pieces of their fresh-baked bread in batter, and then fry it on the grill. After that, it arrives at your table with an egg made how you like it, bacon, and papaya plus a hot cup of coffee.
Taro Hotcakes
The Taro Hotcakes always have patrons singing their praises from near and far. They make their hotcake batter with fresh taro and a mix of secret ingredients. Then, they put down two big circles on the griddle and cook them until fluffy and golden brown. Along with the hotcakes, you get the coffee plus egg, bacon, and papaya.
Cheeseburger
Only during the lunch hour at Kanemitsu Bakery, you can get a cheeseburger to remember along with your side of choice. Available with either fries or saimin on the side, the cheeseburger starts with the preparation of a fresh beef patty. Once that’s juicy and ready to eat, they put it on one of their robust fresh-baked buns and pile on all the fixings.
If you’re just swinging by for breakfast, lunch, or baked goods to go, you can come through the front doors and walk right up to the counter. From there, you’re able to put in your order before settling down at a table. Kanemitsu Bakery is also happy to package up your order to go if you’d like to jet over to the beach for a meal with a view. Just be sure to grab extra pastries for later or plan to come back for the hot bread with your toppings of choice.
Insider Tips:
-Although Hot Bread service usually starts at 7 pm, they’re known to change up the times on the regular. So, to avoid missing out, just ask when they’ll be serving their most popular item in the back alley.
-If you want a paper bag, expect to pay an extra fee at Kanemitsu Bakery.
-Want all the flavors on your Hot Bread? Just ask for the works. The price goes up with the number of toppings you want. If they’re out of any flavors, they’ll put a sign in the window.
-They are a cash-only establishment, so hit up the ATM before you arrive.