Cooking
I guess it's the same everywhere. If you're not celebrating Christmas or going to a New Year's Eve party, one of your best bets for finding an open restaurant is Chinese food. In Hawaii I had two memorable Chinese meals this time around. One was at Little Village Noodle House and the other at Panda Cuisine (NOT Panda Express!). Both restaurants were attractive, had excellent food and were inexpensive to boot. They also each have parking, so there you go.
At Little Village Noodle House the menu seems rather standard, but even the classic dishes are done well. The orange chicken we ordered for the kids was one of the best versions I've ever had. We ordered mostly from the specials menu which I highly recommend. The volcano pork chops were served from a tin foil pouch and were crispy and salty and studded with garlic. The hot pot dishes were rustic and hearty--one had lamb and the other pork and bitter melon. This is a fun place to go with a group and whether you are adventurous or like to stick with what you know, you can't go wrong.
My Hawaii sources all pointed to Panda Cuisine as the place for dim sum. But I was unprepared for how good the dim sum would be. Really. It put my local favorites to shame. The noodle dishes here were outstanding--possibly the best chow fun I've ever had. The noodles with thick but not gummy and the sauce delicate and balanced. The dumplings were really made with care and there was a cold smoked fish dish that was rich and flavorful and hard to resist. Best of all, they serve dim sum all day and all night and the menu features pictures of everything so there are few surprises of the "did we order that?" variety. I will definitely be back on my next trip.
Little Village Noodle House
1113 Smith Street
Honolulu, HI
808.545.3008
Panda Cuisine (closed then reopened)
641 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, HI
808.947.1688
- Noodle Fest 2010
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer You can keep Disneyland, for me the happiest place on earth is Noodle Fest. I am an absolute noodle fanatic, so from the moment I heard about the event, fostering unity between North Beach and...
- Honolulu Ramen Shops
Ramen is not just that cheap instant noodle you ate in college. While I had eaten good, fresh ramen before both in the US and in Japan, I hadn't realized just how many types and variations there are, until this past trip to Hawaii. In Honolulu there...
- Dew Drop Inn: Restaurant Review
Ok it's time I reveal a secret. In addition to reading blogs and putting out requests for advice on Twitter, there are a couple of other ways I find good restaurants in Honolulu. One is on Yelp. You have to carefully evaluate each user submitted review,...
- Helena's Hawaiian Food: Restaurant Review
If you want to experience authentic native Hawaiian food, as opposed to the fusion of Hawaiian, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese that is common today, you must eat at Helena's Hawaiian Food. I've been going to Helena's since 1977 and while...
- Plate Lunch, Redux
When you come to Hawaii, you have to try a plate lunch. Plate lunches are the ubiquitous "blue plate special" in Hawaii. They consist of some kind of protein like breaded chicken or pork cutlet, beef teriyaki, fried mahi mahi, etc., two scoops of white...
Cooking
Chinese Food in Hawaii
I guess it's the same everywhere. If you're not celebrating Christmas or going to a New Year's Eve party, one of your best bets for finding an open restaurant is Chinese food. In Hawaii I had two memorable Chinese meals this time around. One was at Little Village Noodle House and the other at Panda Cuisine (NOT Panda Express!). Both restaurants were attractive, had excellent food and were inexpensive to boot. They also each have parking, so there you go.
At Little Village Noodle House the menu seems rather standard, but even the classic dishes are done well. The orange chicken we ordered for the kids was one of the best versions I've ever had. We ordered mostly from the specials menu which I highly recommend. The volcano pork chops were served from a tin foil pouch and were crispy and salty and studded with garlic. The hot pot dishes were rustic and hearty--one had lamb and the other pork and bitter melon. This is a fun place to go with a group and whether you are adventurous or like to stick with what you know, you can't go wrong.
My Hawaii sources all pointed to Panda Cuisine as the place for dim sum. But I was unprepared for how good the dim sum would be. Really. It put my local favorites to shame. The noodle dishes here were outstanding--possibly the best chow fun I've ever had. The noodles with thick but not gummy and the sauce delicate and balanced. The dumplings were really made with care and there was a cold smoked fish dish that was rich and flavorful and hard to resist. Best of all, they serve dim sum all day and all night and the menu features pictures of everything so there are few surprises of the "did we order that?" variety. I will definitely be back on my next trip.
Little Village Noodle House
1113 Smith Street
Honolulu, HI
808.545.3008
Panda Cuisine (closed then reopened)
641 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, HI
808.947.1688
- Noodle Fest 2010
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer You can keep Disneyland, for me the happiest place on earth is Noodle Fest. I am an absolute noodle fanatic, so from the moment I heard about the event, fostering unity between North Beach and...
- Honolulu Ramen Shops
Ramen is not just that cheap instant noodle you ate in college. While I had eaten good, fresh ramen before both in the US and in Japan, I hadn't realized just how many types and variations there are, until this past trip to Hawaii. In Honolulu there...
- Dew Drop Inn: Restaurant Review
Ok it's time I reveal a secret. In addition to reading blogs and putting out requests for advice on Twitter, there are a couple of other ways I find good restaurants in Honolulu. One is on Yelp. You have to carefully evaluate each user submitted review,...
- Helena's Hawaiian Food: Restaurant Review
If you want to experience authentic native Hawaiian food, as opposed to the fusion of Hawaiian, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese that is common today, you must eat at Helena's Hawaiian Food. I've been going to Helena's since 1977 and while...
- Plate Lunch, Redux
When you come to Hawaii, you have to try a plate lunch. Plate lunches are the ubiquitous "blue plate special" in Hawaii. They consist of some kind of protein like breaded chicken or pork cutlet, beef teriyaki, fried mahi mahi, etc., two scoops of white...