We always visited Willow Tree when we visited Hawaii. Their kabli was always good. I will try to get there early because it tends to have people waiting if you go there during peak hours. Highly recommend it if you are in Kailua. read more

The food here is so delicious! I'm so used to the Japchae at fast food places so I was pleasantly surprised theirs had meat and lots of veggies in it and so delicious. I love their little squared shoyu potatoes, it's not deep fried. Everything was delicious. But I wish they gave an itemized receipt. read more

We love this place!! The Food and service is great. Food comes out fast and never a disappointment. My cousin tried the butterfish at many places and said it is the best she's had. I totally agree! Our favorites are the chicken katsu, meat Jun, kalbi bi, pork ton katsu, bbq chicken and butterfish. read more

Soooo Ono! Willow Tree restaurant in Kailua was our Saturday dinner choice. We got it right before the dinner rushed, and it got packed really quickly. I give them credit as they handled the rush like a boss. The people who were eating in and the people who picked up phone orders. Speaking of phone orders that was going off the hook as well. The two waitresses were on point and never got frazzled with all that was happening. They apologized for the delay in food delivery, and they also advised the people walking in of the estimated wait time. That was AWESOME. Ok, now the food - I ordered BBQ chicken ($18.95), and she got the meat juhn ($19.95). Both tender and packed with flavor. The banchan was also so Ono. So if you're in the Kailua area, check them out and thank me later. The ambiance is good. Nothing fancy but she go! read more

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The Willow tree restaurant did not disappoint. It was some of the best Korean food that we had on the island. Food was excellent wait staff was great couldn't have asked for a better experience. read more

I got take out here. Super nice service. They even gave me hot tea while i was waiting for my take out. Meat jun was tender and good sauce. Bulgogi was decent. I like the meat jun better. Nice sides. Prob not as many cuz i get take out. I'll go everyday read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Meat jun and bulgogi plate lunch - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

Amazing experience here today from the servers to the food ! 5 stars is not enough for this place ! The ambience is pleasant, the servers are super friendly, attentive & very helpful. I definitely will come back to try many more menu items. Their prices definitely cannot be beat especially because their food is obviously prepared with so much love. Our highest regards to the cooking staff for the delicious Michelin-Star worthy cuisine ! Evetything is delicious. The people are all very nice. Exceptional dining experience. What a wonderful first impression. You will not be disappointed. We felt like valuable customers for sure ! read more

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You can smell the kalbi when you're in the near neighborhood. Delicious mom and pop restaurant. Service is always good. Little pricey but can't beat the lunch special. Ambiance looks the same for as long as I can remember. I liked it more when it was a byob but I understand why they stopped it. They like it quite. Was scared when they closed down for so long during covid and so happy when they re opened. read more

As always the food is excellent! I would just recomend that the servings are heaping, I don't mind paying the price, but at the same time I would like to get the monies worth, the portions could be better. read more

Amazing food and friendly people. The best chicken katsu I have ever had! A must!!! Great portion and budget friendly. Highly recommend! read more

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Not sure what's happening at the Willow Tree. Walked in, signed in, waited a few minutes to seated, business as usual. But after being seated, it's like we (4) weren't there. No menus for several minutes, no waters, after several minutes the menus arrived. But because we're "regulars" here. We already knew what we wanted to order. But another 11 minutes went by and zero acknowledgment. So we got up to leave, the sad part was, both the waiter and waitress saw us get up and they didn't even attempt to convince us to stay or apologize for their poor customer service. Went next door to Dai Ichi, got seated within 20 seconds, menu and water within a minute. Placed our order and food came out with faster than I could finish typing this review. Chalking this up as a "bad day" for the servers. We'll be back (maybe) and if the service doesn't improve. Next review will follow. read more

I went for the jap chae as a take-out order. It was delicious. they use a thinner yam noodle, though. The first restaurant I called was kind enough to tell me their jap chae was a soup dish. Their customers didn't like the original recupe. Sign of the times? Typical neighborhood atmosphere. Friendly and helpful cashier. read more

My new favorite Korean restaurant !!! The meat jun is the best I have ever eaten !! Service is amazing and this place is excellent for dine in or take out !!! Love It read more

We were staying at the Kaneohe Marine Base Lodge and craving Korean food. This place hit the spot! Delicious food, generous portions and very friendly staff. Will definitely come back here again when in the Windward side of the island. 5 stars! read more

We were debating between the ramen store next door or willow tree. Ramen turned us down with several roaches pic. Glad we made the right choice. Side dishes have one time free refill. Our LO loved the fried mandoo. We were only gonna order the combo: kalbi and bulgogi but also got recommended with the Meat Jun. We enjoyed it a lot. Kalbi and bulgogi were good as expected. Wait alert: we came around 6:40pm and waited 1 hour. There were 8 seats only. read more

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Maybe it was just a take-out order but for $25 for almost bare plates. 2 pieces of tofu in my veggie rice plate. House sauce is like vinegar mixed with water. Pretty outraged, for $100. Won't be going back. Not what I remember when I was in school. read more

I love the kalbi plate here. It is on the pricey side not gonna lie but the meat is so soft and has the perfect marinade. I always get that with the fish jun plate and do take out. My husband gets the tofu chigae and all this feeds our family of 4. read more

10/10 always. Whenever I'm in Kailua / Kaneohe this is always a must. This time I took my dad to enjoy it as well. The spicy chicken Katsu and Kalbi is next level. Love the olden feel in the restaurant as well. Like it was preserved in time. Awesome service as well! read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

Consistent, delicious, family owned! I've coming here for 15+ years, and can tell you first hand, this place has reliably high quality dishes and kind staff. A staple of the Windward side! read more

Walked in with my wife on a Friday night and were immediately seated. We were warned that due to high influx of takeout orders, it may be about 45 minutes till we got our food, which we were okay with. Our food definitely came faster than 45 minutes which was much appreciated. The kalbi, meat jun, spicy katsu and sides were bangin'! So ono. Service was good too. On a side note, when we got our waters, my "clean" glass had a lipstick stain on it. Pretty gross. But I love this restaurant, so I won't ding them for it. But if the owners see this review, please ensure the dishes are washed a bit better. read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Sizzling kalbi - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

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I regularly ate here for 20 years so on a trip back. I had to eat here. It was so good, we went twice. Love the combo lunch ($21) but you get so much, so flavorful and I have a hard time deciding on 3 choices. I love their clear turnip soup, kim chee and veggies. The meat jhun is so tender it almost melts in your mouth...spicy is spicy so think twice before ordering the spicy bbq but if you like spice hot it is good. The kalbi, mandoo and long rice are winners too.tge service is attebtive. Family owned not a fancy place but so good. In the Aikahi Shopping Center...one of the few restaurants that I dont mind waiting in line for a table. read more

If you looking for good Korean food in Kailua, I would recommend Willow Tree Korean Restaurant! They are also known by others even from my friends from Town to have the King Kalbi. One night for dinner, I shared with a friend the King Kalbi on a sizzling platter and the delicious butterfish in a pot! The two dishes were amazing! Meat was so flavorful as well as the butterfish! There is a Willow Tree Special for dinner which is popular as well as another of my favorite of mine, bi-bim-kooksoo! It was delicious and I usually ask for it to be mild. It's all mixed for you than how other restaurants make it. If you're a fan of Jahp chae, you can order it ala carte and it has meat and veggies inside than some take out places offer it as one of their sides. Normally I go for the 3-choice lunch special as long it's ordered between 11am-4pm. Good variety of choices when you don't know what to get. It's worth it to pay $0.50 more to get the spicy chicken katsu. I like their spicy pork and their mandoo is good. They serve you squash soup when you dine in. During this Covid pandemic, they are just doing take out. Wished they were open on Sundays but they are closed. Please support this family-run business at the Aikahi Shopping center in Kailua near the Kaneohe Marine Base. Thanks for reading my review =) read more

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Food was delicious! Thumbs up to the spicy chicken Katsu! Servers were friendly and gave us recommendations on what to order. This is our first time and it did not disappoint. We will definitely come back again. read more

Visited after a long hike & I do not regret our choice one bit!! Food was ono, good ol classic hospitality, and great price!! Ambiance is warm & homey. 10/10 recommend! read more

Service - five stars. Ambiance - four stars because the booths are well separated. Food - four stars. We all had a lunch combo of some kind. It's the best deal and you get three choices for $18.95. While not an over abundance of food like some Korean restaurants, there's definitely more than enough for regular sized appetites and will feed most with a larger appetite. They only serve kimchee instead of all the usual ban chan dishes, but not sure if it's because we all for lunch combos, where you can get veggies (Korean style picked veggies that usually has sea weed, but not here - just daikon and carrots), soy bean sprouts, cabbage salad with dressing, OR mac salad. We all opted for the veggies and each one was delicious. Oh yes, the kimchee was very good, too. First combo was fried mundoo, meat Jun, bbq chicken. Second was fried mundoo, fish Jun, meat Jun. Third was fish Jun, meat Jun, bbq chicken. Everyone enjoyed their food. I thought the fish Jun was a tad bit dry, but it was definitely ok. Meat Jun was tender. Fried mundoo was tasty. Sauces were good. The fish and meat Jun came with a non-spicy sauce, The mundoo sauce was a tiny bit spicy. Rice came in a separate bowl and was enough. Ordered a side of meat Jun to go for dinner. Amount of meat was on for the price. Family thought the meat was tender and enjoyed it. I would eat here again if I'm in the area but wouldn't make a special trip out. Would not get the fish Jun (it really was ok, just not as good as the other items). It was busy but not packed the day we were there (Wednesday). (We arrived right at 11. There were two other groups there at opening, too.) Friend said it gets really busy for dinner so I guess you need to get there early. Note: you can create a two choice combo from the general dishes (plates) for $1 more than the more expensive entree. read more

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Willow Tree Koean Restaurant prepares the the best thick kal-bi on the east side of Oahu. Located in the Aikahi Shopping Center, WT is very busy during dinner times. The Bonchan is very good. Just be aware that you cannot get free refills. It will cost you a few bucks depending on what you want. This is unusal, but the reason according to our server is that they make all their bonchan from scratch. The thick kal-bi is the best. Very meaty, tender and extremely tasty. It's the best ( and most expensive) selection on the menu. Well worth ordering once in a while. My wife loves the Kalbi here. We make a point to visit everything we visit home in Kailua. read more

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The staff is always super friendly, the food is bomb, and the wait time isn't too bad. Order side spicy katsu sauce and pour it on whatever you're earring. Also, turnip soup is soooo yummy. read more

From the moment you walk in you are welcomed like family. Clean and warm feeling to this establishment. The food was fresh and delicious. Large portions. You can see the care and pride they take in their food. read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Special - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

Love the food very clean and great flavors and the service very nice and pleasant . We go there a lot ..

The food is always to perfection and portions are plentiful The service is top notch Have never had a bad experience here. Gage and Bobby are so personable read more

My favorite meal in the whole world. Crave it on a yearly basis. All the little appetizers they give you are incredible. I leave absurdly full but satisfied every time. read more

The best bang for your buck. Lunch combo is well worth the price and everything is so tasty. Nice variation of meats to order. The portion sizes are large and heaping amount of rice. Friendly staff and very welcoming. Personal preference the mac salad has a lot of mayo - however that's just my tastebuds. Otherwise willow tree is always our obvious choice. read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Lunch combo - chicken katsu, kalbi, bulgogi with Mac salad - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

Here visiting friends and they suggested I try this place since I was in the mood for Korean BBQ. I'm just sad I didn't know about this place sooner. Let me first address the portion size. If you can't eat a whole lot of food in 1 sitting, you're set for another meal of not 2. The portion size is huge! I got the make your own combo plate but I wasnt expecting so much food. Happy with the surprise. Next the flavors. Ooowee they marinated it so good, I could slap my mama! (That's an old southern saying to express how good the food is. I would never do such a thing! Lol) from my first bite of Kim chi to my last bite because my belly was so full, I couldn't get enough of it! The pork was actually spicy a good amount. Had to keep rice and water on hand because my mouth was pleasantly on fire and the beef was exactly what you expect and want in a kalbi dish. The quality... let's just say they exceed my expectations when it comes to the quality of meat they use. With beef, I expect to be tough and chewy or the pork is dry and just mediocre. However, Willow Tree is does not skimp on anything and it was all cooked to perfection. I was hesitant to go here since I really love the Korean BBQ places you get to cook the meat on your own, but I'm so impressed with my experience here. Everything was incredible! read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - White rice, Kim chi, tofu, potatoes, and small salad appetizers - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

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One of the best Korean restaurants in Hawaii! The kalbi plate is the best with thick cut ribs brought out on a sizzling platter with sautéed onions. Other menus items are great as well, but go for the kalbi. You won't be sorry. Owners and their staff are always friendly. read more

Best chicken katsu and meat jun on the island. The consistency of the crust on the chicken Katsu is impeccable - light and crispy. With most chicken katsu, I can only eat a few pieces before I feel too gross from all the grease, but with this chicken Katsu, I can eat the whole thing. The meat jun is also delicious - the egg batter is very nicely pan fried around the beef. This little store in Kailua can get deceptively busy - it can be hard to tell from the outside how bustling it is inside, especially since they fulfill a lot of takeout orders. If you go for dinner, I recommend going on the earlier side like 5 PM to beat the crowd. The kimchi with the takeout is also very ono! read more

Ordered 2 choice for $21.95. Had to ask how much it was because I didn't see any pricing for it. Had the bbq chicken and bulgogi (thin sliced ribeye). Came with one scoop rice, kimchi, few pieces of tofu, pieces of potato, and bean sprouts. The bbq chicken was, okay; it was cooked just right. I thought it had more taste than Sadies' bbq chicken. Portion size wasn't that much. The bulgogi was tender and easy to eat. What I liked about it was that it didn't have that tough muscle/fat piece along the edge. Thumbs-up for that. It being bbq, the taste wasn't too strong - it grew on me the more I ate of it. The vegetables were so-so. Overall, an enjoyable meal but nothing quite outstanding about it. This is probably a one-and-done for me. I live in town and I don't think the drive out to Aikahi is worth it. I still prefer Yummy's, which, yes, is a totally different taste. I get it. If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Yummy's because you get more for you buck. Would I recommend this place? All I can say, is you'll need to try it for yourself. I've had better Korean (fast) food elsewhere. The banchan (side dishes) aren't that flavorful... read more

This is all about common sense of the chef. I believe the 5-star reviews about this place. Mine would have been 5-stars too except that for price, the amount of food provided was a ripoff. Yes, I really said "ripoff" and I really mean it. Other than price and still feeling starved after consuming my lunch, my experience at this restaurant is a very good one. I was out here in Kailua to provide training to my company's staff and was between classes so I needed a way to get a quick lunch. Yelp to the rescue! Yelp located this lunch place for me when I typed in "lunch". I quickly looked over the menus posted in the photos and quickly looked at the amount of food shown in the lunch specials. I thought that the $16.95 price was kind of steep but the photos from my Yelp Elite friends convinced me that it would be a good deal. I called in my order for a three-choice lunch plate: Choice 1: 3 pieces Fish jun (mahi mahi) Choice 2: cannot order more than one of the same thing so, I got mandoo (2 mandoo) Choice 3: chop chae I chose namasu over mac salad, and kim chee and rice came with the plate. I hopped over to the restaurant. It's pandemic time so the parking lot at 1130am was not empty but not chock full. I parked just across the entrance. The restaurant was empty as it should be. Two employees wearing face masks stood at the counter waiting for me to reach their inside counter. I gave them my name and they quickly retrieved my order. I quickly paid and left. I should have opened my order to check it out before leaving. What my $17.75 three-choice lunch plate actually contained: Choice 1: 2 pieces fish jun (mahi mahi) Choice 2: 2 small mandoo Choice 3: some chop chae in corner of plate Some Namasu at corner of plate, 1/3 filled container of kim chee, and bed full of wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much rice Not good at all :( Back at work, I excitedly opened my lunch. It was severely meager. I could understand the two mandoo pieces but instead of three fish jun pieces, there was just two small pieces. And my third choice, the chop chae which does not contain any meat was not going to be very filling at all. The photos of those who chose 3 meat items had 3 filling pieces. For my plate, the only thing that could qualify as a meat were the 2 small fish pieces. I mean, if you are the chef, common sense would hopefully take over and you should eyeball that the person eating this plate will need more than just 2 small pieces of fish, like maybe more fish, more chop chae, or more mandoo, right? Especially when you put wayyyyyyyy more rice than food and the cost of this plate is nearly $20. The taste of the fish jun, chop chae, and mandoo were really really good. The kim chee was eh. The namasu was not good. Btw, how is Japanese namasu a Korean dish? Just FYI that it does not match the rest of the Korean food plate, sorry. When I finished my 2 fish pieces, I still had nearly an entire bed of rice left enough for at least 6 more fish pieces! If only we humans could subsist on rice alone! Haha! :/ So, I am not a happy camper not to mention that on that day, I just happened to be really hungory. If only the chef understood just how starved I was after eating the two small fish pieces that I paid $16.95+tax for :/ Sigh :( If you really want to remain in business, this is not the way to try to trick your customers, especially not during a pandemic. I will call them tomorrow or this week to see what they say about this totally unfair situation. read more

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Willow Tree is truly one of the very best Korean restaurants O'ahu has to offer! I have memories of coming here for family dinners in my teenage years and now that it's been 10+ years and I no longer live on the island, coming back is a magical and nostalgic experience. The food tastes like it's gotten even better from how I remember it. I love their lunch combo where you can build your own plate. The BBQ chicken is an absolute must try, and the mandoo is another one of my favorites. I am usually not a big soup person but their turnip soup is a treat worth looking forward to. Willow Tree is a definite must try if you find yourself on the Windward side, although it's worth the drive even if you're on the complete opposite side of the island, it's just that good! read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

Dinner in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii... It was Monday, 7-27-20, the day after Hurricane Douglas was supposed to hit the Aloha State. I knew that my friend, Donna O., had the day off because she's a State worker (our Governor granted Administrative Leave to non-essential personnel). I asked her what she was doing for dinner since she lives on the Windward side. She had no plans, so I asked her if we could meet at Willow Tree since I had heard so many good things about it. Sure! What we didn't know was that they discontinued the dining-in option due to the current COVID-19 situation. Shucks! That made me more determined to get a meal from Willow Tree! I phoned my order in the next day. It was after 4pm, so, I wasn't able to get the Lunch Combo. I instead ordered the Dinner Combo which included tempura, BBQ chicken, bulgogi, rice, and banchan. It would have been better if I could have dined-in. The tempura would have been crisper... sigh... it still had great flavor and a light batter! The portions were so generous that I had the BBQ chicken and bulgogi leftovers at work that night! The next day, I called at 3:30pm from Honolulu for a 4pm pick up. I advised them that I would rush to be there on time and they reassured me that my order was in. I did make it by a few minutes! I was thrilled! Mission accomplished! The Lunch Combo allows customers to select 3 items for $16.95. Bachan and rice are included! My kalbi was so tender and tasty - i want to go back and just get a Kalbi Lunch plate! The meat jun and mandoo were also delicious! I really enjoyed my meals - even though they were at home. Service was excellent! Staff are very kind and friendly! I really appreciated their help and patience because I had never been to Aikahi and this restaurant before! Mahalo! Notes: Aikahi Park Shopping Center is near the Marine Core Base. It has free parking! read more

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Was in Kailua area and hungry so I found Willows on Yelp. It was 5 mins down the street from where we were. We ordered take out. Got there a little after 4 so lunch service was done. My husband and I just wanted something small and not too heavy so we both wanted mini plates. We found out they don't have mini plates after 4pm.. which is a little weird. What if people want smaller portions? There's no option. He wanted chicken and I wanted meat jun so we just ordered the regular meat jun chicken plate and split it. Came out to almost $20. Serving size was not what I'm used to from Pearls or Kimchee 2. I know this is a nicer restaurant so a little more fancy and pricey? The meat jun was super eggy not how I like it and sauce was a ponzu sauce (not what I'm used to for meat jun sauce).I tried the chicken and it was tasty. If I did come back I would probably give it another try and try something else. My go to Korean bbq is always meat jun but it's just not what I am used to or how I like it. read more

Willow Tree Korean Restaurant - Meat jun chicken - Korean Near Me - Kailua, Hawaii

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