Kailua House

This a combination of 2-3 (or maybe 3-4) visits over past couple months--finally pausing to write a review. Got together with family and we ordered the dishes shown in pic #1. Starting from top:--Singapore noodles had nice touch of curry and good amount of small shrimp. --Orange chicken, yum--Honey walnut shrimp, not my choice as it has mayo but others liked it and had big shrimp. --Tofu with veggies, ok--Gyoza, nice size and good taste.--Steamed fish with choi sum.--Egg flower soup.Pic #2 shows char siu manapua that was steamed at restaurant. Good.Pic #3 shows dim sum that was displayed in the case by the cash register. We heated at home, except custard tarts. The custard tarts are great and better than most. At top is a pork filling, which was so-so and bland. Baked charsiu bao is good with bread part a touch sweet. At bottom left is curried pork filling--not much better than no curry. I'd boost the spice up more. Also had shrimp dumpling (har gow) and it was excellent.

Can't say enough wonderful things, dim sum, gau ghee, shrimp canton, bake manapua is awesome!

I saw the sign across the street. Grand Opening. So it appears that there are new owners for a new restaurant. I am thinking to myself. They have limited dim sum for now. The custards look ok but I haven't tried it yet. They got my order wrong but too late and far to go back. I asked for soft gau gee with vegtablea and gravy. I did not want noodles. Oh well. Since they just opened they have to get the kinks out. They were friendly.

Mind you this is Kailua not town.For Chinese I never would consider eating in Kailua. Kailua House has me eating my words. Finally a restaurant that will not make me want to drive to town to eat chinese. It's not your typical local Cantonese or Hong Kong style. It's somewhere in between but the flavors are from what I've experienced on point. It's new ownership and the staff is attentive. The ambiance is old school, nothing fancy and who cannot love that old exterior. It's the food however that will keep me coming back. Thus far there is nothing I've tried that I didn't like. FYI: read other yelpers & it makes me wonder did we even eat at same restaurant. I'm as picky as they come. As for the needed interior facelift as realtors say needs tlc.

Kailua House just opened in May 2024 after (New) Chinese Garden closed in April 2024. Kailua House did close for a few days to do a little renovation in the Kitchen and part of the front area. The restaurant still had the same look as the previous restaurant and nothing fancy. Owners and their families were really nice. They have their new menu out and if you don't happen to see your favorites dishes on the menu, you can let them know and if they have the ingredients, they can make it. There are some dishes Sandy pointed out to me if I was interested in their chef special of beef or pork gyudon or Oxtail soup. Also mentioned they may have some pho available later. Sandy had a Pho restaurant before. Kailua House plans to have dim sum soon to order and Manapua. The family business (Sister & brother with their families) previously own several restaurant businesses before in town and Kailua. I'm looking forward to their dim sum to go. We need a dim sum place in Kailua. The place was really casual yet cozy. They have a nice private parking lot! Sandy, one of the partner, was really nice and helpful. I ordered the char siu and duck combo. Although it wasn't the best I've tried, it was flavorful and good. Looking forward in trying the other dishes and dim sum later.

Sadly disappointing. My husband saw this place on Cheap Eats soon after it opened so I was excited to give it a try. I ordered the lunch plate to sample a variety: crispy fried chicken, beef & broccoli chow mein, kau yuk, crispy gau gee, white rice. Plus mango smoothie to drink. The service was slow and inattentive. In fact, I overheard the servers apologizing to a few people in the restaurant for delays and such since the place is under new ownership and working out a few issues. By the time my lunch arrived, it was cold. Our server hadn't provided utensils, napkins or asked if we needed anything else (like mustard). The gau gee was extra crispy (almost burned) but at least that was still warm and the meat inside flavorful. Sadly, the gau gee and the rice were the tastiest things on my plate. The beef was rubbery, the pork too sweet, noodles dry even though floating in sauce, and the broccoli tips soggy. Worst of all, after I tasted everything I realized there was a crack in my plate! Cracks in dishes are breeding grounds for bacteria that can contaminate food. Glad I didn't eat most of it. Even my mango smoothie was bland and didn't taste much like mango. I only drank half of it. The floor was dirty and the whole place looked like it could use a good scrubbing. And hey Cheap Eats, this place wasn't cheap either at $44 for two lunch plates with beverages. My friend didn't think the food was that bad and said she liked the noodles. She felt the place rated two stars instead of the one star I would give, maybe because she arrived much hungrier than me. My friend also took home my mostly uneaten meat for her dog. Maybe he won't be as disappointed as I was.

Not good. Not crispy noodles. Sauce and veges fuse too overcooked. Used to be good as Chinese Gardensns changed ownership. Hopefully they will improve.. they seem foreign so it may take time to learn the flavors of the town. Hopefully they are cognizant of local vibe.

Good food, good service Great place overall Nice for Kailua Clean and pleasant for dinner

Now open 10am to 830pm. All baos and dim sum are available .for the lunar new year Gau and Jai are available for sale

Food is fresh and made to order. The friendly owner informed us that he will be opening early (8:30) in August for dim sum. Egg tarts for breakfast!