Aunty Mai’s Cuisine

Passed by recently hoping Mai had reopened after seeing a closed for renovation time… sadly Mai has closed her restaurant. I’m saddened to see her place closed as she was my favorite place to hit up for phở since we followed her from her days in Kalihi.
Hope she opens a new place somewhere else… I miss my iced coffee :(
1 star for being closed. although I don’t think I should need to post stars considering she closed :(

We’ve been drinking and what’s the best way to tame the hunger and hope for no hangover is with a good bowl of phở. This place opens all day and all night to make it convenient for early or even late birds.
A large size bowl of phở is under $ 10 and $ 3 for extra meat. Extra meat is almost always necessary to the ratio of noodles that is always served.
They offered free wi-​fi, but they were having trouble with the password that night.
I wasn’t a fan of the thick meat they served, but it was a hot comfortable bowl of phở. I was tired and had some drinks, so that’s all I’m writing about my experience here.

Their phở is phở-​nominal! Nice and flavorful, the portions are generous and the soup is served piping hot. Auntie Mai’s used no MSG because she once had a severe allergic reaction to the stuff. Thankfully, she recovered and began making phở for all!
The owners used to own Saigon Deli in Kalihi but due to their popularity they needed to move to a bigger location. The new Kapahulu location seats like 30 people or so. But the night I went there was no a/​c. Depending on the weather outside and the number of people inside, it can get all kinds of humid.
Their non-​phở dishes are also delicious. (well judging by the way my friends scarfed them down, that’s what I can only assume.) Spring rolls are pretty standard as are the veggies that come with everything.
Parking can né hard to find, but if you are so inclined you can park at the safeway (buy a bottle of water, or something) and walk to Aunty Mai’s. It’s a 5 minute walk and afterwards you’re so full that «walking it off» is a pretty darn good idea. Also since they’re open late you can pretty much get good phở when the craving hits you.

Heard this place was MSG free so I stopped by on a rainy weekday around 5 pm, found parking right in front, and was seated immediately by the super friendly waiter. The entire place was empty… which was worrisome. I ordered the meat phở because they claim to carve their own fresh meat. Taste wasn’t out of this world but def not horrible. The prices were a little steep. I believe it was around $ 29 for two bowls of phở.
I’m big into aesthetics and to be honest the reason why I don’t frequent many phở places is because the atmosphere is blah and often times not up to my personal scale of cleanliness. Aunty Mai’s was clean but nothing special.
My question is: What happened to the 24 hours thing? Every morning I drive past on my way to walk around Kapiolani Park it’s closed. Hmmm. I doubt this place will last especially because their location is tots cursed.

The Phở here is seriously lacking in depth, flavor and over all quality. They don’t have a great selection either. The Unilocal quotes on the menu are hilarious. especially about Gina B and her swollen eyes, hahaha. Its WAY too expensive for what you get, so not only was the Phở extremely unsatisfying it was very expensive.
Bad meals like this make me depressed, I could have gone home and let my stomach start to digest itself and probably would have been happier. Instead I had to face the reality, there is no god, no supreme being, otherwise these tragedies would not happen. That food would not be wasted, the Thai basil would not have to picked in vain the poor cow could have been a steak or a sausage or even maybe still just a cow, but there were sacrificed for a unworthy cause. This Phở is unworthy.

Unilocalers BEWARE! I believe we have a Unilocal Scammer on our hands here. First, this place only has 26 reviews… which is nothing in the Unilocal world… yet, on their menu they claim that they have the best «Vietnamese sandwiches voted on Unilocal.» How can you possibly claim that you have the best sandwiches on Unilocal when you only have about two dozen reviews and not all of them are good and not all of them talk about your sandwiches??? I smell a scam. Additionally, many of the good reviews were written within a short amount of time from one another. This is evidence that friends of employees may be writing the rave reviews. That’s not all.
I went here with my g/​f after she noticed that this place received 4 ½ stars. We walked in to an empty restaurant (bad sign) except for a table of extremely (and I mean extremely) loud OLD people. Later I discovered that one of the old people worked in the kitchen (probably an owner). They were so loud that my ears hurt when they laughed and they were most likely drunk.
We were greeted by our server, who seemed nice at the time, and were handed menus. After looking over the selection, I noticed that it was lacking many standard Vietnamese items and varieties of phở. Ok. not the end of the world. I noticed that they had crab soup, which peaked my interest. The waiter asked if we had any questions, and I asked him what was in the crab soup. He replied, «crab, mussels, shrimp, and scallops.» I thought, ok… that sound’s good, I’ll try it. During our wait the server asked us if we wanted to try out some complimentary won-​ton chips. We said sure, and he brought out a bowl of very skinny chips… which were totally free and was a nice gesture. So far so good.
Then out comes our orders. My g/​f got a tofu noodle dish… which she said was pretty average and not very appetizing. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was my crab soup. From what the waiter described, I was supposed to get a noodle soup loaded with seafood. Instead, I received a dish that would have induced Andrew Zimmern, the host of Bizarre Foods, to blow chunks. I am not sure if it was the smell of formaldehyde, the chunks of blood sausage, the pigs feet, the gelatinous goops of mystery meat, or the other unidentifiable disgusting ingredients that forced me to reject this evil soup. It was as if this soup was composed of the leftovers of a roadkill, rotten seafood, and scraps of a pig dissection project gone wrong.
I even tried to remove the putrid bits, but it was to no avail. There were globs of bloody liver, kidney, and heart chunks throughout the noodles. Totally inedible. I informed the waiter that I didn’t expect all of the «additional» ingredients to be in the soup and that I couldn’t eat it. I pointed out that I specifically asked what was in the soup and was told, «crabs, mussels, scallops, and shrimp,» not meat. He apologized and walked away… leaving the vile concoction in front of me. We waited for him to come back… but he never returned.
I finally went to the counter and asked for the check. To my disbelief, I was charged for the crab soup. I told him that I didn’t think I should pay for the soup considering that I was misinformed about what was in it. He said that he would have to see if he could remove it (as in he had to ask someone). I said thank you, and then all of a sudden he tells me that I only had to pay for the one item (I guess he could have made that decision all along).
So, would I go back to Aunty Mai’s? Hell NO! There are Phở places on every block in Oahu. There is so much competition out there, and Aunty Mai’s is a big FAIL.
Additionally, any place that is going to brag about it’s great reviews on Unilocal on their actual printed menu, when they aren’t even established on Unilocal is deceiving and sneaky. Stay away from Aunty Mai’s, unless you are filming an episode of Bizarre Foods or are looking for animal parts for an upcoming science convention.

Simple is good and when it comes to phở. It doesn’t get any more basic than the beef phở with spring rolls.
That’s what I got at this place and it was by far THE best I’ve had here in Hawaii.
The soup base is what makes it so delicious and the spring rolls are just right. Not to mention they used tender pieces of beef, not the cheap scraps most phở places tend to use.
I definitely recommend this this for anyone who like phở.
Parking wasn’t bad. We just parked at the bank across the street.
Service was good
Restaurant was very clean
A T. V would have been nice and some décor around the walls would have added to the ambiance, but I guess they just opened and all that really mattered was that the food was awesome!

Will not be coming back.
Where do I begin?
One of the smallest menu selections of any viet dining I have been.
Combination phở unremarkable.
Large and small sizes are about the same. Price definitely not the same phở tho.
Taste. Almost like a instant phở, just add hot water cup noodle instant phở you buy at costco.
That is the smallest amount of mung bean sprouts I have ever been served at a phở place.
do they have a public performance license for all the hollywood dvds they are playing on their tv? especially so close to waikiki?
I feel sorry for the tourists that stumble onto this place driving by from waikiki.
Almost reminds me of the newly opened Phở 777 Keahole in Hawaii Kai. A one time only experience.
Shame on Lala for positive reviewing this place in the star advertiser. An injustice for us Unilocal colleagues.
You would be in heaven if you go to Super Phở or Phở One instead.

I’ve been itching to try Aunty Mai’s because of all the rave reviews. My bf and I arrived around 11 PM last night and the place was sprinkled with customers. Parking was easy to find since it was late, but I imagine during normal business hours it may take a few tries to successfully find a suitable spot to park your car.
Here is what I liked about Aunty Mai’s: (1) the friendly service and (2) the watermelon juice. Our server was very attentive and tried his best to juggle all the tables. He seemed sincere when he thanked us for waiting and made an effort at small talk with some of the other patrons. The watermelon juice is super refreshing! However, at $ 4.50 a glass-​you really have to pace yourself! Otherwise you might finish it before your actual entrée comes out: p
Here is what I didn’t like so much about Aunty Mai’s: (1) the food took a while to come out and (2) it was a bit underwhelming for me in terms of taste and offerings. I can appreciate fresh food, but I think the reason why our wait was long is because there was probably only one cook in the kitchen (just the way there was only one person servicing the front of the house). I understand the logic behind this, since it was late, however-​it was a real turn off because what we ate was far from spectacular. The small phở had a generous noodle portion, but none of the beef, tendon, or tripe really impressed me. The tripe was especially puny. I drank nearly all the broth to see if there was something I was missing-​but in the end, it didn’t strike me as extraordinary. Overall, I would rate my phở a 2.5−3 on a scale of 5. My bf’s shaken beef smelled good but the beef tasted like pork chops to me. My bf said it was okay and that the meat was very tender.
I was honestly a bit disappointed with our visit. The prices are a bit too high for me to want to go back. Spring rolls were about 2 for $ 5.50 and the phở dishes ranged from about $ 6.75-$ 11.75 (way too much for this Little Saigon fed girl).
One last thing, Aunty Mai’s menu is sprinkled with quotes from Unilocal reviewers so that makes me think that perhaps they take these reviews seriously. It is nice to see when businesses care about getting honest feedback.

I love Aunty Mai’s. No more settling for fast food or zippy’s to satisfy my late night munchies… Aunty Mai’s is my new favorite ! It’s amazing to have a 24hr Vietnamese restaurant. And one that is so delicious !
The food here is scrumptious. The combination phở is my favorite. The meats that they use are so tender as well. None of that junk steaks or chewy meatballs here ! Also Aunty Mai’s uses the freshest ingredients, so it’s always yummms. The steak sandwich would be my second favorite from here. YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY IT.
Parking here could be a problem seeing that it’s located on Kapahulu, but it’s worth the trouble. Believe me.
Another big reason why I love Aunty Mai’s is the service. Aunty Mai and her husband are hard workers and are passionate about their food. I had loved them since Saigon Deli. The recent addition of a server was a good idea seeing that their restaurant nearly quadrupled. The server was no disappointment either. He was attentive and kind; hands down the nicest server I have ever encountered.

Good job! I really like the Avacado Tofu roll. Phở was good and
The Flan was good too for dessert! The spot is next
Door to ONO’s so u can’t miss it! Thanks for the
Referral Ryan!

1^st experience at Aunty Mai’s and it was okay. Atmosphere was clean, waitress was nice (although a little distracted with her phone), food was okay.
There were more «eh» feelings than «oooo» and «ahh» ones.
1) The time for our food to come out took longer than needed. Even if the dishes are made from scratch and made to order, it shouldn’t have taken 30 minutes for the phở to come out.
2) Our spring rolls were burnt. I call them smoky rolls. They were dry, although, tasty until you get the burnt ends. They were served with the lettuce, the sauce and the mint, sure. But no noodles or cucumbers? No, no, no, no, no, no. That should be there. The server told us that they don’t serve their spring rolls like that and said we would have to buy a side order of noodles if we wanted them. It’s almost like ordering a burger and having to order the buns on the side. *side note: the waitress did bring us out an order of noodles on the house, which was nice. I think she saw in our faces how disappointed we were.
3) There is a claim that there is no MSG in their phở. There’s got to be some MSG in that phở. My friend and I definitely had «MSG buzz» walking out of that restaurant. It coated our mouths and it lingered with the feeling like you’ve got galas stuck in your throat. And I have a history of getting headaches when consuming MSG. It happened.
4) We were offered no water, or any additional beverages after we had finished what we had to drink. There were only two other tables, one with a couple and another with one guy, so it wouldn’t have been to difficult for the waitress to come by and ask if we needed anything.
5) The veggies were sad. All the veggies that come out to put in our phở were wilted and sad. They weren’t fresh. It’s just unpleasant to see that kind of lack of care to something so simple.
6) The good thing was that you can get a free drink with your check-​in. so do that.
7) A bit much on the prices. A small bowl of phở will set you back between $ 8-​$ 9. My goodness!!!
Parking might be a problem, since it is on Kapahulu, but there are some neat shops around the area, so if you’ll have something to do if you want to walk around and digest.
There are other options for phở out there and I don’t know if I’ll be back here any time soon. Maybe later on when my Vietnamese friend goes there, on someone else’s dime, and lets me know that it got better, I’ll think about it.

Sad and disappointing.
I guess I’m really picky when it comes to Vietnamese food because my mother is Vietnamese and I grew up eating Viet food all the time. Aunty Mai’s seems to be geared towards locals/​non-​Vietnamese looking for a more authentic experience that Haole Vietnam, as in food cooked from scratch to order, which really means a long wait. It’s like the Sabrina’s and Ah Lang gimmick, but only Vietnamese. The food is better than Haole Vietnam’s for sure, but I don’t think it was worth the wait. At least Aunty Mai’s is new and clean, but it still feels like an old Chinese restaurant with new furniture and new paint. It’s still a lot better than Chinatown.
Spring Rolls — First of all, they were burnt. The ends were black. They’re served with just lettuce, bean sprouts, and mint. NO NOODLES, NO CUCUMBERS. I asked our server about it, and she said the spring rolls aren’t served with noodles, and that we’d have to order it. WTF?! Red flag. Even Haole Vietnam’s crappy Imperial Rolls come with all the right fixings. I think our server noticed we were a bit flabbergasted and she was really sweet and brought us some noodles for free. Still, the spring rolls weren’t that great, just okay, nothing to be excited about. The burnt ends gave them an unpleasant smoky flavor. Better than Haole Vietnam’s Imperial Rolls, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Combination Phở — Pretty good. A teeny bit on the salty side, but good. Not super life-​changing amazing, yet the flavor of the broth was nice and the portion size for the small was enough. Unfortunately, the basil was kind of sad and wilted and my rare steak was in the soup even though I had asked for it on the side. No big deal. A lot of other reviews mention that the phở is made without MSG, but my friend and I both thought that the phở tasted like it had some MSG in it and felt like it had some MSG in it. Not a ton like other phở restaurants, but enough to be noticeable. I’ve had my fair share of homemade phở without MSG and Aunty Mai’s phở sure doesn’t taste like it. My friend and I had a slight case of the MSG dry fuzzy mouth symptom after we ate.
Service was slow. There were only two other tables besides ours and we still had to wait half an hour for our food. I understand that the food here is supposedly made from scratch to order. That might be the case for the appetizers and main dishes, but phở and other Vietnamese soups take hours to prepare so it should already be prepped. I’m not sure why we had to wait so long for our phở, but it really wasn’t worth the wait. It’s a good thing my friend had a lot of her Korean church gossip to fill me in on while we waited for our food. Our server wasn’t always attentive, but she was was nice. The prices are a bit steep for Vietnamese food ($ 10.75 for papaya salad!!!), but hey, this is not Chinatown.
Aunty Mai’s is located on Kapahulu Avenue, which means the parking situation is terrible. Even with help from god and blessings from your ancestors’ spirits won’t help you find street parking in Kapahulu.
Overall, Aunty Mai’s wasn’t a terrible experience, but it wasn’t a great one. I’m not writing this place off completely, since it is new and they may still be working out some kinks. Free soda with check-​in! The kimchi phở sounds kind of nifty and I’d be open to returning for some late night phở if it doesn’t take forever to come out and if someone else with good parking luck is driving.

My husband and I were a little hesitant on eating here due to the fact that we knew that this restaurant is a lot bigger than the restaurant Auntie Mai had on Palama Street. We were afraid that she was going to lower her standards in order to produce more food to a bigger crowd.
Let’s just say that she didn’t let us down! The food was still amazing! I had the house special phở that has all types of toppings such as brisket, sliced rare beef, meatballs, tripe, and tendons. My husband had the chicken phở and he said that the chicken could not be anymore tender. Usually when he gets a chicken phở from anywhere else, the meat is rubbery. The phở came with a plate of veggies: thai basil, bean sprouts, lemons, and jalapenos.
It’s too bad that just when my husband and I finally found a phở place that love, we had to move to the mainland. Who knows when we’ll find really good phở that tastes like it’s home cooked?

For those who never had the chance to visit Saigon Deli when Mai owned it, don’t fret. Dec 1^st was redemption day for you. Mai has sold Saigon Deli and moved on to a bigger location smack dab next to Ono’s Hawaiian Food on Kapahulu. You will get to experience the warmth of her friendly personality to the homemade goodness of her phở. Generous portions of fresh vegetables and thick steak pieces to the clean tasting broth with nothing that needs to be in there (i.e. MSG) make this a tough combination to beat. Prices are slightly higher (about a buck more) than what they used to be at Saigon Deli, but business expenses here on Kapahulu are most definitely more than her old Palama location. I will continue to visit here, but just wish she still was at Saigon Deli since it was closer to me.
Unlike Saigon Deli, this place is open ²⁴⁄₇. I hope this doesn’t burn out Mai, but we definitely need a place that serves phở for the late night crowd. Also, for those who know this area, parking is always an issue. And if you are in a rush, this is not the place to go. Its not fast food, its good food.
The «Man vs. Food» challenge:
She is offering a challenge to all customers, if you can eat a bowl of phở approximately the size of 6 large bowls of phở in 45 mins, its on the house or else you will be $ 25 lighter in the wallet. No one has completed it successfully as of Dec 22.

Mai has created reputation for herself by making quality dishes from scratch and its nice to see her expand from the little eatery in Liliha to Kapahulu. Spending any amount of time with Mai and you can see is insistent on serving quality over convenience and the result is a loyal following of customers.
Mai’s food speaks for itself, whether its the papaya salad that she makes upon order, the various types of Phở that has the cleanest tasting broth, beef plate cooked perfectly to your request or her special banh mi sandwiches, her passion for making great food without compromise is present in all her dishes.
Open 24 hours Mai is giving people an opportunity to enjoy great food and service. Kapalulu has so many options food wise but if youre looking for some great home cooked food from someone who isnt satisfied with mediocrity Mai’s Cuisine should be tops on your list.

Yay! I’m a fan because they have vegetable broth for their vegetable phở! Yum! Lots of flavor… I wish they had a bit more veggies though. I think I only had 2 pieces of broccoli and 1 cauliflower. Oh… but it had yellow carrots! LoL. Trippy!
Oh, and Aunty Mai made an autumn roll and a winter rolls since there’s a summer and spring roll. I had the winter roll which had tofu and avocado. The picture made it seems like the avocado was going to be huge, but in actuality it was a sliver. I wish it had more avocado.
Would I go back? Sure… but parking is an issue. I did find a a small lot down behind and around the restaurant for $ 2 for 2 hours.
Opened on December 1^st… and 24 hours! Enjoy!
Unilocal 365 Challenge #145/​365

Ahh! I knew I would relish the day I could become a hipster Unilocaler. Today is that day. As I don my fitted v-​neck, skinny jeans, and hand-​knit beanie, I drove myself to Aunty Mai’s Cuisine (in a prius of course) to enjoy some fantastic Vietnamese food.
Aunty Mai used to be the proud owner of Saigon Deli prior to her move to Kapahulu on December 1, 2011. Aunty Mai’s is located on Kapahulu across from Tesoro and Taco Bell. Open 24 hours, it is a great spot to grab a bite to eat any time of day. I remember when Saigon was closed on Saturdays– now I can get my fix anytime!
This new restaurant is nice and spacious and is very welcoming especially with all the greenery from its grand opening!
I love the phở here. The broth is nice and light and very flavorful. No MSG! I like the beef ball phở– the meat is nice and tender and fills you up just enough.
I LOVE the beef steak sandwich. The bread is nice and crunchy on the outside and fluffy and perfect on the inside. The pickled veggies are a nice touch and give it a nice bite with the succulent steak.
They are also running a promotion right now– when you check in on Unilocal you get a free drink!

No MSG is the claim. Wow, delicious Phở with hand carved beef. Not the frozen disks that you usually get. Decent portions and guess what, it’s open ²⁴⁄₇. I can’t wait to try everything on the menu.

When this place opened up around the corner from me next to Ono Hawaiian Foods, I thought we would help support a new local business and give it a try.
The food was very tasty. I ordered spring rolls on cold noodle and my husband ordered phở. Both were very good, fresh, and came out pretty fast. Even my 2 yr old loved the phở.
The place was empty when we first arrived and by the time we left only one other table was being occupied. It is a very new restaurant and I hope that more people try it. I’ve tried just about all of the new restaurants that crop up on Kapahulu and I believe this one will be successful and stick around for a while. The food is good and the service very attentive. They even asked how everything was seasoned. They obviously want feedback and are putting it to good use. I will definitely be back to try their sandwiches and the yummy looking lychee and mango desserts in glass case.