U-Choice In

«No. Just no.» I uttered these two sentence as I bit into my old and chewy orange chicken. Dead and pale batter suggested it hadn’t seem a wok in days… a week?
I cast my head down in shame. For I had been lured by the promise of a lunch under $ 7, like a schoolgirl infatuated by a rad hairdo. I finished the noodles, for they were tasty. «Nunca mas,» I thought, staring at the cashier with a face that spelled betrayal.

They offer Chinese take out here and the food looks Chinese but doesn’t taste like Chinese. My bb and his family is Chinese so I know how it should taste like but the food here is far from Chinese or good. I didn’t expect that with all the Chinese people working here. The cashier was Caucasian though but I don’t think that was any factor in the food. Too bad because they have a good location.
This restaurant is next to Don Quijote on Kaheka Street. They are on the far left when facing the entrance of Don Quijote. The only good thing about this restaurant is that you can dine inside away from the sun in some AC. If you dine in, you can get free water too. Unfortunately that’s all the positives I could think of. Portions weren’t a lot for what you pay for and I already mentioned the taste of the food. I only ate ¹⁄₅ of the plate before throwing it away.

The only things I get here on a regular is manapua (steam is cheaper than baked), rice cake, and the char siu plate. The char siu is a good deal for $ 7.50 (maybe add a few dimes or so). It comes with leafy greens and I like that as it balances the meal out, so you got your carb, protein, and fiber. The char siu is sweet and tasty. Naturally the fresher the better. The steam char siu bun is a large sized bun filled with plenty of meat. There’s lots of dough too but it balances out. It’s worth the price. Finally, a nice, cheap and filling dessert is the rice cake. It’s a pretty good size-​about a hand and gots a nice taste and spongy, sticky texture (if you can dig it like me). I’ve had some of the dim sum items and some of the rice plates from the hot plates but nothing got my goat. I think the price is good for the combo plates but like I said it wasn’t appealing to me. Maybe cuz it was old or whatever but «meh.» That being said if you can get food that’s fresh or fresher from here the better off you are. So good luck… it’s U-​Choice!

Food is decent. I like their roast pork. But heaven forbid you ask for a container for hot mustard and soy sauce. They normally give you a microscopic container that holds no more than a few drops of sauce. They have a slightly larger container which would be perfect but the workers make a big fuss that it’s for something else and that the larger containers are more expensive. She offered to give me three of the microscopic ones at which point I just said forget it. I’ll make it at home.

This is my fave Manapua places besides Chun wah kam. The other items are just okay. The Chinese food offered is nothing special.

Back in the day, Dwayne Johnson lived on Kaheka St., of course this was well before he was known as the international superstar, «The Rock!»
Urban legend has it that back in his Kaheka days… The young & very skinny Dwayne Johnson (McKinley High School) stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out $ 5 — the only money he had in the world! Just enough to buy a couple manapua and maybe a complimentary cup of tap water! From that day forward he vowed to never be broke again. Boy, did he come a long way, but I wonder if the manapua came from the old Patty’s Chinese Kitchen or this place called…
U CHOICE IN!
What a funnykine name! Back in the day, I once managed a large travel agency, two blocks from this place located what was once known as «Daiei». I remember coming here for some quick and decent dimsum & generous plate lunches for my employees. This was pre-​Yelp and when the University of Hawaii football was ranked in the top-​20… Yup, it’s been awhile! The good old days!
To be honest with you… I don’t recall the actually name of this place back then. Was it the same name or was it under previous owners? Like how Patty’s Chinese Kitchen vanished and was replaced with a junk version of Patty. Hmmm. Now let’s talk this place oddly called…
U CHOICE IN!
Okay, I did read some of my friends reviews, very reputable foodies, like Val, Lynne & Claire, that know how to write! I also noticed that most screaming reviews are dated in the 2010 – 2012 years. Yup, I wonder. I wonder if this was the old U Choice In or was it the current U Choice In. I wonder because I am sad to report the dimsum today sucks here! Let me emphasize… it SUCKKKKKKS here!
U CHOICE IN!
What’s going on?! I came here recently with my Dad. I drive him to Don Quijote (Daiei) for Senior Day (tuesdays), twice a month. Normally we order a plate lunch in the area or find a restaurant to eat-​in and he’s a happy camper. However, on this day, Dad wanted some dimsum and I recalled this once great place, so let’s go! Oh boy, I got all excited when I saw the meats hanging and dimsum neatly displayed! We ordered 3 baked manapua, 2 pork hash, 2 rice cake, dan tat, and a few other dimsum! My happy warm fuzzy feelings quickly ended when I took one, two, three bites of that nasty stale manapua — I couldn’t finish it! Next, the rice cake, or should I say stiff jello — what was that?! One bite was enough! Fortunately the dan tat and Hawaiian tap water was good! Yup, I was sadly disappointed with throwing money for food I threw away! That bad! Yup, I never throw away food!
The only conclusion I can make out of this was timing or new owners? The bad timing is that we got the «day old» crap, that should not have been sold, or was it a simple case of new ownership from a few years ago?!
Whatever the case is I couldn’t finish whatever I was attempting to eat. It was dry, funky and just seemed old! I wonder?!
U CHOICE IN!
What a disappointment you are! I still trust my foodie friends that gave this place decent reviews. Val, Lynne, Claire, Terry, Mahina… Still love you guys, but I’m almost certain we were not grubbing the same stuff! In fairness, the dan tat (custard) and jin doi (coconut mochi) is very good, so if you’re here — get that! I hope I am Wong, I mean wrong, and will add a star simply because I remember when this place was good, but all signs indicate something has changed… New owners? Old food?
Whatever the case… You won’t find me or The Rock dropping «in» here anymore. Definitely NOT my first «choice». Sorry.
SIDE NOTE: Dwayne «The Rock» Johnson was paid $ 5.5-million dollars for his role in «The Scorpion King». A tad more than $ 5!
SIDE NOTE, NOTE: I just received a PM from a friend to try the baked manapua one more time — for her sake I will, but it better not be day old, or she won’t hear the end of it…
OVERALL GRADE: 1.8-STARS!
(bumping up because my friends reviews from 2 years ago & the dan tat & jin doi!)
*UPDATED GRADE: 2.5-STARS!
(I tried the manapua again per a good friend and I’m happy to say it was okay, but I was crossing my fingers… Hit or miss?)
LIVE ALOHA…
Unilocal REVIEW #372

To be honest, I’ve had better Chinese take out food. Their chow fun lacked seasoning, hence it’s bland taste. The fried rice was also on the bland side. The only item we ordered that tasted okay was their chow mein.
The only plus is that the prices are reasonable and it’s conveniently located next to Don Quijote. Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way just to eat here.

If you are looking for food to eat– then you have plenty of choices all in one pay as you go location at U-​Choice In.
They have roast pork, roast chicken, and duck and char chu pork in the window as you enter for the cut cut as much as you need right then an there from a helpful person that will probably give you more than you ask for but still charge you full price because it is already cut. And it is charged by the pound. Prices have gone up from 10 years ago when I first started to go here but that can be expected. It is still reasonable compared to other places including downtown Chinatown. Recently– the roast pork and char chu pork have been dry and greasy instead of moist and fresh tasting. I have been disappointed recently but was still hungry and finished every last droplet of port regardless.
There is a dim sum counter but go early otherwise there is less and less of choices. There is fresher dim sum at say golden palace but if you need to explain things to guest that are from the mainland that have never had dim sum before it is so much easier to just buy 1 of everything for them to cut open and taste what they like and then buy them more when you know what it is that they like the best.
There is a pick how many items you want from the plate lunch counter– I think it is really good for the amount of food that you get with noodles that you really like. I like the fine glass noodles the best. But they have a few choices and always have rice if someone wants boring normal white rice instead of a new dish taste. I get the beef broccoli and it is good and tasty and I know at least what I am getting and then go for a pork or other beef as those can be greasier or have more kick in the spicy side If I am not careful.
Then there is the made to order items also– soups and the like that are not off the menu items but sure look like it when you watch people eating at the tables off to the sides. Ox tail is what I remember seeing people eating and thinking to my self at the time– ‘NO I think I’ll go for things not on the bone today.‘
There are tables and booths — not the happiest looking seating arrangements but you can always go outside and eat in the food court areas.
It is not always that clean– tables can get really dirty based on who ate there last.
Service is hit and miss– some workers seem to know more English than others and how much of a conversation did you want to have with them ??? As long as they get my order correct — that is really all I care about and how the food tastes.
Back to the food– there is better food again as I say downtown like golden palace and better dim sum but it is so much of a pain in the butt to get down there sometimes with parking– that going shopping at DQ is so much easier and more enjoyable to eat and then go shopping. Great location and it is one of those places I go to when I do need to go to a destination location and need to eat.
Also my mom likes this place with all the choices when she visits from CA.

I always came here for your roast duck, roast pork, char siu pork and dim sum. To my opinion, since I just moved here to HI, I’d say, this is by far, the BEST places to get roast duck & roast pork. Better than China Town or any other places that sells roast duck. & here’s why:
Good things & suggest to keep it up:
1. Roast duck. Large size, crispy skin, very meaty, less salty, and less fattening. That’s how an EXCELLENT roast duck supposed to be. Unlike other Chinese duck places, their ducks has too much fat, and too salty.
2. Roast pork. Same thing like I described about your roast duck. Crispy skin, very meaty, less salty, less fattening. Also, that’s how excellent roast pork supposed to be.
3. Char siu pork. Tender, juicy, less (maybe none) tendons/​bones because you used the ribs; which are excellent to make char siu pork. Sweetness, well adjusted.
4. Dim sum. Good size. Nice & hot. Enough to compete with the fancy Dim Sum places.
5. Plentiful variety to choose from. From dim sum, to roast duck, to Chinese Food to Go, and to Hawaiian Food to Go.
Now, the following below are things suggest for further improvements:
1. The chow mein for your food to go. I recommend use egg noodles instead of yakisoba noodles; «angel hair» egg noodles looks better for chow mein.
Everything else, I have to say very excellent. One of the best for the Hawaiian islands, & possibly enough to compete with Mainland U.S. places too, especially in California.
Therefore, congratulations. I grant you a Perfect 5 stars out of 5.
Keep it up!!! & you’ll definitely see me come back for more.

Should you not want to deal with Chinatown crowds and paying for parking. U-​Choice In is conveniently close to Don Quijote on the same shopping complex, across from the Pan Am building.
Hmmm… When I’m feeling for a quick Egg Tart fix, this is my go to place. They are a larger size than other places I’ve been to on the island so far. Since I know they don’t have a wide variety of dim sum selection, I’m okay with knowing the only time I go here is for their egg tart and pork shumai and Half Moon. They also have pretty decent baked manapuas for you manapua lovers! Otherwise they have a good variety of Chinese food outside of the dim sum category. So don’t forget to stop by and get some quick dimsum and other dishes after shopping at Don Quijote!
Side Note: Should you decide to pay with your debit/​credit card, there is a minimum of $ 5 to do so. Shouldn’t be that hard to purchase something for $ 5! Come on now!

Needed 16 manapua and this place is the closest to my home. They offer baked and steamed. I decided to get 8 chicken and 8 char siu, baked. They are big and cost $ 1.45.
Since I have never tried them from here before, I also got one chicken for me. It turned out to be curry chicken, which I was not expecting. It was still good though. I will definitely get my future manapuas from here.

I always always stop by for pork hash and Manapua whenever I go to don Quixote. or sometimes I want pork hash so bad, I make up a reason to go to don Quixote.
it’s just yummy. service has always been nice, and prices are reasonable. they have other food too, but The little snacks are too yummy for me to try anything new !

This place is always a go to for anyone that’s in «i’m hungry, I could eat a baby» mode. Everything from their baked and steamed manapua’s to their plate lunches always makes me happy for dinner! The meat to bun ratio is perfect for bao’s.
Now down to business… the plate lunches. Ten dollars for huge portions of 4 choices. They also serve brown rice, so if you’re feeling guilty no worries, it’s some what healthy. They definitely pack in your choices and when they can’t fit anymore, they’ll pack it in a separate container. Highly recommend the eggplant, cold ginger chicken, mabo tofu, & the beef broccoli.

It was so rainy yesterday that I really wanted to eat Ramen or something hot and noodleish. We went to Don Quixote to do some groccery shopping and was gonnna stop by that new ramen place but the line was long and the prices were expensive. I was like omg… Chinese resteraunt on the corner has really good duck noodle soup. $ 7.00! Yes. It was really good. It was like a throwback for me.
Definetly will come back when I’m feeling like noodles and soup.

4 stars for HUGEEEEEE manapuas for only $ 1.70 each!!!
Like really, I’ll eat one for breakfast, famished after a morning run, and won’t get hungry til lunch! That’s how big and filling they are! My favorite is the chicken manapua, which consists of a mix of chicken and mushrooms in a sort of gravy sauce that seems standard for Chinese cooking, stuffed into a huge baked bao. I also tried the char siu manapua, which is a meat lovers paradise. One gripe is that the filling is often clumped in a huge ball towards the center of the bun. AKA, you’ll need to get through a few first bites of bread before you can enjoy the filling… but I guess that’s how most manapua are, right?
A nice touch is that the bread is sweet. Not exactly sweet bread, but sweeter than normal manapua bread. Yum!
Ample parking on the street or in the Don Q lot. Super easy to shop and pick up a (large) snack on the way out!

Came here to bring back a dozen Manapua, 6 baked, 6 steamed. I’d have gotten more but a box only fits 12.
Manapua is a Chinese food item called Char Siu Bao or in english, BBQ Pork Bun.
In Hawaii we call it Manapua, derived from the Hawaiian words, Mea Ono Pua’a (Pork food item)
In the Philippines it’s referred to as Siao Pao (pronounced Show Pow) i think derived from a shortened, mispronunciation of the Chinese, Char Siu Bao, from when the Chinese occupied the Philippines.
Whatever you call them, the ones from here are large and delicious. Both the steamed and the baked have a chopped or chipped pork filling which i like better than either the cubed type that most baked types have or the shredded type that most steamed types have. It has more caramelization and depth of flavor than the competition.
The baked manapua here are much bigger than the ones you get at Royal Kitchen and way more stuff inside too.
The steamed ones have a better filling to bread ratio than those at Char Hung Sut or Libby’s and not shredded pork.
The steamed ones are different from the kind you get when you go to Dim Sum, even though the bread is white, its not as fluffy as the Hong Kong style ones. Guess if you walk up to a counter and order a «Manapua» then its considered local style. If you’re in a Dim Sum place and ordering a «Char Siu Bao», then its Chinese style right?!
When it comes to manapua U Choice is my choice.

U wonder why they call this U Choice but that’s their choice
U wonder what kind of place this is and U will be surprised
U wouldn’t believe that they sell Chinese food because U would never know
U have to try the Roast Pork here
U Choice In is located near Don Quijote on Kaheka St
U will see that they sell Hawaiian food as well such as Kalua Pig and Tripe Stew
U will find parking to be a pain in the okole with all these tiny ass stalls
U will love the Baked Charsiu Manapua that they sell here
U will not believe how much meat they stuff it with
U is the letter that comes after the letter T
U know what? This is a great alternative instead of going to Chinatown
U have to eat outside and see all the cute asian women that pass by
U have to watch out for the Korean Bar Hostesses without their makeup on
U will see how much plastic surgery was done on their face
U may never buy them another 20 dollar drink ever again
U gotta try the Pork Hash and Half Moon as well
U think this place would come up with a better name than U Choice In
U and i all know that i they called this place «Yoo Cum Tu Soon «
U would see a lot more people patronize this place
U Choice In is just a strange name for such great Chinese fare
U gotta remember now
U have to come here for the Baked Charsiu Manapua, but if…
U come to late, they will certainly run out because that is a very popular item
U think i’m lying huh? You’ll see
U think this review is too long?
U better believe it
U must give this place a try if you’re around the area
U know what? My fellow Unilocaler Val Y ate here so it must be good =)
U Choice In is already a household name for me but for all you other people
U Choice In is my go to place for Awesome Baked Manapua and Roast Pork
U know what? I’m all done with this review…

Sum Ting Wong with this name.
To me the name «U Choice In» is Shi Ting Kee Pu.
I not saying that this place was named by a Dum Gai.
But Wai Hee Doo Dat?
«Yu Choi See Inn» seem more appropriate too me! At least it sounds Chinese! If you just heard the name: Wat kine food you would think «U Choice In» serves? Would you even think it was a restaurant?
I know! No can tell!
I choice (or is it chose or choose) the stew beef noodle in soup and one baked manapua today. Was Sum Ting Goo Doo!
Too bad about the name. Wai Hee Soo Dum?
Think about it! Wat if I called 411 and ask for their phone number?
Ring! Ring!
Operator: «City and State please!»
Me: «Honolulu, Hawaii. What is the number for „U Choice In?“
Operator: „You Choice Inn! …I do not have a listing for You Choice Inn.“
Me: „U Choice In. Let me spell it. U C-​h-​o-​i-​c-​e I-​n.“
Operator: „U C-​h-​o-​i-​c-​e I-​n! …UchoiceIn! I cannot find a listing for UchoiceIn. What language is that?“
Me: „No! No! First word is the letter „U“. Next word is C-​h-​o-​i-​c-​e …“Choice“! Last word is I-​n …“In …U Choice In»!
Operator: U C-​h-​o-​i-​c-​e I-​n …U Choice In! …How old are you? What grade are you in? Did you graduate from a private or public school? Hey! Is this a prank call???
Dial tone…
I must say that U doo have a lot of choices (or is it choses or chooses!) to choose (or is it chose or choice!) from at this Inn. Many items… U know, chooses to choice from at this Inn… I’m so confused!
Maybe he meant Your Choice Inn.
I should ask if the last name of the owner is «Ing.»
Maybe he meant Yu Choi Ing.
Maybe he meant Yu Choi See (is) In (Not Out)!
I spent way to much time thinking about the name when I really should be talking about the food.
Restaurant is clean and food prices are very reasonable. Stew Beef Noodle in Soup I had was tasty. It was the daily special at $ 6.25. That is like FREE to mel!
The baked manapua was great. It was heavy (which means lots of filling) and the bun had a nice crust to it.
It is conveniently located in the outside Food Court of Don Quijote on Makaloa.
I still think there is Sum Ting Wong with U name but I will See U Soon for more baked manapua!
P. S. Thank U Lynne H. Kailua, HI for reviewing this place. U’re the reason I choice to try this In.

U-​Choice is a good place to get manapua. I first tried it when a family friend brought some over to our house:
The baked manapua is huge, and the filling generous:
The half moon is good and had a nice texture, but my favorite is the taro cake which is filled with chunks of pork and taro, topped with sesame and green onions. Don’t bother with their red bean cakes. They’re small (2 inches in diameter) and the flavor is odd. If you want something sweet the rice cakes and egg tarts are a good choice for dessert. Prices are reasonable, but go early because they run out of a lot of items by 12 noon. (There’s never any ip jai left.)
U-​choice is located right outside of Don Quijote and there’s parking in front or in the covered structure.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: ⁴⁴⁄₃₆₅

I go to U Choice for one thing, possibly 2 things and they are
1) dim sum pork hash and half moon
2) ginger chicken
During my most recent visit, I ventured beyond choice 1 and 2. I had their sweet sour spare ribs and black bean chicken (2 choice plate) I was pleasantly surprised with the texture and taste of the sweet sour spareribs-​tender.
The best part of my visit was their new counter service employees. I got this guy who packed my pork hash and half moon in separate bags, then put it in a box. Unlike the old days where they throw everything into the same box all squished with each other. That was impressive. My 2 course selection was neatly plated…
They’ve moved up a knotch in my eyes. But stay tuned, I will try them again soon just to make sure it was not some daily fluke.