Stop with the coco puffs, please! At Liliha Bakery, one of its best offerings is not behind a glass case. It's the experience of eating at the open-all-night coffee-shop counter. Besides, that's where you can get thick, fluffy, homemade hotcakes that blow the Chantilly cream off those stuffed puffs.

With only 18 seats, expect a line if you go during regular eating hours. But the promise of — again, homemade — hamburger steak and beef stew puts everyone in a good mood, and small talk makes the time pass quickly.

Maybe too quickly for some. Once, I was sandwiched between UH volleyball star Tara Hittle and an enthusiastic fan. He started a conversation with her that continued over my head after we sat down. Guess we're all family here.

After you take a seat, enjoy the show as longtime waitresses shuttle to and fro, delivering plates with pleasant efficiency. Watch the cook prepare fully loaded, country-style omelets just a few feet away. And hear the clink of utensils as diners get busy with their dishes.

Breakfast is available any time of the day. So even for dinner, I like to order one hotcake ($2.20) and the country-style omelet ($6.75). The eggs are scrambled with your choice of bacon, ham, Vienna sausage or Portuguese sausage.

No need to order a side of meat when you get the omelet. It arrives generously packed with ham (my meat of choice), fresh tomatoes, round onions and green onions. Instead of rice and toast, I usually ask for fried potatoes (40 cents more) and a butter roll.

These aren't just any butter rolls. Six-year-old Kailee Keoho has three of them in front of her, including her dad's. While dad, Noel, of Pearlridge, digs into a bowl of beef stew ($6.25) that "tastes like your mom cooked it," Kailee tells me about the rolls.

"When I try new things, I say, 'Bleah!' " she declares. But with the butter rolls? "Yummy!"

You can't get the rolls, or the toast for that matter, without trying the fluorescent pink jelly. It's part of the experience to ask, "What's up with the jelly?" Other marvels include the block of Gibraltar — a mountain of butter that sits in a stainless-steel bowl.

Now back to those hotcakes. After I get mine, I say to whoever is with me, "Will you look at this? How thick, how golden, how beautiful!"

I spread on the butter and take my first bite without any syrup to appreciate the hotcake's essence. Yes, I'm mad ... mad about Liliha Bakery's hotcakes! Finally, I pour on the syrup and let the pieces melt in my mouth. The hotcake is so soft, you could skip the knife and use the tip of your fork to break it up.

Jose Encarnacion, of Kailua, gives me another reason to eat at the coffee shop: "You can see what they're cooking, so you know they're not stepping all over your food. ... Haven't you seen that TV show (with the gross restaurant abuses)?"

I suddenly notice how clean the kitchen is.

Encarnacion has been coming here for 30 years, and drops in for a bite to eat about four times a week. I don't think I would look as good as him if I ate here that often. This is hearty fare, not exactly heart-healthy.

Then again, he likes to get the generous serving of grilled mahimahi ($7.75) with one scoop of rice, butter roll and choice of tomato, macaroni, or potato salad. It looks pretty greasy to me, but that must be the good fish oil. Yeah, that's it.

I tend to go for combinations such as hotcakes and a char-broiled cheeseburger ($3.60) at 11 p.m. If you do get the burger, you'll appreciate the buns, too. They're fresh-baked.

While Encarnacion and I talk, Sueo Fujii and his wife, Leatrice, pass by on their way out. Sueo taps him on the shoulder and says, "OK, you, take care." The warmth comes from the diners as well as the grill.

The Fujiis tell me how downtown Honolulu used to have lots of coffee shops with counter service, such as this one. Not anymore. I'm glad this couple still has a place to come every week, where they can chat with fellow patrons and tease the cook, saying, "Mel, don't think about retiring yet."

You heard that, Mel? That goes for the Takakuwa family that has owned Liliha Bakery for 57 years. They can never retire or close down — it's Hawai'i law.

And the next time you go to the Liliha Bakery, remember, it's Liliha Bakery & Coffee Shop — it says so right on the napkins. When you enter, I know it will be hard, but try to ignore the call of the coco puffs. Instead, make your way to the counter, relax and stay a while. You'll experience a simple pleasure that can't be boxed up to go.

Editor's note: Because of technical problems, we are unable to post the
panoramic view of Liliha Bakery.

Lisa Sekiya works in The Advertiser's marketing department and spends her spare time seeking out inexpensive eateries.