Yotteko-Ya - CLOSED

This the ramen shop on the 2nd floor of the McCully Shopping Center in the corner opposite of Fook Yuen. The Kakuni Paitan Ramen is one of their specialties and they only sell a limited amount each day. The good thing here is that they give you noodle options. You can choose to have the "local style" which is softer noodles or the "japanese style" which is firmer noodles.

McCully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Blvd Ste 214
Honolulu, HI 96826

Paitan Ramen

Gyoza

Sushi Kahuna - CLOSED

This is a nice little shop in downtown that serves up some really good Japanese food. They have a small menu and they also have daily specials posted on a white board in front of the shop. Their prices are reasonable with the amount of food they give. All of the fish that they use is really fresh.

212 Merchant St. Ste 4
Honolulu, HI 96813

California Roll

Chicken Katsu Bento

Salmon Ikura

Deluxe Chirashi

Udon Salad

Side Street Inn

Everyone talks about how good their pork chops are but I didn't think it was that great. I thought the pork chops were a bit dry and the ketchup as a dipping sauce was a bit weird for me. I liked their fried rice though. If you're a local kid who grew up in the islands then you'll probably like this place.

For more information about Side Street Inn, please visit http://sidestreetinn.com.

1225 Hopaka St.
Honolulu, HI 96814

Caesar Salad w/ Bay Shrimp

Side Style Famous Fried Rice

Side Style Fried Chicken

Pan Fried Island Pork Chops

Golden Palace Seafood Restaurant

If you're craving Canton cooking, you need to check this place out. They have a special menu that only the "regulars" know about. So for example, in the special menu, if you have a party of 6, you can choose 5 items and you get a free crab dish. The items on that menu are limited but they have a good selection.

My favorite dishes are Chinese Chicken Salad, Salt & Pepper Crab, and their special chicken (走地雞). I don't know the English name for it because every time I come here, I order in Cantonese.

111 N King St.
Honolulu, HI 96817

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salt & Pepper Porkchops

Crispy Chicken

Tofu w/ Seafood and Vegetables

Garlic Ong Choy

Salt & Pepper Crab

Doraku Sushi

For most restaurants, the happy hour is usually one hour and it ends at 6pm but here, it's from 5pm-7pm. They have limited items on the happy hour menu but everything is priced between $3.50-$5.00. They offer parking validation so you can park your car in the Royal Hawaiian Center parking lot.

For more information about Doraku Sushi, please visit www.dorakusushi.com.

Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center
2233 Kalakaua Ave
Bldg B, 3rd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96815

Ahi Tataki

Ahi Poke

California Roll

Chicken Karaage

Oyster Mushroom

Pho Huong Lan

The best pho soup I've ever had. They don't put tons of MSG like some of the other restaurants. They don't give you dry and chewy beef, it's good cuts every time.

The staff is always friendly. If you're coming here for lunch on the weekend, your wait could be 10-40 minutes. I suggesting going before 11:15AM or after 1:30PM. They close at 5PM everyday and they are closed on Wednesdays.

100 N Beretania St. #129B
Honolulu, HI 96817

Summer Rolls

Spring Rolls

Combination Pho

Mitch's Fish Market & Sushi Bar

If you want fresh fish, you want to come here. I had the "Mitch's Special Course" which consisted of the items pictured below. For the assorted sashimi, I chose not to have the lobster sashimi so they substitute it with toro. Their toro was good, it's the best I've ever had. The marinade in the appetizer was good too.

It's BYOB but if you forget to bring your drinks, they have water and hot tea. One last thing, this place is really expensive. So if you decide to come, make sure you're celebrating some super good occasion.  

For more information about Mitch's Fish Market & Sushi Bar, please visit http://www.mitchsushi.com.

524 Ohohia St.
Honolulu, HI 96819

Appetizer

Assorted Sashimi

Grilled Dish

Assorted Nigiri

Miso Soup

Jin Din Rou - CLOSED

Welcome to expensive Chinese dining. The xiao long bao here taste better than the ones I had in Shanghai! The tofu with preserved duck egg was an odd combination but it turned out to be amazingly delicious. The fried rice and fried noodle dishes were okay. There was nothing special about it so you can probably just skip those. For dessert, I thought the matcha (green tea) shave ice was better than the mango shave ice.

A couple of my friends who dined here complained about the service. I didn’t get any bad service from the waiters or waitresses. Our ice water kept on getting refilled, and they came by our table quite often to check on us. My suggestion is to go during the week and get in there before 7pm.

One really random thing. They have Scope mouthwash and Q-tips in their restroom.

For more information about Jin Din Rou, please visit http://www.jin-din-rou.net.

1491 King St. Ste 105
Honolulu, HI 96814

Taiwanese Steamed Dumpling (Xiao Long Bao)

Shrimp Wonton w/ Sweet & Spicy Sauce

Tofu w/ Preserved Duck Egg

Fried Pork and Potato w/ Sweet Sauce

Spicy Deep Fried Crispy Prawn

Ong Choy w/ Garlic

Fried Noodles w/ Vegetables

Matcha Shave Ice w/ Azuki and Mochi

Yee Hong Pavilion - CLOSED

The first time I came here was couple weeks after the grand opening. I was disappointed because they didn’t have a lot of items in their dim sum carts. So last weekend, I decided to give them a second chance and I had a much better experience. They had all the items you would find in your average dim sum restaurant.

The taste of the food was okay, nothing wow. They were a bit “chang” on the filling in the deep fried shrimp dumplings. They have the custard tart with the flaky skin, which was pretty good. My favorite item was the jin dui. The skin was really thin and it was super crispy. It must have been a new batch because when the waitress cut the jin dui in half, the steam was coming out. It was almost as good as the one my mom makes for Chinese New Year! The best time to go is between 11:45am – 12:30pm because the crowd is there and the kitchen is busy pushing out all the hot and fresh items.

Chinese Culture Plaza
100 N Beretania St. Ste 101
Honolulu, HI 96817

Steamed Dim Sum

Deep Fried Shrimp Dumplings

Custard Tart

Jin Dui

Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe - CLOSED

This is an Asian Italian fusion restaurant. They used to have 2 locations, one in McCully and one in Market City. The Market City one closed last year but the McCully one remains open. My favorite dishes were the steamed clams and the king crab legs fettuccine.

For more information about Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe, please visit http://www.bananaleafcafehawaii.com.

Mccully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96826

Fried Calamari

Steamed Clams

Fettuccine all' Amatoriciana

Fettuccine alla Socialla

Seafood Risotto

King Crab Legs Fettuccine

Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant

Lobster and Peking Duck is their specialty. The prices are slightly on the expensive side but the service is excellent and the food is fresh. If you have a special occasion to celebrate, this is a nice restaurant to do it in.

McCully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Blvd Ste 200
Honolulu, HI 96826

Salt and Pepper Crab

Black Bean Clams

Fish Fillet w/ Vegetables

Peking Duck

Duck Meat (from Peking Duck)

Honey Walnut Shrimp