Royal Kitchen

first time over…
if you know this place around, please park in the parking area. (they have pay parking, but if you buy food you get stamp– Validated, don’t need to pay for parking)
I read the review so I check in this place, want to try something different.
I want to say I love it. but this place is small, is more like take out. Also there is not too many choose the day I went in. (I think because someone place order for party, so I only got 4 BBQ bao, half moon, half moon… I was looking for more different style Dim Sum…
overall, food are good. Just my luck ! :)

Royal Kitchen is Royal Kitchen. Most local people don’t need a review. It is what it has always been-​a great place to get Manapua, and all the other fixins (gau, pork hash, half moon, etc.).
If you haven’t been here before, come by, take a number, and while you are waiting, try to figure out what you want! Try a little of everything! You probably can’t with only one visit, and the portions are filling, but there’s always next time!

We tried the pork hash, half moons, and baked chop sui buns. Very good. Unbelievably huge portions. We got there early and got served right away, but I understand the line gets very long a times. It’s take out only but there are tables across the street by the river. I wish the city would rebuild the roof over the tables, but they are maintained nicely.

No changes. Same ol’, same ol’. Too bad no Jai. And the Jung was just a little dry this time. May have been left from yesterday or reheated.

Killer quick food on the island that isn’t Musubi or Poke.
Best: Toss up– Curry chicken bun, or the dumplings. These are solidly delicious given the environment. Be sure to get the spicy mustard.
Worst: Pizza bun. Granted, I appreciate the business savvy of creating a food for the random white folk that walk through the door, but this should be avoided at all costs.
The rest of the buns and food we ate was good and the service was quick and friendly.
A good place to grab a quick bite.

Very small and narrow shop that gets really, really busy. It gets even busier when the food tour buses drop in, so always make sure you take a number.
They have a small selection of hot food items, but their main attraction is the manapua. They have a variety of different types, and they mark the tops of the bun so that you know what is on the inside. Yes, and they even give you a little paper to match up the print. Nice!
Parking: They do have a lot with multiple stalls, and they validate up to 30 minutes. Otherwise, if you can find a stall, metered stalls are on Kukui St. as another option.

This is also a local favorite hidden in Hawaii’s China town. This little bakery might not look like much, but they produce the best manapuas! What’s a manapua? Think of a Chinese Bao with a Hawaiian twist, and filled with delicious goodies.
I really recommend:
char siu
kalua pork
sweet potato
Portuguese sausage

We ended up here on «plan B» after we couldn’t get our favorite roast chicken from Nam Fong.
ATMOSPHERE:
Royal Kitchen is part of the Chinese Cultural Plaza and located along the west side of the property along the river. They’re a small takeout spot only. Parking in the plaza’s garage is validated.
FOOD:
Roast Chicken — Comparing this to the Shoyu Chicken at Nam Fong down the street, doesn’t even come close. While it was still good, and just under $ 8 for a whole chicken that was nicely chopped up, the flavor is just boring. Salt. While that does allow you to realize the natural flavor of the bird, it needs something more to give it some life. That something was the sauce that came with our Roast Duck which we picked up from Nam Fong that day. That made it a whole lot better. Or, find a dipping sauce you enjoy.
Manapua — This is what they’re more known for. I like the steamed version with char siu filling best. Soft bun and tasty center = winner!
Pork Hash — Mmm my favorite at any Chinese eatery and a must have. Their version comes in a white wrapper and stuffed full with delicious pork.
SERVICE:
Damn, I thought I was impatient. These ladies are pushy, but that’s how they are. Overall service was friendly. Hurry up and buy lol!
OVERALL:
Fresh roasted chicken, very good manapua, excellent pork hash. Buy as early as possible if you want some!

The bread for all the manapuas is really soft, and slightly sweet. This is best eaten when fresh! We arrived right when they opened so everything was still warm and fresh! We had the char siu, Portuguese sausage, Kalua pig, sweet potato, and coconut. The best one was the Kalua pig followed by the sweet potato (purple yam). The char siu was sweeter than I prefer but still good. The coconut, however, was so sweet it tasted like a Mounds bar. We would definitely come back for the Kalua pork bun!

I use to come here so much. To me it was the best back then. Even when I moved to the mainland and came back on vacation, this would be one of my first stops to hit early on and then to bring several boxes back with me. I could freeze them and eat them as I craved them and they were still good.
That was decades ago. Now, they just don’t seem to have that appreciated value. There’s not as much filling as there use to be. There is a big jump in price. Can’t stop inflation.
The one thing that has been consistent is the customer service. It actually has improved from none to better but that’s not saying much.
I still visit from time to time when I am in the area and want a snack to hold me over. This will do.

This place is located near river street in the China town cultural plaza. It’s a hole in the wall kind of place. I grew up in he islands so for me they have one the best baked manapua on the island. My favorite is the baked char siu manapua. Their pork hash is also good too. The best time to get their food is when it’s hot. The manapua is $ 1.50 each and their pork hash is $ 0.75 each. They also have other items like gin dui, moon cake, chow fun, gau, and other Chinese food.
They have a private lot in the back with a parking attendant that will give you a ticket that can be validated by royal kitchen then, parking is free.

Automatic 4 starts for having a veggie friendly manapua! Yay! But what I like most is the saimin! It’s the soft/​soggy noodles with the perfect tasting broth. Yes, I love soft/​soggy noodles so if you don’t like that kine, then don’t get it. When I ordered it, I was expecting the instant saimin where you just add hot water, but no, this one is legit!
Oh, bonus points for the aunty that helped me. She was cool.
Oh, another bonus point for quality control. If their pork hash skin comes out crappy, they give them away for free. Scored two bags full! Too bad I don’t eat meat. LoL.

Since childhood time this is one of my favorite place to go for a quick bite. Today was no different. Picked up the usual, 4 pork manapua, 4 half moon and 4 pork hash for $ 12. On point as usual and as usual the mahoooos by the river was checking me out going back to the car. 5 star all the way.

After asking fellow Honolulu Unilocalers which manapua shop I should head to when I’m in Oahu, I made the last minute turn to go to Royal Kitchen. I was torn between Char Hung Sut and Sing Cheong Yuan. To my fellow Unilocalers thanks for all your recommendations though. I’ll vow to try all the different manapua shops that’s worth going to! Haha…
My colleague and I got greeted from all the older Asian women that was behind the counter after we stepped in, haha. I smiled and proceeded to make my order. The lunch line had it’s better days probably because we got there close to 2 pm. There prices were pretty good and affordable. The service, for me, was good too. It’s a little shop not of horrors but of manapua yumminess!
I got the Lup Cheong, Portuguese Sausage, Kalua manapuas and Pork Hash. Need I mention that I’m a sucker for all kinds of Dim Sum?! Haha yes I am! Would I recommend Royal Kitchen? No doubt!

Been going to this place almost everyday for a few months and total for about 30 years. Manapuas are always great, Pork hash is good but the Half moonchas no flavor. Never cared for half moon until i went to Char Hung Sut and they have awesome Half moons!
The Chow mein is really dry that i need to constantly drink something or i will choke. Fried rice is ok but not consistant. Chow fun is very inconsistant where it can be good or fan be very bad by being ocer cooked too oily and have almost no charsiu in it.
I write fair reviews unlike most people that eat one thing in a restaurant once and say this restaurant sucks. Like how do you know? Did you try other things or have you tried something more than once? Maybe you ate something on the cooks bad day or made by the cook that doesn’t cook as well as the other cook? Or maybe you have bad taste? Have some common sense people! Anyway, bought chow fun 3 days in a row and the first day was good wecond day ok and third day so bad that i had to return it. Look at my picture for reference. Why are Chinese restaurant owners the only people with inconsistency in their food products? They have no pride in their food and should micro manage their business. Most of food at Royal Kitchen i ate more than 15 times so my reviews are pretty fair.

After checking in to Chun Wah Kam and telling my Yeeps about getting my baked manapua fix, one friend mentioned that I HAD to try the baked manapua from Royal Kitchen because it was hands down the best she has ever had. How could I pass up that recommendation?
Royal Kitchen has a parking lot that you can enter from N. Kukui St. Be careful because you might just miss it if you’re not paying attention closely… I almost did! You can park for free (with validation) for the first 30 minutes.
Royal Kitchen is definitely a pick up and go kind of place. I went in at about 12:00 and there was a crowd. The workers are not friendly at all, but they work through the crowd quickly so you’re not waiting too long. Apparently, you’re supposed to take a number so you know when it’s your turn. However, when I walked inside a lady immediately asked for my order. I later saw another worker calling numbers and thought, «OOPS!»
I ordered the baked sweet potato manapua, baked char siu manapua, and a rice cake. My typical orders from Chun Wah Kam so I could make a fair comparison to this place. I also wanted a jin diu to take home as well, but the lady said they didn’t have any. Boo!
My verdict? Their baked manapuas are okay, but I personally like Chun Wah Kam much better. The bread for the baked manapuas at Chun Wah are much tastier. I think Royal Kitchen fills their manapuas with more filling than Chun Wah, but to me, it’s all about the bun that makes the manapua. Although Royal Kitchen is cheaper than Chun Wah, I think I would rather go to Chun Wah to get my future baked manapua fixes.

As far as baked char siu manapua goes, this place has the best — hand’s down. They have lots of different flavors for manapua filling but the char siu is my fav. My other favs here are pork hash and half moon along with chow fun and stuffed bitter melon. And whenever I have a craving for Jin Dui, this is where I come. What’s not to like at Royal Kitchen! It seems like whenever we are in the area we have to stop and get a plate or two of really great food and we never seem to be disappointed. This is also the place where we come to stock up on manapua for my in-​laws who live in Hilo, where apparently you can’t get good manapua. The last time we went to Royal Kitchen, the woman making our plates gave us a free sample of gau and it was awesome! While the food is ono, the service is without a lot of pleasantries — they are quick and to the point. Nothing wrong with that!

Based on the great reviews, we gave this place a try for lunch. Not sure if we’ll be back though.
PARKING
For Chinatown standards, the Chinese Cultural Plaza gets an A+ for lot parking. The first 30 minutes is FREE with validation, after which it’s $ 1.50 for the next 30 minutes. We pulled in just before 12:00pm and easily found open stalls available.
BAKED MANAPUA
Still warm, bread exterior is fresh and soft with just the right amount of savoury sweetness. Chopped char siu filling is a good ratio of bread to filling and balanced in flavor. Baked manapua is slightly on the small side as compared to other takeout baked manapua.
PORK HASH
Although it had nice flavor, was not too salty or sweet, and had a great slightly chewy texture… unfortunately, it was room temperature (cold) and on the smallish side.
BLACK SUGAR JIN DUI
Small amount of black sugar fulling.
COCONUT JIN DUI
Small amount of coconut filling which was an odd yellow color and a little on the dry side.
STUFFED BITTERMELON
Cooked in garlic black bean sauce, this dish is kept warm on their limited steam table. We found it to be one of the better choices available. There was no sweet ‘n sour pigs feets either. The stuffed bittermelon isn’t too salty or too sweet or too garlicky. The flavor of the sauce complimented the bitterness of the bittermelon and pork hash stuffing. Our personal preference would’ve been if the bittermelon encasing were cooked a bit more. It wasn’t raw, bit it wasn’t tender enough to our liking.
CHOW FUN
As our choice of starch for the one selection plate of stuffed bittermelon, the noodles are pleasantly thin with a nice chewy texture. It is cooked with just enough oil so as to not make the dish too greasy as other places tend to do. The reason some reviewers remark about the lack of flavor is probably because there’s barely any seasoning added such as soy sauce or oyster sauce. It also doesn’t appear to have much vegetable added to it either.
CHAR SIU
It was room temperature (cold) and varying in degrees of fat content and char preference. We requested the less charred pieces as the charred parts can be too inedibly burnt. The char siu is not too sweet and not too salty, however when eaten alone, we found one of the main ingredients in their marinade to be a little overpowering. Maybe five spice? Don’t know. Even though we don’t know the recipe, we found the flavor to be not as balanced as other char siu we’ve tried.
ROAST DUCK
What constitutes a roast duck to be a roast duck? Roasting! Not sure if their roast duck can be considered roast duck because it didn’t appear roasted. The skin tells the whole story. We’ve seen baked chicken with crispier skin than their so-​called roast duck. Also, the sweet sauce they provide is a hoisin sauce mixture. To us it was yuck! Duck was room temperature (cold). On the up side, it’s not so salty like Nam Fong’s…but probably because they don’t use too much seasoning.
ROAST PORK
Sold room temperature (cold). The main thing is it’s skin is still nice and crispy. The pork meat is not too salty with a good amount of tender chewiness.

Are manapua trucks still in business? When I find myself with an insatiable baked manapua craving, I head towards Royal Kitchen. Remember, they only sell the baked versions– if you want the white, steamed version most dim sum restaurants will have those.
In terms of manapua fillings, Royal Kitchen has much more than the roasted pork variety. There’s kalua pork, curry chicken, coconut, black sugar, sweet potato and veggie! Along with lup chong and Portuguese sausage.

Over the years Royal Kitchen has become my favorite place to get manapua. This little shop on the backside of the chinese cultural plaza in chinatown is the best for a number of reasons.
First, they easily have the largest variety of options for manapua alone. Everything from kalua pork to char siu to lup chong to candied coconut. If you can’t find your preferred manapua here, you’re unlikely to find it anywhere locally.
Second, their quality is, in my opinion, the best. They have the best filling with the best ratios and the tastiest breading. They also have some of the most delicious chopped char siu, roast pork, turkey tails, etc and I almost always pick up a container of this on the side.
Their pork hash is above average as well, which is more than I can say for a lot of the competition nearby. It’s not perfect, but it’s generally moist and tasty without having a dried out wrapper which is something that really irritates me at other places.
Overall, this is the best place to get your manapua from. It’s cheap, fast and has the most options. As far as manapua goes, Royal Kitchen is «as good as it gets».