Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine

The price so expensive if compare to the quality of food
I will not come back here again, no wonder they are so empty inside the restaurant.
No good

Small dining room. The server turned the air conditioner on after we sat down. The largest table that could accommodate us (5 diners) was at the end of the room, far away from the cashier/​kitchen, so it was hard to get the server’s attention without yelling or going to her physically after several attempts of waving and calling.
We ordered the soondobu, mushroom linguine in garlic sauce, stuffed eggplant with red sauce linguine, bolognese linguine with mock sausage, and spicy curry noodle.
My son that doesn’t understand why anyone who would want to become a vegan and doesn’t eat mushrooms, actually liked the linguine with the garlic sauce. The sauce had chunks of garlic and we all agreed it was very tasty.
The bolognese pasta was decent, and the mock sausage was interesting. I would’ve liked it more if it wasn’t $ 3 a piece. If ever I order this again, I will do without the mock sausage.
The stuffed eggplant was a let down, just peeled chopped eggplant in red sauce. Nothing special.
The curry broth with the taro, potato, carrots and peas was nice to the palate. This would’ve been my favorite but the rice noodles were overcooked and a tad soft. in fact, all the noodles were a little over. We like our noodles al dente. I considered sending the food back, but the waitress wan’t around and we waited for a long time (half hour) for all our food to come out.
Lastly, the soondobu was a major let down. It tasted like tofu chili carncarne, but without the beans. There was no hint of spice/​chili pepper and hardly any broth. The black bowl that it came in was half full, like it either spilled or dried up. It was lukewarm, tasted sweet and had a TexMex taste. The brown rice was cooked to perfection, but the homemade kim chee was salty and acidic. I cut the kim chee into smaller pieces and added it into the soup, but it did nothing to improve the taste.
I asked for Sriracha, and the server came out with a teaspoon amt of Sambal Olek. I wanted to ask for more since ALL 5 of us can eat really spicy. But as I mentioned earlier, it was hard to get our server’s attention. There was a table of 1 when we got there, and another person came 15 minutes after we arrived.
They serve cold water in a short glass, but no ice cubes. The cold water came in a pitcher with a sprig of mint, but it tasted just like cold water. Let me clarify that the water created a little condensation around the pitcher, but it wasn’t really cold when we drank it down. Worse, the pitcher was small and we had to get up and look for the waitress for a refill.
All in all, food tasted okay, but overpriced in my opinion ($ 70).

Great authentic Japanese local restaurant. Options for vegetarians. Healthy food. Friendly service. And the bathroom looks like a japenes tree house with neat gadgets and décor. We were recommended to come here by local and then everyone was so friendly. Super cute place

Phở noodle dish was great. Perfect amount of seasoning and flavor– plenty of fresh vegetables and topped it off with sweet chili sauce. Enjoyed a warm glass of green tea which was prefect to taste. The bill was very affordable– enjoyed as well the shrimp nest appetizer which was yummy. I only gave it 3 stars since I only had one dish. I’m excited to try a different entrée next time — service was super nice

Driven by this place for years and I remember looking at the menu once thinking it looks edible so figured what the hell, let’s give it a shot; end verdict, not much to write.
Got the mushroom linguine, tasted exactly like it sounded which isn’t what I’m looking for, i.e. canned mushrooms + black pepper + linguine noodles … about as bland and flavorless as you can get. Kid got the fake ribs which she ate and liked because i didn’t tell her they were fake until afterwards so they passed the fake meat test but when I tried TBH they didn’t taste any better or different than what I can find in the freezer section at Whole Foods.
Echo the other commenters on slow service, bad acoustics, dirtish feel (my plate was chipped and cracked and not in a fashionable /​hipster way), and all around unwelcoming* experience.
Will not repeat.
* Though I will be the first to admit unwelcoming /​snobbish is how I would describe pretty much every vegan /​vegetarian place I have ever been too in the USA.

I had anything but a joyful experience at this restaurant. I hate to write bad reviews for vegan restaurants since there are so few here but after trying to contact them to send a personal note the email bounced. All in all the food was tasty but to my dismay a half hour after leaving, both I and my companion experienced upset stomachs and felt like barfing.
Prepare to spend at least 2 hours at the restaurant because service is so slow. We entered the restaurant and there were two other parties there. Nobody was at the counter and we had to wait awhile before someone showed up to seat us. Then the waitress proceeded to take the other party’s order, failing to give us menus. After waiting quite awhile, I got up and got some menus myself. We had looked at the menu online from the website and that menu is considerably different from the one in the restaurant. Even with just 2 other parties there we had to shout at each other because the acoustics of the place make it very loud.
After waiting more time, the waitress finally took our order. After finding out the dish I wanted was not available I chose the curry dish. We also ordered some appetizers. It took about 20 minutes to get our drinks and a half hour for our appetizers. The thai iced tea was 80% ice and 20% drink; I expect more for a $ 4 drink. .
They definitely need to hire more wait staff and run a cleaner business, this will make everyone more joyful in the end.

Their food is off the hook! Tons of different choices to pick from, and all vegan. I love this place, despite the weird ambiance.
Last time we went there was only one server for about 9 tables. Poor girl! I felt so bad for her. Our appetizer came out after our main entrees, which was really weird but we didn’t mind at all. Potstickers were extra crispy, very tasty.
It’s kind of hard to find parking, but we love this place and will go back time and time again. Peace, love, and vegan Asian food… Mmmmm!

I wanted to give this place another chance before rating it because my first experience was underwhelming yet many seem to like it.
I remain unimpressed.
The first time here we didn’t like our meals (felt they were a bit greasy) and the service was horribly slow. It took ages to get our food. This time we wanted to do take out. My first issue is that they are still using styrofoam containers. Really? I cannot say this is unique to Simple Joy since so many places still use styrofoam, but it is worth mentioning since I was so disappointed. Unfortunately, this is something that hugely detracts from enjoying take out food. And yet, sometimes you cannot do otherwise.
Anyway, we ordered the vegetable potstickers, which were nothing special. Just doughy, fried little bites with a spicy sauce. We also ordered the summer rolls and despite the fact the menu states 4 pieces, we got 2. These were pretty good, but not any better or worse than any other place and their sauce is not as good as Bale’s, for example. For entrees we ordered the clay pot sensation and the vegetable fried rice. Both were pretty greasy and they overuse black pepper. It’s everywhere in large amounts. The clay pot sensation had a «meat» in it that was very odd. It reminded me of the consistency of eel, which actually grossed me out. That bit has nothing to do with my rating because I do appreciate the creativity and technique in making a vegetable protein mimic so well a meaty consistency. I think that if they stopped using so much oil their food would improve. The fried rice was so greasy our lips were coated after a couple of bites.
The food here is not awful but I don’t see any reason in returning. We gave them two chances and just don’t like it.

Good was delicious! My husband and I met up old friend here. I ordered fried rice and my husband ordered mushroom pasta. I really liked my husband’s meal more than mine ;) they serve delicious chai tea too.

The pumpkin soup and the vegetable clay pot are delicious. The garlic bread was also good. :)
Ambience is not their focus.

I’ll be the first to admit that I sort of have a negative perception of vegetarian/​vegan restaurants. Some of them have weird names like «Ruffage» or «Vim and Vigor». Some of them seem to be run by cult like organizations similar to «Govinda’s» or «Loving Hut».
Well, a negative attitude never gets you anywhere. I should know that by now. I was 100% wrong on this one. Simple Joy Vegetarian is 5 Stars great! The meal was beyond awesome and I can’t wait to go back and try more.
Location: Makai side of King Street, directly across from Morio’s Sushi Bistro (Precision Radio Building).
Parking: There are 4 spots behind Simple Joy but they are hard to get out of if they are full and you have a larger car. Don’t block that driveway. I suggest trying to find street parking as soon as you cross Pensacola St.
Food: It is all vegan. No meat, dairy or eggs. They do use meat substitutes in some of the dishes. The chicken and sausage on our pasta’s were quite good. So I started off with the Pumpkin Soup. It was excellent and a real treat that exceeded my expectations. Same with my Marinara Vegetable Pasta with Italian Sausage. Huge portion that was delicious. I enjoyed every single bite and gladly took half home to have for dinner. We also tried the vegetable fried rice with brown rice. Quit nice for brown fried rice. My companion had the Vegetable Chicken Pasta. It came with a white sauce. I tasted it and the chicken was convincing. Another winning pasta dish.
Service: Only one waitress for lunch but she was sweet, kind, friendly, helpful and as attentive as possible. I’m glad that we were the first seated for lunch. There is a bit of a wait for food as each order is prepared individually. Several large groups arrived and filled the place up. I know they were going to be waiting awhile for their food to come out. Just know that this is not going to be a 30 minute rushed lunch. So please allow for this. Have everyone turn off their cell phones and enjoy some conversation. I was especially impressed with the knife that arrived wrapped in a paper napkin to keep it clean. Nice thoughtful touch that I appreciated.
This food was so nicely prepared, beautiful and so flavorful it would be at home in a 5 Star fancy restaurant.

Tried another Vegan place based on a friend’s recommendations.
Atmosphere: Right off of S King st. Inside it is cozy, very clean and homey.
Service: Great service, attentive and full of suggestions.
Food: The dish I ordered was interesting. It had vegetarian fish which had an unpleasant aftertaste. The dishes were also very salty a little bit overseasoned.
Intangibles: A great venue for vegetarian food, but be wary of ordering anything with «fish» in it…

I’m not sure if this is every night, but I saw one waitress and one cook. They both seem to have handled the crowd with ease and cool.
Let’s just start with parking, there are 4 stalls in their private lot and it’s tight, so be warned. Otherwise, I wish you luck in street parking.
The food was awesome. I was a bit confused by some of the names like «chicken nuggets,» but don’t worry everything on the menu is vegetarian or vegan. We ordered 2 appetizers and 4 entrées. The highlights were the Shrimps Nest appetizer and the Vege Fried Rice. The shrimps nest was presented like a nest, haha. I don’t understand the correlation, but I got the idea. It was perfectly crisp and had a shrimp like texture. I just really enjoyed it because my friend is allergic to shrimp, and she got to enjoy it just as much as I did. Then though it was a vegetarian fried rice it was seasoned so wonderfully. I wonder if it’s just salt?

My wife and I spent last week in Honolulu celebrating our fortieth anniversary. Each night, we’d try to discover a new place to dine. We tried a couple of the «big» places, and also tried to find something a little off the beaten path.
I’m a vegetarian, my wife is not. I suggested Simple Joy after seeing Unilocal reviews, and my wife was up for it. We could not have been more delighted. We ordered the edamame appetizer. It was fine, nothing special, but fine.
I asked our server for a recommendation, and she suggested the «Vegetables Clay-​Pot Sensation.» Good recommendation, it was amazing! My wife ordered the Marinara pasta, and she liked it. My dish came with sweet & sour soup, which was amazing. The clay-​pot dish itself was just terrific, a combination of tofu, zucchini, onion, carrots, mushroom in a wonderful sauce/​curry thing.
The prices were reasonable to say the least. The ambience was casual, but very nice. Not touristy at all, and we felt welcome and well-​served.
On our next visit to Hawaii, Simple Joy will be the first place we go,

The main reason I gave 4 stars and not 5 is because I wasn’t hungry enough to try out a full entrée. I ate a really late lunch so while my boyfriend ate his pasta, I just ordered some «chicken» nuggets. Once I try out an actual entrée, I’ll update my review.
This is probably the closest you’re going to get to meat without it actually being meat. Although you can definitely tell that the chicken is not really chicken, it’s definitely an adequate substitute. Our sever told us that it was made of a soy product. The bbq dipping sauce complimented it perfectly.
My boyfriend got the mushroom linguine with the marinara sauce and he loved it. The pasta wasn’t overly heavy and the mushrooms were sauteed and flavored perfectly. I thought it would be bland (you know, without knowing anything about vegan food) but it was so flavorful. Marinara can also be on the heavier side but it was really light and tasty.
My bf and I both have annoying problems with our digestive health (having that junk asian gene), we have phases of being «healthy». Well, his version of healthy is cutting out meat. To accommodate his current vegetarian plans, we Unilocaled this place and decided to check it out. After eating, we both felt satisfied but not gross and sluggish.
Apparently there are a few stalls available for parking out back. It was night time so we just parked on the street, free after 6pm.

CONFESSION: Prior to eating here I would dodge vegetarian restaurants because I felt that I would walk out hungry after eating.
Just the other month a friend invited me to have dinner before seeing a movie. As I mentioned previously, I’m not a huge fan of movies as I have a habit of falling asleep in a dark, air-​conditioned room. Didn’t really have any plans that night so I wanted to know what type of food. I almost flipped when the reply of «vegetarian food» was given! MOVIE + VEGETARIAN DINNER = OMG… disaster?
I like to eat meat. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb — — LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! I then was telling myself I’d have to order a LARGE bag of popcorn at the movies because I’d still be starving after eating. Just like what many people would do, I read several reviews of this place and I started to have a change of heart with its high marks. I then looked at the food pics and then agreed to come here.
This is a small cozy restaurant that seats about 30 peeps. Although a vegetarian restaurant, this place is operated by Vietnamese so they have quite a few vegetarian Vietnamese menu options.
I’ve been here several times now and will admit the service needs some improvement. All three times there was only ONE wait staff so it was quite slow. Several times our appetizers and/​or drink orders were forgotten. But when the food is pretty good, I tend to forgive below-​par service. Here is what I tried:
MUSHROOM LINGUINE (⁵⁄₅)
I was blown away of how simple this dish may be, the execution was SPOT ON. Very flavorful and loaded with fresh mushrooms. Portion was large and very fulfilling.
VEGETABLE BOLOGNESE LINGUINE w/​VEGAN SMOKED SAUSAGE (⁵⁄₅)
This dish is a MUST order. Soooooo good and fulfilling. The sauce and mock sausage will blow you away! You can be fooled for this dish. Great sized portion for hungry individuals.
SEA COMBINATION CASINO (⁴⁄₅)
The mock seafood in this dish is INCREDIBLE. The shape and color will amaze you. Dish was good but the sauce was a little to oily for my taste. Capers did help cut the grease a bit so therefore, I had to dock 1-​star.
PUMPKIN SOUP (²⁄₅)
My fellow foodie Elite friend John N. highly recommended this soup and had super high expectations but this fell flat with me. It tasted «too Asian» — — infused with lemongrass and the soup was runny. I was looking for a thick, rich soup topped with crème fresh and was disappointed.
VEGETARIAN SUMMER ROLLS (⁵⁄₅)
The fried tofu in the summer rolls was so fulfilling it felt like I was consuming meat! Very refreshing and satisfying in my books. The dipping sauce complimented well.
BEAN CURD ROLL (⁴⁄₅)
This appetizer was the special of the day. This was layers of bean curd that was rolled up and stuffed with tofu (?) and accompanied with seasoned salt and fresh basil leaves. It was good but NOT outstanding for me.
RICE DUMPLING (⁵⁄₅)
This appetizer was also the special of the day. One word to describe this: AMAZING. Very flavorful and texture was good. Dipping sauce was a little spicy and sweet. This dish is usually filled with ground pork and chopped up shrimp but the vegetarian version had carrots, wood ear fungus and mushroom. I’d order this again in a heart beat.
VEGETARIAN PHO (⁵⁄₅)
When eating PHO, most of us taste the broth first. I was SOLD when sipping the broth. Very flavorful with star anise and ginger flavor. Had a hard time reminding myself this is vegetarian. The veggies and tofu in the dish gave it volume and therefore, satisfying.
FRESH LEMONADE (³⁄₅)
Call me weird but I like my lemonade TART. This was on the sweet side. It was good but disappointed as it wasn’t to my liking.
Although the ratings are mixed, overall I still give this place 5-​stars for EXCELLENT FOOD. Service may be spotty but when you have great company and enjoying excellent food, I can forgive below-​par service.
Also, I also have mixed reviews of the food here but for me, I’ll just stick to the pasta dishes as they are REALLY GOOD. Drinks and soups for me, I’ll pass on them.
NOTES:
1) Private parking lot behind of restaurant (4-​spaces).
2) Credit cards accepted here.
3) Separate checks available upon request.

«Don’t judge a book by Its cover» — George Eliot
When my friends invited me to go to a «Vegetarian Restaurant», I had certain ideas about the food… I wondered if I would leave hungry… Would I find something on the menu that I’d like? Is it too healthy to be tasty? Etc.
With blind faith and some curiosity, I went — not once, but twice — to Simple Joy because it’s that good! I also liked the name of the restaurant — it seemed like a nice place from its title… it is! Another motivator was the way the Unilocal Reviews raved about the food — they’re right! Plus… food always tastes better with good company, correct?
So — the first time, I had:
— Fresh Lemonade — refreshing!
— Summer Rolls — filling!
— Pumpkin Soup — yum!
— Mushroom Linguine — Good garlic flavor & firm noodles! Thickly sliced mushrooms!
The second visit included:
— Thai Iced Tea — delicious!
— Rice Dumplings — wrapped in banana leaf and steamed to perfection!
— Bean Curd Roll — a pleasant Lemongrass surprise!
— Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan with Pasta — Excellent! I cleaned my plate & was 1^st to finish!
I would for sure return to try other things on the menu, especially now that we know we can park for free on King Street after 6:30pm on week days. There are 5 spaces behind the building, so drive slowly and turn right into the lane immediately after the restaurant. Easy! Enjoy!

This is only my second visit to a vegan restaurant. This is much more than I had expected in the way of vegan.
I was with a group of four people all of whom raved about the quality and the taste of all the dishes. The mushroom linguini was very flavorful and the pasta was al dente. Their portions are generous and are very week plated. Beautiful dishes you would expect to see at any fine restaurant.
The décor of the restaurant is plain but functional, seating around 30 persons. There are 5 parking spaces available behind the restaurant dedicated to restaurant.
I’m not vegan but wouldn’t hesitate to go back for their excellent food at reasonable prices.

NOW I KNOW WHY THEY CALL THIS PLACE SIMPLE JOY. OMG SO GOOD.
This place serves vegetarian fare. I don’t care if you’re a carnivore, omnivore, vegetarian or just picky. This place has good food at a wallet-​friendly price. The interior is light wood, which happens to be a favorite décor style of mine. Mega points.
I’ve been slowly decreasing meat intake and the difficult part is curbing the meat anxiety, as I like to call it. Enter Simple Joy.
«Chicken nuggets». I cry. So good. I refuse to eat fast food; so, this alternative was a god send. The appetizer came with 5? Yeah, I’d like a 20 piece, please.
The puttanesca with «chicken» was also good. All the flavors of puttanesca. It must be black magic, I tell you.
Lots of noodle soup dishes, Vietnamese, Won ton — there’s a whole page just devoted to that. The other page is pasta. I need to come back here and try more dishes!
This restaurant is BYOB! Whaaat uuuuup. We asked for a bucket of ice and a bottle opener — they obliged. They had wine glasses. Woot. Service is friendly.
Location: On S King St, right hand side, before Piikoi. There’s a tiny parking lot in the back but I always opt for street parking. Keep an eye out for the sign.
This place makes me happy.

I love trying vegan food because 1) I support their cause 2) it’s different 3) it’s amazing how much flavor you get from meatless foods. I like seeing how creative the chefs get with vegan food.
My vegan girlfriend brought me here and we ordered more than enough dishes (best to worst):
Clay pot meal: veggies, mushrooms, tofu cooked in a clay pot with some sort of sweet soy or teriyaki sauce. Comes with brown rice and small cup of curry soup. It was pretty good.
Curry noodle soup: this was similar to the Thai hot sweet-​sour soups. Had good flavor, not very spicy. Tofu, but limited amounts.
Quesadilla: had tofu and veggies in it. They pour a sweet mustard-​mayo like sauce on top. It was okay, not great.
Spring rolls: typical summer spring rolls with tofu. Again, just okay.
Spicy joy noodle soup: this was pretty bland for me. It was spicy. But bland.
Sea combination pasta: eh. It’s not the meat substitutes that I had a problem with but more so the sauce. Very bland, very oily/​greasy. Sits in a pool of oil.
Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with what we ordered. I will say, the dessert is delicious! We ordered the vegan coconut ice cream – highly recommend. It has a tart-​like flavor to it. Very subtle. I would come here just for that even. We also ordered the mango jelly. It was good but I wasn’t too crazy about it and I wouldn’t order it again.
I’ve been to some really delicious vegan restaurants but this one was just okay. I wouldn’t come back. I felt that I could replicate all the dishes at home with vegan meat. Go to green vines instead!