Aloha Vietnamese Foods

I’m here tonight, because of a couple of raving reviews by mainlanders. I used to go to Little Saigon in OC where so many Vietnamese eateries compete to gain popularity. It has been a rather disappointing since we moved to Hawaii. I tried a vermicelli noodles with spring rolls and papaya salad and they were clean and tasty. I’ll definitely try their Phở next time. The ambiance is nonexistent, but their friendly service and decent dishes are certainly welcome at an eatery of this category.

Fairly disappointed as the pictures looked decent and read the good reviews. Definitely not the best. Broth rather bland. The noodles were clumped into 1 ball and had to be broken apart. No pokey leaf was offered with the basil. Went on a Saturday around 7:30pm and only 2 tables had customers.

These guys rule. Been back a number of times but did take out for the first time. Aside from being awesome as usual, they cut a hole in the styrofoam take out box to make sure it spring rolls didn’t get soggy.

Craved for phở at the very last minute & this place popped up! I live on the west side & the drive was so worth it! Aloha Vietnamese Foods is located right across of Sweet Home Café & is open until midnight.
The phở was amazing! Hands down, the best phở I have ever tried. Personally, I am not a fan of phở, but when I crave it (especially on cold/​rainy days), I’ll eat it. I have tried a few phở places, & this place has the best tasting phở, ever! The prices are affordable & reasonable.
As for the employees, they are super nice! I walked in an hour before closing time (very rude of me, but my cravings were sooo real) & they were so welcoming. They are very friendly & check up on you often.
The place is quite small, but for the most part, this place is worth it! I am definitely coming back.

The aunty and uncle here are just the cutest people ever. Usually they smile and keep a conversation when possible.
Back to the actual review. When I really want to eat Vietnamese food this is my first choice. I am often picky when it comes to Vietnamese food but I had pretty authentic food coming from the mainland and living here its kind of hard finding the real ordeal. Also I’m not a big fan of phở but their broth is tasty and packs a lot of flavor.
My favorite dish would have to be their salads. Its flavorful and you pretty much get your moneys worth. I am also a fan of most of their cold noodle dishes as well as their rice dishes. The mung bean drink is also tasty if you can stand the texture.
Overall, this is my to go Vietnamese food. Some dishes are ok and pricey. The place is decent size cab get really busy at night. But overall I recommend.

This place is located in a more rundown part of Hawaii, it was kind of hard to find parking as well. The place in itself is really small and we are a family of 5, but all tables were of 4 and jam packed. However they stuffed a chair to accommodate us. The menu has a large selection, we ordered 3 phở’s, 1 bun thit nuong, and a phở stir fry. Honestly, the phở stir fry was not that good. Barely any seasoning and literally more than half the plate was cabbage. You’d expect a seafood stir fry to have seafood. Nope it had like 3 shrimp and 2 tiny shrimp balls. The bun thit nuong I heard was good. They first brought out a phở with rare steak which was actually mine, but my mom thought it was hers and dumped sriracha and hoisin in hers (I hate spicy food). When they brought out the rest of the phở we asked which is mine and then noticed that the one my mom poured her sauce in was actually mine. So it was our mess up! However the man promised to make me a new one until he noticed we messed up. They were both speaking Vietnamese which we could understand and the girl was like «Why don’t you go get her a new one?» But the guy kept saying «It’s their mess up, not mine they need to deal with it».
Kinda rude on the guys part :/​anywho, the phở was pretty good but they gave like 2 jalepenos for a group of 3 phở eaters and 3 tiny lemons so I didn’t get my phở tasting the way I wanted. Oh well

It’s located across the street from the shrine thing on king street. It’s a small place, approximately fits 10 or 15 people but the food I had was great.
I had phở will all sorts of beef. Herbs and bean sprouts were fresh and savory. They provide lemon, instead of lime which was fresh experience to me.
The broth were flavorful of beef stock and light seasoning. Beef ingredients were soft and juicy. Noodles were cooked in just great hardness, not soft but not hard. It’s a proof that they boil from dried noodles, not pre-​boiled noodles. That’s why it’s not soft. I very liked the consistency of noodle. Great place to have Vietnamese noodle and would try other menus when I have chance.
Also the waitress was hot.

When it’s raining and you just had a night mixing all of your alcohol together, phở solves that unpleasant feeling.
This place is in the same parking area as sweet home café. Major pro about this place is they open till late hours like midnight! Inside is kind of small. They have 3 sizes medium, large and extra large. What happen to small? I got the medium combination, the broth tasted a little weird to me. I’m sad to say I didn’t like the broth. The noodles and beef were good, not chewy/​tough.
They seem to make their own sauté sauce, not sure. There’s lots of ginger pieces in it, I’m ok with it.
They gave us complimentary Banana Tapioca since someone is a regular. That was really creamy and had huge banana chunks in it.

Service = Excellent. Man serving us was smiling and very friendly! Also, everything in the restaurant was clean!
Menu = Extensive. Even a vegetarian menu on the back page!
Food = Phở broth was SO clean and tasty! I had the seafood phở. We also ordered the vegetarian spring rolls, it came with 3 pieces.
Prices = Large Seafood phở was $ 10. Spring rolls were $ 3.50 (I think). There was also an option for a larger order for $ 5.50.
I think this may be my new favorite phở place. The menu is so big! Everything about this place is amazing. Open 2pm to midnight.

I got violently I’ll here last month. Went in around lunchtime, ordered a simple plate of Vietnamese Summer rolls. Cold shrimp and noodles wrapper in a rice wrap, something like that. Not fried. Went home, and later that evening my stomach hurt, and my groin area too, as if I was kicked in the sack. Sweating and feverish, spent about 2 hours on and off praying before the porcelain altar. Dry-​heaving when there was nothing left. I’m 49 and have never been that violently ill before. It was the only thing I ate that afternoon, so I know it had to be them. My muscles hurt for two days afterwards, and I lost 2 lbs. I’m guessing it was the shrimp, either undercooked or spoiled.
I’m just telling the truth, make your own decision to eat there. Do they deserve my 1-​star review? I only had the one dish, so I suppose it isn’t a fair rating… but if you had spent the night painfully dry heaving and missing a day of work like I did…

Had a delicious bowl of piping hot vegetable phở at this place. The broth was clear and the vegetables and tofu were fresh.
Service was very welcoming and friendly. As we were leaving, a man (the owner?) ran out into the parking lot to chase us down to give us a free dessert!

Good tasting food. Cheap prices. Slow slow service. Awful restaurant atmosphere. Cardboard boxes, and loud echos.
Call in an order to go. Even then you’ll wait after you arrived to get it. Its not that its a crowded restaurant, its just extremely inefficient.
But its cheap and pretty tasty. Slow.

Tried more of their menu items and I have new reasons to keep coming back and more favorites to enjoy.
Here’s what I highly recommend and suggest to order if you haven’t already tried them:
— Fried Chicken
— Papaya Salad
— Egg Noodle soup with won ton

Well, I’ve had THE best curry here since I moved to the States. The Phở is very good too, love the broth, fresh and light. The fried tofu can be smaller chunks though.

PHO SHO A WINNAH. Their phở is cheaply priced (around $ 8 – 9 a bowl), and it’s delicious. Their brisket is especially tasty, and their curry is DA-​YUM good. I’ve been phở-​pping (that’s phở-​hopping) lately since it’s been cold, and this is one of those YES, this hits the spot and I’m so happy just roll me up in a flannel blanket and let me sleep off my food coma kind of places. When I was sick with a cold a few weeks ago, I actually was craving their phở and got some to go (automatically a Large Phở for $ 8.75, but still cheaper than most other places!).
It’s one of the better phở places on island, with solid, clean, clear broth, and meat that tastes fresh (other places you can tell it was frozen). I’ve also tried their braised pork belly dish (flavor was ok, but I was expecting delicious cubes of meat, and instead it was more like stir fried slices), and their Vietnamese beef stew (delicious).
It’s a no frills establishment – free parking in its own lot, about 6 – 8 tables that seat four to six people, so it’s not the best place for big groups. It’s located across from Sweet Home Café, next to a decent Indian restaurant and an L&L.
The service is great – it’s definitely a family run business, and the owners are so nice and polite. It’s also open late, so it’s a great place to stop by with friends after other places have closed. Other phở places? phở-​getabboutit.

My boyfriend and I both agreed we found our new phở place :) he gets off work late, so there are limited options of where to get phở around 10:30. (And Phở 777 is not a choice because of the pictures I saw with roaches in people’s food)
The phở here definitely tastes homemade! The broth is clearer than others but is the most flavorful broth I had. Also, the noodles were cooked to perfection.
The service here is very friendly (husband and wife run it), and the man even gave my boyfriend a fork when he saw him struggling with chopsticks (lol)
We both were so full after eating shrimp summer rolls and a medium phở tai bo vien (#18 on the menu) my bf loved it so much, he was scraping every bit of food and drinking every last sip of broth lol
We took a banana tapioca to go which was really good :) the only suggestion is to have ripe banana on the bottom. The banana at the bottom was not sweet and it had stringy stuff on it.

Aloha Vietnamese is a little mom and pop shop located in that little shopping mall where Sweet Home Café is. I have been here a few times before but recently came here to get some take out. The place was surprisingly packed at 10:30 at night! It was a Monday too so didn’t think it was going to be this busy.
The place is run by just 2 people. I’m guessing a husband and wife? But I give them props managing this place. I ordered a vegetable coconut curry to go for my bf. It was a bit of a wait for just one item but then again they were very busy. I’d recommend calling in head of time when ordering.
Anyway, the curry was surprisingly very delicious. So good that me and my bf went back the next day and ordered it again! I love that they put taro in it too.
One of the good things about this place is that they’re open late… till midnight! The owners are really nice & friendly! Great late night spot! FYI they’re aren’t open till 2.

I felt like eating phở one night. I dragged all my friends here. YAY! It is located where Sweet Home Café is. Parking can be limited during peak hours. But we found one.
It was busy when we walked in. There was one table available. Four of us got seated. Looked at the menu, decided to order combination phở large and bbq chicken sandwich. My friends ordered medium sized phở and lemongrass chicken sandwich. The wait for the food took around 10 – 15 minutes. The phở came out hot. The sandwich was hot and freshly toasted. I took a bite of the sandwich first and it was crispy and yummy! The chicken wasn’t too salty. Usually, Vietnamese place’s sandwiches are dang hard toasted. This one is easy to bite. The phở soup was pretty good. My friends were enjoying their food too. Maybe we were too hungry. The food was really filling.
The server/​owner came to fill our water. Price was decent for the amount given. I’ll be back when I’m around the area.

Phở is my favorite food and I can literally eat it ²⁴⁄₇. This was a staple in my diet while in college because it’s affordable while covering a lot of food groups. It’s a shame that I didn’t discover this spot till I was older. They are conveniently located near UH with free parking. The only draw back is that they are in the same complex as Sweet Home Café and parking can be a challenge during the evening. Good thing they are open late after the dinner rush!
I’ve been here several times now and I think the phở is pretty good. The noodles are cooked to perfection with ample meat and veggies to accompany the meal. Broth comes out hot with good flavor. I always take a few sips before digging in and their broth is legit. They have their own sauté sauce which is good but not my favorite. The fried chicken here is very flavorful and juicy! It comes out very hot so wait a bit before biting into it. One of the best fried chicken I’ve had in a Vietnamese restaurant.
Restaurant is very clean and cozy. They are located right across Sweet Home Café. It’s not a big restaurant so it can get busy at times where you’ll have to wait for a table. Everyone here is very friendly and welcoming. If you come in a group and want to split the check, they are very accommodating. They also take credit which is nice, gotta rack up the miles one dollar at a time!
The one thing that I’m not a fan of is that they aren’t open during hours of operations posted on Unilocal and at the restaurant. I’ve been here twice in the afternoon when they say they are open but they weren’t. No one was inside and I’ve waited for 20 or so minutes each time. This is something they need to work on so minus a star for poor business operations. Aside from that, they are a good phở find near UH and worth checking out.

Oh man. This is some great Vietnamese food. I can’t believe it took me so long to actually try it. I feel like I’m betraying my favorite local Vietnamese spot (Green Papaya — so tasty), but this really is a great place and I will be going back without a doubt. It’s strange — it was so good, that I’m excited to the point where I’m calm: D You really have to try this place out.
Located across from Sweet Home Café, that is their only downfall; the parking. During parts of the day, the small to mid-​sized lot can be full of the cars of everyone waiting to get in there. That being said, your diligence will be rewarded.
We started with the fried chicken appetizer. A different take on chicken wings via the batter to start. The six pieces come topped with scallions, onions, and butter. On the side, comes a lemon wedge and a salt & white pepper mix — USE THEM; they only make the wings even more delicious!
First time going to any Vietnamese place, I have to get their respective combination phở. They did not disappoint. The broth was not overly oily or heavy. It was, for lack of a better adjective, clean. Tasty, but lite — something you’d expect your friends’ Vietnamese aunt to make. And I ordered the XL… it was definitely extra large. The meat ingredients were tender and filling. If I wasn’t such a pig, I would have leftovers for the morning: D
Another reason we’ll be here — they’re open until 12am! This is hearty, well made food available after 10pm. The only other options at that point are fast food, or tapas and restaurants that charge easily double to get you that full.
Ambiance is super casual. You’ll even wonder if I’m on drugs for liking them this much once you see the interior. It’s not dirty or dingy at all, but you’re not going to impress a first date there. I’m a firm believer in «Beautiful Ambiance, Great Food, or Affordability — you can only pick two.» Unless it’s a special occasion, I’ll generally pick affordability and great food for casual dining. (i.e. At Nobu, you get great food and a beautiful ambiance, at the sake of affordability. At Ruby Tuesday you get ambiance and affordability at the sake of good food.)
The people running the place are sweet and really take pride in their restaurant. The husband runs the restaurant, while his wife runs the kitchen. Service with a whole-​hearted smile.
Don’t make the mistake I did; go sooner than later. This place is great!