Droolworthy: Magical Unicones and acai bowls

Makani’s Magic Pineapple Shack in Hilo is truly magical

June 7, 2018

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta,

At the end of March, this creation popped up on the Instagram feed of Makani’s Magic Pineapple Shack in Hilo:

Since I love soft serve, I vowed to make Makani’s the first stop on my next Hilo trip. Thanks to TransAir Global, I recently had the chance to fly there on a private jet.

TransAir Global is a luxury charter and the flagship of the TransAir fleet.

TransAir’s customized Boeing 737 can carry 30 passengers and will eventually be available for charter flights. Traveling on a private jet was priceless.

The most delicious tiki room I’ve ever been in.

Makani’s in downtown Hilo is filled with tiki décor. It’s kitschy and quirky, with a playful vibe that matches its one-of-a-kind menu.

The Unicone ($5.50) features a blend of ube and dragonfruit soft serve topped with sprinkles.

The whimsical Unicone is as refreshing and fun to eat as it looks. The hype is real — one lick and I hear angels sing. The ube flavor is mild and balances the tart dragonfruit perfectly. For extra magic and an extra $2, you can order this in a mini pineapple.

Since I’m not sure when I’ll be back at Makani’s, I top off my Unicone with a colossal acai bowl. They run $12 each, but are worth it. This is probably the best acai I’ve ever had, and definitely the most photogenic.

The Cookie Monster is loaded with the Shack’s signature acai blend, granola, strawberries, bananas, Cookie Crisps, cookie butter and Nutella drizzle.

I wish the Shack had a scale to weigh this behemoth. The acai is on the smoother side, not icy or chunky, and slightly sweeter.

This blend is so refreshing and smooth that I could probably eat it plain and be completely satisfied.

The granola and Cookie Crisp toppings give the acai bowl crunch and texture, and super-sticky Nutella and cookie butter coat the roof of my mouth. Acai is healthy-ish, right? So it’s okay to splurge a little. Or a lot.