The key with HK Café is knowing their specialties. We used to frequent the HK café in the Styx Food…read morecourt in Waikiki. That location closed because the rent increased. Singapore noodles is not featured on the menu. But they make a fantastic Singapore noodle! Are Singapore noodles which serve piping hot and the curry balance is just right. Requested extra twice cooked pork and they provided extra twice cooked pork. Also generous amount of shrimp. Ambience: simple and rustic. Overall cleanliness: average Service: very good. Overall value: good value

Found another gem in Chinatown like Lams kitchen. For the people that like spicy, this is an…read moreawesome bowl of goodness. I've never had laksa before and I have no idea if this authentic but I know good when I taste good! Tasty, spicy broth that will leave you asking for another napkin so you can wipe your face from the heat! Lots of beef - not so much tendon as tasty chunks of seasoned beef! Choice of noodle type; I got look funn. The coconut and curry infused broth was delicious!!!!! Service was really good and I found the place clean! Mostly Chinese in there in the morning drinking coffee and eating that ovaltine toast. I would say this place is excellent and tasty! One of my favorites now!!!!

Sandy's Cafe in Chinese Cultural Plaza is the epitome of HK lunch cafes, with mouth watering,…read moretender char siu, and iconic crispy roast duck. Their roast duck is one of the best available in Oahu. I knocked off a star though because 2 years ago, I felt that the recipe was less oily and was much better, rivaling some places in Richmond/ Vancouver BC, Canada which is also known to have solid HK cafes outside of the home country. I miss how they've made it in the past, and wish they would revert back to how it was before... but regardless, a solid pick and a place I will probably still continue to frequent in the future.

Came here again. Fast service like always. I got the roast duck and char sui over rice. They were…read moreboth very flavorful. My only gripe is there weren't any burnt and fatty pieces of char sui which was what I was craving for. Look at my last review for more details!

Still crazy about Kevin's! We come at least once a week for lunch and once in a while dinner take…read moreout. We live nearby and so far everything that we have tried has been really ono. They do such a good job on their lunch takeout noodles --we love the beef chow fun and the singapore noodles. I also like their won tun mein soup and this weekend we are ordering 10 party trays for a family get together. The folks are so nice at the counter and on the phone. Only one complaint on the plate lunch is that they don't take the time to make it look nice when I take out duck or duck and char siu combo. The meats are not presented nicely and the choy sum is all over the place unlike Asian Mix who has the presentation down pat. I do like the duck better at Asian Mix, but Kevin's char siu is world class, when it is moist. The place gets jammed for early lunch and early dinner so beware.

Quite expensive compared to Jade Dynasty Both our chicken…read moredish and our beef dish had a lot of gristle, Oolong tea exceptional as were as were the tofu square appetizers. Seemed clean.

Ordered the Singapore noodles here and it was solid! Nice amount of curry flavor and the right…read moreamount of meat and veggies. Tasted authentic and could taste the wok heat. This place has been around for a while, and I believe ownership has changed since then but it's great to see this place still going strong. They have traditional Hong Kong breakfast as well. Need to try their milk tea next time! Check it out in Chinatown, across the river from the Japanese temple.

I walked past this hole-in-the-wall corner spot near Chinatown for literal decades and never…read morethought much of it. It's wedged between the always-busy Royal Kitchen (known for their manapuas) and faces Izumo Taishakyo and Lum Sai Ho Tong, with a few yards of sidewalk in between that's usually occupied by crackheads nodding off or lighting up crystal methamphetamine. Honestly, that probably kept me from ever walking in over the years. Then Kukui Cafe popped up on my Yelp feed. I didn't even register the name -- I just saw the food photos. Beef brisket and wontons? Get in my mouth. I stopped by over the weekend to find out if it lived up to the pictures. The place is small and surprisingly clean, and the staff greeted me right away. I'd read other reviews mentioning the noise, and yeah -- it's loud. Cantonese and Taishanese conversations hit serious decibels, with a couple of guys in the back corner adding some colorful profanity for good measure. Everyone seemed to know each other; it had that unmistakable "regulars" energy that told me this place was legit. I figured out pretty quickly that the noise wasn't really about volume of people -- it's the concrete walls and tight square footage bouncing every sound around the room. Didn't bother me. It's part of the charm. Two massive split AC units kept the whole place ice cold despite the chaos. Service was fast -- drinks came out within minutes of ordering. While we waited for food, a homeless man walked in holding a huge scooping net, the kind you'd see someone hauling a giant salmon out of an Alaskan river with. He said something to the owner, who looked confused, so he repeated himself. I eavesdropped and burst out laughing once I understood: he'd caught a freshwater red-eared slider turtle -- about the length of an iPad -- out of Nu'uanu Stream, which runs right alongside the restaurant, and was trying to sell it to them. The owners just shook their heads, and the man left with his net and his turtle in under a minute. You can't make this stuff up. Shortly after, the food arrived. Heads up: paper plates only. But the food itself was excellent and well-seasoned -- the standout was the ten wonton and brisket dish without noodles for $20. Genuinely delicious. There's a parking lot in the rear with what I believe is one free hour. Look for the Sun Yat-Sen Cultural Center at 135 N. Kukui St -- the driveway entrance is just to the left of it. Customers were walking through the kitchen and into the main dining area so there must be an entrance from the garage. Cash only. Would I go back? Absolutely, without a doubt.

This was a great meal and I can't wait to go back! The location is not in the best part of…read moreChinatown so there were some crazies walking in. The staff does well to deal with it but we preferred to do take out. Going home I was still happy with everything. We got won ton min, cake noodle, green sides, and some fried shrimp and crispy gau gee. Everything was delicious but I think the cake noodle was my favorite.

A co-worker and I headed up to Maunakea Marketplace to pick up lunch from Mei Mei but it was…read moreunusually crowded so we ended up at Papa's on the outside of the Marketplace, on Hotel Street. It's a small space with four or five tables. We ordered Minute Chicken Cake Noodles and Seafood with Crispy Noodles. The restaurant was empty, so service was fast. My seafood plate contained a lot of seafood in a tasty sauce ... too much sauce, as it drowned the noodles and softened them. However, it was very good and powered through and finished off my plate. My friend couldn't finish his Minute Chicken ... It was too much food for him. We miss Canton House, just down the street, as it was our "go to" place for Chinese food. However, Papa's is an adequate substitute ... The menu is vast for such a tiny place, and we've always been able to find something to please our palate. The prices are reasonable and thus we can continue to give it a thumbs up recommendation.

Bo's Kitchen is a mom-and-pop Cantonese restaurant with other Asian favorites like laksa,…read morejajangmyeon, and Japanese curry, to name a few. This is my first time trying their food, and I have a lot of positive thoughts regarding their dishes. Their beef brisket noodle was one of my all-time favorites compared to other locations, because they are generous with the amount of brisket they give you and they use egg noodles by default. Their soup was okay, but the braised and marinated meat was definitely the highlight of this dish. Overall, a great late night evening option in town for Cantonese comfort food, even among those coming from China; I think that speaks volumes about the authenticity of their food and quality. Highly recommend and would love to return to try their laksa in the future.

I hadn't been here in three years. The first time here I did not like it at all. I decided to Uber…read moreEat it to my job. I got the wonton noodles with brisket. I'm not sure of the price, because Uber has different pricing from the establishment. This time around I really liked it. The broth was flavored and the wontons didn't have big chunks of pork in it. It was actually minced. The brisket was tasty and tender. If you don't know what to get from here, get this. The wonton noodles with brisket. I appreciate that they separated the broth from the noodles. Who wants to eat soggy noodles?

This place is the absolute GOAT for late-night eats. Open til 4am, this is always where I want to…read morego to finish off a late night out! My go-tos are the pepper salt prawns and beef tendon noodles. But all their food is top-notch. And it's not only good because it's available late or because I'm drunk, because I've been for lunch and it was just as good in the middle of the day! The waitresses and bartenders are always friendly. The atmosphere is always lively. Public karaoke available in the bar/main seating area as well as private rooms in the back. Love it.

Red Cafe is my go-to late-night food spot. I always order the black bean clams, intestine bao, and…read morespicy tendon my usual and it never disappoints. Whether I'm out with a group drinking at the bar or just stopping by solo, it's always a good time with great food and good company. I've been coming here for years and it's consistently solid. Shoutout to the bartenders love Shirley, Vincent, and one of the owner Jeff!

This has been around forever but still one of our go-to spots for family gatherings because the…read morefood is very good, reasonably priced, BYOB, the service is so friendly, and they have a HUGE vegetarian menu! Everyone's favorite was the house special fried rice with egg (from the vegetarian menu)! Even the meat eaters at the table loved it! We were all surprised at just how good it was: umami, clearly had that smoky flavor from being cooked on a wok with a big fire. So good we even ordered a 2nd order of the same rice! Highly recommend trying it! My other favorite is always their steamed fish fillet, so soft, melts in your mouth, buttery, flaky, and the sauce always goes SO good on rice. Highly recommend! We all also loved the sweet and sour spare rib from the vegetarian menu, tastes just like sweet and sour pork! A little tangy, got a good chew to it, glazed perfectly, goes so good with the fried rice! The cold ginger scallion chicken was just a half chicken per order but was a HUGE portion which we loved! Very generous with the ginger scallion topping, which is a must for this dish. The chicken itself was fine, maybe a little dry, but not bad. The string beans with tofu chuck from the vegetarian menu was also great, freshly made, cooked to perfection, flavorful! The beef brisket and tendon with bean curd was good as well, good portion size, lots of sauce but also lots of meat and tendon, goes great on rice. The only thing we didn't care for was the clams in black bean sauce. The sauce when it gets cold kind of tastes like muck, and the flavor was just a bit too like if you just poured a jar of ready made black bean sauce on clams. Maybe they should think about serving this one on a sizzling plate or over a flame to keep it hot at the table? For 6 people on a Sunday night, it came out to around $200 before tax and tip, and that's with having to take some leftovers home to eat the next day! Very easy to call and make reservations, but they were empty on a Sunday night :( They tend to fill up more around the holidays, but hoping more people will help keep their business open! Food is good! Place is a little old on the inside, but clean enough. The spinning dolly in the middle of the table didn't spin very well, but again this restaurant has been around for a long time. They have lots of free parking right next to the restaurant, which can get full easily when the restaurant next door (Tane Vegan Izakaya) gets a lot of business. But otherwise ample free street parking across the road in the neighborhood! Will definitely be coming again! We had a great time!

Have not been here in a few years and was happy to return. Overall, it was a good experience,…read moreexcept for the clams in black bean sauce, which was a major disappointment. This is one of my favorite dishes, and I've tried it at many restaurants over the years. Unfortunately, this version fell well below par--we only managed to eat a few bites before giving up. It may be a long time before I order this dish again after such an unpleasant experience. With that said, it was difficult to give this restaurant more than three stars, despite its many positives, including easy parking and the friendly, courteous owner/waitress, and of course, friendly prices.

We made an 8 PM reservation for two on a Thursday night and proceeded within minutes upon arrival…read more The food was excellent, and the atmosphere is relaxed. As a vegetarian, I asked the waiter what I could order and they said they could make pad Thai, Singapore noodles, garlic noodles, vegetarian. We ordered the green beans, appetizer and the Singapore noodles vegetarian both were excellent!! The Singapore noodles are a bean thread noodle with egg and tofu and bell peppers and tiny limes. I think were calamansi-- just delicious!! The green beans came with crispy, garlic, and spicy Fresno peppers on top and we're cooked to a chard perfection. Would definitely return. You can park in the Safeway/canner row parking lot and walk over.

Had dinner here with my son and Aunt. This updated review pains me…read more... Food- my cousin told me that Star Noodle had changed, that it's only dim sum for lunch, that the dim sum is super expensive and not very good. I have always had delicious meals here and thought I'd stick with dinner. Turns out, it didn't matter. Dinner might as well be dim sum too. Food came out way too fast. I actually timed the table in front of us, from the time the waitress left the table to the first few dishes coming to the table, just over 3 minutes! There were some dishes I enjoyed (miso butterfish and pohole salad), but two former favorites were huge disappointments (bao buns and the garlic noodles), two dishes I didn't care for (shrimp tempura and adobo ribs), and one that was just meh (string beans). The table to our right didn't take any of their leftovers and they had quite a bit too. Was very disappointed overall. My aunt enjoyed her meal, but I felt bad she didn't experience the Star Noodle from before... normally our first and last meal in Maui, but I cancelled our second dinner for next week! The new location (just next door) was nice, but it didn't make up for their mediocre food.

service was so bad. we waited in a long line to get our order taken, which was fine, but the…read morecashier was insanely annoyed when i had a question about what literally came on the burger. you also wait in line outside before waiting in line inside and no one came to tell us anything (like we'll be right with you or anything) until we asked.

Review: Fresh, Generous, and Incredible Value in Honolulu We…read morestopped by PAIA Fish Market for dinner during our Honolulu trip, and it ended up being one of our favorite meals! I ordered the Caesar salad topped with grilled mahi-mahi, and it was outstanding. The salad portion was huge, and the mahi was perfectly cooked--incredibly moist and flavorful. At around $18 for the entire plate, the value was fantastic. My 3.5-year-old son had the fish and chips and loved it, especially the french fries, which were super crisp and delicious. My husband ordered the fish tacos, which feature grilled mahi rather than the heavy, batter-fried fish he's used to back home. While it wasn't his personal preference, it's just the fresh, local style of how they prepare fish tacos in Hawaii. I was ready to go back again before our trip ended! If you're looking for fresh seafood, great portions, and an easygoing spot in Honolulu, this place is a must-visit.