Chinatown Honolulu
 

Anyone have an opinion on visiting Chinatown. We were going to visit Iolani Palace, have lunch in Chinatown, and then go to Bishop Museum, but I have a good Hawaiian friend(moved from Kapolei 10 years ago)who says it is NOT a place we want to hang out, she says it is not safe. Anyone been there?
Thanks

There are THOUSANDS of people who shop in Chinatown every day for fresh produce and meat products.

Your friend, who lived in Kapolei 10 YEARS AGO (and more than 15 MILES DISTANT from Chinatown) is hardly in a position to venture an opinion.

For more current information, go to
http://www.chinatownhi.com/gwt.asp

I find it almost unbelievable that persons would venture such uninformed opinions.

Pake,
Thanks for the link to the great website, have wanted to go last 2 times on Oahu, so definitely will go. Do you recommend Little Village Noodle House?

Be sure to visit the lei shops on Mauna Kea St. in Chinatown. They are exquisite and the prices are incredibly low compared to elsewhere in Honolulu and particularly at the airport!

Although we did not take it (would like to on a future trip--we were last there in April) there apparently is an excellent tour of Chinatown. Don't have particulars for you, but many who post here will have them.

Little Village is popular with locals and tourists alike and you can BYOB....many of my friends buy a nice bottle of wine from the wine specialty store around the corner.

The tour offered by PPC is the one everyone here takes.

Chinatown has undergone quite a bit of revitalization over the years. If you are here on the first friday of the month, you'll find free art walks that night and some very hip bars open.

Hey, there was a time when Kapolei was not a safe place to live, either! You can tell your friend that......

Does your friend mean it's not safe during the day or at night?? I can see that it might not be a place to hang out at night, but it's a whole different story during the day.

Hello LVAMY - what do you mean when you say "hang out"? Your beginning comment mentions lunch in Chinatown, so perhaps that is all you're looking for.

I can wholeheartedly recommend PakePorkChop's culinary tour of Chinatown. I just did it last week, and it was a delight! He is very thorough, extremely knowledgeable of not only Chinatown but the history of Chinese in Honolulu, which I found really fascinating. Did you know that Hong Kong noodles are thicker than Cantonese noodles? (Hope I got that right, PPC!!) My mother was with me and she is still talking about it, especially the lovely "innerds" we gawked at.

Lunch in Chinatown is very easy and certainly very safe. Lots of variety to choose from. We loved the fast pace of the Dim Sum lunch. Grab it now or it will be gone!

And there's this wicked smoothie-type drink, with whatever fruit you like and these little black blobs of gooey something-or-other that you suck up with your straw. Not sure what they were but they were delicious!

Please, don't worry about the area. So much history in those few little blocks.

Chinatown in Honolulu?? Who knew? =-O

Yeah...but you just can't get good snake venom there anymore. :-P

Yes, sad but true....for snake venom I now have to go to the San Francisco herbalist since the honest herbalists in this town all tell me they've been sold out for a long time now.

kopp,the drink that you like is called Bubble Tea (sometimes called Pearl Tea) and the big globs are actually large tapiocas! http://bubbletea.com/

Also, re: hanging out at night. It's super safe on First Friday nights.

I think that information is out-of-date, particularly for the time of day and what you describe you want to do.

Thanks for all comments. My friend said day was iffy and definitely not at night. We just want to walk around, check out the sites, and have lunch. Anyone have a favorite lunch place in China town?

You're not going to Little Village?

Probably, I just was wondering if you who have been there had a (not too exotic) favorite, as I haven't talked to anyone who has been amd just saw Little Village advertised in your paper.
Thanks

We just returned from Little Village Noodle House and urge groups with three or five people NOT to visit without a reservation. Groups with the same number holding a reservation should also be warned.

Our family of six -- included a highchair, but since the restaurant does not take it into account, our reservation was for a group of five -- waited more than 1-1/2 hours after being told of a 20 minute wait. We regularly checked our status and were repeatedly told that we were next. There were a lot of people waiting and everyone was comparing waiting times. Most did not have a reservation.

After 1-1/2 hours, we demanded a more specific time when we would be seated since everyone who arrived after us, many times over, had been seated. It was during this discussion that we discovered Little Village Noodle House has an unspoken policy that regardless of your place in line or how long your group has been waiting, the restaurant will always max out its tables. The restaurant has tables that seat 2, 4, 6 and 10 people. There are only two tables where they will seat 5 people. As long as groups of 6 or more arrive, we would continue to be skipped over in order for the restaurant to fill every seat at the table. The restaurant gave no apology - just a matter of fact statement that this was its policy and yes, we could end up waiting indefinitely if the two tables where they allow our size group decided to stay all night. When asked, the restaurant said they had no intention of disclosing this policy.

Little Village Noodle House is a busy restaurant. Be warned about its seating practices. The same thing could happen with groups of three who would be skipped over indefinitely when groups of four continue to arrive.

Like us, you could still be waiting to be seated.

Find the food court in Chinatown - I can still remeber the wonderful food I ate there.

Hi. I'm hoping that someone can tell me where to find details of pakeporkchop's tour of Chinatown ? Thanks K.

I don't see it listed on the website anymore. Anyone with current info? I'm wondering also if he is still giving his tours?

K, just try the link he provided above, or email direct at [email protected].

I see what the poster is saying. The link appears to be having some problems. The mail body of info (that used to be there) is empty. Also, there is no reference to any tours.

We had lunch at Little Village and it was very good!...even though I was out voted by our group, as I had wanted to do the dim sum lunch.

aaaah, I see it now too. OK, K--best if you email him directly for the real scoop.