Ginger fried chicken was great! We ordered the ginger sauce on the side per the reviews. Note that if you order sauce on the side it appears you get less sauce than if you get it on top. Also tried the dim sum: har gow/shrimp dumpling, pork hash, char siu and coconut jin duis. Dim sum was not great at all. Across the board mediocre. I overheard the cashier say the Manapua are "made to order". She continues to explain that they are frozen and need to therefore be "made to order". I'm assuming the same is for the dim sum bc the meat in each of them seemed possibly freezer burned. Shrimp dumpling filling had 50:50 filler and shrimp, which is a high ratio of filler in my experience. I would definitely order the ginger chicken again, but not ever the dim sum. Ever. read more

The food was tasty! Portions were larger than I expected. They never gave this much before. The prices are reasonable. One thing that was huge hit was their service. The young lady was so polite and friendly. Very helpful. Their catering menu looks awesome. Will definitely go there more often. read more

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Okay, listen. If you haven't tried the baked manapua from Island Manapua Factory in Manoa market Shopping Center, stop what you're doing, grab your keys and go. I'm serious. These baked beauties are soft, moist, fluffy clouds of happiness with fillings that taste like a hug from your grandma. I'm drooling just writing about it. Like, how is dough this soft? What kind of magic are they using back there? And let's talk about the pork hash. First of all...yes, it's expensive. Second of all.... yes, it's worth every single cent. That little juicy, savory bite is so good it makes you want to cry a little. Waaahhhh! Why so yummy? It's not fair. It's like they know you can't say no and honestly, I don't even want to. This place is a small, humble, mom and pop shop tucked into the Manoa market shopping Center and it's got that local, comforting, "I know I'm about to eat good" energy. No frills, just flavor bombs wrapped in soft, pillowy perfection. Island Manapua Factory is officially my new happy place. Just thinking about it makes me want to take an early lunch. read more

absolutely do not get roast duck from here. The manapua filling had a strange, unappetizing taste to it. Countless places on the island to get this style of chinese food. this place is not good. read more

Say what you want about Island Manapua but I really think if you've had a prior bad experience to give it a try again! We had to order the dim sum platter and chow mien every week for about two months for events and the owner was so accommodating every step of the way. He even prepared the food right on time for every pickup CONSISTENTLY!! Even if we wanted to change some of the dim sum, he helped us change the dim sum options with no additional cost. The owner is so nice and friendly, he was even accommodating when we asked if he could make us a veggie dim sum platter, he said it was no problem and he made our order come true! If you need a dim sum platter and some tasty Manapua for an event, I highly recommend ordering from Island Manapua. They also have a veggie fried rice (which was super popular) where you can ask for char Siu on the side of you're hosting guests with a variety of food intolerances. read more

Aloha Manapua - Char Siu Chow Mien - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Fair pricing, manapua is packed with filling!!! Super friendly young lady at the counter!!! Food is tasty! Like to go at least once a week for boba!!! Yummy!!! read more

I'm sorry but I must give 1 star. I train Jiujitsu upstairs and 1 night I decided to give them a try. The young man that works there sold me rotten pork that was sitting on the counter for god knows how long. I got so sick I literally almost died. I went into to make a complaint to the young lady and did again when I seen the young man. They just dismissed me and gave me a forced apology. Please don't eat here, it is ROTTEN, back alley, probably using sewer water to fry the food gross place. The businesses next door know better to eat here. If you don't belive me ask them. read more

My family gets manapua from here to take to the beach. The flavors choices are good and the prices are reasonable. I would go here again.

Service is definitely friendlier under the new name and management. Unfortunately the pork hash tastes like meat and grease. No other discernible flavor. read more

The manapua was fresh and tasty, and service was really quick. We ate our snack outside, it was a great day.

The worst customer service is here. I would stay away from here don't waste your money I ordered over $25.00 worth of manapua from here. The older man at the counter was rude. I asked did you include hot mustard in my box? He snapped. You only bought manapua. I don't give hot mustard with only that!!! After I spent over $25.00. I should've asked for a refund. He turned around handed me 2 tiny tiny hot mustard containers and said here only 2!! So rude and the manapua was not even good was hard the bread Will not be back. Wish I could give minus stars read more

Granted, I went at the end of the day, and I should have known better when I saw the half moon looking dry in the steamer that had no steam. Aside from the rubbery skin, the filling was spoiled and sour. 1 bite and it was tossed. Same with the mai tai su. The only edible thing was the manapua bread, and it wasn't very good either. Never again. read more

Could this near 40 year manapua maker be the one? The successor to Char Hung Sut? Oh "H", "E", double "L" no! Knowing of their red placard, forced closure and $4k fine in late 2020 and also understanding human nature, I opted to go at opening and TIP big, hopefully assuring me the current day's offerings and NOT reheated leftovers. Manapua - Ugly but properly steamed bread with the old school taste. Sadly the filling has been updated from 20 years ago. No green onions, no coarse ground pork and added pork fat, just heavily seasoned, machine shredded red pork lacking any roasted taste of char siu. Pork hash - Good. Coarse ground pork with a light sesame oil / MSG seasoning. Properly steamed, toothsome wrapper. Shrimp dumplings - Not so fresh shrimp seasoned with MSG and sesame oil in a very thick, glutinous wrapper. Pass. Chinese service (efficient, no nonsense, you order, pay, get your food, get out). Pricy. $2.50/manapua. OK, not great. Is this quest hopeless? What's left? 7-Eleven? read more

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Had a craving for chow fun while I was in Manoa shopping center and went to Island Manapua. I ordered some chow fun that's made fresh when ordered and it was Great tasting with orange chicken!! There was so much I shared it with my granddaughter. I was satisfied!!! So Ono read more

Opened at 8:30am, welcomed in, friendly service. The food was delicious!! Steamed Charshu Managua, crispy gaugee, half moons and the rice cake was yum! Went back the next day! read more

It's not the owners are new, they rotated their staff from the other locations. In any case, the food is the same as 12-14 years ago: okay. It'll never be like the original owners (the pork hash they made was on-point). They recently made improvements to their counter and that's much better as far as flow is concerned. My big issue; the one thing that consistently bothers me whenever I go here is ordering rice plates. They have rice plates that you can order char siu with rice, or cold ginger chicken with rice, etc, etc. For $2 more you can make the rice into fried rice. When it's done right, it's good! Generous cuts of char siu pork on a bed of fried rice. Pretty good. The problem is that 1 out of 10 times it's done wrong. I went back last week Thursday, pointed at the menu board at the Rice Plate section, asked for char siu with Fried rice, and I got an order of char siu fried rice... Just the rice and very thin shreds of char siu. The menu is in these guys faces... WHY HAVE THAT ON THE MENU WHEN YOU DON'T MAKE IT RIGHT?? There was only 1 employee that's consistently gets it right and she moved to the other location shortly before the new people showed up. I'm never gonna get my char siu plate now. What if I ordered just a char siu plate with white rice? Are they just gonna give me a bed of white rice and thin cut shreds of char siu to sprinkle on the rice? Ambiance is dim sum takeout vibe. I dunno what to say about ambiance other than that. read more

I really dislike leaving reviews like this :( but its gotta be done.. Located in Manoa, I was excited to see a Manapua factory. My husbabe tried this place out awhile back pre covid and liked it so thought we give it a try being in the area. Upon entering they do have sanitizer on the counter for you to use :) that was a plus. The employee whom seemed like maybe the owner didnt greet us at all, but its okay. There were food counters on two different sides one with bentos and the other side which looked like they would have like hot items but it was empty, but there were food dishes on the top of the counter. Anyways the menu has A LOT of items on there but I was most excited for the manapua n pork hash :)) Fast forward to ordering, we ordered 1. 1-Baked peeking duck manapua- nice flavor, wldve been nicer if it was warmed up 2. 10-Pork Hash-it was okay, I was bummed 3. 1-Char siu manapua- this was very disappointing :(-the char siu tasted really burnt and it was super dry.I was so sad, LOL 4. Bento w/Char siu and roast pork- we were excited for this as well..Sadly, this was NOT fresh at all for it being only 930AM in the morning. Both dishes was dry and what seemed to have been just probably warmed up to be put out, but DEFINITELY not fresh :(( another disappointment. Everything came out to $40, for that price and the quality of the food im sad to say my husbabe and I wont be returning. Not sure if due to covid help is t available like most places, but I just dont think the food was fresh or worth it even though it looked so yummy... read more

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On the search for Manapua... 1. Service quick and easy 2. No place to sit inside but situated in a great center so you can sit outside and enjoy your Manapua 1. Bun was soft and warm 2. Bun could have been just a little sweeter 3. Bun to meat ratio ... need more meat 4. Flavor of the filling: little more flavor I read more

The inside didn't look appealing but once you got in, my eyes got hungry with the options for manapua. Unfortunately they ran out several that were on their menu so ordered the baked pork char siu, steamed pork char siu, and roasted duck baos. My favorite was the baked char siu, bun was soft and sweet and filling so tasty. read more

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MUCH IMPROVED SINCE THE LAST TIME I VISITED HERE. I haven't been here for several years but I must say that this place has gotten a lot better. I got the steamed char siu bao (manapua), pork hash, half-moon, rice cake, Peking duck manapua, suckling pig fried pork rinds and the duck in bao (looks like Peking duck in the half bun). Everything was good except I didn't care too much for the pork rinds. It was really hard and didn't have much taste. Also the mustard/soy sauce that they included tasted a little sour. My favorites were the Peking duck manapua and the duck bao. Service was efficient and friendly. read more

Thoroughly disappointing. Their dim sum doesn't hold a candle to that of Chinatown dim sum concessions, yet costs more. I wish I could return it. read more

TL;DR: new owners 7/24. Ignore old reviews, food and service are great! I've lived nearby for 2 years but avoided this place because of negative reviews (and exterior didn't look appealing). Finally gave it a shot: good plate lunch food and excellent dim sum food. All delivered with care and smiles and expertise. Didn't match the negative reviews I saw at all. On my second also happy visit I overheard that the ownership and whole team is new as of July and August of this year. So any reviews older than that are essentially of a different restaurant. I've only eaten at the New island Manapua and I like what I've had. read more

Crap food and service. Went in there on Wednesday afternoon about 1:30 pm just me and another customer. Had to repeat order 3 times. Worker more concerned about the previous customer, kept looking where he was going and asking oh does he need help. Dude pay attention he already left your business no concern of yours I'm here now! Irrazz. About the food: Vegetarian manapua-mystery mush filling Gau-oily brown square Half moon-flat like my chest Look funn roll-where's the char siu?!?! Jin dui-burnt as hell read more

Review #3 for 2022. Some friends and I wanted a quick bite in Manoa, so we went wandering around Manoa Marketplace and came across Island Manapua Factory. There were some pork belly bao that looked amazing, but the guy in front of me took the last ones, sadly. I ordered the chow fun special, which the menu said came with black bean beef, but my order came with char siu instead. Wasn't mad about that, but the chow fun tasted bland. I love chow fun, but I was underwhelmed. My friend ordered turkey jook, and he loved it. I don't usually order jook at restaurants because I can easily make it at home, but I'm glad my friend enjoyed it. I love hole in the wall restaurants in Hawaii, but sadly I thought Island Manapua Factory was just okay. I wouldn't mind trying it again some time to see if I have a better experience in the future. Will update review if I do. read more

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The Manoa location is no longer the original owner. The food is different. Not even close to the old taste. Found old owner running the Gulick location. Going to that location to check the quality. Check back later. read more

I always get their black sugar Jin Dui. While waiting inside the shop, I saw the "Good Luck Jai" sign. I got it and love it. Manoa Market Place is under construction now, so this shop is behind the barricade, but all the shops are open! Don't miss it! Attention the Bus rider! Take #6 bus to Woodlawn from Ala Moana Center. read more

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Sad to say I think I figured out the reason why there is a rather prominent sign that reads "No Refunds!", and that's because, I imagine, a lot of people have asked for their money back after tasting the absolutely horrid food here. I do my best not to leave bad reviews, but I would feel like I'm doing a disservice by not letting others know how terrible my plate lunch was. I've started to accept that most restaurants in Manoa are pretty sub-par (with a select few that are quite the opposite), but this place has successfully made it to my list of "worst of the year", and definitely "worst I've ever eaten". I should have taken a hint when I walked into the shop and noticed a bit of a sour smell. I didn't think much of it, aside from making a note to wait outside after ordering, which was a great idea considering the fact that my supposed 10 minute wait ended up being closer to 20. No biggie on the wait though, since I thought I'd just gobble the food down quicker once I got it. That was far from the case. As soon as I got home, unwrapped the bag and opened up the plate to take a whiff of what I had hoped would be a delicious oyster sauce chicken & cake noodle, I was greeted with the same sour scent that met me at the shop doorway. I thought to myself, "what is that? the food can't be bad, can it?" ... I sniffed the chicken, and yeah something was awry for sure. The color of the chicken looked ... off. The broccoli also looked just withered and brown; shouldn't it look fresh and green? The cake noodles were also soggy, and mind you I live very close to Manoa Marketplace, so I don't know how/why they would be in that condition. The most important part: the taste. Wow. I have NEVER (well, at least not recently) been that pissed off after having a single bite of food. The chicken was not only WAAAAAY too salty, it actually tasted bad, with an almost sour flavor ... as in if I ate more of it, I could have risked getting sick from eating it. I've tasted chicken like that before, and my day did not go well afterwards. Was it spoiled? Probably. I decided to spit the food out and take a bite of the noodles. Yep ... absolutely disgusting. I wanted to puke. I was so pissed off, I cursed and threw the entire plate into the trash. What a waste of $16 and my time. Never again. read more

Just an FYI that the steam table is not currently working. They do make orders of the food as people order it but it's just not the same. The kau yuk was not as soft, same with the spicy eggplant. The spicy eggplant also didn't have the same heat that it normally does. read more

Their steamed manapua ranks up there with the old Patty's in Ala Moana - very fresh, perfect texture and tasty char siu. Pork hash is amazing. Ginger fried chicken plate another good choice. Service efficient so line moves quickly. read more

I was given a $50 gift card to Island Manapua Factory and after I read all these horrible reviews I was hesitant to go here w low expectations but my visit exceeded my expectations. I'm a Chinese girl that grew up on Oahu and haven't been here since college. I arrived here on Saturday morning around 10:45 am and to my surprise the line was out the door and this place was crowded! I ordered: Baked char siu manapua - $2.50 each. This was the best item We got. The bread was fresh and full w tasty char siu. The manapua was worth the $2.50 due to the size, twice as much meat as Royal Kitchen and I thought even better than some China town places. The meat was cold inside since the baked manapua are sitting on the shelf but tasted good. Recommend. Baked Curry Chicken manapua - fresh, curry tasted great and had veggies like celery. Recommend. Taro Cake - $2 each, the Taro cake looked bland when I ordered it so just got one. But wow it tasted great despite its looks. Recommend. Roast pork and roast duck combination plate w rice- $13.95. This was decent. The duck was moist and the roast pork skin was crispy. recommend. Crispy Gau Gee Mein - $12.95. I was disappointed I didn't get fresh hot gau gee, just the cold one laying on the plate on the counter but it was decent and on the smaller side and contains strips of cut meat rather than pork hash filling which was odd but tasted decent. This dish looked appetizing but the noodles were old because they were just breaking apart in tiny pieces. The nice thing was the noodles were made as I ordered it so was piping hot, Do not recommend Beef black bean chow funn - $12.95 this dish was also made as I ordered it so it was nice and hot. Decent but nothing special. Needed more flavor. Recommend if you just want a simple noodle dish. I forgot to ask for mustard shoyu so didn't get any, I think this would have enhanced the noodles. All in all not bad, I would return for the baked char siu and curry chicken manapua for sure. I wouldnt get the plates again though. I read a lot of bad reviews on the pork hash so didn't get any but wish I had tried it, as I waited for my plates, every single person that walked in ordered pork hash so must be good. I'll be back! read more

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I heard this location is closing down soon but I still wanna leave a review. They have very authentic Chinese foods and they taste yummy. I partially like their peiking duck. It's very refreshing. read more

Aloha Manapua - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

ALOHA EVERYONE, Went to this place this morning at 10am bought 2 p.hash , 2 shrimp dumpling and a bake manapua. $10.65 Everything was missing and off point the shrimp dumpling was not stable in its shell and and the outer wrapper just broke apart relentlesly. The chix oyster sauce bake manapua was not there. I would not recommend this place, Sorry read more

We're a sucker for manapua... and we were already in the area at the farmers' market. So yeah, we had to try it. Theirs are tasty.. but ultimately nothing to write home about. Not too shabby, but yeah nothing to write home about. read more

Everything we purchased was awful!! The rice cake was sour (spoiled?), gin dui was full of grease but not coconut. Gau was junk. We just threw away $30 by purchasing from Island Manapua. Nothing was edible! read more

As a member of the Chinese community, this restaurant is a disgrace to Chinese food. After the boys and I finished a nice session of basketball, we decided to look for a nice place to eat. Lo and behold we all missed Chinese food so we settled on this place. Everything looked on par with Chinatown level food. Which is a good thing. But their taste. Nasty ass. I ordered a pound of Roast Pork to satisfy this strange craving. Boy, was I disappointed. It was so terrible. The meat part was dry. The fat was gross. The outer skin was not even crispy. This place better shape up because at this point, it deserves to close due to Covid. read more

Aloha Manapua - Deserves to be thrown away. - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

No joke, this is the best Manapua and pork hash spot in the state!! It's insanely good... They also prepare an epic peeking duck in bao, roast pork, char sui gau gee and many -many other Chinese plate lunch style options! Trust me, I didn't want to share a review cause I don't want my faves to sell out before I get there nor deal with a longer line lol No photos needed, trust my word! read more

As a little boy, I use to go to a business in Kaimuki Town called - "Kwong On"...........that place was known for their manapua, chow fun, peanut candy, & rice cakes.......especially the layered rice cakes! Kwong On was in business for over 40 years, until the owners decided to retire & close down the shop back in 2007. (see link) http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/07/20/news/story04.html Fast forward it's now 2018, and where else can I get a pretty good layered rice cake???? The Island Manapua Factory of course! I haven't walked into the Island Manapua Factory in years.............but back in da dayz when I was a poor college kid, I use to come here every so often to buy almond cookies, half moon, pork hash, manapua, & rice cakes. A lot has changed since I last came here, because for some reason.......... I don't remember them making so many different types of manapua's. I would say the manapua's made at the Island Manapua Factory are okay..........but if I really want a great manapua, I prefer to get my manapua's from a famous manapua joint in Chinatown, just off of Smith Street & Pauahi Street (just one of my peeves...........I guess it's just my preferred taste). But when I want rice cakes.........the Island Manapua Factory does a pretty good job. Their layered rice cakes taste pretty good, and it's not oily at all too (which I like). As I walked into the shop today, I was looking for the layered rice cakes..........sure enough, they had the regular rice cakes, as well as the layered rice cakes. What is a is a rice cake??? The Chinese steamed rice cake has a light sweet taste, soft spongy texture, and the inside of the rice cake has a honeycomb looking pattern on the inside, which makes it look kinda airy. As for the layered rice cake, the rice cake is a bit more dense as it doesn't have the honeycomb looking holes. The layered rice cake actually has layers in it. The top layer is brown, and the layers below are white. I like to eat this, as you can peel off each layer while you eat the layered rice cake...........kinda like a bonus when you eat it, as you get a delicious treat, and at the same time, you can kinda play with your food while you eat it at the same time! Lol! I was doing some work at the Manoa Marketplace today, and since I had a light lunch today, I got a little hungry in the afternoon so I decided to stop into the Island Manapua Factory for a few layered rice cakes. As I walked into the shop, I told the nice lady I wanted (2) layered rice cakes. As she was helping me, she tells me she'll give me (3) layered rice cakes for $5.00 bucks (which sounded good at the time). So if you break it down, that comes out to $1.66/$1.67 per layered rice cake............is that a good deal? Hummmmmmmmmm???? If you look at the pic.........the layered rice cakes were kinda on the small side. Lol! Well played my friend! Lol! The big lesson to all........... don't order food when one is hungry, otherwise you'll end up buying & eating too much! Buwahahahahaha! read more

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Love that this place opens early so I can get my manapua pork hash fix. They also have plate lunches as well.

I have checked out this place twice in the past month. The duck buns are tasty but we're cold on the table. Today, I got the regular steamed manapua. It was grainy and dry. It was in the steamer, but it had an old taste. The steamed manapua are $3 each plus tax. Pretty bummed because it would be a great after school snack pick up but it wasn't a hit with the kids. read more

Prices are kinda high but the dim sum is decent. I really like their hot dog roll which is not usually my fave but their bread is so moist & tasty & the hot dog is good, not the red one which I don't really like. One thing though, is that they always trick me with the pig feet. The last time I ordered their pig feet soup, they used the sweet sour pig feet & just put it in soup. Ugh ! This time they gave me slices of pork which was not pig feet. It was more like roast pork. I wish they would've just told me that they did not have the feet anymore. All they told me was that they had no more pig feet bones ?? ... so when I got home I discovered that there was no pig feet meat in my order. So disappointed. Anyway, the lady was nice, kinda pushy on the sales but I could handle it. She did give extra chow funn which was very generous of her. The chow funn at this location is not as good as the chow funn at the Kalihi location. Will definitely still return for their hit dog rolls & look funn rolls though. read more

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