3.5 stars Came to the newest dim sum place in town. It was nice and more fancy than your typical dim sum place in China Town. I got some of my usual favorites seafood bean curd roll, seafood seaweed roll, taro puff, and mochi puff with pork. We also got char siu siu which I recently discovered at a China town bakery. The seaweed roll was pretty good. The bean curd roll was deep fried, I'm used to it being steamed. The taro puff though light and fluffy had a slight smoky flavor, maybe from being fried too hard. The char siu siu had a nice flaky crust but the filling was not as tasty as the one from the local bakery. The har gao was tasty, the shrimp was cooked nicely and had good texture. We also got the beef look fun which took the longest to come out because it was cooked to order. It was filled with beef meatball, so it had to be steamed for awhile after it was ordered. I did not care for the flavor of the meatball, it had cilantro and/or tangerine peel. Service was quick and prompt. I like that you order from a menu rather than from the carts. I also liked that the shoyu and chilli sauce was on the table so I didn't need to ask for more each time I wanted more. I thought the prices were higher than other places in China Town; Most of the small plates were $6.50. Parking was at Alii Place, the first parking lot just past it. They validated but we still had to pay 0.75 which isn't bad for down town. The elevators in Alii Place are weird, you have to press the floor you want to go to OUTSIDE and look at which elevator to take. Once inside the elevator there are no buttons for floors so you can't choose the floor once you're in the elevator. So even if you see people waiting for the elevator press the floor you want to go to, because the people may not be going to the same floor. Once you get down to the ground floor, take a left and go to the doors down long hall past Hawaii State Federal Credit Union not the one in front that gets you around the block from the restaurant.
Richard H.
Great food. The menu is quite extensive and the food is prepared where the flavors of Hong Kong come alive. From dim sum to lobster noodles the customer will not be disappointed. The waitstaff is courteous and very helpful always making sure you have a fresh pot of tea, and clean dishes in front of you. The restaurant has a very pleasant atmosphere and many private dining rooms should you have a need for this service. The customer will not be disappointed in their choice to savor great Hong Kong style cooking
Mj C.
We received their menu brochure from friends who work across the street from the restaurant. It gave their hours as about 9a to 3p and 5p to 10p. The brochure was filled with color photos of about 50 delicious looking Dim Sum NOWHERE did it show or mention anything but Dim Sum. Our group arrived at 7pm ready to order having already chosen a favorite Dim Sum. We were each given a menu full of family style platters. We politely declined saying we were there for only their Dim Sum. We were told that we were given their menu for evening. We looked at it again and saw it was full of very, very expensive platter items. Since all of us parked nearby and we did not know where to walk to for something else, we ordered. We had their cold ginger chicken that was rather unappetizing with cold, yellow skin and mostly bones with small pieces of tough chicken in between. It had very little ginger taste. The Char Siu looked lovely but again with not a lot of flavor and many pieces of meat were tough. The other dishes were OK and the walnut shrimp was absolutely delicious. We all wanted more. Some people were disappointed to find there was no beer or wine and three of us were looking forward to the cold iced tea that was advertised on their brochure. All we got was, cold water but also a pot of tasty hot tea. The service was excellent, friendly & efficient. The large room was quiet & the room nicely bright. We would not recommend ordering from this menu, but in the future, we will allh try the Dim Sum and make sure of the hours it is served. We found this evening menu far too expensive for what we had. We suggest changing the brochure too.
Ruth W.
The food itself is average not so great. To me, it's like preserved foods not so fresh. The price is affordable. They translate several dishes very wrong. services are great!
Robert H.
We moved to island about five months ago hands-down the best customer service I have had by far like not lying. These people are aware of my experience and because of that I'm writing this review as a must go to if you're in Honolulu.
Min K.
SOOO busy but so good. Instead of having to deal with the congestion and parking situation on Kapiolani, it's good to see that Downtown got our Chinese restaurant back! IYKYK. ;) Prices are reasonable and dim sum is good. Service is hit and miss but they're not mean. HIGHLY recommend to order the house chow mein. It's amazing.
Warren N.
It's great to see this location is once again a Chinese restaurant. I miss Yong Sing and the successor restaurants didn't last long. The owner, Terry Leung, owns Kapiolani Seafood as well as a dim sum place in Kaneohe. We were hoping for dim sum at dinner, but unfortunately, it wasn't available. Their standard dinner menu is very extensive, and they provide good pictures of what you're ordering. We ordered the string beans with pork, beef chow funn gravy style, and the beef tendon stew pot. The string beans were excellent and very tasty. I couldn't put my finger on the salty element...dried scallops maybe? The beef chow funn was good, but not great. A solid 3.5/5 stars. The beef tendon stew was good, with lots of ginger. It was missing a punch of five spice, though. Service is great, and our server had helpful suggestions, too. The ambiance is very clean and modern with lots of lighting. However, the giant karaoke TV could be turned off during dinner. Can't wait to try their dim sum at lunch!
Jeffrey T.
Newish dim sum place in downtown a block away from the courthouse and across the street from Bishop Square. They validate for the Bishop Square garage on the weekends. They suggest another lot to park during the weekdays that they validate for. Dim sum is literally my favorite food so of course I had to try this place when I heard there was a new dim sum restaurant opened recently. Clean and spacious. There are two floors. Don't expect dim sum carts rolling around to tables. You mark what your selection is and they make it to order. With the exception for bakes items. It looked like it was in a warming case. The owner, Terry Cheung, was a Hong Kong native before moving to Hawaii, and brings authentic Hong Kong cuisine with him. He had a heavy hand in opening Kapiolani Seafood so you will notice many similarities to both restaurants and their offerings. We got the usuals siu mai, turnip cake, black bean spare rib, shrimp cheong fun. Their Singapore curry rice noodles were a winner. Service was great. We didn't get it but noticed they had cha leung, the cheong fun with fried donut in it. Try it if you haven't, great taste and texture.
Rick L.
On a beautiful Sunday morning, I ventured to Honolulu Seafood Restaurant for yum cha. Parking downtown is notoriously tricky, but luck favored me with a free spot just a block away. Upon arrival, I found the restaurant bustling with patrons. Warm smiles greeted me, and the staff swiftly seated me by the wall. I placed my order, and within minutes, steaming hot dim sum arrived at my table--no push carts like your traditional Cantonese restaurants. While the prices were on the higher side, as expected for a yum cha restaurant in Hawaii nowadays, the portions were notably generous. Now, onto the critique. The xiao long bao (A11) lacked flavor, with an overwhelming usage of baking soda and disintegrated meat. Similarly, the baked BBQ pork buns (A33) lacked finesse in flavor despite their size. The beef tendon with rice noodle dish was unremarkable in taste, albeit the meat was tender. The sizzling pot of beef tendon (A39) had an overly sweet sauce reminiscent of plum sauce found in Vietnamese cuisine, though the meat remained tender yet lacking in flavor. The spare ribs with black bean sauce (A05) suffered from the same blandness. However, there were shining moments and they were huge. The shrimp cheung fun (A41) was a delight, with ample, succulent shrimp pieces. The shrimp dumplings (A01), pork hash (A04), and additional shrimp dumplings (A10) were sizable and bursting with flavor. Next time, I'll stick to ordering the basics that impressed me and steer clear of the others, especially the disappointing xiao long bao.
Candice Leong
Not appreciating customers because I was with a toddler. This is the most horrible dining experience in my life.It was my son's 3rd birthday yesterday, and he was crying for dimsum. So two of us went to the restaurant today. The owner told us to wait for a small table to open. We were waiting for 30-40 minutes and there was another party of 2 people waiting after us. They seated 3 people as soon as they walked in and then the 2 people who were waiting after us. We had to wait another 10-15 minutes for the smallest table in the restaurant on the second floor.. even though there were tables open on the 1stfloor (we have a stroller and had to take it upstairs) even after we were seated, noone came to our table...(dishes smelledlike a rug) Since my son was willing to wait, we were waiting for someone to come to our table for 15- 20 minutes.. no one came..we live in downtown and thoughtthat it'd be a good spot for dimsum sinceit's close by. We will never go back there
We came here on Chinese New Years to Celebrate! This place was really lively! All I remember having was: **Char Siu & Jelly Fish (8/10) ~ Char Siu was really soft and tender. It was marinated really well! The Jelly wish had a nice crunch and the perfect app before eating something big! Overall, It wasn't bad, lots of space to bring a huge party! I would like to come back to try dim sum here next time.
KT M.
Five-stars for food, service, and décor. Came for authentic dimsum with my family and it was a wonderful experience. We got a private room that has a karaoke for our entertainment. Food was fresh and hot, super delicious. Portions were big, we had many leftovers to take home. The staff was attentive. Despite the busy lunch crowd, they always make sure our teapots were filled and our needs were met. My family are making plans to return for more yummy comfort foods.
Teyla C.
We celebrated my grandma birthday at Honolulu Seafood Restaurant. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Parking was easy we parked on Alaska street, free after 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Holiday. We can't wait to go back.
Rodger T.
Probably the best Dim Sum on Oahu! The person I suspect to be the owner helped us a couple of times and appears to be very passionate about his establishment. Very busy Sunday morning, got a seat for 2 in about 5 minutes. Order by marking pamphlets. Pictures of all foods are included. Multiple types of Tea are complementary. Prices are around 5.50-6.50 per plate. 2-3 minutes was about the average time between plates received. Xiao Long Bao, Look Fun, Short Ribs are among a few things we ordered that were delicious. Dim Sum runs late I think until 1500 before they switch menus.
Sofia L.
I tried here recently, as a worker downtown who loves dim sum. They recently opened so you could tell everyone is still figuring out the flow of a new restaurant. The servers were very kind and on top of things. Originally I was walking around town and just had my phone so I asked if they had Apple Pay and they said they did. The food was great! Everything I had was so good. I ordered the house special dumpling and it turned out to be a half moon with celery which was my only kind of confusion. Try it out if you're down town!
3.5 stars Came to the newest dim sum place in town. It was nice and more fancy than your typical dim sum place in China Town. I got some of my usual favorites seafood bean curd roll, seafood seaweed roll, taro puff, and mochi puff with pork. We also got char siu siu which I recently discovered at a China town bakery. The seaweed roll was pretty good. The bean curd roll was deep fried, I'm used to it being steamed. The taro puff though light and fluffy had a slight smoky flavor, maybe from being fried too hard. The char siu siu had a nice flaky crust but the filling was not as tasty as the one from the local bakery. The har gao was tasty, the shrimp was cooked nicely and had good texture. We also got the beef look fun which took the longest to come out because it was cooked to order. It was filled with beef meatball, so it had to be steamed for awhile after it was ordered. I did not care for the flavor of the meatball, it had cilantro and/or tangerine peel. Service was quick and prompt. I like that you order from a menu rather than from the carts. I also liked that the shoyu and chilli sauce was on the table so I didn't need to ask for more each time I wanted more. I thought the prices were higher than other places in China Town; Most of the small plates were $6.50. Parking was at Alii Place, the first parking lot just past it. They validated but we still had to pay 0.75 which isn't bad for down town. The elevators in Alii Place are weird, you have to press the floor you want to go to OUTSIDE and look at which elevator to take. Once inside the elevator there are no buttons for floors so you can't choose the floor once you're in the elevator. So even if you see people waiting for the elevator press the floor you want to go to, because the people may not be going to the same floor. Once you get down to the ground floor, take a left and go to the doors down long hall past Hawaii State Federal Credit Union not the one in front that gets you around the block from the restaurant.
Great food. The menu is quite extensive and the food is prepared where the flavors of Hong Kong come alive. From dim sum to lobster noodles the customer will not be disappointed. The waitstaff is courteous and very helpful always making sure you have a fresh pot of tea, and clean dishes in front of you. The restaurant has a very pleasant atmosphere and many private dining rooms should you have a need for this service. The customer will not be disappointed in their choice to savor great Hong Kong style cooking
We received their menu brochure from friends who work across the street from the restaurant. It gave their hours as about 9a to 3p and 5p to 10p. The brochure was filled with color photos of about 50 delicious looking Dim Sum NOWHERE did it show or mention anything but Dim Sum. Our group arrived at 7pm ready to order having already chosen a favorite Dim Sum. We were each given a menu full of family style platters. We politely declined saying we were there for only their Dim Sum. We were told that we were given their menu for evening. We looked at it again and saw it was full of very, very expensive platter items. Since all of us parked nearby and we did not know where to walk to for something else, we ordered. We had their cold ginger chicken that was rather unappetizing with cold, yellow skin and mostly bones with small pieces of tough chicken in between. It had very little ginger taste. The Char Siu looked lovely but again with not a lot of flavor and many pieces of meat were tough. The other dishes were OK and the walnut shrimp was absolutely delicious. We all wanted more. Some people were disappointed to find there was no beer or wine and three of us were looking forward to the cold iced tea that was advertised on their brochure. All we got was, cold water but also a pot of tasty hot tea. The service was excellent, friendly & efficient. The large room was quiet & the room nicely bright. We would not recommend ordering from this menu, but in the future, we will allh try the Dim Sum and make sure of the hours it is served. We found this evening menu far too expensive for what we had. We suggest changing the brochure too.
The food itself is average not so great. To me, it's like preserved foods not so fresh. The price is affordable. They translate several dishes very wrong. services are great!
We moved to island about five months ago hands-down the best customer service I have had by far like not lying. These people are aware of my experience and because of that I'm writing this review as a must go to if you're in Honolulu.
SOOO busy but so good. Instead of having to deal with the congestion and parking situation on Kapiolani, it's good to see that Downtown got our Chinese restaurant back! IYKYK. ;) Prices are reasonable and dim sum is good. Service is hit and miss but they're not mean. HIGHLY recommend to order the house chow mein. It's amazing.
It's great to see this location is once again a Chinese restaurant. I miss Yong Sing and the successor restaurants didn't last long. The owner, Terry Leung, owns Kapiolani Seafood as well as a dim sum place in Kaneohe. We were hoping for dim sum at dinner, but unfortunately, it wasn't available. Their standard dinner menu is very extensive, and they provide good pictures of what you're ordering. We ordered the string beans with pork, beef chow funn gravy style, and the beef tendon stew pot. The string beans were excellent and very tasty. I couldn't put my finger on the salty element...dried scallops maybe? The beef chow funn was good, but not great. A solid 3.5/5 stars. The beef tendon stew was good, with lots of ginger. It was missing a punch of five spice, though. Service is great, and our server had helpful suggestions, too. The ambiance is very clean and modern with lots of lighting. However, the giant karaoke TV could be turned off during dinner. Can't wait to try their dim sum at lunch!
Newish dim sum place in downtown a block away from the courthouse and across the street from Bishop Square. They validate for the Bishop Square garage on the weekends. They suggest another lot to park during the weekdays that they validate for. Dim sum is literally my favorite food so of course I had to try this place when I heard there was a new dim sum restaurant opened recently. Clean and spacious. There are two floors. Don't expect dim sum carts rolling around to tables. You mark what your selection is and they make it to order. With the exception for bakes items. It looked like it was in a warming case. The owner, Terry Cheung, was a Hong Kong native before moving to Hawaii, and brings authentic Hong Kong cuisine with him. He had a heavy hand in opening Kapiolani Seafood so you will notice many similarities to both restaurants and their offerings. We got the usuals siu mai, turnip cake, black bean spare rib, shrimp cheong fun. Their Singapore curry rice noodles were a winner. Service was great. We didn't get it but noticed they had cha leung, the cheong fun with fried donut in it. Try it if you haven't, great taste and texture.
On a beautiful Sunday morning, I ventured to Honolulu Seafood Restaurant for yum cha. Parking downtown is notoriously tricky, but luck favored me with a free spot just a block away. Upon arrival, I found the restaurant bustling with patrons. Warm smiles greeted me, and the staff swiftly seated me by the wall. I placed my order, and within minutes, steaming hot dim sum arrived at my table--no push carts like your traditional Cantonese restaurants. While the prices were on the higher side, as expected for a yum cha restaurant in Hawaii nowadays, the portions were notably generous. Now, onto the critique. The xiao long bao (A11) lacked flavor, with an overwhelming usage of baking soda and disintegrated meat. Similarly, the baked BBQ pork buns (A33) lacked finesse in flavor despite their size. The beef tendon with rice noodle dish was unremarkable in taste, albeit the meat was tender. The sizzling pot of beef tendon (A39) had an overly sweet sauce reminiscent of plum sauce found in Vietnamese cuisine, though the meat remained tender yet lacking in flavor. The spare ribs with black bean sauce (A05) suffered from the same blandness. However, there were shining moments and they were huge. The shrimp cheung fun (A41) was a delight, with ample, succulent shrimp pieces. The shrimp dumplings (A01), pork hash (A04), and additional shrimp dumplings (A10) were sizable and bursting with flavor. Next time, I'll stick to ordering the basics that impressed me and steer clear of the others, especially the disappointing xiao long bao.
Not appreciating customers because I was with a toddler. This is the most horrible dining experience in my life.It was my son's 3rd birthday yesterday, and he was crying for dimsum. So two of us went to the restaurant today. The owner told us to wait for a small table to open. We were waiting for 30-40 minutes and there was another party of 2 people waiting after us. They seated 3 people as soon as they walked in and then the 2 people who were waiting after us. We had to wait another 10-15 minutes for the smallest table in the restaurant on the second floor.. even though there were tables open on the 1stfloor (we have a stroller and had to take it upstairs) even after we were seated, noone came to our table...(dishes smelledlike a rug) Since my son was willing to wait, we were waiting for someone to come to our table for 15- 20 minutes.. no one came..we live in downtown and thoughtthat it'd be a good spot for dimsum sinceit's close by. We will never go back there
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
We came here on Chinese New Years to Celebrate! This place was really lively! All I remember having was: **Char Siu & Jelly Fish (8/10) ~ Char Siu was really soft and tender. It was marinated really well! The Jelly wish had a nice crunch and the perfect app before eating something big! Overall, It wasn't bad, lots of space to bring a huge party! I would like to come back to try dim sum here next time.
Five-stars for food, service, and décor. Came for authentic dimsum with my family and it was a wonderful experience. We got a private room that has a karaoke for our entertainment. Food was fresh and hot, super delicious. Portions were big, we had many leftovers to take home. The staff was attentive. Despite the busy lunch crowd, they always make sure our teapots were filled and our needs were met. My family are making plans to return for more yummy comfort foods.
We celebrated my grandma birthday at Honolulu Seafood Restaurant. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Parking was easy we parked on Alaska street, free after 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Holiday. We can't wait to go back.
Probably the best Dim Sum on Oahu! The person I suspect to be the owner helped us a couple of times and appears to be very passionate about his establishment. Very busy Sunday morning, got a seat for 2 in about 5 minutes. Order by marking pamphlets. Pictures of all foods are included. Multiple types of Tea are complementary. Prices are around 5.50-6.50 per plate. 2-3 minutes was about the average time between plates received. Xiao Long Bao, Look Fun, Short Ribs are among a few things we ordered that were delicious. Dim Sum runs late I think until 1500 before they switch menus.
I tried here recently, as a worker downtown who loves dim sum. They recently opened so you could tell everyone is still figuring out the flow of a new restaurant. The servers were very kind and on top of things. Originally I was walking around town and just had my phone so I asked if they had Apple Pay and they said they did. The food was great! Everything I had was so good. I ordered the house special dumpling and it turned out to be a half moon with celery which was my only kind of confusion. Try it out if you're down town!