Can you believe that as a Kalihi girl, I have never tried Palace Saimin until last week? I was having a bad post nasal drip day and decided I wanted to get some nice warm noodles to soothe my throat for dinner. An early dinner and since it was early, I figured I could beat the dinner rush…I got a parking stall, it was fate. The inside of the shop is old school, I like that it is no frills. They have like 10 fans blowing inside so it’s loud and blows all the napkins around, not a huge fan of that but I’ll take cool air anytime lol. I ordered with the waitress and began the wait. It was taking quite a while, not that I have anything to compare it to. She came out twice to apologize for the wait. I’ve had way longer waits in restaurants but I guess they must usually be speedy? She mentioned something about having to wait for the water to boil on the second apology. When she finally came out with the food, one of the bowls was wrong (lol). I was actually fine, she gave us a wonton min versus a regular saimin – she said she wouldn’t charge for that. I figured she meant for the wonton but when I got the check, that whole bowl was not charged. That’s super nice but not necessary! They are a small mom and pop shop – but I just ended up giving way more tip and went about my day.
This is one of the last remaining OG saimin shops around and I really want to give it a good review…
Table Settings
This is the visit that my brother learned what hot mustard is and licked up both his plateful and mine. He was a maniac.
BBQ Stick | $4.00 each
I’m not a fan of BBQ sticks normally since it’s usually pretty tough meat to gnaw on. Gotta try the BBQ stick at a saimin joint, especially at Palace since they keep to just the essentials in their menu! How was it? Well, it has a nice char to it but as I mentioned – it was dry, tough and hard to chew. I don’t find it satisfying myself. I would pay premium if folks served up thicker more tender pieces of BBQ meat. Well $4.00 for one stick is kind of premium already. Not worth it.
Won Ton Min (Small) | $9.25
Combination | $10.50
I asked what combination was since there was no description on their menu. It’s basically everything they offer in one bowl. Saimin noodles, udon noodles and won ton! I thought to myself, why not try everything in one go to know if it’s good. I’m sorry to report that the noodles were too gummy for my taste. I was disappointed. The won ton had manini filling but I’ve come to expect that anyway. My main thing was…the noodles were junk! Made me a bit sad as a noodle lover.
Noodle pull!!
In the end, I am glad I finally got to try them but the hype was not there for me. I don’t plan to come back again. Did I come on an off day? Please let me know if I did. If I do ever return, I would probably go straight for the saimin noodles only.
Spam Musubi Rating:
My favorite is Sekiya’s won ton mein. Always good. Nice slightly chewy noodles, savory broth, good won ton.
People used to rave about Palace Saimin. I must admit I never went there. Instead we would go to the Old Saimin House across the street since my husband’s sorta relatives owned it (since he was Okinawan, he would figure out a way that he was related to every Okinawan). It was really ono, old school, bbq sticks were satisfying, and the prices were so low! Then, someone else took over (another relative) and the prices went up, and somehow it wasn’t as satisfying. I don’t think it is there anymore. Ah well. Still got Sekiyas.
haven’t been there for years but was good last time, maybe 10 years? Hahaha. I wonder if the “old school” noodles are a little gummier than now. Plus, maybe since they were trying to boil the water, they didn’t cook the noodles properly. Not making excuses, just trying to figure out.
never been, still, glad you tried it
Man, that doesn’t look too good. Lived in Kalihi for a while and used to prefer Old Saimin House, which I think has closed to Palace Saimin. Still miss my OG saimin place where I grew up; Tanoue’s.
Like Honolulu Aunty, my fave is Sekiya’s. And, OMG, Kirk mentioned Tanoue’s. Me and BFF used to always go there (when we had money).