Diamond Head Market & Grill, the bakery and plate-lunch counter out on Monsarrat Avenue, has opened a shave ice stand, and the fancy versions borrow straight from its own bakery case: a Lemon Crunch tray modeled on its lemon crunch cake, a Blueberry Cream Cheese Crush modeled on its blueberry scone. They run $12 to $15. Our first reaction had nothing to do with flavor. Most of what we eat on a Waikiki trip gets carried back to the room, and shave ice is the one food that will not make that walk.
What happened
Two local outlets wrote it up three days apart. Honolulu Magazine went first on September 16, 2026, describing a new farm-to-spoon stand next to the market at what it calls a 26-year-old eatery on Monsarrat Avenue. Aloha State Daily followed on September 19 with a little more detail: chef and owner Kelvin Ro says the stand launched earlier this month, on the corner of Monsarrat and Campbell Avenues. Neither article names an opening day.
It is less new than it sounds. Ro told Aloha State Daily the business had a coffee bar with shave ice in that same corner about 20 years ago, and Honolulu Magazine says the machine he uses now is one he bought two decades ago for $10,000. Several flavors use fruit and flowers from Ro’s five-acre farm at the base of Koko Head, per Honolulu Magazine. The lineup, as the two articles printed it:
| Shave ice | Price | What both articles agree is in it | Listed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Crunch | $12 | lemon curd, toffee crunch, vanilla ice cream | both |
| Blueberry Cream Cheese Crush | $12 | blueberry compote, cream cheese sauce | both |
| Hawaiian Da Kine | $12 | haupia, pineapple compote | both |
| Pīkake | $15 | syrup made from pīkake (jasmine) flowers from Ro’s farm, fresh fruit on top | both |
| Rainbow | $12 | lilikoʻi, lychee and guava coulis in place of the neon syrups | Honolulu Magazine only |
| Strawberry Daifuku | $15 | strawberry compote, azuki beans, housemade butter mochi, vanilla ice cream | Aloha State Daily only |
| Classic shave ice | $7 keiki / $9 regular | traditional syrups | both |
On the classic side, Honolulu Magazine counts 12 syrups, and Aloha State Daily says you can put up to three flavors on one shave ice.
What it changes for a Waikiki stay
It is an eat-it-there food. Ro told Aloha State Daily he builds the signature desserts wide rather than tall because “the ice is so fine; it’ll melt so fast,” and they come in trays instead of bowls. That is a dessert for the spot where it is handed to you, not for a walk back into Waikiki. Neither article says whether there is anywhere to sit.
It is out past the park. The market is at 3158 Monsarrat Ave., on the Diamond Head side of Kapiolani Park; Honolulu Magazine files it under Lēʻahi, the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head. From the middle of Waikiki that is an outing, not an errand, and it sits outside the circle we cover on a normal day, which is Waikiki plus Ala Moana.
The window is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., probably. Both articles agree on the 11 a.m. start. Honolulu Magazine printed a 7 p.m. close; Aloha State Daily, three days later, wrote that the stand is “currently” open until 6 p.m.
The math for two is short. One Lemon Crunch and one Pīkake come to $12 + $15 = $27 at the printed prices.
Ro also calls the place a one-stop shop: “You can get your cake, lei, ice cream and food, and while you’re waiting for everything, you can order shave ice.” For anyone coming from Waikiki, that matters more than any single flavor.
What we’d do — and what we wouldn’t
We would not make the trip for shave ice alone. Sweet things are not really what we shop for — most weeks nothing sweet gets bought at all — and the one sweet exception we allow on a trip happens in the morning, with the coffee we make in the room, hours before an 11 a.m. opening.
The grill is a different story. Honolulu Magazine credits Ro with bringing fine-dining standards to the plate lunch, and names seared ʻahi over greens, charred kalbi with brown rice and twice-marinated grilled chicken thighs as dishes that are still popular. A kalbi plate is already a regular takeout for us at the Ala Moana food court, and a plate lunch travels fine. That part goes back to the room for the afternoon beer.
So if we go — and it is a real if — we would run Ro’s one-stop pitch our way. Walk out Monsarrat in the early afternoon; we have walked that avenue before, to Bogart’s Cafe at 3045 Monsarrat, for fried rice we carried back to the room. Order a plate to go at the grill, and while it is being packed, split one signature tray right there. It would be the Pīkake: Ro told Aloha State Daily he expects it to become the signature, and neither of us can picture what a jasmine-flower syrup tastes like, which is a fair reason to spend $15. If the afternoon is hot, Uber back; the plate can take a minute in the microwave.
If you are not us, the call shifts a little:
- With kids, the classic lineup is the easy order: $7 for a keiki size, up to three flavors. Honolulu Magazine says that is who it is there for.
- If you drive, we have not checked parking, and neither article mentions it.
- If you are already on the Diamond Head side for the day, the worth-the-trip question mostly goes away.
Before you plan around this
The closing hour is unresolved: 7 p.m. in the first report, 6 p.m. in the later one. Plan on 6 and treat anything after that as luck.
The menu is moving too. The Rainbow appears only in Honolulu Magazine and the Strawberry Daifuku only in Aloha State Daily, and the shared items are described differently — a honey syrup on the Lemon Crunch in one, lemon icing in the other, and different fresh fruit on the Pīkake. Honolulu Magazine calls it an evolving menu, so expect the board not to match either article exactly.
Prices are as the two outlets printed them on September 16 and 19, 2026, and can change. Neither article gives hours for the market or the grill, so confirm the grill is open before you plan a plate around it.
We have not been to the stand, and we have not eaten at the market or the grill; everything above is reported, not tasted. Both articles point to the business’s Instagram, @diamondheadmarketandgrill, the quickest place to check current hours and the lineup.
Details
- Diamond Head Market & Grill shave ice stand: 3158 Monsarrat Ave., Honolulu, on the corner of Monsarrat and Campbell Avenues. Phone 808-732-0077, per Aloha State Daily.
- Hours: daily from 11 a.m.; 6 p.m. close per Aloha State Daily on September 19, 2026 (Honolulu Magazine printed 7 p.m. on September 16).
For us, the shave ice is the thing you eat while you wait. The kalbi is the reason to make the walk.
