Should I be writing this review considering that I never ate a manapua in my life? Whatever, my friends claimed that Royal Kitchen has the best manapua in town and they offer a variety of fillings: pork, kalua pig, coconut, red bean, sweet potato, curry chicken and etc. But to top of the manapua, they also serve other Chinese delicacies like half moon, pork hash, chow mein, chow funn and fried rice. I tried their chow mein today and it totally has the local fried noodle flavor, just like it was off a manapua truck. If you are like me and like mustard on your noodles, they will gladly put in the dipping sauce for you. The shop was cute with four old Chinese ladies serving up the lunch line. Man, they were fast and friendly. I also had an interesting encountered when I was there today, there was an architect sitting right outside the shop and sketching patrons facial expressions. It was kinda weird for me in the beginning, but now, looking at my face sketch, it was kinda cool. read more

Just love their Chinese chicken salad. Best to call Ih the order before going there. Or you have to wait a while for it. Also I love their vegetarian baked Manapua there. They also have varieties of Manapuas there too! Along with chow mein, chow fun, and some other Chinese side dishes. read more

The veggie bun we bought today has a foul smell, either the filling inside is spoiled or they used bun made not from today to sell. read more

Royal Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

One of my aunts led us here. It's within the same vicinity as Legends Dim Sum, just a couple hundred feet away. Ordered the Baked Vegetarian Bun. The outside was fluffy and white, the inside filling was a little paltry. It's ok, not spectacular. I miss Patty's Dim Sum @ the Ala Moana Shopping Center that closed. I mourn their demise. Their filling sank the bao, really weighed it down. As far as the jin dui, it was thick and chewy, though on the greasy side. It contained more black bean filling than the one at Legends. Which means, if you walk by, it's ok, I wouldn't go out of your way for this manapua. read more

Dumpy place with the BEST jin dui I have found on island. They also sell many other dim sum - like desserts and so firth. Only two blocks from home read more

Royal Kitchen - Regular, on the left, and coconut jin dui on the right - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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"Pillows of meat or vegetables in a delicate bun" is how I'd describe the Manapuas from Royal Kitchen. So. Real. On vacation, we stumbled upon this hidden gem. A small storefront tucked into the Chinatown Commons Plaza in Honolulu, HI. When I say "small", I mean small like literally you can fit one single file line in front of the food that you are about to order. Joint was tiny. They serve hot dishes like Stuffed Bittermelon with Beef and something that looked like Chicken Adobo, but their claim to foodie fame is their Manapuas. 6 or so you can choose from, Char Siu (Minced Pork), Vegetable, Chicken, Lap Chuong (Chinese Sausage) and two others I can't remember. We went with the Chicken and Char Siu. Too good. The bread encapsulating the filling is light and the filling is perfectly seasoned, I don't know how you can steer yourself wrong... When you're in the area, stop in.... Don't let the sketchiness of it fool you, it's all legit. Happy Bday Biggie. Lol. read more

Royal Kitchen - An almost game over'd Char Siu Manapua. Jesus take the wheel, it's too good. - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The bestest baked manapua around! The have an awesome variety of baked goods...........from the classic char sui which has alot of filling to the chicken curry, black sugar, kalua pig, sweet potato, vegitarian, lup chong, portugese sausage. The pork hash is average and I think that they use too much MSG, the half moon is good too. Their plate lunch dishes also are good but too much MSG. read more

Royal Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

OK royal kitchen has one of the best Manapuas in town. But why are they so TIGHT with giving hot mustard??? Every time on multiple occasions I ask for two or three hot mustard they only give me one. And I said can I just get two more I can gladly pay for it and they give me such a hard time about. Seriously what's the big deal?! That why I hate coming here if not for their manapua being so good read more

Go for the baked buns. Half moon and pork hash imo no need to try. Looks like a yelped kind of place. Makes for a good snack place to buy and eat on the run. I parked on Berretania but lots of people there to validate parking. read more

Based on the great reviews, we gave this place a try for lunch. Not sure if we'll be back though. PARKING For Chinatown standards, the Chinese Cultural Plaza gets an A+ for lot parking. The first 30 minutes is FREE with validation, after which it's $1.50 for the next 30 minutes. We pulled in just before 12:00pm and easily found open stalls available. BAKED MANAPUA Still warm, bread exterior is fresh and soft with just the right amount of savoury sweetness. Chopped char siu filling is a good ratio of bread to filling and balanced in flavor. Baked manapua is slightly on the small side as compared to other takeout baked manapua. PORK HASH Although it had nice flavor, was not too salty or sweet, and had a great slightly chewy texture.....unfortunately, it was room temperature (cold) and on the smallish side. BLACK SUGAR JIN DUI Small amount of black sugar fulling. COCONUT JIN DUI Small amount of coconut filling which was an odd yellow color and a little on the dry side. STUFFED BITTERMELON Cooked in garlic black bean sauce, this dish is kept warm on their limited steam table. We found it to be one of the better choices available. There was no sweet 'n sour pigs feets either. The stuffed bittermelon isn't too salty or too sweet or too garlicky. The flavor of the sauce complimented the bitterness of the bittermelon and pork hash stuffing. Our personal preference would've been if the bittermelon encasing were cooked a bit more. It wasn't raw, bit it wasn't tender enough to our liking. CHOW FUN As our choice of starch for the one selection plate of stuffed bittermelon, the noodles are pleasantly thin with a nice chewy texture. It is cooked with just enough oil so as to not make the dish too greasy as other places tend to do. The reason some reviewers remark about the lack of flavor is probably because there's barely any seasoning added such as soy sauce or oyster sauce. It also doesn't appear to have much vegetable added to it either. CHAR SIU It was room temperature (cold) and varying in degrees of fat content and char preference. We requested the less charred pieces as the charred parts can be too inedibly burnt. The char siu is not too sweet and not too salty, however when eaten alone, we found one of the main ingredients in their marinade to be a little overpowering. Maybe five spice? Don't know. Even though we don't know the recipe, we found the flavor to be not as balanced as other char siu we've tried. ROAST DUCK What constitutes a roast duck to be a roast duck? Roasting! Not sure if their roast duck can be considered roast duck because it didn't appear roasted. The skin tells the whole story. We've seen baked chicken with crispier skin than their so-called roast duck. Also, the sweet sauce they provide is a hoisin sauce mixture. To us it was yuck! Duck was room temperature (cold). On the up side, it's not so salty like Nam Fong's.....but probably because they don't use too much seasoning. ROAST PORK Sold room temperature (cold). The main thing is it's skin is still nice and crispy. The pork meat is not too salty with a good amount of tender chewiness. read more

Royal Kitchen - Black Sugar Jin Dui, Coconut Jin Dui, Pork Hash, Baked Manapua - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Yay! Finally got to visit this place:)... This is what we ordered: BAKED CHAR SIU MANAPUA PORK HASH HALF MOON CHOW FUN BLACK SUGAR MANAPUA RICE CAKE my son and u enjoyed everything... Their manapua is soo fluffy and so awesome!!! BUT I was disappointed with their chow fun. No taste and very dry. I would have given them 3 stars, but because the lady behind the counter was sooo friendly and my 16 year old son kept saying, "mom! Thank you!! This is soo good!" It's only right that u give them 4 stars! Lol Definitely going back:) read more

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Preface: I am not a fan of charsiu (or whatever other filling) bao. When I was little, I would actually throw up sometimes when I smelled them......I have no idea why I'm such a weirdo and I have gotten over the whole throwing up thing. But to this day, I can't get myself to eat manapua or baked charsiu bao. Whyyyyyy did I drag myself into Royal Kitchen then? Especially since they specialize in bao?? It turns out my family LOVES them and my mom was picking up 3 dozen of these things for a potluck. I'm standing there looking at the food options in the display (they also have chow funn, different stirfrys, and bbq meats), none of them appealing to me...the food looks like it has been sitting awhile, uncovered, with 5 or more ladies pushing past each other, next to the food. The glass door is also wide open, the breeze fresh off the canal/homeless people outside, wafting in, over the food. One of the workers yells "NEXT!" and begins helping my mom with her order. Another one asks if I can be helped. Yes, I don't look like my mother, and I considerately decline and say that I'm with my mom. I mention to my mom that I dont really want anything from here, and walk down to the restaurant a few spaces down to see what they have.....more of the same chinese food. I head back to royal kitchen. During the time it took me to browse the other store fronts, my mom has gotten to the cash register and there is no line. As I walk through the open door, obviously towards the cashier, one lady yells, "ORDER HERE!". Is she talking to me?? It's the same lady that asked to help me before. "NO, I'm with her!" as I point to my mom. UGHHH, yes, I look caucasian. It doesn't look like I am my Chinese mother's daughter, no would you guess I can understand what youre saying about me in chinese. annoying.... p.s. I wish yelp would have a "dirty" or "unclassy" or "not trendy" option under "ambience". p.p.s. I did end up eating some of the roast pork my mom ordered in the car. It was pretty good, the skin part was crunchy too! read more

Royal Kitchen - Menu - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I think Royal Kitchen is one of the best places where you can eat Manapuas and Jin Duis in Honolulu. My friend had Cha siu Manapua and I had Coconut Jin Dui. She was like, "OMG, this is good!!". It was my first time to eat Coconut Jin Dui. I like it . It's not so sweet and has lots of sliced coconut meat. There may be some people waiting in line when you get there but the service is pretty fast. read more

I stopped here and loaded up on many different options but the steamed dumplings were my favorite. Great early morning stop before hitting a beach or going on a hike. read more

The parking lot opens at 7 a.m. there are about 10 parking stalls in the front on Beretania Street you can park for 10 minutes to pick up stuff read more

All the original best tasting manapua and pork hash shops are dwindling down so this is by far the only one still standing in my opinion. Great tasting original foods! Def a must try if you're looking for manapua and pork hash and other great tasting foods as well. read more

Good place for dim sum...entree choices are limited for plate lunches, cannot see choices because of the steam so gotta ask them to squeegee the glass. Parking is accessible read more

Always good. Always good tasting. Always friendly. Very quick and efficient service. Parking is a little tight though.

I've asked many people about where their favorite manapua comes from, and many have said Royal Kitchen. I've tried it before when people have brought some to me, but I've never been to the actual place until yesterday. I parked in front of Regal Bakery and walked to the other side of the area to get there. There's also a validated parking garage. They don't have steamed manapua, which was fine with me, as I love their baked manapua. It's soft and the meat is very tasty and moist. The pork hash was just the right size and delicious - it wasn't hard and dense like some places. We also got the Portuguese sausage manapua and it was a little spicy, which I loved. We also got some other stuff like coconut jin dui and half moon, which I didn't get to try but my family said was excellent. They also have a lot of other hot foods you can get either in a plate or in take out containers. The lady taking my order was very patient and friendly, which was very nice. I'll be coming back for more very soon! Highly recommend! read more

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When you think of Royal Kitchen, do you think of Chinese Chicken Salad? I didn't, but now I do. After many years of seeing the poster by the cash register while paying for their delicious roast pork, char siu, baked char siu & sweet potato Manapua, I finally gave in and ordered a salad. Now I know I definitely missed out all those years! There must have been an entire head of green lettuce in the clear plastic container & it was Super Fresh! Toppings included their moist & flavorful shredded roast chicken, slivers of carrot, mandarin oranges, and crushed peanuts. (Allergy alert! Those with peanut allergies can ask them to leave off the peanuts.). They very nicely had the fried won ton strips in a separate baggie so it wouldn't get soggy. Good thing too because it took me 3 meals to finish this monster salad! The dressing was creamy like Russian? Pretty good, and it wasn't oily like most Chinese Chicken Salad dressings. You would easily pay double for a salad like this at a restaurant. read more

Royal Kitchen - Chinese Chicken Salad - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

We did an all day hole in wall food tour of honolulu and The Royal Kitchen is the best there is for flavor and uniqueness. The only place where you can taste hawaiian bread wrapped around your favorite meats or sweets. I recommend the portugese sausage and kalua pork on the savory side (skip the curry chicken) and the banana on the sweet side. Too bad they don't ship to the mainland, I'd be first to order! read more

Royal Kitchen - I found this during the "Hole In The Wall" tour for foodies! BEST and MUST TRY! - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The very best baked Manapuas and pork hash in all of Hawaii. Been coming here for years....

As you enter, you can see all the baked maunapua on racks to the right of the counter. I decided to try their bbq pork, kahlua pork, portuguese sausage, chicken, chicken curry, sweet potato, a few half moons, and a few pork hash. All were tasty! I grew up eating "pork buns" in Oakland Chinatown and I can tell you that this is sooo much better! I liked the fluffiness of the bread. It tasted fresh and light...almost like eating pan de sal. (Not bready and dry and not doughy, which is common at average joints.) I had the right ratio of bread:meat to make my taste buds happy! The pork hash was delicious too. On the other hand, the half moons were ok, just better than average. The chopped chestnuts mixed with the meat gave it a li'l crunch, but the shell tasted starchy. I will come back here because of the convenience too. The attached parking garage makes it easy for $1 for the first hour. The lady at the counter kindly informed me that parking is free for the first 30 min. at the market. I arrived at 1:30PM on a Sunday and she told me that I "beat" the crowd. So, there's a hint if you don't want to wait in line too long! read more

Royal Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Royal kitchen is my go to for picking up some Manapua's. There parking is free for the first 30 min. When you get there make sure to pick a number so your not waiting for nothing. Their is clear glass storages so you can see all the food before you order. I love everything super tasty. You have to appreciate the old shops since their aren't many manapua shops either. read more

2.5 stars Baked manapua is my fav. I polled yelp & buddies for recommendations & Royal Kitchen floated to the top. Hustled over to ctown, found a metered parking spot & skipped over to select my baked buns. (FYI - they validate for the Chinese Cultural Center parking.) I bought the traditional cha siu manapua, kalua pig manapua & some cha siu for a friend. Each manapua cost $1.15 w/tax which I thought was a little pricey. Overall the manapua was ok - a bit too doughy & not enough meat filling - most of my bites were bun only. The portion of cha siu the lady boxed was too fatty. I guess I'll work my way down the baked manapua list... read more

Royal Kitchen is Royal Kitchen. Most local people don't need a review. It is what it has always been-a great place to get Manapua, and all the other fixins (gau, pork hash, half moon, etc.). If you haven't been here before, come by, take a number, and while you are waiting, try to figure out what you want! Try a little of everything! You probably can't with only one visit, and the portions are filling, but there's always next time!! read more

Best baked manapua on island!!! Bought to take outer island - pork hash, half moon, rice cake, gau!

Royal Kitchen is my go-to place when I need to pick up dim sum and Chinese food for a business meeting or potluck. I always get pepeiao, pork hash, and at least 2 each of their manapua variety. Baked Black sugar and Char siu are my favorite! Sometimes I only have 20 minutes to spare and I love how fast they are! They are efficient and the food is always satisfying. Parking is super convenient and they will validate with a purchase. The parking gets crowded around lunchtime so I try to go before 11:30. Just be sure you are ready with your order once it's your turn. These ladies mean business and try to get people in and out quickly. Not a bad thing at all since I'm always in a rush! read more

All dat and dim sum! Our office's go-to place when we gotta buy our grounds and facilities people "magical mahalo manapua" for when they help with events or just random asks from our department. Of course we always do an order for us as well...cuz who can resist?! So many flavors of manapua to choose from...classic charsiu, sweet potato or my newest fave--Portuguese sausage! Bonus--sometimes auntie slides in some extra goodies when we have to wait, free parking with validation...and yummy stuffed black bean bitter melon!!! read more

Love their pork stuffed bittermelon and manapuas. The bread is so soft and chewy. Staff are also friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend their dim sum. read more

Our go-to manapua spot when visiting Oahu. We always place an order on the morning of the day we're going back to Maui, of at least a dozen, if not two dozen, along with half moon. We pick it up on the way to the airport, parking in the validated lot in the back. There's almost no place to get manapua on Maui, especially baked manapua, so we eat a couple fresh ones, then freeze the rest to eat now and then. We like the softness of the bread and the good amount of charsiu mixture they put in the manapua. Yum, yum, yum!!! read more

Still one of my favorite places in Honolulu. I love the roast pork, the pork hash, half moons, char siu, and manapua. Today they introduced something new to me: Pumpkin in Black Bean Sauce. Another winner! Keep up the good work! read more

This place is an absolute must for anyone seeking fantastic manapua, pork hash, cha su pork and more. It May not look like much when your going past, but it is a classic "been there forever hole ion the wall" spot that has the best stuff. I brought baked manapua over for Easter to friends and when they saw the box everyone was saying "ooh Royal Kitchen." Go. Order. Eat. Be satisfied. And the people are sooooo nice. read more

If you're going to Maui, do your friends a favor and get them some of this manapua. It's only $22-ish for a dozen. I think they only make baked manapua, but it's one of the best. There's usually a wait/line so make extra time, not quite a grab and go fast kine. read more

This is a must eat when you visit Oahu... I decided to put this up on all my must eat lists... I am naturally bias about this place since my Aunty Mamo used to work here. But I tell you no lie, this is the best baked manapua on the island! I have eaten all of them except the vegetarian one (not my thing) and they are all nom nom! Must eats Char Siu Bao Lup Cheong Portuguese Sausage Kalua Pig Their dim sum is very good as well. shu mai is good but my heart belongs to Char Sung Hut. One thing that NO ONE has talked about is their Chinese chicken salad which is one of the best salads I've eaten anywhere. Aunty cuts each salad when its ordered. It's loaded with mandarin oranges, fresh shredded chicken, crushed almonds and fresh fried won ton strips. Super secret ninja status.. Trust me you will thank me!! Tips for Malahini: 1. Beware of Mahu's (tranny's) soliciting you for some mushu 2. Take your food to go! Kukui St. is not safe for you! We don't even eat there! 3. If you want to take some home, let them know and they will pack the cooled ones for you. This way they aren't all soggy when you open it up when you are back on the mainland. read more

This was our frst stop on the Hawaii Food Tour and it was an outstanding way to start our day! My family ordered the following: Char Siu, Portuguese Sausage, and Kahlua Pig. They were all delicious, but the Char Siu and Kahlua Pig were stand-outs. The bread was light and fluffy and the meat fillings were so fresh and tasty. We each had one to sample and my son begged me to buy more. I bought 3 each of Char Siu and Kahlua Pig and they were all gone by the end of the day. Our tourguide also gave us the history of Manapua and that made it even more special. They also have several hot foods that also looked delicious, but we were hooked on the manapua! :-) If we had the opportunity, we would have gone back again before our vacation ended, but it didn't work out. We will crave this little pouches of heaven and Royal Kitchen will likely be our first stop the next time we are on the island! read more

Royal Kitchen - Manapua! - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Need to bring a dish at my niece house for Super Bowl Sunday. Their Pupu Platter for $66.00. Is very worth the price plus it was ono. read more

Royal Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Have you ever been to Royal Kitchen before? It's a Hawaii staple. You come here when you need to kiss someone's okole...just buy a dozen manapuas & all will be good. First, you park in their free parking lot by River Street, walk in the store & grab a number! I get the regular charsiu manapua or the Portuguese hotdog manapua! Their plates are Ono too :) Don't forget to get the rice cakes & pork hash mustard shoyu on the side. read more

Royal Kitchen - 6.50 for all this! - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This is my favorite Manapua stop while here on Oahu. Char siu bao delicious. There are lots of other goodies here. Love the half moons and pork hash. Yummmmm! If you're in the mood for Manapua and other goodies. Go early morning and let them know to pack it for interiskand if you're going to bring some back to the other islands. read more

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Introduced to this place by the Hole in the Wall Food Tour. Get the char sieu or the curry chicken manapua. Really delicious. The Portuguese sausage was good too. First time having manapua. They use a baked dough here rather than a steamed one as is apparently the common method. Reminded me a lot of Czech kolaces with klobasnik. read more