Five stars for this place based on quality of food wonderful selection expert preparation wonderful service and the food tastes fantastic! Very authentic Chinese place in the heart of Chinatown in Honolulu.
Manuel Salinas Sánchez
Very good restaurant, the food is of very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amedeo Hasson
Service was kind and attentive but food was dreadful - we ordered several dim sum dishes and everything was cold and sloppy with no flavor. No idea what these other positive reviewers are talking
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
Candace F.
I feel like this place has been around for ages with name changes, fires, renovations and simply just authentic Chinese food. This restaurant brings back so many memories of thirty years ago when this place was "the to go" place when it was so busy and bustling with energy. Now this place seems smaller, dated and in need of an interior renovation. At first entrance the smell of old furnishings and surroundings hit you. However, just focus on the food. We ordered probably over ten dishes. First impression was the portion sizes being larger than the average. The various dumplings came filled and substantial..nothing delicate there. The green onion pancake tasted pre frozen and very hard. The cake noodles were crispy but the bean sprouts had a weird old smell. Everything tasted just okay. I feel like the ambiance affected the taste and smell of our food. The bill came and it was much cheaper than the other dim sum places we have dined at. I feel like we should support old relics like these restaurants. However, I think this place does need a facelift and a heavy scrub down. If you are looking for cheaper, fresh dim sum then this place is for you!
Kai M.
Had some business to do in downtown so we found this dim sum place on Yelp. This was our first time here. There were a lot of local, older, Chinese people eating lunch and speaking Chinese when we got there, so we figured it must be good haha! Service was quick during lunch hours. Food was delicious and exactly what we've been craving. The only dish we didn't really care for was the green onion pancake. There wasn't much flavor to it compared to a Korean pancake. Reasonably priced as well. Our total was around $50 for 2 adults, but we could've probably ordered 2-3 less items. We just wanted to try everything since we are rarely in downtown. Bathrooms inside the restaurant were clean. I would come here again if/when we're back in the area.
Fit Lo
In a word, fantastic! As a takeout order, we ordered the Yang chow fried rice and fried mochi puff (a deep fried dumpling with minced pork filling). The fried rice was well done i.e. the rice did not clump together and the shrimp were de-veined nicely as well as a pretty big portion. As for the fried mochi, it was fried fresh as it was piping hot with a nice golden brown hue. The place is located on a somewhat sketchy part of town (i.e. N. King St) but it's well worth the commute if you are in the mood for good Chinese food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jane Cho
Had some delicious and fresh dim sum with excellent service. Their stuffing portions are extremely generous- never had such large dumplings with thing wrapping before!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steamed Barbecue Pork Bun, Spare Ribs w Black Bean Sauce, Shrimp Dumpling Seafood Dumpling Siu Mai Mochi Rice in Lotus Leaf, Char Siu
Timmy W.
Apologies for the short review, but my wife and I were doing a progressive lunch. We only ordered one menu item. We had the number 11 (siu mai). It was dripping with juices when I bit into the yellow doughy goodness. I wish we could've ordered more items, but we had so many other places to try. This place is definitely authentic and a must try if you're in Chinatown.
Teresa Alderink
The steamed fish filet with ginger and scallions, oxtails and sautéed snow peas were fantastic. Yen, our server, was THE BEST. Not only did she provide excellent service at dinner, she also ran around Chinatown after dark to hunt me down and return my credit card that I accidentally left. We will be back when we are in HNL again!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Marianne L.
What a great transformation of the restaurant! We loved the remodeling job by the new owners. The chicken feet were really good. We also ordered the shrimp dumplings, chive dumplings, steamed char siu baos, egg tarts and taro dumplings. Their Jook was very good, too. You won't be disappointed! I cannot wait to go back for more delectable goodies.
Losing Golden Palace in Chinatown is like the end of an era--the last of the old guard. But to be honest and sad to say, it was time. Now let's welcome Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant who has taken over the space! I haven't been hearing positive things about this place, but after trying it, I don't agree at all. First impression, Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant did an AMAZING JOB in remodeling and improving the space that was Golden Palace. The space is so much more open now. The ceiling looks to have been replaced and raised with new lighting. The floor looks the same, but at least it's very clean. Added a new bar. And the biggest improvement is the addition of new restrooms!! Thank goodness! If you've used the restrooms before this, you should know what I'm talking about. Everything is clean and improved that still keeps the traditional Chinese restaurant feel and vibe that only a couple of restaurants still have. It was defintely nice to see a few familiar faces that were from Golden Palace that stayed and joined the Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood team. Also recognized a few other people from other restaurants as well. Dim sum is the usuals. Prices are on par with everywhere else. Remember when Golden Palace had the cheapest dim sum at $1.89??? Their regular menu is quite an expansive with several unique items that you don't see elsewhere, such as Pork Knuckle with Sand Ginger, Whole Steamed Wintermelon Soup, and Dong Po Rou. The last time I've seen this dish offered anywhere was at the Shanghai restaurant at Aloha Tower. I'll try this next time! Started with the Beef Tendon in Curry Sauce. The tendons were tender with the right amount of bite. It was on the light side for me, and needed a bit more curry sauce. The Chicken Feet were huge! And that's what I like to see. They were tender, fall off the bone, tasty and flavorful with a mix of garlicky and savory. The one thing that always just ruins the Steamed Beef Balls for me was the bite of Chinese parsley/cilantro (yes, not a fan in only Chinese cooking for some reason), and the ones here were quite visible. I was a little apprehensive, but I'll still eat it, of course, and wow, these were quite delicious. The beef was prepared very well--perfect firmness, flavorful, juicy, and had the correct amount of green onion, cilantro, and water chestnuts, which I find many restaurants not including. And the bean curd underneath soaking up all the juices is always welcomed. Steamed Shrimp Dumplings. Wow, these were so good! Huge, plump, crunchy, tasty, garlicky, and delicious shrimp in a very well prepared, translucent wrapper skin. I enjoyed the Crispy Seaweed Roll. Nice, big pieces. Tasty and full of flavorful filling with chunks of seafood. The Plain Look Funn is very good. Made to order as we added green onion and Chinese parsley (that was acceptable for me). Very well prepared--thin and rolled nicely with excellent texture and consistency. Lastly, the House Special Chow Mein was excellent and spot on. The thin chow mein was fried to a nice crisp. The sauce was flavorful,l with a nice variety of ingredients on top. The portion was huge! Overall, this was an excellent experience. Recency bias will put Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant straight into my top 2, but I haven't had my favorite place in a VERY long time. But comparing to my recent dim sum experience, this place is by far the best. All the food was very well prepared with solid portions. Prices are a touch high for but not by much, and make up for it with the bigger portions. Service was excellent. Friendly and attentive. Atmosphere was nice. Open and clean with a traditional Chinese restaurant feel. Can't wait to come back and try more things!
Susie Curado-Kam
Food was good and service was attentive. We went for dinner and were able to still get many dim sum items as long as they were steamed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Gerald P.
Came here after shopping in Chinatown. Wanted One ton noodle soup & got it! Server @ lunch very friendly& added some dim sum pork hash. Soup on arrival, would have liked hotter in temperature , full of noodles & one tons & chinese greens! Yellow mustard mixed with soy sauce was the Bomb! The red chili was delicious too! 4 pieces of pork hash was ok, but hit the spot, Clean restrooms, for both men & women, looked remodeled and was a nice welcome!Nice to see this Chinese eatery have nicely full dress chairs & glass table tops. Employees polite & friendly, but do try to over sell dim sum. Enjoyed Lunch!
Tim D.
Overall pretty good dim sum and service. The only thing that was kind of weird was the corn inside the half moon. Very clean restaurant.
Olivia Kwon
It's a restaurant with a continental feel from the 80's rather than a new continental feel these days, so be careful. I went there thinking it was Hong Kong and Taiwanese dim sum, but I ate it all feeling like I was being punished. I ran into a break time at a famous legendary dim sum restaurant nearby and had no place to go, so I went there and ended up completely exhausted. If you were thinking of Tim Ho Wan or Din Dai Fung, haha, take note~
Five stars for this place based on quality of food wonderful selection expert preparation wonderful service and the food tastes fantastic! Very authentic Chinese place in the heart of Chinatown in Honolulu.
Very good restaurant, the food is of very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Service was kind and attentive but food was dreadful - we ordered several dim sum dishes and everything was cold and sloppy with no flavor. No idea what these other positive reviewers are talking
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
I feel like this place has been around for ages with name changes, fires, renovations and simply just authentic Chinese food. This restaurant brings back so many memories of thirty years ago when this place was "the to go" place when it was so busy and bustling with energy. Now this place seems smaller, dated and in need of an interior renovation. At first entrance the smell of old furnishings and surroundings hit you. However, just focus on the food. We ordered probably over ten dishes. First impression was the portion sizes being larger than the average. The various dumplings came filled and substantial..nothing delicate there. The green onion pancake tasted pre frozen and very hard. The cake noodles were crispy but the bean sprouts had a weird old smell. Everything tasted just okay. I feel like the ambiance affected the taste and smell of our food. The bill came and it was much cheaper than the other dim sum places we have dined at. I feel like we should support old relics like these restaurants. However, I think this place does need a facelift and a heavy scrub down. If you are looking for cheaper, fresh dim sum then this place is for you!
Had some business to do in downtown so we found this dim sum place on Yelp. This was our first time here. There were a lot of local, older, Chinese people eating lunch and speaking Chinese when we got there, so we figured it must be good haha! Service was quick during lunch hours. Food was delicious and exactly what we've been craving. The only dish we didn't really care for was the green onion pancake. There wasn't much flavor to it compared to a Korean pancake. Reasonably priced as well. Our total was around $50 for 2 adults, but we could've probably ordered 2-3 less items. We just wanted to try everything since we are rarely in downtown. Bathrooms inside the restaurant were clean. I would come here again if/when we're back in the area.
In a word, fantastic! As a takeout order, we ordered the Yang chow fried rice and fried mochi puff (a deep fried dumpling with minced pork filling). The fried rice was well done i.e. the rice did not clump together and the shrimp were de-veined nicely as well as a pretty big portion. As for the fried mochi, it was fried fresh as it was piping hot with a nice golden brown hue. The place is located on a somewhat sketchy part of town (i.e. N. King St) but it's well worth the commute if you are in the mood for good Chinese food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Had some delicious and fresh dim sum with excellent service. Their stuffing portions are extremely generous- never had such large dumplings with thing wrapping before!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steamed Barbecue Pork Bun, Spare Ribs w Black Bean Sauce, Shrimp Dumpling Seafood Dumpling Siu Mai Mochi Rice in Lotus Leaf, Char Siu
Apologies for the short review, but my wife and I were doing a progressive lunch. We only ordered one menu item. We had the number 11 (siu mai). It was dripping with juices when I bit into the yellow doughy goodness. I wish we could've ordered more items, but we had so many other places to try. This place is definitely authentic and a must try if you're in Chinatown.
The steamed fish filet with ginger and scallions, oxtails and sautéed snow peas were fantastic. Yen, our server, was THE BEST. Not only did she provide excellent service at dinner, she also ran around Chinatown after dark to hunt me down and return my credit card that I accidentally left. We will be back when we are in HNL again!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
What a great transformation of the restaurant! We loved the remodeling job by the new owners. The chicken feet were really good. We also ordered the shrimp dumplings, chive dumplings, steamed char siu baos, egg tarts and taro dumplings. Their Jook was very good, too. You won't be disappointed! I cannot wait to go back for more delectable goodies.
Restaurantji Recommends
Losing Golden Palace in Chinatown is like the end of an era--the last of the old guard. But to be honest and sad to say, it was time. Now let's welcome Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant who has taken over the space! I haven't been hearing positive things about this place, but after trying it, I don't agree at all. First impression, Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant did an AMAZING JOB in remodeling and improving the space that was Golden Palace. The space is so much more open now. The ceiling looks to have been replaced and raised with new lighting. The floor looks the same, but at least it's very clean. Added a new bar. And the biggest improvement is the addition of new restrooms!! Thank goodness! If you've used the restrooms before this, you should know what I'm talking about. Everything is clean and improved that still keeps the traditional Chinese restaurant feel and vibe that only a couple of restaurants still have. It was defintely nice to see a few familiar faces that were from Golden Palace that stayed and joined the Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood team. Also recognized a few other people from other restaurants as well. Dim sum is the usuals. Prices are on par with everywhere else. Remember when Golden Palace had the cheapest dim sum at $1.89??? Their regular menu is quite an expansive with several unique items that you don't see elsewhere, such as Pork Knuckle with Sand Ginger, Whole Steamed Wintermelon Soup, and Dong Po Rou. The last time I've seen this dish offered anywhere was at the Shanghai restaurant at Aloha Tower. I'll try this next time! Started with the Beef Tendon in Curry Sauce. The tendons were tender with the right amount of bite. It was on the light side for me, and needed a bit more curry sauce. The Chicken Feet were huge! And that's what I like to see. They were tender, fall off the bone, tasty and flavorful with a mix of garlicky and savory. The one thing that always just ruins the Steamed Beef Balls for me was the bite of Chinese parsley/cilantro (yes, not a fan in only Chinese cooking for some reason), and the ones here were quite visible. I was a little apprehensive, but I'll still eat it, of course, and wow, these were quite delicious. The beef was prepared very well--perfect firmness, flavorful, juicy, and had the correct amount of green onion, cilantro, and water chestnuts, which I find many restaurants not including. And the bean curd underneath soaking up all the juices is always welcomed. Steamed Shrimp Dumplings. Wow, these were so good! Huge, plump, crunchy, tasty, garlicky, and delicious shrimp in a very well prepared, translucent wrapper skin. I enjoyed the Crispy Seaweed Roll. Nice, big pieces. Tasty and full of flavorful filling with chunks of seafood. The Plain Look Funn is very good. Made to order as we added green onion and Chinese parsley (that was acceptable for me). Very well prepared--thin and rolled nicely with excellent texture and consistency. Lastly, the House Special Chow Mein was excellent and spot on. The thin chow mein was fried to a nice crisp. The sauce was flavorful,l with a nice variety of ingredients on top. The portion was huge! Overall, this was an excellent experience. Recency bias will put Hawaii Dim Sum and Seafood Restaurant straight into my top 2, but I haven't had my favorite place in a VERY long time. But comparing to my recent dim sum experience, this place is by far the best. All the food was very well prepared with solid portions. Prices are a touch high for but not by much, and make up for it with the bigger portions. Service was excellent. Friendly and attentive. Atmosphere was nice. Open and clean with a traditional Chinese restaurant feel. Can't wait to come back and try more things!
Food was good and service was attentive. We went for dinner and were able to still get many dim sum items as long as they were steamed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Came here after shopping in Chinatown. Wanted One ton noodle soup & got it! Server @ lunch very friendly& added some dim sum pork hash. Soup on arrival, would have liked hotter in temperature , full of noodles & one tons & chinese greens! Yellow mustard mixed with soy sauce was the Bomb! The red chili was delicious too! 4 pieces of pork hash was ok, but hit the spot, Clean restrooms, for both men & women, looked remodeled and was a nice welcome!Nice to see this Chinese eatery have nicely full dress chairs & glass table tops. Employees polite & friendly, but do try to over sell dim sum. Enjoyed Lunch!
Overall pretty good dim sum and service. The only thing that was kind of weird was the corn inside the half moon. Very clean restaurant.
It's a restaurant with a continental feel from the 80's rather than a new continental feel these days, so be careful. I went there thinking it was Hong Kong and Taiwanese dim sum, but I ate it all feeling like I was being punished. I ran into a break time at a famous legendary dim sum restaurant nearby and had no place to go, so I went there and ended up completely exhausted. If you were thinking of Tim Ho Wan or Din Dai Fung, haha, take note~
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2