Boy, would I love to meet you all! If only someone would pay my way from Chicago! If Tony's sisters are anything like him, the conversation would be non-stop, enlightening and most knowledgeable about all things dim sum. Have a great time!

In regards to dim sum, where can I get good pork bun (Manapua)? The ones I ate had too much bread or the filling was dry.

Schildc1, you should meet PPC's daughters. One minute they're speaking intellectually about politics & books and their favorite authors, the next minute they are talking about their favorite episodes of MTV's "Pimp My Ride." My sister and I are boring by comparison.

Offlady, if you like a less-dry char siu bao, try Royal Kitchen in the Chinese Cultural Plaza (on the River Street side). They bake their bao, using a sweet bread dough (like challah bread), which makes them very popular for take-out. Sure, it's westernized bao. But who cares? It's popular with local Chinese as well.

If any correspondent is from San Francisco or going to San Francisco, please visit Cafe Bakery on Noriega Street, between 20th and 21th Avenue in the Sunset District. I recently received a box of char siu bao (roasted sweet pork buns) from the bakery and thought that they were quite tasty. It seems that a lot of people from Hawaii enjoy the bao and bring boxes back to Hawaii for friends and relatives.

I tried those bao, too! The meat was chunky, not ground, which was nice.

OK, time for a summation. The consensus seems to be that there is no dim sum to be mentioned on the islands of Kauai and Maui.

On Oahu, Legends had reigned as the premier dim sum parlor, but the unconfirmed rumor is that the new HeiChinRou at Ala Moana Center had lured Legends dim sum chef away. We will pursue this report and let you know.

For the Waimanalo beach home set, Harbor Village Cuisine now serves dim sum. That means you no longer have to make the half-hour long trip to Chinatown on weekends when you get a yen for Har Gau (shrimp dumpling) or Chiu Chao Funn Gow (dumpling with minced meat, vegetables, and peanuts).
How good is it? We don't know, because my sisters still haven't taken me out for my birthday, which was over a month ago.

With Rodney Dangerfield passing away last week, I should take a hint and just see for myself what Harbor Village Cuisine is all about.

For the future: Eastern Garden has purchased the Yong Sing facility in downtown Honolulu (I just got my hands on the last two undamaged Yong Sing platters in existence) and should be opening in March of 2005.

To sum up, the Chinese Cultural Plaza, with SIX dim sum parlors, remains as the quintessential Chinese immersion experience in Hawaii on a Sunday morning. Saturday is almost as good.

Good grief! your sister gave you an expensive & fashionable aloha shirt to wear to client meetings!

shea certainly did, and a beautiful shirt it is. It would also sparkle at a dim sum parlor!

>For the future: Eastern Garden has purchased the Yong Sing facility in downtown Honolulu (I just got my hands on the last two undamaged Yong Sing platters in existence) and should be opening in March of 2005.<

Yippee! That is literally right next door to where I work. Whenever we get a craving for dim sum for lunch, we usually walk down to Mei Sum - now it will be so much closer - less effort to roll ourselves back to work!

chepar, where do you work? I used to be in the Pacific Tower (now ASB) and am a big fan of Cafe 8-1/2.

you can email me at [email protected]

Chepar, have you checked out Dim Sum House on the corner of Bishop and Hotel? The fellow there formerly made dim sum at Legend and is considered quite good. The setting is primarily takeout but there are tables and chairs available.

How would the distance to Hong Kong Harborview compare with the distance to Mei Sum for you?

>Chepar, have you checked out Dim Sum House on the corner of Bishop and Hotel? The fellow there formerly made dim sum at Legend and is considered quite good. The setting is primarily takeout but there are tables and chairs available.

How would the distance to Hong Kong Harborview compare with the distance to Mei Sum for you?<

If the place on Bishop/Hotel is on the lower level from the street - that's where I usually go for a dim sum fix when no one else feels like walking to Mei Sum. I agree that it's quite good -not what you would really expect from a take out place. The price is pretty inexpensive too - but my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach and I end up buying too much.

I think the walk to Mei Sum is closer than Aloha Tower. I've never been to Hong Kong HarborView - I might have to try it one day.

I have now received reports about Harbor Village Cuisine in Hawaii Kai and Kirin at Ala Moana Center. Both are very good, according to the reviews.

Eastern Garden will be closing their last restaurant at Westridge. I don't know whether the facility will reopen as a Chinese restaurant witn dim sum, but I would bet that the owners of the former Sun Kong will be taking a hard look at that possibility.

My speculation that Eastern Garden would reopen in thw former Yong Sing site downtown appears to be unfounded.
The new owners talk about a non-Chinese restaurant instead.

Golden Palace has done so well that they have raised their prices and are no longer the cheapest dim sum in Chinatown.

Finally, Wo Fat is again closed and the New Empress is on the market.

oh, too bad! I had a really nice meal at Wo Fat in December.

chepar, I think Aloha Tower is about a 10 minute walk from where you are. Not sure how that compares with the walk to Mei Sum.

Have been away from these boards for a long time. Wo Fat is closed? Awful! When we were in Oahu last August, Pakeporkchop led a superb walking tour through Chinatown and my husband and I throroughly enjoyed our meal at Wo Fat. Any chance they will re-open? Next best place in the area? Legends? We liked W.F. because it was so low-key. We'll be in Honolulu in about three weeks and definitely want to revisit the area so ably shown to us by PPC. Cheers from Chicago!

topping

I've been reading over these posts to get current Dim Sum restaurant picks in Chinatown-we're going in a week. But I see some date back to last year. Can someone bring us up-to-date with 3 or 4 good but inexpensive choices that are open now(April 2005)???

bryarsmom....i will try to find something for you and top it. I just recently asked about restaurants..

bryarsmom, i just topped a post for you titled absolutely do not miss wine and dine spots on oahu and kauai.

Not sure where to start.

Chinatown: Legend Seafood remains the peak experience, but at a price.

Very comparable experience at Fook Lam, just two doors away, but at a lesser price.

If you are vegetarian, go to Buddhist Vegetarian, located between the above two.

For something intermediate in Chinatown,
go to Mei Sum.

The bargain basement in Chinatown is Golden Palace.

In the Ala Moana Shopping Center area, I would say that Royal Garden is first, followed by Kirin and Panda Cuisine.

In Waikiki, Seafood Village, followed by Beijing and Legend.

Chinatown is, of course, the most cost-efficient environment.