Honolulu: Great Thai and Korean Restaurants
 

Would appreciate rants, raves and additions to this old list.

Thai

Keo's. Thai, Waikiki, 2028 Kuhio Ave. 951-9355.

Mekong II; Thai, 1726 S. King St. 941-6184.

Singha: Thai, 1910 Ala Moana Blvd. 941-2898.

Ba-Le Sandwich Shop: Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant, Manoa Marketplace, 2855 E. Manoa Road

Korean

Sorabol: Korean, 805 Ke'eaumoku St. 947-3113.

GINA’s BBQ: Korean, 2919 Kapi'olani Blvd. 735-7964.

SIS KITCHEN: Korean, 1137 11th Ave. 732-0902.

The Mandarin: Chinese. But will serve Korean, 725 Kapi'olani Blvd., C123. 593-1188.

Kiawe Grill: Korean, 2334 S. King St. 955-5500. Fast food/Take away place.

A couple of more Korean places.

CAMELLIA BUFFET, 930 McCully Street, Makiki Area, 951-0511, Yakinuku-style (cook your own food) buffet. $$

CHOI'S YAKINIKU, 805 Keeaumoku Street, Ala Moana Area, 947-6861, cook yourself. $

KIM CHEE II, 3569 Waialae Avenue, Kaimuki Area, 737-7733 (4 locations),voted favorite Korean restaurant by Honolulu Magazine readers. $

OK CHO KOREAN RESTAURANT, McCully Shopping Center, 2nd Floor, 1960 Kapiolani Boulevard, McCully Area, 947-2922, yakiniku-style cooking over live coals. $$

SHILLAWON, 747 Amana Street, McCully Area, 944-8700, Korean favorites plus fabulous Mandarin Chinese food. Very popular with local Koreans. $$

YAKINIKU CAMELLIA, 2494 South Beretania Street, Moiliili Area, 944-0449, cook-it-yourself buffet - very popular with Asian tourists. $$

Thank you, NorthShore, perfect timing! I'm leaving for Oahu on Friday and the information you've provided in the Honolulu threads is helpful and appreciated! :-)

dcespedes, glad you could use it. Please give us some feedback when you return. Have a great trip!

I will and thank you :-)

toppong

You already have a complete list, which is probably why not many people answered.

Where Koreans go to eat Korean:
http://www.midweek.com/extra1/extra1010505.html

I should add two along King Street, across the street from each other. I don't have the exact address, but they are both near the First Interstate Building, which is at 1314 South King Street before Keeaumoku:

Pae Thai--good Thai food and one of my faves for lunch, but you should go in a big group (4+) so that you can try everything. I've never had a bad meal there and I think we've tried just about everything on the menu!

Choi's (Korean)--my Korean friends say Choi's is not as authentic family food as Sorabol is, but they have a spinach tofu salad that is just wonderful! The dressing looks like it's killer hot, but it's not. We like to take the dressing and spoon it over everything else we've ordered, like the chicken, meat jun, mandoo, and just rice.

Re: Ba-Le Sandwich. They are actually everywhere, not just in Manoa Marketplace. Kind of like a Vietnamese McDonald's, if you will.

I hope this isn't too late, but Phuket Thai on Oahu is very very good. It's at 1960 Kapiolani in a crummy strip mall next to a 7-11, but it's amazing food!

A favorite of ours and friends which hasn't yet been mentioned is:
Chiang Mai on South King Street -directly across the street from Longs, close to University Ave.

Thanks for the additional feedback.

My favorites - Korean and Thai food.

Sorabol - very good, a little pricier than some others I like. Although I don't think you can smoke in restaurants anymore, those groups of Korean businessmen huddled together tend to ignore this.

Camellia - also good. When you leave, your clothes reek, though.

My favorite Korean place is So Dong Gong that's off of Kapiolani. I'm not sure if that's how you spell it - I tried looking it up in the phone book, but couldn't find it. Always crowded.

I really like Payao Thai at Restaurant Row. Their lunch specials are great, and my sister and I have developed a tradition over the years - anytime either of us go on a trip, we meet there for lunch the last day of work before the trip. Chiang Mai is good, too.

We ate at Singha Thai in November. I had a black bean dish with scallops which they say is one of their house specialties. It was excellent, but the service was mediocre.

Hi NorthShore--we had dinner at Keo's last week and it was the best Thai food we've ever had. I'm sorry that we didn't have the opportunity to try any others listed. We'll just have to go back! :-)

dcespedes, thanks - hope you had a fine trip.

Sorry to report that Sis Kitchen is out of business. Comes as a shock to many people.

Little Corner of Bangkok, 829 Kapahulu Avenue at Paliuli, Honolulu 808 735-6338

Haven't tried it yet. Here's a review.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../en/en10a.html

Sorry to say that Manoa Ba-le closed without notice about a month ago.

I have not liked Sorabol since they remodelled. My new favorite korean is Seoul Garden, on kapiolani before the convention center (next to club Femme=-Nu, but they are separate!!) there is a valet at night when the lot looks full. Had excellent dinners and lunches here.

Kim Chee II has great food. Sort of a dress up kind of Korean place, if that makes sense.

Mekong on Beretania is my favorite Thai. I much prefer it to Mekong II on King Street. Food seems tastier, atmosphere is more fun and prettier flowers.

I also like Chiang Mai on King..great selection of interesting Thai dishes.

Pae Thai is also great...first place I ever had Thai food and still great. Love their mee krup!

Isn't Ba Le just Vietnamese food?? Vietnamese sandwiches??

Also, Kim Chee is somewhat of a chain in Honolulu. There's a few of them.

Some of the L & L's also have great Korean ribs!

Uh, lcuy, what makes you say that Seoul Garden and Femme Nu are seperate?

Well, I never saw any naked women near our tables...but what? ARE they connected? Were they hiding the passageway from me??? Was that why the guys kept "going to the restroom"