Tutu's Place at Bishop Museum (Oahu)

Tutu's Place is a family-friendly cafe at Bishop Museum. It's from the owners of Highway Inn which means good Hawaiian food! Order at the counter and seat yourself. There's a kid's area with toys and books. Adults are happy because there's good food. Kids are happy because there are good toys!

Tutu's Place three different Hawaiian plates.

There's a new cafe at Bishop Museum!

It's called Tutu's Place and it's from the owners of Highway Inn which means...there's really good Hawaiian food here ^_^

Tutu is the Hawaiian word for grandma.
Tutu's Place = Grandma's House.

That's the vibe. Warm, friendly, casual. It's cheerful inside with a large kid's play area. Tons of dress up costumes, a play kitchen, plenty of good books and enough toys for everyone to share. Just make sure to put away the toys after you're done playing.

Tutu's Place is technically a cafe at Bishop Museum but it feels like a standalone cafe/restaurant. You don't need to pay museum admission to dine at the cafe. We came for weekend lunch and it was a fun outing. It was also pretty relaxing to walk around the grassy / outdoor areas after lunch.

There's a big menu board on the wall, and weekly specials are also posted there. Order at the counter and they'll call your name when your order is ready. Seat yourself, there's indoor and outdoor seating. Indoor is fun for the kids but a little chilly, so we sat the outdoor tables and got a nice view of the museum grounds.

The other half of the menu has sandwiches (think sourdough melts with kalua pork or tuna-tomato), wraps, and flatbread. I haven't tried the flatbreads yet but the flatbread with smoked meat and onions, and another with luau spread (made from kalo / taro leaves) and vegetables like ulu / breadfruit sound very tasty. Next time for sure.

What To Order

Here's what we like:

Hawaiian-Style Beef Stew Plate
I love love, LOVE local / Hawaiian-style beef stew. It's the best kind of beef stew, ^_^ We often make this at home. but it's a treat to have beef stew when dining out. Select poi or rice for your starch. I cook rice at home (but never make poi), so I'd usually say pick poi...but when it comes to beef stew you really need rice. It's only right! For the side, opt between lomi salmon or potato-mac salad. I chose potato-mac salad, it was the right choice.

Lau Lau Plate *Friday and Saturdays only.
Select pork or chicken lau lau. We ordered pork which is more common (and the version we grew up eating), but I'm curious to try the chicken one next time. It also comes with your choice rice or poi, lomi salmon or potato-mac salad. Plus steamed purple sweet potato and haupia. A very complete meal!

Hawaiian Plate
This is similar to the lau lau plate except you get kalua pork (aka kalua pig) instead of lau lau. You can select the starch (rice or poi) and the side (lomi salmon or potato-mac salad). Also comes steamed purple sweet potato and haupia.

Spam Musubi!
Of course, the ultimate kid pleaser. They do a good Spam musubi! Full nori wrap. Served warm ^_^ You can order it a la carte or as part of a kid's meal which comes with an orange, cookie, and drink.

Banana Bread!
Served warm, with powdered sugar on top. You know how much we love banana bread in Hawaii.

What I want to try next time:
- Squid luau, sold a la carte.
- More desserts like chocolate mousse shortbread, sweet potato-haupia shortbread, the guava mousse cake, and the lilikoi palm leaf cookie.
- Weekly specials (posted on the menu board), like pork adobo!
- Tofu-watercress salad.
- Tofu poke bowl, and the ahi poke bowl.
- The coffee and espresso-based drinks. They serve coffee from Tradition Coffee Roasters, which is one of my favorite coffee places on the island. The seasonal drinks sound fun like Peppermint Hot Cocoa and 'Ulu Spice Latte.

Useful Tips and FAQ

Menu
Here's a look at the menu.

Parking
There's a large parking lot with plenty of parking. Tutu's Place validates for 2 hours free parking with a $10 minimum purchase at the cafe. Just ask for parking validation at the register after you place your order. Provide your license plate number and they will enter it into the system (no need to scan and fill out the QR code sign in the parking lot.)

Do you need to buy museum admission to eat the cafe?
No. The cafe is free and open to the public. You can buy admission to Bishop Museum separately if you want to go the museum.

Is there a separate breakfast and lunch menu?
There is just one all-day menu.