 |
 |
Chinese
 |
Lobsters don't get no breaks at Fook Yuen! |
 |
For a look at Hotpot Cuisine, including those with Chinese/Taiwanese influences, click Asian Hotpot Button: |
I am still awed by the “imperial” Mandarin dinner I was so lucky to experience in Beijing. One of the courses began by a chef strolling out with a cart full of several whole ducks with skins baked to a crispy, bright red and arrayed in grand form. Each duck was carved up using a specific number of cuts, the number symbolic of good fortune. They say the entire duck would be thrown out if he did not make the required amount of cuts, but then again, how would anyone else know? Another course saw yet another chef come in and take a thin slice from a beautiful silky-smooth block of tofu. I thought he would cut the rest, also, but instead took the small slice and hacked away at it for a good minute or so, leaving us baffled as to what was going on. He then finished chopping and proceeded to take the new creation of tofu and place it in bowls of soup. Still, we sat, puzzled. When we received our bowls, we were surprised to find that the tofu had spread perfectly throughout the surface of the soup, seemingly cut in total conformity and precision, each thinner than a strand of hair! It was quite amazing.
I’m not sure we can get that same kind of performance in the islands, but I know we can still get a pretty darn great Chinese meal. No worries, brah!
Chinese foods vary greatly depending on geographical origins. Some of the more popular types are the spicy Szechuan-style of the south, the elegant Mandarin dishes centered around Beijing like Peking duck, the dim sum and emphasis on freshness of Cantonese cuisine, and the hot pots of Mongolia. Let’s not differentiate too much between the many sub-cuisines, though, because the majority of Chinese restaurants here will not stick exclusively to one region and offer several different cooking styles all on the same menu.
An interesting thing to note when ordering noodles here in Hawaii is that you may be asked if you want them cake-noodle-style. Though not a traditional Chinese creation but rather a local thing, most Chinese restaurants here will offer them. The noodles start with thin chow mein that is pressed, re-heated by frying, and cut into “cake-like” slices, producing a crispy outer crust. Gravy-laden mixes like oyster chicken, beef w/choy sum, pork w/unchoi, and the well-known beef w/broccoli are then poured over the noodles.
Oh, and one more thing before we list the restaurants – don’t expect the best customer service and hospitality, not even in the finer Chinese restaurants – it’s all about the food! Some say the decibel level is also rather amusingly tied in to the quality of cuisine. We, in Hawaii know that if you want good Chinese, sit in the restaurant where everyone is seemingly yelling at each other, only they are actually not – at least in their minds. You’ll know then that the restaurant is good because it is full of ethnic Chinese patrons!
Fook Yuen. A Closer Look. 1960 Kapiolani Blvd. at the McCully S.C. in McCully/Moiliili. 973-0168. Lunch and dinner daily, late night till 3am nightly. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. Here there are lobsters and crabs piled so high in their tanks that it’s amazing they don’t burst their see-through walls. At about $10 per whole live lobster (albeit a little small), they sell a whole lot of them, simply steamed or in different flavorings like ginger/green onion, salt and pepper, or black bean sauce. There is also a very affordable lunch buffet (about $8) and is the only Chinese restaurant I know that is open till 3am.
 |
Happy Day fills up their huge dining area because of excellent dishes at great prices, like this seafood cake noodle. |
Happy Day. 3553 Waialae Ave. at the Atrium S.C. in Kaimuki. 738-8666. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Parking in lot behind restaurant or on street. Prices: $$. Map. This is a great spot for top-quality Chinese food at decent prices, and it has the crowds to prove it. The dim sum is great but service often alternates between “where are you?” to “I said I don’t want any!” Some of the ladies are so bold it seems that they get a commission for pushing the steamed morsels! The cake noodles, and chow mein noodles in general, are thin, firm, and come with a delicious, bold egg flavor that calls out to me every time. Happy Day is one of the few that offer a limited breakfast dim sum service, beginning at 8am on the weekends and 8:30am on weekdays. Good Luck Chinese Restaurant (100 N. Beretania st. at the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Downtown, 524-9988) is a sister restaurant and also very good.
| A typical dim sum cart full of goodies, this one from Panda Cuisine on Keeaumoku St. |  |
Panda Cuisine. A Closer Look. 641 Keeamoku St. in McCully/Moiliili. 947-1688. Lunch and dinner daily, late-night till 2am nightly except Sunday. Parking in building lot. Prices: $$. Map. Another popular spot for dim sum among both local and ethnic Chinese patrons. Remember not to confuse this place with the fast-food Panda outlets, which are popular and decent for $6 or $7 meals, but are completely out-classed here. Late-night hours are convenient, as are the quick-service dim sum carts that rotate around the room, and you can order both ready-made or made-to-order varieties as well as other Chinese specialties from the menu.
Harbor Village Cuisine. A Closer Look. 7192 Kalanianaole Hwy. at Koko Marina S.C. in Hawaii Kai. 395-2311. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. A great, somewhat secret of a place for elegent Chinese cuisine outside of the Waikiki/Town area. Excellent sizzling platters, especially the very tasty tenderloin steak w/pepper sauce, along with a wide variety of noodles, hotpots, meats, and fresh seafoods like baked prawns and the signature chili/garlic crab. Really great dim sum can be found here, with a menu of full-color pictures of such delicacies as shrimp fried in bean curd roll, tripe w/ginger and onion, scallop dumplings, and steamed seafood w/chives. They are all priced very economically and made to order instead of running the risk of drying out on the carts.
Legend Seafood Restaurant. 100 N. Beretania st. at the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Downtown. 532-1868. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking at center, entrance on Maunakea st. Prices: $$. Map. Hong-Kong style Dim Sum carts are readily available during lunch, but not dinner. Legend is perhaps the most popular of the excellent Chinese eateries at the Plaza, but a couple of other great options to consider while there are Won Kee, located just nextdoor, and Empress, located on the second floor on the mauka side of the Plaza. Both also offer dim sum carts during lunch hours, and all three are typical of the terrible, hurried customer service and raucous crowds that are often the price to pay for great, authentic Chinese cuisine.
 |
Legend Is always packed with a full dining room, with dim sum carts and great dishes like this seafood noodle. |
Royal Garden. 410 Atkinson Dr. at the Ala Moana Hotel next to the Ala Moana S.C. 944-2044. Lunch daily, dinner Saturday and Sunday only. Parking at hotel. Prices: $$. Map. Royal Garden is an upscale Chinese restaurant, serving a wide variety of excuisite Chinese foods and an excellent dim sum, which is the biggest reason most people come. Please note that they are not open on weekday evenings.
Hong Kong Harbor View. 1 Aloha Tower Dr. at the Aloha Tower Marketplace ocean side of Downtown Honolulu. 524-3600. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$$. Map. Great harbor views and great food. The menu is extensive, especially when it comes to seafood, with items like steamed oyster in spicy garlic sauce, lobster w/black bean sauce, drunken prawns, steamed island fish, braised abalone w/black mushrooms, and sharks fin soup. This is not your normal neighborhood street-corner restaurant, that’s for sure, so get ready to pay a bit more.
| Chef Raymond Siu has worked in some of the top Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurants, but he can still whip-up the basics, as well, like this tasty no-msg chop suey. |  |
Pah Ke’s. A Closer Look. 46-018 Kamehameha Hwy. in Kaneohe. 235-4505. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. Despite the location and look of a low-key neighborhood restaurant, Chef Raymond Siu, who has worked at many top-knotch restaurants in town, makes sure that the quality of food here is as good as you can get anywhere. He uses his experiences at Pacific Rim restaurants such as Alan Wong’s and Roy’s to incorporate some innovative touches and the freshest of island ingredients. They also do special menus if you call in advance, and the vegetarian community has also given them high marks for meatless meals.
Mandalay. 1055 Alakea st. in Downtown Honolulu. 525-8585. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in building (Alii Tower). Prices: $$. Map. This upscale Chinese eatery with the impressive two-story dining room is a welcome sight for those who yearn for a little more elegance in Chinese Restaurant atmospheres. The food, though a bit expensive, is a fine complement to the $1.5 million in renovations that went into this venture, and the owners, staff, and chefs have come from a who’s who of great Chinese restaurants around town. They’ve had to shake off a few loose ends since opening up in early ’06, but seem to be hitting their stride now. Its location downtown ensures a bunch of traffic during day-time hours and features a take-out area complete with cafeteria-style displays of various items and also dim-sum until 5pm, which does not come on carts but is made to order. The beautiful dining room also comes with standard menu service, with dishes like tea-smoked chicken, abalone soup, sizzling platters, and chili-garlic crab, as well as all your standard choices like lemon chicken and beef broccoli.
|
Gotta try these shrimp dumplings in soup at Kirin Chinese Restaurant! |
 |
Kirin. A Closer Look. 2518 S. Beretania St., 942-1888. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$$. Map. No longer with a second location at the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Kirin remains at its Beretania St. location near the University Star Supermarket. Though the atmosphere is a bit aged, the cuisine is anything but, as there is a level of sophistication in the dishes that separate it from your typical, neighborhood-type Chinese restaurant. During lunchtime, there's great made-to-order dim sum (no roving carts), while during dinner they dispense with dim sum almost altogether, and feature fabulous items off the menu like a deep-fried tofu w/ham sauce, steamed uhu, sizzling platters, and lots of fresh seafoods, of both shelled and finned varieties. Portions are a bit small for the price, but the quality is definitely worth your time.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. A Closer Look. 1288 Ala Moana Blvd. at the Hokua Building in Kakaako (map shown>, 596-4710; also 2201 Kalakaua ave. at the Royal Hawaiian S.C. in Waikiki, 628-6760. Lunch and dinner daily, late-night till 12am Friday and Saturday. Parking in building of both stores. Prices: $$. Map. I guess someone finally got fed up with the service and atmosphere of Chinese restaurants! P.F. Chang’s tries to bring a more ritzy, upscale element to Chinese cuisine, combining it with a modern bistro look of slate, wood, metal, and dyed concrete, along with dramatic lighting, giant terra cotta warrior statues, and original murals. It’s the kind of fun associated with American-style marketing campaigns and the almost unlimited funds of share-holder-backed bank accounts. Fine by me. They offer such things as orange-peel chicken, Mongolian beef, and salt-and-pepper prawns as well as Americanized fare like citrus-soy salmon, Asian New York strip steak, and Tam’s noodles, a gnocchi-like noodle with beef, shrimp, and chili peppers in an abalone sauce. Great place for drinks and dates as well as some innovative dishes, but not for authentic Chinese!
 |
Lots of American-style touches at P.F. Chang's China Bistro, whether it comes to the food, service, or great atmosphere! |
Little Village Noodle House. 1113 Smith St. in Downtown Honolulu. 545-3008. Lunch and dinner daily, late-night till 12am Friday and Saturday. Parking in lot behind store. Prices: $$. Map. This downtown eatery has been receiving a lot of attention, as owners Kenneth and Jennifer Chan have a long history of fine Chinese cuisine in the islands. Their latest endeavor is their most upscale restaurant yet, with a menu that's actually a bit on the small side (for a Chinese restaurant, that is!) and a bit tailored to local tastes, which seems to work very well, as it gets very crowded here. You'll find such popular items as orange chicken, black-bean clams, fried Capital pork chops in sweet/sour tomato sauce, sizzling black cod, spicy garlic shrimp, sizzling oysters, and much more.
Maple Garden. 909 Isenburg st. in McCully/Moilili. 941-6641. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. Maple Garden leans torwards, but not exclusively to, Szechuan dishes, with its spicy pork or garlic eggplant and "Chinaman's Hat" mu shu pork, wrapped in a rice flour sheet, kinda like a Chinese burrito. There are also many other types of Chinese foods, with an elegant tea-smoked duck, a braised salmon w/black bean sauce, and a minute chicken cake noodle.
| The originators of cake noodle, On On has long been a staple in the island Chinese restaurant scene. |  |
On on. A Closer Look. 1110 McCully st. in McCully/Moilili. 943-8833. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking outside store. Prices: $$. Map. This neighborhood restaurant, big on tastes, flavors, and portions, brings some decent dishes for the price. They are famous for their cake noodle, which is rumoured to have been invented by the family at this McCully Street location. Besides their signature noodle dish, there are deep-fried oysters, cuttlefish w/shrimp sauce, Peking duck, Mongolian beef, salt and pepper pork chop, and a huge list of other tasty items.
Kin Wah Chop Suey. 45-588 Kamehameha Hwy. in Kaneohe. 247-5024. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. If you are out on the windward side, Kin Wah restaurant, along with Pah-Ke's are your better choices out there. Kin Wah serves good, moderately-priced dishes in a casual atmosphere. There are all your classic favorites like shrimp egg fu yung, roast duck noodle, kun pao chicken, kau yuk (a red-colored sweet/sour pork), and good 双l chop suey. It gets really busy at times, filling the entire large dining room and then some.
Royal Palace. 487-6662. 4510 Salt Lake Blvd. at the Stadium Mall S.C. in Salt Lake. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in center lot. Prices: $$. Map. After doing a few loops, lutz’s, and triple axels at the only Ice Skating ring in the State, waltz on over a few doors to this spacious Chinese restaurant for lunch or dinner. Their all-you-can-eat buffets are inexpensive and done pretty well, but I’d recommend going for the made to order dishes, instead.
 |
A great minute chicken cake noodle from Duck Yun at the Aina Haina Shopping Center. |
Duck Yun. 820 W. Hind Dr. at the Aina Haina S.C. in Aina Haina. 373-1303. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in Center lot. Prices: $$. Map. Duck Yun is a long-time favorite for East Honolulu, with a relatively clean, nice dining room that was renovated and expanded for the better. For casual dinners or lunches, the huge menu comes with highly-flavored dishes well-suited to local tastes, with a great minute chicken cake noodle and all manner of Chinese dishes like honey-walnut shrimp, pork bittermelon, shrimp egg fu yung, sea bass casserole, and hong to mein, or house noodle, to name just a few.
| Looks pretty tame, ey? Frog legs from Golden Eagle. |  |
Golden Eagle. A Closer Look. 2334 S. King St. 955-5080. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in Center lot. Prices: $$. Map. Located right across the street from Stadium park in the same building as Kozo Sushi, only on the Young St. corner, this casual spot has all your Chinese food favorites, as well as a few more exotic items, such as frog legs in house sauce and tripe in black bean sauce. Good degree of quality for the price, with a good deal of regular’s returning for their great food, comfortable atmosphere, and friendly, down to earth service.
 |
Finger lickin good! Orange chicken from Yen Yen in Kailua. |
Yen Yen. A Closer Look. 1058 Keolu Dr. at the Enchanted Lakes S.C. in Kailua. 262-2218. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking in Center lot. Prices: $. Map. This little-known spot in Kailua has long been carrying-on in the same fashion for many years, serving its neighborhood well with its economical, tasty, well-flavored Chinese foods. There are surprisingly affordable $5.50 complete plates of rice or noodle, two won ton (skimpy on meat!), and an entrée choice, which can include kung pao chicken, spicy eggplant, minute chicken, ma po tofu, and more. As with most Chinese restaurants, you can order set courses for any number of people, as well as small or large take-out trays for parties or get-together’s. The menu is as large and varied as it gets, and if it’s not listed, you can always put-in a request, as they are very flexible in accommodating off-menu items. The atmosphere is casual, cozy, and comfortable, with a no-frills, laid-back scene that attracts lots of construction workers on weekday lunch-breaks.
| Counter seating only, with hot, quick, delicious, street-style Chinese foods at Fatty's in Waikiki! |  |
Fatty’s Chinese Kitchen. A Closer Look. 2345 Kuhio Ave. in Waikiki. 922-9600. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking on street or public parking, most notably lots on Seaside Avenue. Prices: $. Map. This counter-space-only, hole-in-the-wall eatery has been somewhat of an internet superstar for many years, providing street-type Chinese foods at great prices. Located just inside Kuhio Avenue, on a wide sidewalk that borders the Miramar Hotel and leads to the International Marketplace, they are known for having great noodles, whether in the form of soup noodles, cake noodles, funn noodles, or dry. Other items, however, such as a great runny egg beef over rice, ginger chicken, roast duck, and fried rice are also very much recommended. Unless ordering from the handful of ready-made foods sitting under hot lights, which I do not recommend despite their great prices ($4.50-$6.50), meals are cooked directly fronting customers, providing quite the show. Great place for a quick, hot, cheap meal, but know that seats fill quickly so you may have to either wait or order take-out.
 |
Chinese cuisine, but with a strong Korean twist! House-made ja ja mein noodles are the most popular items in this particular genre of restaurant. |
On Dong. A Closer Look. 1499 S. King St. in McCully/Moiliili. 947-9444. Lunch and dinner daily. Parking behind Building (access from cross-street Kaheka) or on street. Prices: $$. Map. Billed as “Northern Chinese Cuisine,” On Dong is actually one of the handful of restaurants in Hawaii featuring Chinese cuisine with a pronounced Korean twist. This particular genre is very popular in Korea, and there are three dishes that stand-out predominantly – tang soo yuk (sweet sour pork, deep-fried and covered in vegetables and Asian gravy), Korean cham-pon (noodles in spicy seafood and seafood broth), and especially, ja ja mein (za ziang min, jia jiang mein, ja jyeong men, etc.), which is a wheat noodle dish bathed in a black bean paste. Though deriving from China, it has been altered a bit and has become a major comfort food in Korea. On Dong’s version features an excellent noodle that is made fresh daily, in house, despite not advertising this very important fact nearly as much as they should! All of the above are fabulous, as well as are other dishes like Mongolian beef, chicken prepared much like the tang soo yuk above, and more exotic fare like sea cucumber and jellyfish.
