I was walking around the complex today after a hike in Manoa and noticed this store. I ordered two plate lunches (#1 garlic chicken with char siu and #7 beef with some sort of black bean) and a steamed char siu manapua. The plates were filled to the brim with delicious food and the manapua was super tasty and filling. Would come again! read more

I've been coming here for years. 20? 30? for manupua. Great stuff. I've also had gao and some other treats over the years. I saw some negative reviews and never had problems. I'll have to find a new place if it's closed for good. read more

I've been going to Island Manapua since 1987 and I don't see what the scathing reviews are about. Maybe people are just nit-picky, or transformed themselves into "snowflakes", or just downright a**holes. Whatever, you're entitled to your own tastes and opinion... Last night my wife and I had a craving for manapua and all the goodies that come with it. And there aren't many manapua places that are open a bit late since I've become more familiar with the ones in the Chinatown area. IM came to mind so I normally check Yelp to see what time they close (hence my take on the scathing reviews) and saw they still close the same time, 8 pm., so I decided to go there. I ordered steam charsiu manapua, pork hash, half moon. roast pork, chow fun, and look fun. The manapua had a generous, but not overwhelming, amount of meat which compliments the soft warm bun surrounding it, contrary to one other's review saying there was not enough meat inside at all! Everything else on had the same great taste as I remembered and still consistent today. My only hang up was the half moon. It was different because it had what looks like the crunchy black fungus inside, the one they use in the soups. I'm more used to the old style but I'm adaptable. All in all, it's as good as it gets! Their food I admit did get a bit pricier, but considering their shop is in the Manoa Marketplace, which mean jacked-up leases as the property values go up AND the rising cost of food and living, it's totally understandable. Besides it's not like they are price gouging us, it's just a fact of life living in Hawaii. Take it or leave it. read more

Super convenient, tasty, friendly and never get the order wrong. Hehe, the owner knows I always come by to buy their pork egg mochi rice, it's the bomb. The mushroom mochi rice is good too but hard to beat salted duck egg. I also like their dim sum, and sometimes buy their packs to share or give to friends. But even though I always order the same things, they have a very expansive menu! They do holiday stuff as well. It's just one of the places in Manoa Marketplace that have been around for ages, and for a reason too. :) read more

Tasty manapua, but sometimes not so much aloha from behind the counter. I always feel like the aunty serving me is impatient for me to be done and gone. read more

Very friendly service and staff! Good pork hash, steamed manapua and jin dui. Next time I want to try the roast duck in baos.

Good old fashioned Managua place. There are so few left. Get both the steamed and the baked.

The dim sum here is super tasty! The pot roast pork in the Manapua is extra fatty good just the way I like it! But the pizza manapua took the crown for us. The pork hash is more flavorful than your regular. The shrimp Hai gao dumplings were good. We also had the mini chicken cake noodle and that was great as well. Highly recommend! Sophia at the counter is real sweet and Elaine in the kitchen is a gem! read more

Today we needed to come out to manoa to grab our dogs Bday Treat frm da Hawaii Doggie Bakery and got hungry since it was around Lunch Time so we walked da Farmers market n da shippin center to see what looked good n we stumbled across dis gem hole in da wall place n ordered off da today special list n Brah!!! da Boneless Peking Duck Cake Noodle Plate Lunch was Shmean!!!! Da ExGirlfriend had da Salt n Pepper pork chop Plate and dat was also Broke Da Mouth Good as we shared so we can sampo each other's Plate We Will Mos Def be Back Again fo Lunch Mahaloz read more

Island Manapua in Manoa is a RIP OFF! That Chinese short haired old lady charged me more than I was suppose to pay! Do the math: 15 steam Manapua (my husband bit into it and ate 7/8 bread and 1/8 red mushy filling) at $2.00 a piece. = $30. 14 pork hash (outside is dry and chewy) at $1.00 a piece=$14. 2 half moon- leftovers at $1.00 a piece= $2.00 All together is $46.00 + tax=48.17 Hell! She charged me $59.16 I pray she gets caught! The better business bureau should investigate this! I saw other yelps and they all said the same thing! read more

Don't waste your time ir money. I tried the manapua and as soon as the taste hit my tongue I spit it out!!! YUCK. Horrible

This little dim sum place is tucked away in the back corner if Manoa Marketplace and has been here for years. They still sell pork hash and half moon for 1$! I love thier pork hash and the look fun is so tasty, it has big chunks of char siu and the noodle is soft. Today I grabbed what I thought was duck buns but it turned out to be pork buns my mouth was really geared up for the duck so I will be going back soon! The pork is a little too fatty for my taste but the bun part is really good. The counter girls were friendly and pleasant , overall a good experience. read more

See all

Island Manapua has a wide variety of choices you can choose from. Today I got the baked Manapua and pork hash. My favorite was the pork hash. It was just so big and packed with a lot of pork! The lady over the counter was very sweet and recommended me to get more pork hash (which I definitely did and was glad I made the decision to do so). She also threw In a discounted amount for me (Wasn't much but still better than nothing). The shop has a nice ambiance to it. Pictures on the wall from the UH volleyball team, nice colorful menu on the board with many pictures of the food. I guarantee I will be back for more very soon (maybe try something new) and also recommend it to all my family and friends. read more

Island Manapua is under new ownership and the food and the service now STINKS! Everything I have eaten there lately is terrible. Unfortunately for me, I've been eating there a lot because my office orders from there. I do not give this place a 1 star rating lightly. In the last month, I ate the breakfast, curry chicken and pork manapua, potstickers, tofu and vegetable stir fry, rice cake, and a plate lunch. The only thing palatable was the curry chicken manapua, and it wasn't even that good. The rice cake was flat-out spoiled and had a sour, rancid taste. The workers are so sassy. And if you try to charge a purchase under ten dollars, they actually charge you a 2% credit card fee! Can you believe it? Merchants can't pass that fee on to their customers! That is a violation of their merchant agreement with VISA and MasterCard. I told them that and she said to go ahead and report them! read more

I usually take my folks here to pick up the roast duck in buns and the side orders of char siu and roast pork. Island Manapua usually sells these at Marukai, but they sell out pretty fast. Nothing like taking a little cruise into Manoa and picking up fresh food from the source. I would have given them 4-stars, but today I thought I'd try their special, minute chicken on cake noodle...Sounded like a great idea, and let me emphasize on "S-O-U-N-D-E-D". I liked the fact they separated the sauce from the cake noodle, but usually the sauce is in the smaller container, while the cake noodle, veggies, and chicken are in the larger one. I guess they feel their sauce is really good. On the contrary it wasn't. It was however, very salty - i think i'm good for salt for all of next month and then some. Whatever they put into this dish made my stomach turn and then some...as I write this some 10 hrs later, my stomach still isn't fully recovered. At the very least, now I know to stick to the items that I know are good and safe....and I more than likely will not be ordering any other food items from them. read more

I tried to give this place one last try n they failed again!!!!! The short hair chinese lady is RUDE n tricks u into buying more food by saying that u are getting it a better price. She told me that the pork hash n dumplings were .50 cents for one, so i asked for one each. She told me to buy two of each instead. I also got a manapua with it. The total was $6.00. Do the math!!!!! She also tricked my friend by telling him to get 4 pork hashes instead of three n his drink. Instead of $5 it was $6. She just wanted to get rid off her food n sell it at regular price to us!!!!! Don't trust that lady n don't go there!!! The old owners were local people who knew how to take care of their customers!!!!! The workers now don't care about the customer, the place looks dirty, the cashier lady is rude, n the food is isn't like it used to be. I will NEVER go back!!!!!!! I used to love the place when I was in high school........ So sad!!! :( read more

I've been going here for a pretty long time and I was appalled at the food the last time I visited. Since they were out of the veggie manapua which I normally order, I got a few shrimp dumplings and a half moon. The wrappers were hard like they've been way overcooked and what was really gross was that the shoyu mustard that they gave tasted rancid. I think the only reason I'd come back here is for the veggie manapua because it's hard to find ones that are super flavorful the the ones here. Other than that no thank you. read more

Very disappointing! I've been coming here for years, ever since small kid time and the food was always on point. The last two times I came, I bought plate lunches... portions were small and the food wasn't too good. I felt ripped off, but I went back again thinking maybe was just that one time... nope ‍. Other than that their manapaua, pork hash, half moon and Peking duck is still good. ‍ read more

Manapua Factory can't do Cantonese with Quality. Used to be family owned and fabulous, now its owned by Royal Kitchen. Still a good spot to buy manapua and dim sum in Manoa, especially if you need a quick snack or potluck item in the valley. They do make a good mai tai soo (they call it chop suey cake) that is more daikon than char siu. The half moon is chock full of water chestnut and the steamed shrimp and black bean manapua is tasty. I also really enjoy their gau and candied fruit. They sell lotus cakes, huge shrimp chips, and chinese cookies. Wouldn't recommend the har gau (too much thick noodle) or the old looking plate lunch items behind the glass. Their steamed manapua is often cold because they have them delivered from Royal Kitchen now. The baked curry chicken tastes like Costco curry powder (Cinnamon is weird in chinese cooking) and just recently they started mixing mayonnaise into the oyster sauce chicken bow (WTF!) and adding red #5 to their taro cakes and steamed bun (for roast pork or duck). Like we all need more red #5 in our lives. Anyways, take it or leave it, if you need your dim sum fix in Manoa this is the only spot. Otherwise, take the extra 10 minutes and drive to Char Hung Sut or Happy Day. Oh and double check your order cuz the one with the short hair tries to give more than you ordered and charge you for it. Cuz I'm hapa haole das why. read more

Island Manapua Factory is one of those spots that you go to...no really, you just go to it. You don't bother thinking its will be the greatest manapua, however it isn't the worst either. Its edible and while the prices are on the higher side, it has parking so it makes it easily accessible if you are in the neighborhood. Their selection include both baked and steamed char siu bao. It almost comes across as a modern day identity crisis that it can't figure out exactly what it should make...so why not both? In the end, they make a respectable steamed char siu bao, while its baked comes out a tad dry and under seasoned. Its steamed version is moist and pillowy soft while overing a decent char siu mixture. It's ratio could be improved, but you aren't eating as much bun as if you were at Libby or Char Hung Sut. Their pork hash is a tad greasy while their half moon was pretty bland. Its location is convenient right in the middle of the Manoa Marketplace and you might be hard pressed to not find a parking stall there. That right there is a pretty big plus when you can avoid the madness of chinatown. read more

I am obsessed with pork buns (aka chiao xiao bao; bao zi), and so I had to try the manapua in Oahu. I first tried to go to Libby's, but they were closed from Sept 7-21 (boo!). So the next place I went to was Ming's... but they didn't open till 10 am and it totally looked like a fast food Chinese restaurant. So the next stop? The Manapua FACTORY of course! This is a little Chinese bakery store that seems to house a huge "kitchen" filled with steamers and metallic ovens and kitchenware. It's a little Chinese mom and pop shop that consists of two semi-long glass cases filled with taro cakes, baked goods and manpua pork buns. I tried the chiao xiao pork buns because they ran out of kalua pork buns. The chiao xiao pork buns were okay-- I think I would stick to SF pork buns (SUNSET BAKERY!) over the ones in Hawaii. But they were nice to try. They were different-- a bit saltier with other things (chives?) mixed in. Pork buns (Steamed and Baked) = $1.35/bun. Taro Cake ($0.95/cake): A small rectangular slice (2 inches x 4 inches x 3 inches) of taro with dried shrimp, dried onions and green onions baked (?) into it. It's delicious. Reminds me of the taro you get in dim sum restaurants. read more

Like other reviewers have noted...WHAT HAPPENED! Really gone downhill. Ordered some garlic pork over fried rice for about $9.50...90% of the pork was hard skin/crackling or fat...plus 50 cents for a cup of tap water... read more

Man, after years of "new management" this place has sunk into a pot of old grease. The food is greasy as it can possibly be and every dish tastes old and/or rancid. They aren't cheap but they are fast to serve. They sell a lot of premade bento combinations the best of which are still the roasted pork or duck with buns. Anything else from the taro cakes to the dim sum are salty or not flavorful at all. The half moons would be OK because the filling is flavorful but the wrap is always rubbery, cracked and not at all delicate and springy. This is clearly fast Chinese at its' worst. Drive to Asia Manoa nearby. Take your time and eat well. You could do a lot worse. read more

The stuff here is pretty good. The breakfast manapua here is better than the one at Aiea Manapua. You get a bigger dumpling, and it's got bigger chunks of eggs and even portages sausage. All you need is the rice and you got the famous breakfast platter at McDonalds. But who wants to go to McDonalds? The pork hash is pretty good here too. Good size, and cooked just the right time. Not too soft, not too dry, but just right. read more

Aloha Manapua - Line'em up. - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I'll order a "standard" dish when scoping-out a new place to eat. I went with the Minute Chicken Cake Noodles to be safe - which incidentally was on special for $8.95. Boy did I get ripped off ! I got 12 pieces of chicken in this dish but it seemed like the cook just chopped off the ends of drumsticks and fried them up. No exaggeration - I'll include a photo (if I'm allowed to). There was hardly any meat - just a bunch of bone and gristle. I had to maneuver my way around all of that stuff to find a few morsels of chicken meat. And what little meat I could find was rubbery - as if they boiled the chicken pieces before combining them with the gravy and veggies. Oh, and the "gravy" was sooooo watery - no richness, just salty. I rummaged my way through this dish -salvaging the few pieces of Won Bok and mushrooms I could find. It was GROSS . . . just GROSS ! I hear the dim sum is decent here but I'll save you some heartache (and maybe heart burn) by advising you to steer clear of this place. Manoa is close enough to downtown. Just take an extra 5 minutes or so to eat at one of the many great Chinese eateries in the downtown area. Oh God . . . I think I'm gonna puke read more

Aloha Manapua - All bone and gristle - no meat. There's just no excuse for this kind of quality. I'm not happy and will not be returning. - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This place is okay. Their pork hash is expensive, not tasty and can we say greasy? It's more like grease with a side order of pork. Gross! The other food looks like it's been sitting out all day (because it HAS) and the egg rolls are always soggy and a disappointment. I don't know why I keep going back. I guess their manapua is okay, if that's all you're eating. A few weeks ago, my aunt (who is living on a very low fixed income and never never eats out) was really hungry during her trip to the market and decided to treat herself to some pork hash. She NEVER eats out. Well, the restaurant was about to close and they only had 12 pork hash left and they wanted to get rid of it. The lady told my aunt, "I only have 12 left and so I give you great deal - all 12 for $9". My aunt, hungry and thinking she got a deal, said okay. Turns out she ended up saving something like $.40. I can't remember what it was exactly but it was less than $1.00. Seriously???? I guess maybe in China saving $.40 is a great DEAL but not in my mind! I would give them 1 star for tricking an nice lady over very little means into thinking she was saving a few bucks and giving her a $.50 discount, but their manapua is okay. read more

Wow. This place has really fallen from the days I remember. It's such a shame because I have such fond memories of walking with my grandparents to Island Manapua Factory to get a tasty rice cake. I rarely go here, even if I live in Manoa and for good reason. The prices are crazy expensive for what you get in comparison to other "take-out" type Chinese restaurants. They give really small portions when you order the plate lunch. It also feels like they give you more bones than meat. I tried their peking duck baked manapua and it was less than satisfactory. I am not usually picky when it comes to manapua, but for the price of $1.75 (more expensive than most places), I expect a mind blowing manapua. The flavor tasted too "peppery," not sure how else to explain it. I ate all of it, but it wasn't as good as it could be. The other goods like the pastries and sweets like OLD. Like a plate of egg tarts was a pale yellow, like super pale. It looked super old and gross. read more

When I'm at work and having a Chinese food craving, I make the couple minute drive up the road to Island Manapua Factory. Their pork hash is by far the best I've had, it's big and full and full of flavor. Their wide assortment of manapua is great too, you can choose to get the regular charsui filled or choose from the other fillings. I think there's at least half dozen different filling to choose from. They also have roast pork, Peking duck (the bun with the oyster sauce) and one of my other favorites, Look Fun. It's a rolled up white noodle with all the typical chow fun ingredients in the noodle already and when you dip it in the shoyu sauce, DELICIOUS. For this visit I tried something new, the roast duck rice plate. Like the name of the dish, that's exactly what you get. The duck was nice and juicy, tasty and good meaty pieces. They have a few other rice type plates, so I plan to return again and try one of those. read more

Amazing manapua buns. Nothing bad to say about this place. Can't wait to come back again!

I'm going to be back in Hawaii in one week and let me tell you, the Island Manapua Factory will be one of my first stops. Big, fat, soft, GORGEOUS steamed manapua, and can somebody say pork hash? These babies are as big as your whole head, and juicy. I start off eating like a lady and end up eating for sport. It's why I try to lose five pounds before hitting Hawaii, because I know places like Island Manapua Factory and my unabashed failure to self-moderate will render me a monchichi by the time I get back to the mainland. Ergo I adjust and accommodate for the good food. It just makes sense. Anyway --- reasonable prices, great dim sum and adequate outdoor seating just in case you can't make it to your car in order to try and hide your lack of restraint. (guilty) Can't wait to get back there. Plus they'll pack you a box for your plane ride home which is nothing but full of win. read more

2nd time there. Friendly service . Manapua is ok. pork hash good size and filling if you get 3. Would go back f I ever go by manoa. read more

Aloha Manapua - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

See all

For those who don't know, a Manapua essentially a Chinese cha siu bau (pork-filled bun). The Manapua Factory makes all sorts though, not just pork-filled both steamed and baked. I had a couple of their vegetarian steamed manapuas for breakfast and they were fantastic. I could totally eat them all the time. They do a really good job of making them and are equal in quality and superior in variety to those I've found in San Francisco. read more

I seen a ig pic of the boneless garlic fried chicken with homemade ginger sauce all over, looked so good I decided to give it a go and since they have baked manapua kids favorite we ordered the charsiu and pork hash as well. I was very clear when ordering that the garlic chicken PLATE was with the HOMEMADE ginger sauce ALLOVER" well when I got home all hungry for what I ordered and paid for I was shocked that the chicken plate had 5 slivers of dried out greasy fried chicken with NO HOMEMADE ginger sauce at all over what supposed to be fried rice? Needless to say I regretfully lol took a bite of chicken and fried rice couldn't bare the taste ended up tossing it in the garbage. Pork hash was over cooked, no flavor however the baked manapua was edible I'd say equivalent to 7-11 manapua but double the price! They have pans of food to choose from however it sat there cold you could see the grease collecting on the top of the spare ribs & chicken dishes. Spent $21 on lunch ended up eating a ham Sammie smh read more

Had a plate lunch of their garlic roast pork with kimchee fried rice. The garlic roast pork was mainly all chicharones. The garlic flavor was good, but would have been nice to get more of the meat. Kimchee fried rice was alright - you see them scoop out fried rice and bring it to the back kitchen to add kimchee. For $7ish, its not a bad plate. They have other selections, especially dim sum items to go. read more

Had the pork manapua yesterday - yuck! 1st visit since the ownership changed will be my last. Under the old ownership at least they were edible. Too bad. Sometimes you don't want to go all the way to Kalihi. read more

Island Manapua is ok. Cheap Chinese food and dim sum type items. Nothing to rave about here, one note I do have though is sanitation...the place is kinda sub-par. Glass windows are all greasy, floors are dirty and the counters are kinda gross. Manapua is tasty, but that's pretty much it. read more

A solid 2.5 stars now. Ok, so why bother updating my review when I technically didn't change their rating? Wanted to record for the record that they have cleaned up! Renovated! But there is still too much food on the counter where payments are being made....although most were covered with plastic wrap. So progress is being made. Stay tuned. Perhaps smiles will follow the physical renovation.... read more

Unfortunately this longtime favorite has gone downhill in recent months. The eggplant dish is not good anymore - it used to have nice bite sized pieces of chicken thigh but now they seem to be using cut up slices of leftover roast chicken breast. Ugh. Plus it's $1 more. Most other items are not what they used to be, lower quality. New owner is very friendly and accommodating but food/cook needs some work. read more

We bought Cha Siu Manapua and sticky rice with lotus leaf, rice cake, Gau. Sticky rice with lotus leaf: could not even see the shape of rice and taste awful. It's not even good or okay. It was old, soggy. Not sure how many days old it was. Manapua too was soggy, not fluffy. Rice cake smelled funny and sour. I believe it was at least day old. Gau wasn't soft and kind of chewy, it was not fresh. So awful we could not eat any of them and threw them away. Very disappointed. I am hoping we would not have food poison from the bite we had. read more

I came back for some dinner and was "convinced" to try the duck cake noodle plate and duck bun with hoisin sauce. I really didn't need much convincing because the food looked pretty good. I bit into the bun first and it was delicious! Crispy skin, tender duck meat, yummy! The duck cake noodle plate was also very good. The duck skin was crispy and the meat tender. The cake noodle was excellent and freshly cooked. I was again helped by Elaine who was very fast and friendly. read more