Moon Garden Restaurant in Honolulu was an okay experience overall. The best dish by far was the clams with black bean sauce, which I would definitely recommend. Everything else we tried was decent, but pretty average and not especially memorable. read more

The good and the service both outstanding. Due to limited seating. You need to rsvp in advance. For short ribs, it needs 24 hour's advance order. read more

Moon Garden Restaurant - The mochi ball is a high light. I have never seen this shape and color before. - Seafood Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

2024 update Pandemic Survivor- happily not a ghost of the past. So many restaurants and eateries disappeared during the pandemic times. Some decided the pandemic accelerated what they had planned to do (Likelike Drive In), some couldn't survive the fall out from worker shortages and decided to cut their losses (Kaimuki Big City Diner). Everyone gas a story of a favorite food establishment that is now gone. Luckily for all of us, Moon Garden is a survivor. They have been serving up delicious Chinese kau kau for many a year and the consistency has been quite high. A favorite "go to" restaurant not quite in the neighborhood, the in dining options can be challenging as they have a couple of round tables and some smaller seating options in a pretty small area. We have dined in when we have time flexibility and do take out fairly regularly. Recently we ordered their house chicken with ginger sauce (warm dish), which uses free range chickens ( hope this doesn't mean the strays running all around oahu now LOL) Surprisingly this was the first time we tried their crispy gau gee with crispy noodles and gravy. The skinny noodles they used were perfect and the simplicity of the dish made the dish delicious with no masking of imperfections. Not greasy at all. The third dish we had was pork with sweet sour cabbage (Suan cai), a fermented napa cabbage. Their dish had just the right amount of balance between the sweet and sour although next time We would probably order with beef, more of a preference. My mom's favorite Chinese restaurant- never challenge mom. read more

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The inside was a little dated. Service was good. But the food was amazing. It probably was one of the best dry chow funn I've had

Drunken clam flavorful and so was the wonton soup. Such good service! Also the green beans were amazing.

It's been ages since I last dined at Moon Garden Restaurant in Liliha, and what really motivated me to come back here for a meal was a picture that my Yelp buddy - Tami C. had posted on Yelp. It was a picture of a Minute Chicken Cake Noodles with Choy Sum. Yes gangies, if you ever dined at Moon Garden Restaurant, they are known for their Honey BBQ Char Siu Ribs (you must order it one day in advance)!!! How good are those Honey BBQ Char Siu Ribs? Bruh, those ribs are broke da moufth ono!!! I'm gonna go out on a limb & say it's da BESTEST Honey BBQ Char Siu Ribs that I've ever eaten!!! Unfortunately, Bruddah Fran no longer eats red meat or pork (old people problems, Lol!), so those deeeeeeeeeelicious Honey BBQ Char Siu Ribs will have to go on da back burner. No worries, cuz da Moon Garden Restaurant makes other excellent dishes like - a Minute Chicken Cake Noodle dish! Came here with my friend Jennifer C., as she's a big noodle fan. I ordered my Minute Chicken Cake Noodles, & my friend ordered the Rice Noodles w/Preserved Vegetables & Meat. What can I say about the grub??? The Minute Chicken Cake Noodles was enjoyable, & very tasty! I was surprised that they used Chinese Cabbage with my dish, as I was expecting Choy Sum, but I guess they used whatever vegetable that was available that day. My friend Jennifer enjoyed her meal, and no complains from us, that's for sure! Service here was on point. If you decide to dine at Moon Garden Restaurant, the restaurant is on the smaller side, so I'm not sure if you should make reservations before coming here. There is free parking available just to the right of the building, as the parking lot is shared by other businesses. read more

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We're very grateful to arrive here for take out lunch during inclement weather. Staff are very welcoming. Vibe reminds me of the gathering place to enjoy Cantonese cuisine. We ran into a familiar face, a businessman that decided to treat a few construction workers during lunch and he only had wonderful compliments to share about this restaurant. Our entrees remained intact and hot for half an hour drive home. We're over the moon for Beef Broccoli on Fried Rice and Minute Chicken with Crispy Noodle. My better half knows I'm very picky when consuming beef broccoli and fried rice. Thinly sliced marinated beef tasted tender and succulent. Broccoli cooked to perfection. Both ingredients combined with light sauce. This entree hit the spot in one bite. Moving forward, I won't hesitate to order and highly recommend beef broccoli from this restaurant. With just a few key ingredients, fried rice was quite tasty. Minute chicken pieces were very moist and tender. No bones. Minced, fresh garlic accompanied by light tasting sauce complemented minute chicken, tasty bok choy, and delicious, thin crispy noodles. Free parking behind inside the lot. We will consider dine in for a future visit. read more

Moon Garden Restaurant - Minute chicken with crispy noodles - Seafood Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Love this place. Fried tofu---yum. Light and crispy with a shrimp surprise in the middle. Beef scallion was gingery and tender. Minute chicken cake noodles were on point. You know you're in a legit Chinese restaurant when the majority of the patrons are speaking Chinese. Parking in the back. I have yet to try the ribs! read more

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This will still be my favorite Chinese place. Although business looks slower for them, which I think COVID has affected all Business. It's the closet reminder of my parents homemade Chinese food. My parents are currently in Vegas so I came here... Some old photo drop and new photos. We had the salted fish fried rice, Chinese broccoli (gai Lan) and drunken clams. I don't remember drunken clams being cold but it was still yummy. read more

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Moon Garden is always a family favorite of ours! If you are looking for a true and authentic Chinese banquet style experience, then this is it the place. Customer service is true to Chinese style, grumpy, no acknowledgement, non verbal. Just be patient and be mindful that English is their second language. Lots of delicious, Chinese comfort food. Tasty and authentic. read more

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Food was good like the Chinese food there. Only the seating was limited. I suggested getting the char Siu ribs. Have to order some in advance. read more

Good food: lots of Chinese comfort food favorites. Good service - have to be mindful English isn't their first language Great for take out. The interior isn't very big, kind of old, and parking lot is small. read more

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Every time I go here I am never disappointed! On Christmas Day they ran out of broccoli but they called me back and asked if I was ok with another veg and gave me a choice. The cake noodle was fried to perfection! Even with the gravy in the dish when I got home it was still crispy! The staff was sooo friendly! I will definitely be back more often. read more

WHAT I ATE - HAWAII @ Moon Garden Restaurant 578 N Vineyard Blvd, Honolulu, HI Old School, Classic Honolulu Chinese Food @ Moon Garden Restaurant We were meeting with one of my wife's friends for lunch at a real old school chinese restaurant in the Liliha-Palama neighborhood. The area can be sketchy at night, so best time would be daylight hours for dining there. It's a good hangout to listen in on locals having lunch or dinner there. I'm sure some lively conversation can be heard! One item I cannot find anywhere in the mainland is Crispy Gau Gee! And another item my wife is hard pressed to find, is Cake Noodle. Both menu items can be had at Moon Garden and they do both fantastically! Another dish we don't see often is the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs, that you have to order at least the day before. The clams were also a winner, but we couldn't tell if they were raw, or pre-cooked, chilled and served cold. Either way, they were delicious! Just expect that the dish is served cold. Fresh Chinese Vegetable of the day is a must to round out the meal. Moon Garden is one of those places we have to fit into our itinerary when we travel to Oahu. VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/iyHSeNocCSw read more

We really really had high hopes for this place and I'm sure they have their good days and bad but.. our fried rice was so greasy and it also had a HAIR in it. The fried tofu was PLAIN no spinach bed. NOTHING. The cold ginger chicken was straight out of the fridge and they only gave us 1 small ramekin of ginger sauce. The salt and pepper pork chops were cooked to perfection and delicious. The Walnut shrimp was not tossed in the signature sweet sauce and once again we were given 1 small ramekin of that sauce to toss the shrimp in. I tired to make it work but some shrimp were only half coated. What's going on? There were so many good reviews that it was like we almost went to a whole different restaurant! read more

Moon Garden Restaurant is located on Vineyard Blvd heading West on the right hand side. They have a private lot but it can get full so parking will be in the residential area if you're able to find any. Another option that I heard of is parking in the Times parking lot but I don't recommend it because your vehicle can be towed. If you're lucky, there is parking on Vineyard Blvd. The interior is a typical Chinese restaurant but surprisingly nicer and cleaner than what you would expect from driving by on the outside. There are two larger tables and a handful of smaller tables in the dining room. My last dining experience was good but they did forget to turn on the AC so it was hot! We were sweating till we asked them to turn on the AC. Aside from that, the meal was a success. I preordered the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs for the meal. Originally we had a party of 5 but ended up with just 4 of us. On top of the slab of Honey BBQ Pork Ribs, we ordered House Special Crispy Noodle (Gravy Style), Ong Choy w/Shrimp Paste, Drunken Clam, House Special Free Range Chicken w/Ginger & Green Onion Sauce (half), Fried Pork Chop w/Salt & Pepper and Kow Yuk w/Taro. Everything was good and the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs was a hit. Looking forward to coming back with a larger group to order more items on their menu. read more

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The Food was very good, we had walnut shrimp, free range ginger chicken and house special cake noodle. We asked for mustard, but you don't need it.. the food was so favorably! This is our go to place for Chinese food! read more

Very tasty Chinese food. Just have to remember to order special items 24 hrs in advance. Service is good. read more

The BEST Honey Barbeque Ribs!! So meaty and yummy delicious!! Great service and generous portions of TASTY goodness!! read more

Solid restaurant for Chinese food. My family just Devoured a pan of noodles and chicken, chow fun and clams! Enjoyed the soft while little crispy chicken. My sister loves clams and can eat an entire order by herself, we should've ordered two Easy to order, and pick up They have a parking lot, lots of parking available read more

Moon Garden Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I finally came to Moon Restaurant after bookmarking this place ages and ages ago. Decided I wanted to do quick Chinese takeout for lunch. Don't know where their parking was but it was convenient to stop by curbside and wait for the order. It took a bit of time to order on the spot and wait, got a bit irritated because there were literally no other customers. I would definitely suggest calling ahead to order. The minute chicken choisum over fried cake noodles was very very good. Chicken wasn't rubbery and they gave generous amounts of choisum. Fried noodles were a little less than proportional, and weren't very crispy but I don't mind it personally. The shrimp snow pea and mushrooms stirfy was decent, shrimp was okay. I was more partial to the snow peas and mushrooms in the sauce. They put it in such a small container though! Food is good but prices for Chinese takeout are going up alot in Oahu and portion sizes are decreasing. Wouldn't go here often, unless I was really craving that yummy minute chicken and in the area. But I can understand the hype! read more

Moon Garden Restaurant - Minute Chicken & Shrimp stir fry with snow peas - Seafood Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

My family have lunch here every Sunday after church. Our favorite dishes are seafood emain, fried rice noodle, black pepper beef, minced pork green beans, roasted pork ribs, fish soup and winter melon soup. read more

Moon Garden Restaurant has been our go-to Chinese restaurant since its opening in mid-2009. I'll credit my father, who recommended this family-owned restaurant located in the Buck Toy Club building on Vineyard Boulevard. He had spotted this restaurant under construction during one of his visits to the clubhouse. My parents' families were immigrants from Buck Toy, a hamlet of Leong Doo of the Zhongshan District in Guangzhou Province who came to Hawai'i in the late 1800s to start businesses in Honolulu and Hilo. The Buck Toy Club was established in 1885, and by the mid-to-late 1940s, its building committee purchased this Vineyard Boulevard property. This building was built as an ancestral hall or home to the nine significant families of Buck Toy. The purpose of the Buck Toy Club is to promote social contact among the descendants of Buck Toy. Anyway, I digress. Thanks to our State's reopening plan and the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, fellow Yelp Elite Lora C coordinated this intimate get-together with other fully vaccinated friends. Each guest was happy to suggest dishes to Lora to pre-order instead of ordering items when we arrived at the restaurant. She had tried to book our get-together at another Chinese restaurant, but the original venue wasn't responsive, so she changed it to the more accommodating Moon Garden Restaurant. Admittedly, even though Moon Garden Restaurant has been our go-to for years, the pandemic kept us away for the past year, and we were excited to return. Also, thanks to Terry K, who unfortunately couldn't make it, and fellow Elite and dining mate, Dan O, for providing extra snacks or favors. We all arrived promptly at 5 PM, and once we were all seated, Lora gave the go-ahead to our server to begin. A partition separated another large party in the restaurant. We wanted to make sure our pre-ordered dishes would be prepared and delivered promptly, er, in advance of that other large party. We were a party of six people, and our menu consisted of 7 dishes that had flavors to include "something for everyone" but leaned more towards seafood. Moon Garden's portions are pretty generous, so Lora agreed to place single orders for each dish. - Minced Beef with Egg White Soup AKA West Lake Soup $10.50 - Salt & Pepper Prawns $12.95 - House Special Free Range Chicken (Half) with Ginger & Green Onion Sauce $14.95 - Honey BBQ Pork Ribs (1 slab) $24.00 - Steamed Fish Fillets $12.95 - Tofu with Black Mushrooms and Choy Sum $10.95 - Fried Rice with Salted Fish and Diced Chicken $11.95 We didn't realize that one of our guests had a food allergy toward shellfish and eggs until we got there but, she was able to enjoy the chicken, pork, vegetables, and fried rice. All in all, we all enjoyed the get-together with good food and great company. It's so lovely to see and meet in person rather than in virtual meetings, and we realized how much we have missed dining at this Chinese restaurant. read more

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Moon Garden Restaurant is a hidden gem. We visited this place the first time after our friends made reservations for us. We are always seeking good Chinese food places, that have declined as restaurant owners are retiring and either closing down or selling to others. The special pork ribs were preordered by our friend who's visited here often. Wow, the ribs were delicious, tender and flavorful. We ate family style with 5-6 dishes. Second we had this beef pepper slice dish that was also delicious and tender. Next was the half order of roast duck that was super delicious, tender, and meaty. We had the honey walnut shrimp that had large portions of shrimp & delicious. The youngster with us wanted wonton soup and boy, they were delicious and freshly prepared, not premade or frozen. It came with chinese greens. Thev steamed fish filets with ginger onions were deliciously flavorful and tender. Next was the stir fried long beans that were cooked to perfection, firm & tender, with minced pork. We also enjoyed the choysum with ginger dish, and a buckchoy, mushroom & fried tofu dish. The beef chow fun dish was also delicious and was consumed by all. We also order an e-min dish that was delicious too. We are definitely returning and letting our friends and family about this re read more

Three stars because the food ordered tonight was inconsistant from the last time we ordered, the Oyster sauce chicken over crispy noodles. This time the noodles came crispy, but the portion of chicken was only 1/2 of what we got the last time we were here? The roast duck was consistant and tasty. The place is small, so we we've been lucky to get a table when we go there, I do love the fried tofu, you can get it stuffed with shrimp, or pork hash. They also offer it with spinach. Another great dish is the salt and pepper pork chops or the shrimp. Both good choices. Free parking and clean restroom inside... read more

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(Return of the Mack) It is (Return of the Mack) Come on (Return of the Mack) Oh my God (You know that I'll be back) Here I am (Return of the Mack) Once again Return of the Mack Mark Morrison After closing down for a period of time during the heights of COVID, the restaurant re-opened and it's back! Previously, my chief complaint was the portions, it came in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" sizes and the restaurant reversed itself for the better. The prices and menu are pretty such the same. For a more detailed review for the specific items, check out Rod U writeup, after reading that one, there not much I can contribute. It's good to have this place back... "Return of the Mac" for sure. read more

Note: COVID era takeaway review. No dine-in at this time. There back! And with them, the Island's best honey BBQ ribs. Glistening, tender, beautifully roasted spare ribs you can practically suck off the bone. (24 hour advance order still required). Some things stay the same, others are different. - Same great flavors making it one of the best Chinese eateries in line with the "authenticity" of Chinatown. Omnipresent wok hei in sautéed dishes, nothing excessively seasoned, and no added MSG (Uncle Roger put leg down). - Same recommendation of avoiding gweilo dishes. It's not their forte. - Same prices. - Different ingredients. High end tenderloin replaced with cheaper cuts of well marinated (Chinese wine to tenderize), thinly sliced beef. Free ranged chicken replaced with "everyday" chicken. - Different quantity. Portions are now HUGE. Containers of noodles nearly bursting, double the amount of beef by weight in the black pepper beef. - Same standouts including the dried scallop soup, black pepper beef, kau yuk with taro, cold ginger chicken, minute chicken cake noodles and any of their wok made veg + protein combo thanks to the impressive wok hei. Special mention of their Jai. Outstanding. Loaded with ingredients, not thickened with cornstarch, not overpowered with seasoning. The special to celebrate Chinese New Year adds the dried oysters and ginko nuts. Four visits since their reopening two months ago; consistent. Note: Because of the new logistics of only servicing customers only at the door, phone etiquette is uhhh, yeah. "Busy right now, call back" then disconnect to "Hello, Moon..." drops the phone, to "What you like?" hearing another conversation as you're speaking then "Wait. I not listening to you". Patience and understanding will get you fed. A great way to welcome 4719, the year of the ox! . read more

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I'm really glad that this restaurant survived the pandemic. I ate there this week, the first time in ages, and it seems to be thriving. It's a small restaurant, and by the time I left (around 8pm) the place was packed. The house specialty cake (crispy) noodles, sweet-sour pork and walnut shrimp were solid and satisfying. Their website menu is outdated; prices are generally $14.95-$15.95 per dish. Also, they don't serve alcohol any more. Service took some time. They're working hard and are probably understaffed, like so many businesses these days. read more

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The nicest little hole in the wall place on vineyard. Lots of parking. The restaurant is dated and has sticky carpet but the food is authentic and tasty! Prices are reasonable. Convenient to pick up take out without having to go into Chinatown read more

I'm a firm believer in "Good Things Comes To Those Who Wait." I waited. I waited for the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs, and I was left happy and satisfied. Normally, pre-pandemic, you had to preorder the BBQ Ribs at least a day in advance. Yeah, it's not difficult to do that, but whenever we go eat at Chinese restaurants, it's never preplanned. It's always like "I'm hungry. Want to go eat? Sure!" At this time, we weren't sure whether or not Moon Garden began dine-in service, but we just went there to check since it's been a while. It's still takeout only. There's a table blocking the door to let you know. There's menus take away menus to look at to decide what to order. I noticed a new addition to the inside. It's a roast meat station hanging roast pork and char siu, and I noticed there were two pieces of Honey BBQ RIBS hanging there. Waiting for me. I was thinking they must be preorders ready for someone else, but I had to ask. To my delight, they were available!! Finally! That's not all we got. The Black Mushroom with Choy Sum was very good. The mushrooms were excellent quality and rehydrated nicely. The Choy Sum were cooked well to a nice crunch. The flavor was spot on and not overpowering. The Steamed Fish Filet was excellent!! The sauce was in a container rather than over the fish, which is great so it wouldn't spill out or turn the fish being soaked in a soy sauce for a long period of time. The fish was nicely cooked. It was tender and moist, and the sauce had excellent flavor. The finishing oil scalding the scallions and ginger was notable and really enhanced the fish and gave it a nice aroma. The Young Chow Style Fried Rice was very good. First notable thing was the wok heat essence. Gotta love that! Second thing was the big pieces of shrimp. It wasn't those tiny, minuscule shrimp where you need hundreds of them to make a pound. The rice wasn't oily and had good flavor all around. Now for the star, the Honey BBQ Pork Ribs. When I ordered this, I noticed both rack of ribs were gone. Wait, one order is two racks?? Perhaps because I got pretty big portion. More than I imagined. This is the best. I tried Yong's Kitchen before, and it's not even close. I'm glad as I was thinking maybe the main person making the BBQ Ribs at Moon Garden previously did move to Yong's Kitchen. The meat was juicy, tasty, tender, and fall off the bone. Even the lean parts that look like it's dry, it's not. The flavor goes through very well, and the taste is spot on. It's a nice mix of sweet and savory. Almost like Char Siu taste, but less sweet. My mouth is watering just typing this. Overall, Moon Garden is still the unquestioned, undisputed best Chinese restaurant here. The flavors are spot on. The food is very well prepared. The portions are huge. The prices are incredibly reasonable. The staff is friendly. There's nothing more to ask for. Sure, a bigger place would be nice so it wouldn't be jam-packed all the time when there was dine-in service, but a small place like this has a charm and the cooks won't be in the weeds in a smaller place. Quality over quantity. Worth the wait! read more

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Service was fast. Amazing food! We got the crispy noodles, half duck, seafood fried rice, walnut shrimp. It was all pretty large portions read more

Moon Garden Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Hello guys, I looked this up on yelp and saw a 4 star plus review, however when I first drove up to this place I was skeptical, don't let the building make you consider anything different. I did see a bunch of locals walking in to it to the point it was almost completely full. We decided to go in and oh my god I am glad we did. We first ordered Hot and sour soup, it was made the way it should be. Next we ordered Peking duck, that may have been spot on. After that we ordered mu shu pork, fantastic, and finally it was the Mongolian beef. That too was good. Over all I would recommend this restaurant to someone who really like the taste of food rather than the ambiance. We will make this restaurant our go to for authentic Chinese every time we visit Oahu. The owners are very humble and nice. Cheers read more

Everything is tasty Good customer service too! They packed well for take out. Went back in 2 days read more