A cute bakery in Berkeley has all the flavors of the Hawaiian Islands.

Ono Bakehouse opened in late 2020 from chef Desiree Valencia, a native from Hawaii. She makes savory and sweet treats inspired by Hawaiian flavors as well as classic Hawaiian goodies like spam musubi. Of course I got an assortment of baked goods.

Ono Bakehouse.

Ono Bakehouse.

Macadamia Cinnamon Roll, Guava Malasada, Umami Onion Roll, Sausage Bun, Manapua, Chocolate Tahini Cookie, Butter Mochi, and Pineapple Lilikoi Poppyseed Pound Cake.

Overall all the pastries were pretty tasty. My favorites included the mini pineapple lilikoi poppyseed pound cake, the butter mochi, macadamia cinnamon roll, and sausage bun. My least favorite was the malasada, a type of donut, as the filling didn’t have a strong guava flavor which I was looking forward to. The texture of the malasada was nice though, fluffy and light.

Chocolate Haupia Pie and Queen Emma Cake.

Haupia pie is a traditional Hawaiian dessert with a pie crust filled with chocolate pudding topped with thickened coconut milk and whipped cream. The Queen Emma cake was a layered chiffon cake with guava, passionfruit, and coconut. I definitely preferred the Queen Emma cake with its vibrant flavors and colors.

While most of the pastries were delicious, they didn’t compare to some of the top bakeries in the city when it came to technique and flavor. Therefore my rating is a 7.5/10.