I am fully aware that this post will be confusing. I title it Aloha Manapua (get online ordering!) but then the store front says Island Manapua. Please bear with me. It looks like Island Manapua was bought out by Honolulu Kitchen who is owned by Regal Foods (right?) and they brand themselves Aloha Manapua (per their website and sticker on the box) but still keep Island Manapua on their storefront (maybe they haven’t had time to change it yet).

In any case, my coworker brought in manapua from here to work twice and I liked it so I wanted to try some of the other food. In the end, I still think U-Choice In is the best baked manapua on island right now. I still have to re-try Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery’s version before I can make the ultimate decision. So much food so little time.

Ginger Fried Chicken w/White Rice | $14.95

Not my plate, but my friend enjoyed it! Nice crispy chicken with the cold ginger chicken sauce. How do you go wrong with that though? Not bad price for this big portion!

Roast Duck & Ginger Chicken w/White Rice Plate | $16.95

This was my plate and ehhh, it was just alright. The chicken is cold (which is expected) but the duck is also cold and I asked the very nice gentleman helping us if there is sauce for the roast duck. He apologized and said there isn’t but he could get me hoisin sauce if I wanted which I declined. I wanted to try the dish as is, how they serve it. I know the side sauce is usually just the drippings of the roast duck but I think it makes a difference. I definitely missed the sauce. The chicken was good, and I liked that I got all dark meat. Not bad but not great, but a good option to have in Manoa.

Pork Hash | $1.85 per piece
Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $1.85 per piece

Chan found a short hair stuck to one of the pork hash…haha? Groce. But its okay, we powered through The pork hash is your typical local style (meaning not dim sum style) pork hash. Good, Chan liked it! The har gow is a pass for us, mushy texture. Nothing great.

Half Moon | $1.85 per piece

This is one of my favorite dim sums of all time. I grew up eating the homemade version of it and this is very similar. I heard him telling another customer it’s vegetarian, main filling is wood ear mushroom and shiitake. I enjoyed this a lot and the skin is nice and soft. I would get this again!

Baked Char Siu Manapua | $3.00 per piece

Prices of manapua is no joke guys. This box of dim sum and my roast duck/chicken plate was $61. I had to do a double take! The char siu manapua is good, nice amount of filling inside. The bread is soft but it’s mushy although we did eat it after refrigeration. I did try it fresh before but it’s not as good at U-Choice. They actually make the manapua and dim sum out in the west side and bring it to the store to sell.

Here’s a legend of the different types of manapua they have. I did not see all these flavors at Aloha Manapua at all. I would say go check them out in person to see what they have, I don’t know if I would trust the inventory control in-person versus their online ordering system.

All in all, I think it’s a nice option to have in Manoa but it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had.

It’s your favorite local Chinese foodie blogger coming at you with another Chinatown post. I think this inspiration post is from Jalna and Cy. I had a hankering for a roast duck rice plate and gave Mei Mei Chinese Style BBQ a try! It’s not located in the most savory location – the Maunakea Marketplace and if you know, you know. But look past that for a second and give this tiny stall a shot. It’s a small mom and pop shop and they just wanna feed you delicious roast meats.

Funny story is, Chan and his co-workers were going to Chinatown to eat lunch the next day and he asked if I wanted anything and I asked where (it wasn’t Mei Mei). Then I demanded they go to Mei Mei since it was so good. They did and they were not disappointed.

Chinese Roast Pork | $16/lb.

Really good roast pork. A perfect balance of fat and meat and the skin? Let me tell you. The skin is light and crispy – not at all hard. Chan really liked their roast pork!

Roast Duck Soft Noodle/with Sauce (#11) | $15.00

Not my meal, but would you look at the amount of duck they give?? For $15.00, this is a steal because it is so expensive to buy roast duck nowadays.

Roast Duck & Ginger Chicken/with Rice (#5) | $14.00

This bugga was only $14.00 and it was so satisfying. They gave me the cold ginger chicken sauce on the side and of course the roast duck got it’s own sauce too (honestly I think it’s just the drippings which is awesome). All this meat is served over rice with a side of choy sum, it’s a great deal. I highly recommend Mei Mei!

I was so disappointed when I heard Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum closed down. Chan and I liked going to eat there and grabbing take-out from there. No worries, they still have their take-out location at the Lanai in Ala Moana but that’s just not the same to me. King Restaurant & Bar started serving dim sum recently so we decided to give them a try! They make great lunch/dinner food so let’s see how the dim sum is!

Sesame Mochi w Red Bean Paste Ball (Jin Dui) | $6.50

I’m not usually in the mood for like deep fried dessert items but I had that craving this day! I enjoyed it a lot. And it wasn’t super greasy like I’ve had in other places.

King’s Pork Hash (Siu Mai) | $5.95

So puny looking. I enjoyed it! Tasted good, just like the other Chinese restaurants. If I look at this closely, it looks like they put an ikura on top? Usually places put a carrot lol.

King’s Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $5.95

I’m impressed by the look and size of these har gow. Nice and soft skin with jumbo tender morsels of shrimp inside, would recommend!

Pan Fried Chives & Shrimp Dumpling | $5.95

Chives and shrimp make such a great combo together, especially in a pan fried dumpling. I don’t make the rules okay? They have a steamed option but I think the pan fried option is the only way to go.

Stick Rice in Lotus Leaf | $8.50

Chan loves sticky rice so we got this. He enjoyed it! I need to make him my version of sticky rice, nice home cooking that will have a lot more innards and flavors than restaurants (sorry, not sorry!)

Twist Cruller | $3.50

Another favorite of Chan’s. I’d like to get this next time with their jook. I love eating this with jook.

Chicken Feet w/Special Sauce | $5.95

Okay, no need gag. Yes, I eat chicken feet. Just me. I only like chicken feet dim sum style. They did a good job!

Beef Chow Fun (Dried) | $16.95

Can’t have dim sum without one noodle dish. I usually like to order seafood chow mein but they make a good beef chow fun here and it has nice wok hei taste. What is wok hei? Look em up brah! Shootz.

Ginger & Garlic used to be my favorite dim sum restaurant. Hard for me to say used to be…it’s still one I will go to but the quality has really gone downhill in recent times. I went about a month ago? Found the dimsum to be much smaller than before and the restaurant just seems not to be aging well. It definitely did not make me want to return soon. Here’s some dim sum items we got!

Baked Egg Custard Tart | $5.50

Good stuff! I love this.

Deep Fried Taro | $5.50

Basic – nothing special.

Siu Mai | $5.50

Good, not great. I feel like they used to make it really well. Maybe the original chef left…

Seafood Bundle in Bean Curd | $6.50

One of my must have dim sum items. There’s another dim sum restaurant that I don’t want to name that is opening locations left and right and I don’t think they have this on their dim sum menu. What a shame! I love it.

Seafood Chow Mein | $15.95

Another must have item for me at dim sum, seafood chow mein. The aforementioned restaurant chain also doesn’t have this? This is a staple for me! Unless that restaurant chain ups their game, I’m good. I wasn’t impressed with their dim sum anyhow.

Mini Chicken Katsu | $9.50

Upon the urging from foodie friend, I had to return to Lucky Box to get the chicken katsu! Foodie friend is correct, the chicken katsu was super good and the sauce was good too. They give a lot and it tastes good! The mac salad is good too, thank god. Delicious!

Cold Ginger Chicken | $9.89

I guess my craving is still there because I ordered it again. All rice of course. I wanted to see what chicken pieces they would give me this time and it was thigh pieces again! Winner winner chicken dinner, literally. This time I ordered an extra sauce…

Side Ginger Sauce | $1.25

N, can you believe it!! They charge $1.25 for one more sauce! Sheesh! Did I use them both up? Yes. It went super well with the rice and chicken but dang…$1.25! Would still get it again lol.