Kelly's Korner

We stop by to pick up some Chinese parsley and was surprised to see baskets of Samoan crabs all pretty large sizes.The inside they sell preserved seed and dried and can good products and Chinese medicinal items.Lots of times you cannot find parking spaces in the there parking lot and need to find street parking.

Grocery shopping in Honolulu's Chinatown...I needed some "Chinese ingredients" for soup and I was tired of stressing out about parking in Chinatown. I dislike the municipal lots because they seem crowded, dark, and unsafe. I dislike the metered street parking because I can't park there for free anymore... Unless it's Sunday or a holiday.What I like about Kelly's Korner is the five free parking stalls right in front of the shop. Kelly's is located right next to Mun Lun Chinese School... Next to the Chinese Cultural Plaza.Outside, there's a pretty good selection of fresh produce. I was able to find watercress! Inside, there's more produce and lots of dried goods like ginsing and scallops. I wasn't able to find the canned items that I needed, so, I had to still go to the regular store on Maunakea Street. Uhg.Anyway, I appreciated the air conditioning inside of Kelly's Korner and the organized shelves. They sure had a lot of merchandise for such a small place! I'll be back!

I used to go to Sun Chong for Chinese herbs, seasonings or dried goods but I haven't been back since I found Kelly's Korner. It is a small store but it got most of the products that I need. And 2 main reasons that i frequently come back to this store: parking and AC. Street parking is not easy to find in Chinatown area. There are a few municipal parking close by but there's still a walk. Kelly Korner has a small parking lot right outside, small but just enough for the customers. This is very convenient especially when you are carrying bags of produce and groceries. They have AC which I think is essential especially in summer time to keep the products fresh. I walked into quite a few grocery stores in Chinatown that have no AC to find cockroaches crawling on the shelves, or even foods...I understand that having AC could be a big expense on the owner's end especially now it is so hard to maintain their businesses but I don't want to risk my own health...Kelly's Korner has staples like rice and noodles, sauces and seasonings, frozen foods and fancy dried goods for making Chinese soup or herbal tea. Reasonable price. Aisles are very narrow so can be difficult to move around. They also sell fresh vegetables outside the store.

哇涩! WOW! This might be one of those hidden gem stores to get your dried Chinese goods among many, many other things! Kelly's Corner is located right in between the Chinese Cultural Plaza and the Mun Lun School. There's a private lot with FREE parking, but there's only a few stalls.On the outside, you'll see a plethora of fresh produce. Inside you'll find a bunch of snacks, dried noodles, sauces, prepackaged and frozen items, and etc. But on the left side, you will find a whole section of dried Chinese goods from sea cucumber to fish maw to scallop to clams to mushrooms, and especially ginseng! There's even quality bird's nest behind the glass counter! Though, they'll set you back quite a bit!The owner, who I assume is Kelly, was very helpful and friendly, and answered our questions and got us exactly what we were looking for. We even got a little discount since we were buying a good amount.Overall, a decent and VERY convenient store with free parking to get all your Chinese goods and produce, especially ginseng and other dried Chinese delicacies. Owner and staff are friendly and helpful. Prices aren't too far off from the main shopping area in Chinatown. It might be worth it for convenience and free parking. It definitely saves you a lot of time.

If i could give 0 stars towards this store i would. Employee and boss are racist. We were the only Filipino customers at that time and they timed our parking and watched us from the moment we parked. After we PAID, the employee who rang us up went to our car and started getting mad at us because we were parked there for too long. Such a terrible experience and will never go there again. Thanks for being racist.

Since Kelly's Korner (KK) moved down 2 large blocks down mauka on Maunakea St, I don't really see a need to shop here as I have my go-to places in the heart of Chinatown. However, recently on 2 occasions, I stopped by KK as I had an emergency. You see, I had done all my shopping and had already left Chinatown and I get that phone call of a missing ingredient. With the parking hassles I wasn't willing to go back to Chinatown for just ONE item I needed.What did I do? I drove to KK because of their convenient parking in front of their store. And, with much less foot traffic, I knew it would be a quick in and out transaction for me.By pure coincidence, we were making Chinese soup and both occasions I was informed we were short just ONE ingredient. Grrr....... And, these ingredients are something you most likely won't find at your local supermarkets. Dried honey dates? Whole dried Chinese black mushrooms?So, I was already in my car and luckily didn't enter the freeway yet. I drove to the Chinese Cultural Plaza and pulled into the parking lot just in front of KK. Had no problem pulling into a stall and as you walked in, the door sensor is set off to inform the staff someone has entered the store.This spot was previously occupied by Cheung Chau Store, which was there FOREVER. It was during the time when I attended Mun Lun School just next door and that was AGES ago. It was an open, garage-like atmosphere with no air-conditioning. They pretty much sold similar items what a Chinese grocery store would sell - - fresh, live, dried and canned products.Because I knew what those ingredients look like, I immediately found what I came for, which was laid out on their counter against the window. The young male (I'm guessing the owner) asked what I was looking for in Cantonese. I pointed out to the item I came for and he informed me I could also purchase those items by pound or pre-packaged. My colleagues don't like to sit on inventory and believe in just getting enough ingredients for that one time use. Despite the pre-packaged items are more economical but need to purchase them in a larger quantity, I declined and just bought enough for a pot of soup. Both transactions resulted in just a few dollars each time and because I was getting reimbursed, I asked for a cash receipt where he obliged. My transactions were hassle-free.With me being nosey, I decided to walk through the aisles to see what they carry. I did see some fresh produce and to my surprise, live Samoan crabs and prawns. Yum!I found KK to be on a smaller scale Chinese grocery store compared with competitors but it was clean and bright. Although KK is not my go-to place for shopping, it is a great back up when I need to pick something up last minute.2019 #80

This a cool little small market behind the Chinese cultural center.This market is packed full of Chinese groceries like instant noodles..produce..teas..herbs etc.In typical Chinese fashion the staff aint friendly and just down to business. Prices aint cheap but not unreasonable unless you go for the pure ginseng ($250 or more per pound yikes) I guess my mask made the staff a bit uneasy (I dont blame them pandemic covering up) so had to rush the pics...but its a pretty cool market to visit.

Got a bad item and went in to claim. They are really care about their customers. I can claimed back the durian. Very honest love coming back here ^^

Oh wow, went back to buy veggies and snacks for my little cuties. A Worker hovering and lurking following me around?!!! Worried I am going to shoplift? WHAAAAT???Grabbed a bunch of bananas and she immediately slipped it into a thin clear plastic bag for me. She started a shopping basket too. Grabbed a head of broccoli and she did it again! Green onions, kabocha, taro, baby bak choi, over and over she took each one out of my hands and bagged them. Felt like my own personal grocery butler. I WAS TOTALY mistaken, Wow. Wish I had this first class service at foodland and safeway too. This is great! 5 starsPurchased about 10 items and helper brought every item to a basket near the cashier for me so I had hands free shopping. Mind you it was not busy so I had top notch service. Veggies here are cheaper and less expensive than Safeway or Foodland. First class service at slow times. Another 5 stars for that rare gem.

Their stuff is expensive relative to size and they keep filling up my mom's bags with unwanted groceries she did not ask for while expecting her to pay for them. Stay away, not worth your time or money.