Kukui Cafe - Honolulu

This little “hole-in-the-wall” I’ve been coming to for years, possibly decades, but I haven’t been since new ownership took over. I was hesitant because the previous owners I’ve gotten to know over the years and they put so much effort into their food… I’m happy to report that the food is just as good!I ordered the soup noodles with pork and pickled vegetables and it was like I remembered. The soup base was delicious and the noodles cooked perfectly. I also order the salt pepper chicken wings for good measure and those were great too!If you have a craving for HK-style cafe food, this is the spot to visit!

It was so good . Best wings and fried rice and I get the hot noodle soup with stew beef and choy sum! Friendly workers.

Fast and Friendly Services. They bring your order to your car in front of the restaurant on the side street. Food Portions are huge and delicious.

I had a last minute work potluck and I was yelping for a bunch of places the night before to find out which restaurant would open early enough for me to do a phone order and pick up on my way to work. Kukui Cafe was in my top 3 and because they opened at 7 AM and were 10 minutes away from work, it was the perfect match. I haven 't been here in over 10 years??? So I was a bit iffy if the flavor was as good as I remembered but I decided to take the chance and call them the next morning. I remember my favorite being the Shredded Pork Crispy Noodles so that was going to be my potluck dish. They made my order in a timely manner and even packed the sauce and noodles separately so my noods would stay crispy! Once it was potluck time, everyone loved the dish! They were just as good as I remembered and definitely brought back some middle school memories. I think I found my go-to last minute morning take out. I definitely would like to try out their other menu items like their Red Bean Shaved Icejjj

Kukui Cafe has been at the far end of Chinatown Cultural Plaza, along Kukui Street for decades! You wouldn't think that place is one of the long-standing restaurants there, but it is. I have a couple of friends who used to frequent there as a kid, and still go from time to time. This place was the original Hong Kong Style Cafe in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. I've never had a relationship with Kukui Cafe in my entire life. I know I've been there 2 or 3 times. Once or twice with my grandpa, and one or twice with my boss. I don't remember the food at all though. So let's revisit! As mentioned, Kukui Cafe is a part of Chinatown Cultural Plaza, so you can park in the garage and get the validation rates. Being that it's right along Kukui St., you can opt for metered parking, or a quick run in to pick up take out. It's a very small place with about 4-5 tables that's not quite socially distanced, but no one seemed to mind as it was quite busy. You can also place your order online, but it comes with a small 99 cent surcharge if you don't want to wait or don't know how to make phone calls. You need to press 808 now.. This place is quite similar to Sandy's Cafe as it offers the usual Hong Kong Style cafe fare, such as toast, simple sandwiches, iced coffee and milk tea, macaroni, pork chop with rice, and etc. I ordered a Beef Brisket Lo Mein. The taste was spot on. The beef brisket had a decent amount of beef tendon mixed in. Both brisket and tendon were tender, tasty, and had excellent flavors. The noodles were thin and good, but it needed to be warmed up and it also needed more sauce. I probably should have waited longer to eat it because the noodles were still on the dry and tough side even after mixing everything around. It was hard to mix because some of the noodles were hard to untangle and loosen. Near the end of the meal, the noodles finally softened up and were able to soak in the amazing sauce, and I did get what I was expecting. Next time I need to request for more sauce and be less dry. Overall, it was a decent lunch. The lack of sauce causing the drier noodles was disappointing, but the taste and flavors were very spot on and delicious. I'll definitely order that again--with more sauce! The staff here were friendly and courteous. It was a nice reintroduction to Kukui Cafe. Hope to get to know more! Food must be good if this place has been here for multiple decades.