The porridge was piping hot and the pork was very finely shredded, which I prefer over tough/chewy…read moreand sometimes fatty slices of meat, as is common at most places. The rice was smooth and thick. I wish there were more century egg bits. The broth flavor could have been a bit stronger, so I asked for shoyu. One order is good for two people. I also ordered shrimp dumplings. They were plump pieces of shrimp and a good size. The skin wasn't thick either. They weren't hot like the porridge was but it was fine coz then I could eat them right away. The hubs got some pork mochi. They were quite generously filled as well. The mochi was crispy and chewy. Everything was decently priced. It's a little stall in the Maunakea Marketplace food court, so mostly self-service over the counter. The uncle was kind and pleasant. Auntie was busy cooking/prepping in the back. We were there around lunchtime on a Sunday so they were probably getting ready to pack up as well. I'd try the fried donut and other dim sum items next time!

Went to Mei Mei Chinese BBQ for a quick pick up & a couple stalls away heading…read more mauka ( mountain side) saw these good looking round sesame seed doughnuts in their display area. Jin Dui in Chinese ! Had to try some . They comes in three's .Got 2 coconut& one red bean filled. $ 5.00 for 3 They were soft once you bite into them& the fillings were the highlight.They are a dim sum shop so you can get all your goodies there. In the Maunakea Food court. Lot of stalls to pickup all kinds of different cultural foods! Service was fast & you can dine in the court or take out! Cash only!

For $16, you get an entire chicken! What a steal! You can…read moreget the Grandmas sauce, which is soy based with tastes of ginger and garlic. The chicken itself is already marinated plentiful, but if you want a little extra something, I'd recommend getting the sauce; it also goes well with the rice. Chicken was tender and had so much meat. Service is fast. This business was run by a bunch of kids, who were friendly and efficient.

Ray's Kiawe Broiled Chicken is a local favorite that has a pretty intense following. Many people…read morecome here to enjoy the chicken. It is literally cooked outside on a nice fire. Waited in line for a little bit and maybe about 30 minutes our chicken was done. Ordered just a whole chicken to try and this was my first time having it. The seasoning is light and the chicken is juicy. I would say this actually tasted pretty alright. But I think I like mine slightly saltier or seasoned more. But overall if you ever see this off the road you should stop by and try it out.

Literally the best shrimp I ever had. Absolutely delicious!!…read more I don't say that lightly either. It was otherworldly!! The staff was great too!!!! I'll be back!

Giovanni's is one of those places where memory does a remarkable amount of the seasoning. I've been…read moreeating here across decades. Enough visits that this is no longer about catching them on a bad afternoon, ordering the wrong thing or failing to understand what the place is supposed to be. I've tried the different shrimp, stood in the lines, eaten at the tables, navigated the parking, brought people here and returned because, for a very long time, Giovanni's was simply one of those places you went when you were on this side of the island. At some point, repetition becomes evidence. The truck itself has become an artifact. Covered in signatures, battered by time, photographed millions of times. There was probably a period when all of that felt charming. Now it mostly feels tired. There is a difference between patina and neglect and the surrounding experience has increasingly crossed that line for me. Flies, crowded tables, overflowing activity, rough parking, heat, trash nearby. You can romanticize rustic only so far before rustic starts asking for a pressure washer. Then there is the service, which has consistently been the hardest part for me to understand. I don't need anyone performing hospitality like they're auditioning for a resort commercial, but basic warmth costs nothing. Too often the interaction here feels impatient and transactional, as though the customer is somehow inconveniencing the operation by showing up to buy the food. After enough visits, you stop calling that an off day. And then there is the plate. The shrimp itself is actually the least offensive part. It is generally cooked reasonably well. Tender enough, rarely destroyed and when you get a good batch you can understand why this formula became so popular. Everything around it drags it down. The rice has repeatedly been soft, clumped and bordering on mushy. I am annoyingly particular about rice, but rice is not some decorative substance placed beneath the main event. It matters. When half the plate is rice, screwing it up is not a minor detail. The garlic is abundant, certainly, but abundance and care are different things. It often arrives more like a wet mass of processed garlic than the fragrance and texture you get from properly chopped fresh cloves. Add the butter and oil and you certainly get intensity, but after several bites the whole thing becomes heavy rather than interesting. The little salad on the side generally feels like an afterthought that has been waiting for someone to remember it. And that is ultimately my problem with Giovanni's. The entire experience feels as though its reputation arrived at the destination years before the restaurant did and everyone decided there was no longer much reason to keep improving. People will continue coming. Of course they will. The name is famous, the truck is recognizable, the photographs are practically mandatory and nostalgia is one hell of a business model. I understand it because it worked on me for years. But strip away the mythology and ask a brutally simple question: If this exact plate came from an unknown truck with no history, no signatures and no reputation, would you still wait in line for it? I wouldn't. Two stars. The shrimp can still be decent and I have too many memories here to pretend the place means nothing to me. But nostalgia should bring you back to a restaurant. It shouldn't be responsible for making the food taste better. I kept returning because tradition can turn habit into taste. I'm done confusing the two.

Discovered this mom and pop shop through instagram. It's a small liquor store off Ward ave…read more However, they serve shrimp plates in their shop. They have just two choices of shrimp, garlic and spicy. Spicy does come in 4 different spice levels. And the plates include rice along with 4 different banchans. I opted for the spicy, at a level one which is half a scoop. It was full of flavor and it had just the right amount of spice. One thing I did have a problem with was the chunks of chili or panko. It was a bit too much but she still go. Mopped the plate up and was satisfied!

I wasn't expecting to find a good shrimp spot inside a liquor store, but I was pleasantly…read moresurprised. After leaving a doctor's appointment, I had a craving for shrimp and Google Maps led me here and they did not disappoint. This is definitely one of my favorite shrimp plate places. Aloha Shrimp on the North Shore is still my #1 pick, but this spot is easily in my top 5. The service was good, and my food came out in about six minutes. There isn't much ambiance since it's located inside a liquor store with no seating, so it's definitely more of a takeout place.

the most delicious food in the island, great experience, the food is freshly made with such care…read moreand passion

The torta was absolutely bomb and delicious!! Every bite…read morewas filled with meat and super tasty, definitely reminds me of home and I glad I get to have a taste of that here on this beautiful island !!!! Thank You Straight Outta Husk

Great hotdogs, and it's a great place/views to have one by the lagoon. This is one of the…read morebetter/best food options unless you are willing to walk a long ways. The guy that runs this is very nice, and fun to talk to.

I've lived here for seven years and walked past this hot dog stand countless times. Every time I…read morewalk by the owner Jon smile and say hello, every time. And on one of my last walk in Waikiki, I got on of his hotdogs. John and his staff were incredibly welcoming. He's originally from Philly, and as someone from the East Coast, I immediately felt that warm hospitality. John is so sweet, he even offered me the hot dog on the house... completely unexpected, but a true reflection of John's demeanor. I went with the chicken hot dog "John style" (well that is everything but the sauerkraut). I wasn't hesitate about the mustard because I'm usually not a fan but the staff insisted it was more like Dijon mustard anyways. The hotdog was loaded, flavorful, and way better than I expected for someone who usually keeps it simple with the toppings. The bun broke down a bit from all the toppings, but that was to be expected with all the toppings loaded on there. You can't beat the location, it's right outside the Ilikai by the lagoon though the service alone makes this an easy five stars. I'm really happy this ended up being one of my last food experiences living in Hawaii. I'd be eager to see John and his staff again if I return.

Where can you get freshly cooked breakfasts for $5 in this day and age ordered and prepared with a…read moresmile. Clean picnic tables to eat in front of the food truck. Thanks for researching on Yelp and treating us for breakfast Doc

I'm so grateful he does pop ups in town because venturing out to Kahuku takes a bit of planning. So…read morefar my favorites would have to be hands down the Ribeye and Shrimp plates. The ribeye is super tender and both plates have so much flavor packed into it! I tried the Braised Boneless Kalbi and it is good and super soft! But the flavor isn't my cup of tea; I prefer my kalbi to be LA kalbi style so just something to keep in mind if that's what you were expecting Each plate can easily be shared between two people which gives you more room to try other items hehe I highly recommend coming super early for his pop ups because the lines gets ridiculously long. He is always our first stop of the list because you just can't risk certain items running out! (Trust me, I had this happen to me the first time and I was a very sad camper with what was left)

5-15/26 @10:45am or five minutes after 11am…read more ... anyway let's put it this way if I was to go back over there the one thing that I will be getting more of is the japanese andagi. ... I've seen this place so many times and I've even been to their neighbor which is the rainforest cafe- (exceptional Italian cream soda / like egg soda) I love the Lilikoi tart they have there. This time I actually went to get something and didn't realize they do sell "Andagi" I also bought a small thing of okinawin yakisoba. And two pieces of sweet mochi Truly not a disappointment. In fact this has that very open Okazuya style of takeout most times it does have order ahead in there were a few people before I bought my food that had larger orders to pick up so it is recommended that you call them ahead of time. They're very gracious people that work in there they're very kind. They're very courteous and they're very quick with the order. I don't believe I saw the yakisoba in the menu, but I seen it when I got to the window and the mochi ball and Andagi are very close to the counter window I highly recommend anyone who is in and around the area for a quick grab on a local favorite of a Japanese doughnut to come to this spot because the andagi- is much to appreciate it's one of these things that we know here in Hawaii to have that nice texture, The nice first crisp bite into the donut and then it leads into that delicious sweet cake doughnut part in the middle what we know as a Japanese donut, this carries its respected delightful reality... stop by this place because for $1.00 a piece... it's a crowd pleaser... I should have bought 10 of those things.. it's delicious when fresh and they keep really well into the end of the day.. Also I would definitely go back for the yakisoba the way it's made is delicious and I am one of those people that loves a good entrée that won't have meat or sometimes not even a hint of meat and this noodle dish is very good. I love how the vegetables were intertwined into the noodles sort of just not perfectly chopped, but it is tangled into the noodles as if it was another soba noodle- the carrots, spring onions, and if you see the accompanying picture- cabbage & or chopped boy choy. Thank you Teruya's Andagi. I will return

i would've loved to love teruya but i did not. i just didn't and i have no shame in disliking this…read morecute local business because i am a professional big back and a picky one at that. $10-12 price range for bentos - they have chicken, shrimp tempura etc. and some vegetarian options and mochi. we got garlic chicken and tempura bentos, they came with 4-5 sides like tamago roll, potato salad thing, sausage thing, eggplant thing IDK THE NAME SORRY service was nice. seems like it's run by grandmas. i am a professional grandma lover too. location on a small strip in between vons chicken and a barbershop. food - basically everything was very oily. it just tasted okay. chicken could've been crispier and had more depth. the potato salad was good, reminiscent of a potato stirfry dish my mom makes...but it was a bit too salty. the other sides were either kinda bland or not special. i did like the sweet potato mochi though! nice and fried like my dead hair overall 3 stars for service and the mochi yay