Papa’s Café

I came here for one thing: the lai funn noodle soup. Growing up, my dad always made that every Tuesday lunch. That is until one day my parents heard through «legit sources» aka other Chinese people, that it causes cancer or global warming or something of the sort. Since then we weren’t able to find it anywhere. Until now! I’m so glad I got to try it again. If the rumors are true, it may have taken 20 years off my life and I might start sprouting horns or whatever but it’s something I’m willing to risk for that nostalgic taste.
Other food:
Gau gee: passable
Chicken and salted fish fried rice: pretty darn good, not overly salty and had enough wok hei
Mapo tofu: YES. Huge chunks of tofu in a delicious sauce. Could’ve been spicier but the taste was there. Perfect with the fried rice.

My family and I were touring Chinatown and stumbled across this place. The staff were extremely friendly. It’s a small restaurant but they also serve hot dishes from inside the market. We got their noodle soups. They have good food. It’s a good place for lunch.

Tried it for dinner. It is crowded for lunch so we thought to give it a try. We had two dishes the eggplant and the house chicken with rice. The food came out quickly and the ice coffee was good. The other smoothies people ordered looked good. People were eating soup noodle dishes. We tried to order other dishes but they ran out of ingredients since they were busy earlier in the day. Food was tasty and the price was reasonable. We will have to go back another time. The service was good and the place was clean.

I don’t remember the last time I had Chinese food. It was that long ago. I had stopped over the maunakea marketplace for a pineapple smoothie at Thanh. I noticed papas café right outside the fruit stands and the bus stop. The eatery is more of a dive, but most great food are discovered at places such as these.
I briefly looked at the menu and craved chow fun. It’s basically fat thick noodles with a choice of protein in sauce. I chose chicken instead of beef in my entrée. I gave my order to the young lady at the register along with a side of shrimp wontons. They also make smoothies as well.
I sat down and waited for ten minutes. Once the food was ready, I happily took it home. The shrimp wontons were ok. I felt there was a lot air pockets then shrimp. The dipping sauce was very good and tangy. The chowfun was greasy and ok. There were moments where it did lack flavor and tasted bland. The bean sprouts, onion, and chicken gave texture to the meal itself.
Overall it was very filling. This tends to be one of those foods that put anyone to sleep. :) In a good way. I’ll be back to try their other offerings.

Love love love the Singapore rice noodle and minute chicken!!! Service is always friendly when I come by :) This little hole in the wall is a must try!

Great little hole in the wall.
I had the minute chicken cake noodle. Chicken was good, stir-​fried and hot. BF had the Singapore noodles and those were good too. Got a boba drink to sip as we wondered around Chinatown. A nice afternoon.
Tip — they have two sides to the shop — one in the Maunakea Marketplace food court and a store front shop on the other side of the kitchen, the second one feels a little nicer.

Cake noodle: EXCELLENT! Service awesome. Price is right.
I walked in less than 10 minutes before they were closing on a Saturday; they were obviously packing up and ready to go, yet had no problem at all seating another customer. I asked for Oyster Sauce Chicken on Cake Noodle (the bone is where the flavor is often times!) but they were out. They did have minute chicken though (boneless), so I went for it. It was GREAT! The cake noodle was ono-​licious. I would recommend making the trek to anyone who is looking for a better than average noodle experience. I crave noodles quite a bit and that day, it was cake noodle, which it is not often that I do. And when I do, I will do my best to make it to Papas.

Some of you are having a difficult time finding this place, but The Bus (#2 or #13 from Waikiki) darn near drops you off right at the front door on North Hotel St. You can also enter from the Maunakea food court. Service was very friendly in the small café, but if you come at the right time, you can score a table, otherwise just take your food out to the food court tables or outside patio. We had the minute chicken with cake noodles, bbq pork wonton noodles and some bok choy with oyster sauce, all were very good.

This place is new. Clean!!! 100% fruit juice and yummy food! Great customer services…
Got sousop smoothie

Stop by for lunch with the family on Saturday.
As always, everyone enjoyed their food.
I brought my daughter this time & she sure enjoyed it!
As usual we were stuffed!
My husband said, he hates over-​eating!
I feel the same way, but its hard, since everything taste so yummy!
This visit we got:
Salted fish & chicken fried rice
Minute Chicken Cake noodle
Singapore Rice noodle
Char Siu sai min in egg noodle
&
Char Siu sai min in look fun noodle.
We always enjoy our meals here & this makes visit # 5. :)
As I was paying, I met a Unilocaler Li. Y. :0)

Cute place! Clean… very clean! The menu has a vas selection of entrée’s to choose from. The green milk tea was good, but I honestly could have made it myself at home. I suggest take out, I didn’t fancy that the bus stop was in front of the restaurant. To eat your food and see beggars outside, not a fan! But, again its chinatown.
Portions sizes are large. The service is really spot on and they people are extremely nice! Papa’s Café is an simple Chinese eatery, nothing too fancy!
Def, going back! I love seeing pop restaurants like this and I hope their here for the long hall! :)

I have a weakness for simple eateries serving Chinese food. There are thousands of them in Hong Kong (I’m serious) and its those places were locals from the neighborhood come and have a quick meal.
In Hawaii, we mostly get chop-​sueys and while they are close, they’re not the same thing. Papa’s Café is what I call a simple Chinese eatery, not the Americanized chop-​suey.
And this is why I like Papa’s Café so much. It reminds me of my childhood, sitting and eating a won ton mein with my parents on a weekend afternoon.
I really liked the beef brisket won ton mein I ordered. The broth was almost exactly like how it is in Hong Kong but the won ton lacked a little bit of flavor. It was the closest I’ve tried to the real deal, but just not enough.
Cheesecake is a must get here and runs out quick. Great price for what you can find. Now, if they could only serve jook.

Excellentl customer service. Great food! Will definitely return. The soup flavor and beef were all the best!

Not bad! Servers were very attentive!
Portions are quite large, between 2 ppl, we only finished one plate! We got the minute chicken cake noodle (chicken was a bit different than most places… still yummy, cake noodle wasn’t as hot as I would have liked), the salted fish fried rice (tasty but I’m not a big fan of the cabbage), and a milk tea (very creamy, in a good way!)
I’ll definitely be back… at least to grab the milk tea when I’m in the area :)

Boy this place is difficult to find, even with the address and directions! Still, do yourself a favor and find it!
The food is seasoned nicely. The soup noodles really hitting the spot. And you can’t beat the prices of the food here. Portions are disproportionately large. Hey, Ima not complaining… Just planning to find a few truck driver friends to take and share food with so they can finish up the dishes and I won’t feel wasteful !
So ambience is not what you’re gonna get here. If solid food at solid prices is your thing tho give Papa’s a try and you won’t be disappointed!

Overall is Good. I will be back even without 30%off.
1. The Service is very friendy. But sometimes they are slow when busy. I can understand because they just new.
2. On the menu, they have many food choices. Because the discount price, I try a lot of dish. Finally I found my favourite dish, minutes chicken cake noodles. Best In Chinatown. The others are very Good too.
3. The drink. Most of time, I alwaya drink the black milk tea. It make me up. The smoothie is Good to Have

Must get their minute chicken cake noodle. So far It’s the best on this Island. Not to mention they have the grand opening sign so everything is 30% off Until Nov 30.

My order did not look anything like the picture. The portions were much, much smaller. It wasn’t bad but nothing special either. They should focus more on their bubble teas and other drinks.
The entrance is in front of the bus stop on Hotel Street. It is pretty far down from Mauna Kea Street.

We totally scored a great deal during their opening. 30% off for entire bill in November. Born and raised in that area, I’m really picky in chinese food. Here’s my experience:
Service: In the beginning, you guys were awesome. However, I saw one of you licking the spoon and tasting the drink right in front of the customers. That was a no no. When you handed us our drink and touched our straw with fingers that just touched the money… you shouldn’t have. Sanitation might need improvement.
Food: Beef chow fun and chicken noodles — omg! It was watered down too much. It was soooo bland. Does that mean no msg? Hmm… might be a good thing.
Milk tea: Green tea smoothie and avocado smoothie — you weren’t too bad. However, I did asked for less sugar, why did it feel like a sugar rush.

Thanks, Paul C. for putting this place on my radar. It is quite a hole in the wall. Service is friendly but slooooooooooow. Like I had to spend 2 hours for lunch slow. But with their grand opening discount, we got 5 dishes for under $ 30 (say what?)!
I liked the variety in the menu and got excited when I saw salted fish fried rice. I wish that they had put in my salted fish, but hey it is on the menu… a good first step.
We also ordered the house duck (which they ran out of so we got a mixture of that and the char siu). The duck was tender and juicy. The char siu was eh.
The kitchen connects the dine-​in shop with the food court at the market on Maunakea. I’m not sure if they’d let you order off the restaurant menu on the food court side.

Came here because of the deal. The entrance is on hotel street and not maunakea, got a little lost.
The service was friendly. We got watermelon smoothie, milk tea, braised duck on rice and minute chicken cake noodle.
So…
Watermelon Smoothie: a bit light. We love watermelon juice, so it didn’t turn out to be what we were expecting.
Milk Tea: Hong Kong style. They offer different sweetness. Was pretty yum!
Braised Duck on rice: duck and rice both came out lukewarm :(. The gravy was just ok. Not so «signature» as I hoped.
Minute Chicken Cake Noodle: steamy hot and TO DIE FOR! This alone scores 10 stars and should be their signature dish! I’ve never had better minute chicken ever.
Overall it’s a nice little place to eat. I would be back if I happen to be in the same area.

30% OFF entire bill (until end of Nov 2014)! Cash Only!
They are located in Chinatown so parking is on the street or in parking garages around the area. At first we got lost trying to locate the restaurant but thanks to Paul C’s review, we were able to find it. Their entrance is on Hotel Street next to Number 1 Produce. You can’t miss it with all the beautiful flower arrangements in front for their grand opening. The dining area is clean but very small and can only fit about 15 – 18 people inside. Service was a little slow because they were very busy. There was a line of people ordering take out. We did get water, napkins, forks and pairs of chopsticks quickly though. Overall service and venue is 4 stars out of 5.
My bb ordered the Beef Chow Funn (dry) and that was average. It was good but not great. We mutually agreed that it was 3.5 stars out of 5 for the Beef Chow Funn (dry). Portions for the dish was very generous. His dad ordered the Minute Chicken Cake Noodle and that was very good! I highly recommend it! That was 5 stars out of 5 because the chicken was very flavorful and there was a lot of cake noodle and choy sum. I ordered Beef Brisket over Fried Rice and that was also very yummy! The fried rice was excellent and there was a lot of beef brisket with the dish (about half the dish!). This was 5 stars out of 5 for sure! I couldn’t eat it all so I took home the rest to eat later. Unfortunately their Signature Duck was sold out. We have to come back to try this and the BBQ Pork (Char Siu) next time. Must try if you’re in the area!

Bumped into my cousin yesterday and she gave me the scoops of Chinatown happenings where the grand opening of PaPa’s Café was also mentioned. Wanted to come with some fellow Unilocalers but plans fell through so I came solo.
Opened just 3 days ago, this cozy joint seating about 13 peeps is a place to grab a quick bite with a fruit smoothie or milk tea. You have the option of dining in or take out. Employees here are bilingual who are young and energetic.
They serve Hong Kong café style food of soup noodles, fried rice, chow funn and local favorite cake noodle. They also have fresh cut fruits, mango pudding and cheesecake in the glass display case.
I had the minute chicken with cake noodle and it was very flavorful. Dish came out piping hot which delighted me. The iced black tea milk tea was on the weaker side for my taste. Would have liked it stronger with tea flavor.
The back of the restaurant leads to Maunakea Marketplace Food Court where you have the option to sit there should there be no seats inside.
With any new establishment they will have kinks to iron out but this place is worth trying. Tasty food, reasonable prices and quick.
NOTES:
1) Everything is 30% off until November 30^th 2014.
2) Cash only.
3) Although address is Maunakea Street the door entrance is on N Hotel St. Nearby neighbors of Annie’s Bakery and No 1 Produce.
4) After posting my review the male staff came over to ask me of my milk tea where I had requested less sweetener when ordering. Mentioned the black tea essence was weak for my taste. He took my cup away and added more tea which brought out the black tea essence. Very happy face.