Decided to try this place for the first time since in the area and wife wanted to eat cold noodles with bbq pork. Reviews seemed mostly positive so ordered for takeout. Got the cold noodles with bbq pork and the Local Boy Plate for me. I heard the honey garlic chicken was mostly batter but wanted to try anyway. Price: Higher prices like everywhere else, price is higher than reviews and online. Cold noodles w/ bbq pork $16.95, Local Boy plate $17.95. Total with tax $36.55Taste: Just ok. Char siu didn't have much taste and honey garlic chicken was pretty bland. Teri beef was pretty good. Bbq pork and noodles were just ok. Quantity: They give a good amount. You'll be full if you eat everything. Quality: Cold noodles w/ bbq pork-noodles didn't seem like vermicelli, was fatter noodles. Pork had a lot of stringy fat. Local Boy plate-char sui was ok, Teri beef was tender and not tough, honey garlic chicken was pretty bad. Like others said it's mostly batter, but the actual chicken inside must have been precooked as it was tough and dry inside all that batter. It looked like it was pieces of shredded chicken inside. I've never seen battered chicken like this. Bottom line: Our items were ok to negative. Higher prices than online lists. Possible better items other than what we got.
S T.
It a small restaurant but the foods are good. I like their fried rice. Good portion and the price is okay too. Their combination pho is also good but I think it would had been better if it is a little less saltier. Overall i like this place.
Seei Sevaaetasi
Fairwood is my favorite place. I always get the Lunch special. Good portions and awesome food.
I ordered the Local Boy for my boyfriend and Mix Plate for myself and we were both really disappointed with our meals. The rice was all mushy and tasted like paste! Yuck! The chicken katsu had a weird taste and the gravy on the hamburger steak was junk too. I expected a little bit better quality for paying almost $40 for 2 plate lunches. It was my first time eating here and after that experience definitely my last ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Derek Y.
Mom really loves their Jai. Me it's the fried fish. All around ono food and service is alway nice
Tara C.
I love their chicken salad dressing. However once their was a bone in the chicken....so be careful when eating!
Mili-Lani D.
I came here on the recommendation of a food blogger for their barbecue burger. But I ended up liking something else. They offered a pork summer roll along with the usual shrimp summer roll. Due to my allergies I am unable to eat shrimp, so I was very happy to find an alternative type of roll. For $11.50 they gave two very fat rolls of BBQ (teriyaki) flavor pork along with lettuce, mint and possibly cucumber. It had a very thick sesame seed based sauce. Very refreshing on a hot day like today.Instead of the recommended hamburger I got the regular hamburger Deluxe which is a dollar more at $7.50. It came with what looked like a pre-formed Burger, and it was thicker than most hamburger patties. The vlogger's son made a comment that it has a nice crust on the burger which mines did not have. In fact my burger wasn't even hot it was kind of more warm. So I found that rather strange. Maybe if it was hot it would have tasted better. But they did give generous amounts of onion, lettuce and a really fat tomato slice. Therefore I gave it a four-star review versus a five-star.Though it was at an off hour, aboutb2 pm-ish they still had a steady stream of customers come in. So I think for an out of the way hole in the wall, that's not advertised, I think that says about something for the food. They've combined a Pho restaurant with a regular drive-in. So there are local drive inn staples. They're having an identity crisis!! They also offered a few fish choices, like saba. Their spring rolls with a nice assortment of fresh vegetables looked quite good. My overall view of their menu was that it was pretty good and offered a diverse amount of food. They did have different kinds of pork chops so if that's your thing, you might want to try that.I did note the odd placement of various types of handbags up for sale. It kind of gave that Honky Tonk, Chinatown flavor, like it couldn't quite make up its mind what it wants to be. I also noted that the walls in the interior was rather dated and sad looking. I think with a redesign of the interior plus some fresh paint could do it a world of good otherwise it looks very tired and dull.I think that this is a hidden gem, hole in a wall place that's not very widely known due to the food scene in Kaimuki that may overshadow a small place like this. But I personally think it's worth trying. The prices are comparable, the food is good and it has very fresh veggies like typical Vietnamese food. I will be back.
Shari T.
Fairwood Drive Inn is located on the 2nd floor of the Kaimuki Shopping Center on Waialae. It's a hodgepodge. In addition to Fairwood, there's also Pho 27 crammed in there with a sort of flea market selling all kine bags, masks, curios and homemade sauces. Something for everyone! I was craving noodles and remembered my friend Daniel praising their Singapore Noodles (which does not originate in Singapore but Hong Kong! Google it, interesting origin story). Good price, generous portions of shrimp, egg, char siu and noodles. Nice taste of curry. I would get this again. I ordered a mini Honey Garlic Chicken cos nostalgia. I used to order this all the time years ago. They were nice to let me order all rice cos wasn't feeling like mac salad. Taste was good but too sweet for my taste and the battered exterior was definitely not in proportion to the chicken. See photo. I don't recall batter being so thick in the past but not loving this iteration. Gonna stick to noodles next visit.
Eugene E.
Food is plentiful. Plate lunches are not bad. They serve old school wrinkle fries. The burgers are awesome as well. Little pricey but they are big and tasty. I believe they are handmade. Go check then out. Food is good. Singapore noodles are awesome too.
Yvonne Awai
Ordered takeout. The Rice Noodle with BBQ Pork was yummy. The Honey Garlic Chicken was okay, it sounded better than it was and I'm wondering if it would taste better if we ate there.
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lemon Grass Chicken over Noodles
I think this place is good if you know what to order. Currently they have only the front of the place open for takeout, the dine in pho section in back is closed, but you can still order pho to-go. With such a large and diverse menu, it can be hard to decide what to get. Here are my thoughts about Fairwood....The Singapore noodle is very good, every single time I've ordered it. Might be my favorite Singapore noodle, or tied with Asian Mix' singapore noodle. Minute chicken with chow fun, also a winner. The pho is pretty good too. The Spicy eggplant/ground pork is excellent (highly recommend this!), and jai is offered all year round -- it's ok (not great) but if you're craving it, not many places sell jai all the time.They also have lot of plate lunch type items (chicken katsu, burgers etc) but we don't usually order those. If you read the reviews, they say the honey garlic chicken is junk, so I've never tried that. (Trust the yelpers that have gone before you!). Stick with the above mentioned Chinese food options and you can't go wrong. I always call in my order ahead of time so i don't have to wait but if you are there and have to wait, they have a small section of things they import from Asia like bags and N95 masks you can browse while you wait.
Robert E
Never ate at Pho 27, this review is for the Fairwood side of the restaurant. The service is pretty good and the price is fair for the amount of food you get. The food for the most part isn't very good. The only dishes that I've been satisfied with were the Minute Chicken Cake Noodle and the Shrimp/Fish tempuras. Their spring rolls and gau gee had a sort of metallic taste to them. Chicken katsu and fried fish had a dusty texture in the breading. Char siu and teri beef were pretty bland tasting. And their signature Honey Garlic Chicken was too sweet and soggy.
Rob Gonzalez
A lot of great choices to pick. The food is good little pricey. But place to eat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Thomas Karman
The food here is very good and the people are friendly. Only problem is I'm battling a major boute of food poisoning, so I think they should check their shrimp. Again, really good otherwise, but a one time slip up.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Ciera Moore
Great place! Go here all the time. Has a LOT of variety here for food. My grandma even ate from here (and she's pretty picky) and she enjoyed it. Will continue to come back for all of their delicious food options ?
Decided to try this place for the first time since in the area and wife wanted to eat cold noodles with bbq pork. Reviews seemed mostly positive so ordered for takeout. Got the cold noodles with bbq pork and the Local Boy Plate for me. I heard the honey garlic chicken was mostly batter but wanted to try anyway. Price: Higher prices like everywhere else, price is higher than reviews and online. Cold noodles w/ bbq pork $16.95, Local Boy plate $17.95. Total with tax $36.55Taste: Just ok. Char siu didn't have much taste and honey garlic chicken was pretty bland. Teri beef was pretty good. Bbq pork and noodles were just ok. Quantity: They give a good amount. You'll be full if you eat everything. Quality: Cold noodles w/ bbq pork-noodles didn't seem like vermicelli, was fatter noodles. Pork had a lot of stringy fat. Local Boy plate-char sui was ok, Teri beef was tender and not tough, honey garlic chicken was pretty bad. Like others said it's mostly batter, but the actual chicken inside must have been precooked as it was tough and dry inside all that batter. It looked like it was pieces of shredded chicken inside. I've never seen battered chicken like this. Bottom line: Our items were ok to negative. Higher prices than online lists. Possible better items other than what we got.
It a small restaurant but the foods are good. I like their fried rice. Good portion and the price is okay too. Their combination pho is also good but I think it would had been better if it is a little less saltier. Overall i like this place.
Fairwood is my favorite place. I always get the Lunch special. Good portions and awesome food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Char Siu, Local Boy, Honey Garlic Chicken, Fried Rice
I ordered the Local Boy for my boyfriend and Mix Plate for myself and we were both really disappointed with our meals. The rice was all mushy and tasted like paste! Yuck! The chicken katsu had a weird taste and the gravy on the hamburger steak was junk too. I expected a little bit better quality for paying almost $40 for 2 plate lunches. It was my first time eating here and after that experience definitely my last ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Mom really loves their Jai. Me it's the fried fish. All around ono food and service is alway nice
I love their chicken salad dressing. However once their was a bone in the chicken....so be careful when eating!
I came here on the recommendation of a food blogger for their barbecue burger. But I ended up liking something else. They offered a pork summer roll along with the usual shrimp summer roll. Due to my allergies I am unable to eat shrimp, so I was very happy to find an alternative type of roll. For $11.50 they gave two very fat rolls of BBQ (teriyaki) flavor pork along with lettuce, mint and possibly cucumber. It had a very thick sesame seed based sauce. Very refreshing on a hot day like today.Instead of the recommended hamburger I got the regular hamburger Deluxe which is a dollar more at $7.50. It came with what looked like a pre-formed Burger, and it was thicker than most hamburger patties. The vlogger's son made a comment that it has a nice crust on the burger which mines did not have. In fact my burger wasn't even hot it was kind of more warm. So I found that rather strange. Maybe if it was hot it would have tasted better. But they did give generous amounts of onion, lettuce and a really fat tomato slice. Therefore I gave it a four-star review versus a five-star.Though it was at an off hour, aboutb2 pm-ish they still had a steady stream of customers come in. So I think for an out of the way hole in the wall, that's not advertised, I think that says about something for the food. They've combined a Pho restaurant with a regular drive-in. So there are local drive inn staples. They're having an identity crisis!! They also offered a few fish choices, like saba. Their spring rolls with a nice assortment of fresh vegetables looked quite good. My overall view of their menu was that it was pretty good and offered a diverse amount of food. They did have different kinds of pork chops so if that's your thing, you might want to try that.I did note the odd placement of various types of handbags up for sale. It kind of gave that Honky Tonk, Chinatown flavor, like it couldn't quite make up its mind what it wants to be. I also noted that the walls in the interior was rather dated and sad looking. I think with a redesign of the interior plus some fresh paint could do it a world of good otherwise it looks very tired and dull.I think that this is a hidden gem, hole in a wall place that's not very widely known due to the food scene in Kaimuki that may overshadow a small place like this. But I personally think it's worth trying. The prices are comparable, the food is good and it has very fresh veggies like typical Vietnamese food. I will be back.
Fairwood Drive Inn is located on the 2nd floor of the Kaimuki Shopping Center on Waialae. It's a hodgepodge. In addition to Fairwood, there's also Pho 27 crammed in there with a sort of flea market selling all kine bags, masks, curios and homemade sauces. Something for everyone! I was craving noodles and remembered my friend Daniel praising their Singapore Noodles (which does not originate in Singapore but Hong Kong! Google it, interesting origin story). Good price, generous portions of shrimp, egg, char siu and noodles. Nice taste of curry. I would get this again. I ordered a mini Honey Garlic Chicken cos nostalgia. I used to order this all the time years ago. They were nice to let me order all rice cos wasn't feeling like mac salad. Taste was good but too sweet for my taste and the battered exterior was definitely not in proportion to the chicken. See photo. I don't recall batter being so thick in the past but not loving this iteration. Gonna stick to noodles next visit.
Food is plentiful. Plate lunches are not bad. They serve old school wrinkle fries. The burgers are awesome as well. Little pricey but they are big and tasty. I believe they are handmade. Go check then out. Food is good. Singapore noodles are awesome too.
Ordered takeout. The Rice Noodle with BBQ Pork was yummy. The Honey Garlic Chicken was okay, it sounded better than it was and I'm wondering if it would taste better if we ate there.
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lemon Grass Chicken over Noodles
Restaurantji Recommends
I think this place is good if you know what to order. Currently they have only the front of the place open for takeout, the dine in pho section in back is closed, but you can still order pho to-go. With such a large and diverse menu, it can be hard to decide what to get. Here are my thoughts about Fairwood....The Singapore noodle is very good, every single time I've ordered it. Might be my favorite Singapore noodle, or tied with Asian Mix' singapore noodle. Minute chicken with chow fun, also a winner. The pho is pretty good too. The Spicy eggplant/ground pork is excellent (highly recommend this!), and jai is offered all year round -- it's ok (not great) but if you're craving it, not many places sell jai all the time.They also have lot of plate lunch type items (chicken katsu, burgers etc) but we don't usually order those. If you read the reviews, they say the honey garlic chicken is junk, so I've never tried that. (Trust the yelpers that have gone before you!). Stick with the above mentioned Chinese food options and you can't go wrong. I always call in my order ahead of time so i don't have to wait but if you are there and have to wait, they have a small section of things they import from Asia like bags and N95 masks you can browse while you wait.
Never ate at Pho 27, this review is for the Fairwood side of the restaurant. The service is pretty good and the price is fair for the amount of food you get. The food for the most part isn't very good. The only dishes that I've been satisfied with were the Minute Chicken Cake Noodle and the Shrimp/Fish tempuras. Their spring rolls and gau gee had a sort of metallic taste to them. Chicken katsu and fried fish had a dusty texture in the breading. Char siu and teri beef were pretty bland tasting. And their signature Honey Garlic Chicken was too sweet and soggy.
A lot of great choices to pick. The food is good little pricey. But place to eat.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
The food here is very good and the people are friendly. Only problem is I'm battling a major boute of food poisoning, so I think they should check their shrimp. Again, really good otherwise, but a one time slip up.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Great place! Go here all the time. Has a LOT of variety here for food. My grandma even ate from here (and she's pretty picky) and she enjoyed it. Will continue to come back for all of their delicious food options ?