Dim Sum in Honolulu?
 

Anyone have any recommendations for good Dim Sum in Honolulu?

Not sure of the restaurant name but it's in the Ala Moana Hotel. Very tasty.

Try Hee Hing
449 Kapahulu Ave.
(808)735-5544

It's not too far from Waikiki.

The restaurant hpl is referring to is the Royal Garden, very good yum cha, right next to the Ala Moana Shopping Center.

We asked around and were told to yum char at The Legend. The dim sum and chow mee were pretty good. Price was reasonable. There are 2 branches. One at Chinatown and the other at Wakiki Trade Center.

Legend is great! My friends also really like Seafood Village in the Hyatt Waikiki and claim it is the best in town.....Seafood Village, Royal Garden, and Eastern Garden can be a little pricey for dim sum but are all really good. The cheapest is Golden Palace in Chinatown but the waitresses are sassy. I also enjoy Mei Sum in Chinatown. The choices are endless! (I don't know why but I dont care for hee hing.)

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Another recomendation for Legend Seafood Restaurant on River street in Chinatown.

Does Legend have Dim Sum every afternoon, or only Sat & Sun afternoons?

I believe they have dim sum every day--when I worked downtown I went there a couple of times during the workday for a dim sum lunch break.

We love dimsum and we've tried them all and hands down, the best dimsum in Honolulu is definitely Panda Cuisine on Keeaumoku Street, very close to Ala Moana Shopping Center. The Royal Garden at the Ala Moana Hotel had excellent dimsum but the last time we took a guest there this year was a major disappointment. Mei Sum in Chinatown and any Eastern Garden restaurant don't come close. Go to Panda Cuisine. They even serve dimsum from very late in the evening until after midnight!

As a Chinese from Hong Kong, I can tell you that most of my friends will recommend Legend. It is a bit more pricey than the other Chinese restaurants. The Chinese Cultural Plaza location can be a little crowded. I think the one in Waikiki is about 10% higher in prices.

Panda Cuisine and Royal Garden are both good.

Personally, I never like Eastern Garden or Hee Hing. Most Chinese will also NOT recommend Seafood Village or Hong Kong Harborview.

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What you will find flavorful at one particular restaurant may not suit another person; this is the nature of taste.

For many Hong Kong Chinese, Legend is tops, and this is reflected in their price structure.

Royal Garden, Seafood Village, and Hong Kong Harbourview have many Japanese patrons. The flavors are more subtle to suit the Japanese taste, and the prices reflect the Japanese willingness to pay for flavors that they like.

Panda appeals to the Japanese and Taiwanese taste spectrum. Also relatively expensive.

Locals have their own preferences based on their own taste profiles.

What you may find flavorful may not suit a person from another area with a
different culinary tradition; this is the nature of taste.

Your question therefore cannot be answered without knowing your own taste preferences. American taste profile?
Japanese? Hong Kong? Taiwan?

If you are not overly particular, it is difficult to beat the deal at Golden Palace in Chinatown. $1.50 for each and every basket. You can try a lot of different dumplings for this price.

Our family took a table for ten persons and walked away sated for $37, $46 with TAX AND TIP. My sister observes that this restaurant has sassy waitresses, but for many diners this is part of the Chinese restaurant experience, somewhat akin to the attitude that you will get in a genuine New York pizza joint. The total cost at Golden Palace, you will note, is far less than half of what you would pay at the Waikiki Legend restaurant.

There is a very interesting place in the Chinese Cultural Plaza called Tai Pan Dim Sum. Small little place. Chefs have a wealth of experience. Get there early enough and you won't have to stand in line. If it's too crowded, there are FIVE other dim sum places that you can use as alternatives, including the aforemention Legend (and Mei Sum is only a block away!).

So that's my recommendation: Go to the Chinese Cultural Plaza by 10:45, try for Tai Pan, if you can't get in, go to Sun Kong or Legend, and as a last resort go to Empress upstairs or Legend downstairs. Mei Sum is a block away, Golden Palace is right down the street.

In my mind, you can't go wrong even if you have to resort to your seventh level alternative.

Today I went to Hong Kong Harbor View (in Aloha Tower) for dim sum lunch. It was "OK", but not as good as most dim sum I have had....I think they have REALLY made their selections to appeal to tourists. however, I thought it was good that they created seafood adaptations of regular dim sum, which I am sure is very popular. And probably more healthy than the beef or pork stuff!

As a resident, I would not go to Hong Kong Harbor View because their dim sum is not my cup of tea and the parking is not convenient. as a TOURIST, I might go there because I can shop around Aloha Tower before & after having dim sum. And the view is kind of nice. (I might add that I went there for dinner once and the food was very good--it was not dim sum though.)

HEY WHY IS THIS THREAD COMING AFTER MY TRIP???I had Dim Sum 3 times on in Honolulu in July. Melissia I was referring to Golden Palace when I said I ate at the Imperial Palace. I always get these names wrong. I spent the better part of my first morning in Chinatown asking where I could find Kingdom Seafood while I was looking for an old favorite I have been to a number of times, LEGENDS SEAFOOD. BTB this place is great for dinner also. My first visit there I had the most amazing butter honey walnuts with shrimp.

Here is a cut and paste of my experience from another thread. I also had dim sum three times on this trip, once at Legends Seafood (Chinatown), once at the Golden Palace (Chinatown), once at Royal Gardens at the Ala Moana hotel. Legends was a tad expensive but the variety was great and worth the cost. If you go as a couple, be sure to sit in the center, carts may skip you otherwise. GOLDEN Palace was the most outstanding bargain of my trip ($1.50 a plate). Regulars told me the best deserts are gone soon after 12pm. Royal Gardens was convenient and delicious but not something I would travel out of my way for. Although the concierge at the hotel insisted that locals came in to eat here. Certainly stop by if you are either staying at the hotel or shopping in the mall. Correct me if my restaurant names are incorrect.

PakePorkChop
Thanks for the update I am sure we will bring up this thread again and again for future trips. One thing I was curious about. My second day back I ran down to Chinatown to seek out restaurants similar to Honolulu. I noticed these very successful drink bars (dairy based). I have not been to NYC chinatown in a few years so these very well could not so new. Did I miss this in Honolulu's Chinatown? I was told they are Taiwanese, they sell all of these tasty and colorful drinks as well as hot appetizers and desserts. Young crowds filled these places and they were about as plentiful as Starbucks. Some menus have 30 different drinks available. I had a Tapioca drink or Flavored with Taro. Taro in NYC? I am home!!!! There are huge black tapioca beads in the base of the glass and they give you a straw that is wide enough for you to drink the beads.

Well just wondering if you have seen these drinks in Chinatown.

PakePorkchop I am confused at all the times Legend is mentioned. Is this different than Legend's Seafood or Vegitarian? Both are on the ground floor. Do I have the name wrong again. I was talking about the place right next to Won Kee or is it Wong Kee. I probably have that name wrong too. I see you are also mentioning Legend in Waikiki. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

Sarah, the drink you refer to is Bubble Tea, with gigantic tapioca pearls in the bottom. You can buy a kit to make it yourself at home--but you need to boil the pearls for at least 1/2 an hour. I don't know if it's hit the East Coast yet, but it's big here and I had some while in California (mostly northern CA). My niece introduced it at her coffee shop in Pittsburgh and everyone was intrigued!

Legends Seafood Restaurant in the Mun Fa Chinese Cultural Plaza is generally considered (though not by all) to be the best dim sum parlor in Hawaii. Right nest door to it is the Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant (which serves vegetarian dim sum).

The Tsui/Chui family owns both restaurants (which, as you recall, are close by Won Kee Restaurant). The family's third restaurant is Legends Seafood Restaurant Waikiki.

I sometimes prefer the balance of quality, price, and service at Royal Garden at the Ala Moana Hotel.

The challenge is to get to the point where you know exactly what to order at each dim sum parlor: xiao lung bao here, shark fin dumpling there, etc.. What a great country this is! Thank you, Tai Goong, for coming to America!

Just an addendum: When I ate at Buddhist Vegetarian, they told us that if we wanted anything non-vegetarian we could order it and the waithelp simply would run across the hall to get it.

Hello again,

Not so Fresh from the blackout in NYC it took me some time to come back on.

Melissa think I can find those mixes in any chinese grocer? Going on vacation with my mother and would love to have her sample one. Oh and I wanted to tell you that those drinks are widely popular in NYC chinatown. My question was did I miss these drink bars in Chinatown. I did not see them at all.

PakePorkchop) Thanks for your response
Always thought I was going too often to legends Seafood not giving the rest of Chinatown a chance. NICE TO KNOW I CAN PICK EM!!!

About those bubble teas - they are really taking off all over. I first had it about 3 years ago at the Ranch Market. So ono! Then they started making them downtown at that tiny place on the corner of Queen and Alakea. THen the small chinese noodle place (since gone, sigh) at Koko Marina also was making them. I now live in Memphis, TN and lo and behold, in the food court at Oak Court Mall there is a place called Chang's Bubble Tea! Yay! Nowadays they also put the jellies inside to be sucked up. Not for everyone's taste! They make them with or without tea now and sometimes with ice cream to make them more like smoothies. Originally came from Taiwan. You can find them in most places with CHinese people. In other words, all over!