Honolulu Kitchen

This place will, in my opinion, give you the best bang-for-your-buck. Now, I like to think I can put away a meal, but I ordered a mix-plate lunch here and I still had enough for lunch the next day, like about a third left! I tell you, aunty will stack your plate one-good one! That and this plate lunch was less than $10! It's a great deal and well-worth journeying to Honolulu Kitchen when you're trying to satisfy your craving for a filling, sweet, salty, savory meal. The place itself has a quaint hole-in-the-wall ambiance; I feel very comfortable walking in here and the staff gives me wholesome family vibes.Anyway, this is definitely the kind of place construction guys gotta go for get their fill during lunch time, garanz. Well, anybody really. Just gotta be careful, cuz I guarantee you go KO when you pau eating. Lol. Regretfully, haven't tried their popular manapua yet, which is all the more reason I plan to come back and keep coming back.

Man, I've been wanting to come here. I've had manapua from here before from my worker, she brought some to work one day, don't remember which one I tried, but I swear I think I thought it was good. Finally made my way here, luckily wasn't busy. Mind you, Honolulu Kitchen is located in Waipahu near the famous, Tanioka's, and I live Nalo! But I was in kalihi, and had to drop my sister to village park, so we stopped here for food. LolAnyway, had one person in front of us. Inside, had couple seating like a mini LNL. The young boy, at first, was cool, helpful. Actually wrote my order down. Kind of soft spoken tho, he was like mumbly. And then... little by little, one person by one person started walking in at a time, so started getting busy. So, we're done ordering, go to the reg to pay, and it was like he didn't know what we ordered. Like he'd look at us like... oh I missed a part, so I'm with my sister, we're ordering together and she was paying for everything, she treated lol thank you Jin! So idk, he was just like being weird, and I had to like say like, did you get my tea cookies, my manapua, porkhash, etc.. and then he's like yah, I got it. So then my sister pays, take the food to the table so we can separate our foods, and then he ended up not charging everything, and put almond cookies instead of tea cookies, from my order that he took down! I was like, he's killing me! If we wanted to pay separate, normally, people would say pay separate at the reg right? All our orders were together! I give Uncle all the credit, I think he's the owner, he gave us free gaugee!!! So that was very nice of him. Anyway, orders got settled, my sister had to pay for what she got for my dad, and we separated our foods, make sure we got everything. Was kind of pricey. Anyway, so I ordered a plate lunch with fried rice, beef stew and sweet sour pork or ribs, or something. I'm so sorry, but sorry to say, I was so disappointed. The food was not good. The beef stew didn't taste like beef stew, was gamey. The sweet sour stuff was meh, and the fried rice was meh. I also got deep fried and steamed charsiu and adobo manapua, pork hash, rice cake, and tea cookies. I would think that the deep fried manapuas were good, but the charsiu killed it. I don't think it was authentic charsiu. It was like really fined meat and very very red. And the adobo didn't taste like adobo. Was like shredded shoyu pork or something. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the manapua, porkhash!! The free gaugee was the best!! And the tea cookies were good!Would we come here again? Unfortunately, not. I mean if someone, brought some, I'd probably eat, cuz I'm a fat girl. But plus it's located opposite side from us, so... I know this place has its supporters and loyal customers, but I don't think we'd make our way here just to eat. But everyone should just go try. Everybody has different opinions, cuz there are some other good reviews. Aloha.

Went to Honolulu Kitchen today and I was very disappointed.1. So unorganized taking Manapua orders at the counter.2. The wait was long because items were not ready (waited about 15-20 minutes). 3. The lady forgot my 2 rice cakes, $2.95 each‍. 4. The shrimp dumplings were all mostly wrapper. The only time I'm going back is to get my 2 rice cakes that they forgot to include with my order.

Looks like the renovation made a difference. No trash on the floor. No dog running around the restaurant, and they were well-staffed during lunch hour. Employees were on their game and did not have any underwear showing. With my order, I even got a free mini fried manapua to sample. Thanks, Honolulu Kitchen, for finding ways to improve.

This place is awesome to grab some manapua for breakfast. Fair warning, be prepared for Hawaii time here, but it was worth it.We arrived a little before Honolulu Kitchen opened (at least based on what Google said the hours were). Even then, it was really another 10-15 minutes before they actually opened and started taking orders from the queue that was already forming. You can tell from the people in the queue that this is a popular local spot.For our breakfast we got an assortment of sweet and savory manapua, mostly all steamed because that was faster than the fried one. If you have time, definitely try them fried too. Each one has a symbol marking on it, so make sure to snap a photo of the symbol key displayed by the register so you know what's what.My favorites were definitely the BBQ pork and the ube flavors!

OPENS AT 7AM not 630AM. Pulled up around 645AM like I've done before to see that the open sign is off. Went to the door to find that they don't put up their hours of operation. Opened the door and the front worker kindly informed me that they open at 7AM. I hope that the change in time did not affect the quality of their food because I remember it being so good.

Went early and saw their door open. Usually they open at 8am but worker at counter said today 11/15/24 was their first day of opening early (5:30am). Bentos was ready to go hot and fresh. Fast and easy service.

I remember finding out about this place on instagram when someone tagged them in Marvel manapuas. Yeah, I know right? What is a marvel manapua you may ask? Basically a manapua with marvel characters drawn on them! I don't know what they use or what they do but I recommend you go and see them for yourself!Now, I don't know if they're still doing that because that was 2020, but ever since I found them and their assortment of manapua flavors I've been hooked! This is my go-to westside grinds place for something small, simple, great price, and captures the essence of Hawaii. If you are from the mainland, or even local this place will not disappoint you. You come for the food, but come back for the people and feeling of Aloha.If you allow me, I wanna spend some time talking about the people behind the counter. Every time I walk through the door I feel like I'm walking in to a family kitchen and they treat their customers like family. They actually used to take the leftover food and give it to the homeless, but since the beginning of 2023, I believe, due to the negative atmosphere they had to stop. But while I was there a 16 year old walked in and uncle asked if he ate, I guess uncle already knows his story, and gave him a bento and one for his sibling or mom too. That right there, shows the character, aloha, and love that goes in to the food and that's probably why it tastes so great!My husband knows if this place ever closes, I will devastated and we will be spending a lot of money till the last day attempting to keep this place open. So please, support this small business, because I truly believe THEY DESERVE to be open! I hope and pray this place withstands the generations and you visit it too and see why. Don't forget to always #supportlocalHI

If you're on the hunt for some delicious manapua, Honolulu Kitchen in Waipahu is the place! This gem has quickly become one of my go-to spots.. I recently ordered a delightful assortment of buns, including the chicken teriyaki, pork kalbi, honey chicken, spinach mozzarella, and crab cream cheese manapua along with Oreo, lilikoi and Ube. Got some fried and some steamed, each one was a delightful surprise! The chicken teriyaki was standard flavoring, just the right amount of filling to bun ratio. The pork kalbi was seasoned and packed with flavor, while the honey chicken offered a sweet and savory balance. The spinach mozzarella was a unique twist that brought a creamy texture and freshness, and the crab cream cheese was interesting--I thought it would be my favorite but it had a seasoning in it that standard crab Rangoon doesn't. This didn't make it bad, but it wasn't my favorite or top 3. The Oreo, ube, and lilikoi were exceptional providing you like those flavors. The mix of steamed and fried options was fantastic, showcasing the versatility of their menu. What truly stood out was the dough; it was light and fluffy, providing the perfect vessel for the generous fillings. It's clear that the team Honolulu Kitchen takes pride in their craft, as each manapua is filled exceptionally well.

Food and service is always great here. I ordered an assortment of steamed and baked mini-manapua to take to a pot luck luncheon. Needless to say, they were a hit! I will return again to get manapua for myself!