I went the other day to buy pork chops but instead I ended up buying a plate for lunch 8/2 and save…read morethe rest for my husband's dinner. The service is great. The ambience is chill. There's so much to choose from the food I bought was noodles n fried chicken it was the bomb I'll be back again soon.

I had such fond memories of this place 25+ years ago... I recall multiple displays of marinated…read moremeats, freshly made salads, fruit platters, prepared spam musubi & other pupu platters. Boy, times have changed. Super small, minimal displays & prepped foods. Lots of empty shelves, not necessarily the cleanest of places. 5-6 different marinated meats at reasonable prices. 10-12 pans of various prepped food (musubi, cooked shrimp, dessert). Friendly service. If you're looking for balut or Kalding, these folks have it. Parking lot is rough, stalls are small.

His Lao sausages, made fresh on Fridays, and sold frozen til he runs out (usually Saturday or maybe…read moreSunday) are 8 sausages per $18 bag. They are easily the best fresh pork Lao sausages in town. Filled with lemongrass, Thai chili, makrut lime leaf, black pepper, and stuffed in pork casing. So f good. I always buy at least two bags, and it seems like everyone else does too. Cash and credit. If you go during peak hours, be ready to be elbowed out of the way by mamas wanting fresh pork.

After several disappointed visits to my go-to butcher, I was looking for decent pork belly. I've…read morelearned not to trust my go-to butcher anymore as I was given off cut pieces and only to be ridiculed by my colleagues of getting odds and ends. My immediate circle has been having cravings and this includes shoyu pork belly. With a great base of aged shoyu, simmering slabs of pork belly will yield a yummy lunch, linner or dinner. Located in Maunakea Marketplace with neighbors of Papa's Cafe and Mei Mei Chinese BBQ, BM Meat Market (BMM) is a stall that specializes in fresh pork. They had a large variety of pork cuts, spare ribs, pork bones, pig's feet and congealed pork's blood. This past weekend I was on my regular shopping rounds in Chinatown and was purchasing some cooked meats from Mei Mei Chinese BBQ, where I patronize often. Many times I see many people crowding around BMM purchasing meats. But on this morning, it was empty so I decided to check out their offerings. I only saw one slab of pork belly that had nice marbling. I asked for the price, which came in at under $5 per pound. I asked the male staff if he had any more and walks back to his refrigerator to bring out a large slab of pork belly. ***happy dance*** I asked for a total of 6 slabs of pork belly, in which I noticed an end cut with lean meat that is not ideal for Chinese shoyu pork. I asked him to replace that with another center slice, where he didn't hesitate to my request. My total bill came in just over $25, which is much less than what my colleague paid at Safeway last week where that pork belly had excess fat. The meats I got at BMM had more in volume, better quality of marbling and eating meat versus fat. This clearly was a WIN WIN WIN in my books. BMM accepts cash and EBT cards. English friendly and with respect to COVID-19, they have signs posted and stickers on the floor to remind patrons of social distancing. Overall, a very pleasant shopping experience where I will be back for more for my pork needs. NOTE: I didn't see any pig liver, pig kidney nor pig head on display. Perhaps they have it stored in the back refrigerator. Try asking the staff if you don't see what you're looking for.

I haven't been here for a while, so some things regulars may take for granted were new to me…read more I arrived around 8 am today, a Sunday. First off, the woman who took my order and cut my meats appeared to be the same one who left a very good impression on me years before. Everything went smoothly. I ordered all my favorites - a half pound each of char siu and roast pork, and a half roast duck. I showed her a photo I took of her cutting and asked for permission to post it on Yelp, and she said it would be okay. In the past, I would hand over my physical card and worry it would come back greasy. I was pleased that I could use Google Pay. The total cost was in line with what I had anticipated, reasonable. I hurried home since I hadn't eaten yet this morning. I had some of everything along with some hot rice I prepared at home. I started with the duck, which I ate as is, without using the included sauce. It tasted as good as I had hoped. I also enjoyed the char siu and roast pork. They were just as I like them. There is nothing like getting good, freshly roasted meats from Chinatown. I will be back.

Located on king street within the famous, Oahu Market in Chinatown. This is be of the best places…read moreto get freshly roasted pork belly, char siu, and Roast duck. 1/2 duck for $19, and they will chop into small chunks. This is paired with delicious sauce. Their pork belly is soft, melt in your mouth, with a crispy skin!

I like their prices. I don't like that, even for a fee, they can't cut large bulk pieces into…read moresmaller manageable chunks for home use.

Always come here for their 10lb snow crab legs. Workers are approachable and friendly. Great…read morecustomer service! Prices are reasonable. Only downside is the parking, it can get crowded and difficult to find.

I had been wanting a sandwich from Honey Glazed Hams and cornbread for the better part of 3 months…read more Their business hours make it very difficult to get there. I got a coupon from a delivery service that was about to expire. I called the shop before placing my order because so many restaurants were still without power. Open! I mentioned to the gal I was placing a delivery order and she was grateful for the advance notice. I made the order worth it for the business and for the driver and for my coupon. I ordered 3 plates and 2 cornbread. The plates came with a whopping amount of ham topping a bed of rice, tossed salad with a wonderful dressing and two bite size brownies. The ham glaze had drained down into the rice which was absolutely divine. (Not sopping wet. Just enough to make me eat it all.) The ham slices were nicely sliced and the perfect thickness. It was soft and so flavorful. It was satisfying my craving with each bite. The salad was hearts of baby romaine, I think, cut into small pieces with some diced tomatoes and a very nice creamy dressing. I'll pick up a bottle next time? I can't review the brownies as I gave all 6 to my nephew with his plate. If you like soft cornbread that is more like a cake, this is for you. It's fluffy and very moist. Not your typical cornbread where it's very corny and crumbly. This is way better. Subtle corn flavor and a little sweet. I managed to eat the whole block after finishing my ham plate. No dinner tonight! So full! The 3rd plate's ham and salad are for my sandwich tomorrow as well as the 2nd cornbread. What, did you think I would have it once and be done? Hello, nice to meet you!

We stopped in because my daughter always wanted to try this place and they have good Yelp reviews…read more We were looking for a light lunch and the homemade Portuguese bean soup hit the spot. The soup is wonderfully spicy with generous portions of flavorful ham. The corn bread is out of the world, light and fluffy, almost dessert. The clerk was aloha friendly of this locally owned shop. The shop also sells gift items and soup kits. I had my eye on several novelty kitchen towels. There are no tables to eat inside, nor are there tables outside. Everybody takes their food to go. There is free parking in their shared lot.

Good good! It's…read morealways nice to have new stores open up in Chinatown, especially at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza as there seem to be more empty spaces or stores that only open a short amount of time. Ho Ho Hawaii Market is a relatively new grocery store that is located within the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, right next to Legend Seafood Restaurant. It's the space that used to be Won Kee! I believe Legend connected the kitchen with their own. This grocery store has the usual fresh Asian vegetables, dried goods, frozen foods and meats, and etc. They even offer roast duck and roast pork! They open quite late--usually till 5pm everyday, but come early as their vegetables do sell out. Ever since my first several visits, they've been selling more and more different items. The prices are on-par with rest of Chinatown. The inside is pretty organized and spacious even with more items. The owners/staff are very friendly and nice. Overall, a big plus is that Ho Ho Hawaii Market stays open much later than other stores, so if you need anything later than 2-230pm from Chinatown, Ho Ho is an option. There's quite a lot of variety. More than other places. In fact, their mix of frozen foods, fresh vegetables, and dried goods might be the store with the most variety. Parking is in the garage--first 30 minutes free!

BEST roast duck on island, the color, the taste is better than anything I've tried, so glad I ran…read moreinto this hidden gem

HIM: Will you make some fried wontons or Chinese dumplings for a tail-gate snack?…read moreME: I need to market for some ground pork at Hoong Wun. HIM: How should I know? The game hasn't even started.... ME: What? HIM: You asked "Who won?" Sheesh, the misinterpretation caused me to wonder about my poor Chinese language skills...did I mispronounce or was my husband having a case of "stink ear"? I choose the latter reason. Anyway, Hoong Wun Butcher Shop has been a longtime O'ahu Market tenant. They feature island-raised pig, er, pork which is "sweeter" than Mainland raised pigs. As one would expect, this Chinese butchery will sell you just about every part of the pig as we Chinese will utilize "every part of the pig, except its squeal" in our cooking. I like marketing here and have done so for years because the pork is fresh, clean and well-trimmed. The prices are relatively inexpensive as we recently paid $2.50 for slightly more than a pound of ground pork whereas at local supermarkets, the same weight could cost $3.99/lb. Sure, this butcher is located in Chinatown and O'ahu Market looks run down but they do take the utmost care with food handling safety. They speak English and are quite friendly. Parking in Chinatown is always crazy but you have your choices at nearby municipal parking lots, metered or free street parking or private parking lots. Oh, while you're at O'ahu Market, go ahead to check out the other vendors such as Hometown Noodle Factory (they no longer sell noodles but make really good silken tofu), Troy Enterprise (fresh fish & seafood) and fresh produce vendor all within air-conditioned comfort.

I like buying my pork here especially when I need ground pork or pork ribs. They have a sink that…read moreis clearly visible. Most other butchers in Chinatown do not have a sink, at least not one that I can see. They sell fresh island pork, not like the supermarkets with their mainland pork or pork injected with fluids, supposedly to make them juicy. They sell ground pork here but those have high fat content and mostly from odds & ends, here & there and from unsold day-old pieces. Select your own cut based on your preference for lean or fatty, have them wash the pork before grinding. You will pay more but like my sons said "good is not cheap and cheap is not good". Same thing when you buy the ribs, have them wash the bigger pieces before cutting into smaller pieces.

I have fond memories of dinner time while growing up in the heart of Chinatown. My father and…read morepaternal grandmother would shop for groceries on a regular basis in Chinatown as they would check out what's in season and/or what looks good. Many times, they would come home with a whole fresh fish and cook it for dinner. The preferred way of cooking a whole fish is by steaming it and dress it up with julienne green onions and fresh ginger, Chinese parsley with soy sauce and some sesame oil. Last week a group of us celebrated the birthday of 2 February babies at Lagoon Chinese Restaurant near the airport. We have dined there many times and often order their steamed fish fillets where the chefs execute this dish excellently. However, we were celebrating a special occasion, so I wanted to get a whole fresh fish and have the chef prepare it for us. I arrived in Chinatown shortly after 7am and was on the hunt for fresh fish. I was saddened to have witnessed so many empty stalls in Chinatown and found myself coming across just a few places that had fresh fish, one of them being Troy Enterprises (TE). Troy Enterprises started in business around the mid-70's and I do have recollection of my father coming here for whole fish as often I tagged along with him. They are located deep in the C Q Yee Hop Building with neighbors of Lee's Bakery and the New Hong Kong Supermarket. As I grew older and inherited culinary skills by my father and then refined by watching a chef from Hong Kong cook when I helped at my buddy's family restaurant in Chinatown, I learned how to prepare steamed fish. I've cooked whole fish a lot where I prepared it for my family. It's been YEARS since I last purchased a whole fish and TE is still at the same stall location but immediately noticed very few staff working. To be exact, just 2 people, perhaps a husband-and-wife team. Previously, there were easily over 6 staff with a lot of people hovering over the fresh fish checking out to see which one would be best on their dinner table. TE is quite spacious and well organized and clean. I was pleased the area didn't smell fishy when it had a lot of seafood displayed in the area. I was the only customer at that time, so I had free range of checking out their inventory in leisure. I did want a whole fish to be steamed Chinese style, so I was looking for a snapper or UHU (parrot fish). There were just 2 UHU but they weren't appealing to me, so I started to look at their snapper inventory. The male staff showed me a beautiful ONAGA (long tail red snapper) but it was quite large. The dinner was for 9 people, and we usually order an array of dishes and worried that the fish would be too big. I then glanced around and came across a beautiful OPAKAPAKA (pink/crimson snapper) that was slightly smaller than the ONAGA. As a rule of thumb, you check the eyes of the fish to ensure its freshness and after it passed the test, my decision was made. I asked the staff to have it cleaned (gutted and scaled) for me and the female staff rung me up. The OPAKAPAKA was about 2.92 lbs at $18.95/lb and the staff was kind enough to round it down for an even $55. She was kind enough to also include a small bag of ice placed with the fish for me to carry back to my car. I took my prized fish to my part-time job where my colleagues eyed on it and constantly joked with me during my shift. Many kitchen staff commented on how they should prepare it and have it for that day's employee meal. Hahaha.... I brought the fish to me to Lagoon's later that afternoon where I asked the staff to prepare it steamed, Chinese style of green onions, ginger and soy sauce. I ended up ordering 10 dishes that day with the steamed whole fish making it 11 courses. The fish was the las thing to arrive on the table and regardless we didn't have much room left in our stomachs, our table to 9 whacked the OPAKAPAKA with very minimal leftovers. One of our friends surprised us by picking up the tab so I am unaware of what the kitchen fee was to prepare this monster fish. The OPAKAPAKA was indeed fresh and prepared so well that it was worth waking up early and shopping in Chinatown that Saturday morning. Overall, a great reunion of TE where I wouldn't hesitate to come back again. As part of due diligence, it's always great practice to shop around but I'll be sure to stop by TE to see what they have on hand. My OPAKAPAKA may have costed pretty pennies, but the money was well spent. I am already looking forward to coming back to TE to get a whole fish and have Lagoon's prepare it for my family as they love steamed fish, as well as picking up some fresh seabass to make Chinese style sashimi that my father often made for us.

I've been marketing for fresh fish at Troy Enterprise in Chinatown as I've always found them to…read morebring in fresh daily catches. They have a good selection of locally caught fish, provide quick service (they'll efficiently clean, gut, bone or fillet your purchase) and are reasonably priced. CASH IS KING so make sure you bring your "ke kālā" (money). Recently, when we were invited to a family potluck dinner, our nephew specifically asked me to prepare a Chinese-style steamed whole fish. So, I went out to Troy Enterprise at its opening hour (7:00AM) just so that I could assure myself and family of a fish worthy of the occasion. My husband and I arrived at 7AM sharp and found their door was already open and a crowd had gathered in front of the fresh catches. I paced the displays to see which type and size of fish would be best for steaming. My Chinese family has always relied on kūmū (goatfish), opakapaka (pink snapper) or uku (gray snapper). I didn't see any kūmū but my eyes zeroed in on the opakapaka. As I donned a pair of disposable gloves to select my fish, I "eyeball estimated" a 2 - 3 pound fish. I picked an opakapaka then handed it to one of the workers who weighed it (2.52 pounds) as I told him I wanted the fish cleaned. He told me how much my fish cost, we paid him and he gave me a claim number. The worker took my fish over to the cleaning station and we waited for our fish. While we waited, another fishmonger cleared an area in the display and dumped in a batch of kūmū(goatfish). There were other Chinese shoppers who swooped in for the kūmū . I started to wish that I had waited a few minutes before selecting my fish. But, just then, my claim number was called and I collected my fish. We left happy with our pink snapper and thought to ourselves, ah, next time. We'll be back!