Asia Manoa Chinese Restaurant

When we want to try something new, it’s fun to just pick an area and see what’s available. That is essentially what happened the first time my dining companion and I came here. We enjoyed the food enough to come back, which is always a positive. Situated in Manoa Valley near all the shopping areas, Asis Manoa is a typical sit-​down Chinese restaurant with better fare than a lot of the places in town. The dining room is very clean and bright. They have many tables, but you may still have to wait for a seat. On our first visit, we sat by the door which suffers from Manoa’s high winds; it was fun to watch it swing open and closed.
The menu is very long and varied. It is a great place to come with a group and eat family style. I stick mostly with the combo meals, which is a great plate of food with soup for a reasonable price. The meat quality is good all around. All the sauces are thick and flavorful. Vegetables are crisp and fresh.
Staff is mostly helpful and somewhat efficient. It can be hard to track them down sometimes, so you have to be patient.
One of my favorite things is the hot pot of tea to drink with your meal; it’s strong and delicious.

I wouldn’t have expected a simple Chinese food spot in Manoa to be so delicious! My companion decided he wanted to look for a little something to eat around Manoa since we don’t make our way there enough. I agreed to this idea but expected to drive around for a while. Little did we know, we would run into this little spot with over flowing amount of people waiting outside the door.
Families, friends, coworkers gather for a decent Chinese food fix in this small town in the cottage. The environment is simple but inviting enough for lots to keep coming back. Tables are plentiful and are rearranged for large parties to small parties of two. I believe letting them know ahead of time for larger parties is the way to go. I must not forget to mention that they’re a BYOB. So bring your best bottles of champagne and beers to complete your dining experience.
The menu is pretty extensive to a number of Chinese dishes. My eyes caught the shoyu ginger fish first as this is my test dish for most of the Chinese restaurants I go to. I can honestly say that I’m sold on their fluffy white fish. On the menu this dish is the Seabass Fillet with Ginger & Onion Sauce. I absolutely love the succulent taste all over my taste buds. As it goes to most dishes, this is excellent with a nice bed of rice. if you’re not feeling for a huge dish and want a little variety of items, a choice I absolutely enjoyed is the combination specials (if you’re currently sitting and looking at the menu, this option is located on the back, bottom labeled «Combination Specials»). Prices on the specials ranges from $ 8-​$ 12 depending on the combo chosen. I enjoyed the «A» Combo. The combo included Won ton Soup, lemon chicken, beef broccoli, pork fried rice and crispy won tons at $ 11.75. The soup is very settle with plenty enough meat in the won tons and tasty broth, the fried rice is sauteed wonderfully within their ingredients without tasting salty (thank you!!), the side of won tons are wonderfully crispy to the last bite and the lemon chicken is served over a nice settle lemony sauce and not disturbingly sweet. The beef broccoli is tender without an ounce of fat over a perfectly tasty sauce.
I loved sipping on their fresh tea as the restaurant collectively seated parties after parties. They do get pretty busy. Customer service can get pretty slow especially during their busy times and the dishes can take a while to come out, but are freshly made. Their parking lot can get full during dinner rush since they do share with a couple of other restaurants. I am definitely looking forward to coming back to try their other main dishes.

Went to lunch about a month ago and ordered a couple of lunch plates, these plates comes with fried rice (left over rice from at least 2 days) well as I was eating my fried rice I noticed an odd texture as I chewed, thought it might be some kind of Chinese veggie so I swallowed it. Well as I took another bite I bit down on this again and that same odd texture turned out to be pieces of a brillo pad! Obviously bone head whose washing dishes ain’t rinsing dishes? So as I waited to digest the first one I swallowed I ordered white rice so I can see what the hell I’m eating and what does she bring me? Yep more fried rice with side order brillo pad! Hey Asia Manoa, Bite me! KKK

A little bit pricey for Chinese food but THE best taste in all their dishes. Love the cold ginger chicken, honey walnut shrimp, kau yuk (sp?) and green beans with pork. The best is the waithelp is NOT your typical grouchy Chinese servers. I love this place.

I ordered the lemon chicken and it was more breading than chicken, and the breading was pretty hard. Perhaps I just got a bad batch, but based on my first experience I’m not looking to come back.

Best Chinese Dinner plate I’ve found!!!
the roast chicken is pretty bomb!
Parking can be nuts when it’s busy

Chinese food is not my favorite. But Asia Manoa is a crowd pleaser and the perfect place to eat with a group.
We’re here with family from the mainland who cannot get Crispy Gau Gee. Yum! I was trying to think of how to explain it, it’s like a won ton chip with the won ton meat filling that’s fried to a crisp. Super crunchy and served hot!
I love how attentive the staff is. The décor is clean and modern. Parking perfect. Menu is extensive.
We sit down and order, literally one minute later our food is out. What more can you ask for?
The cold ginger chicken is amazing. Get it! Especially with how hot the weather has been.
This place was packed by 5:30, so come before or after the initial dinner rush.
Last but not least, BYOB and they will even give you the wine glasses.
The best part? Eating leftovers tomorrow!

Delicious food, my daughter enjoys the black been chow fun. Green beans are the best along with the seafood fried rice. Portions a bit small for the price, but food is tasty. The sin choy is ono too. Gets very busy during dinner hours. Would go back again.

I haven’t been here in a while, so I’m going to update my review. My uncle and his family were visiting from Seattle so we had a party of eleven. He ordered a portion and a half of every dish because we had so many people. Even with a portion and a half, the dish was small. The servings are not very generous. I’m glad that my uncle had made reservations because it was full house. They had a few different parties going on. They even turned away a few customers.
The servings might have been small but the food was delicious. The food is always on point here. My uncle had ordered the fish maw soup, snow peas with scallops, minute chicken, fried canton shrimp, seafood and chicken tofu, steamed fish fillet, salt and pepper pork chops and beef choy sum cake noodle.
Usually, I’d go with a seafood dish as my favorite. Tonight, I’d have to go with the salt and pepper pork chop. It was just tender goodness with the right amount of seasoning. The stuffed fried eggplant in black bean sauce is still my favorite. It’s one of their specialties and can’t be found at too many restaurants. We didn’t get this dish tonight because my uncle was hosting. If I was hosting, this dish would most definitely have been in the line up.
This restaurant is extremely clean for a mid range, Chinese restaurant. They don’t serve dim sum here, just entrée dishes. Jeana P., if you’re reading this, this restaurant is owned by a second generation Pang.

Why can we not find a good Chinese restaurant in this town? We have ordered out from them a few times to give them a good chance to win us over, but the food is just barely passable. I can only speak about the vegetarian dishes — lame. And it is expensive.

Chinese food in Hawaii is way different than what it is in San Francisco. Asia Manoa is my favorite place on Oahu. I recently had a family lunch there. My menu was filled with my favorites. Unfortunately, the taro duck was not available because the chef who makes it was on vacation. Auwe! Here’s what we had to everyone’s delight. So ono!
— Chinese chicken salad
— barley stuffed duck
— pepper beef
— minute chicken, ong choy over cake noodles
— Island pork chop with Peking sauce
— choy sum with garlic
— steamed sea bass fillets with seasoned soy sauce
— mango pudding
*note: one order kau yook with taro to go
Service was efficient and very friendly.

Food was good. But we picked a bad night to come. 4 to 5 large parties, so the service suffered. The lobster with black bean was very outstanding.

Yummy. Walnut shrimp is amazing (but sweet). Fish was well prepared. Nice place. Good parking. And they didn’t mind that we sat and talked for hours. Will definitely be back.

Decent Chinese food, if you are in the Manoa area. The restaurant is actually one of the cleaner ones I’ve been too. Service is nothing to write home about, but our waters were filled and we were able to ask a few questions about the menu with no language barrier. This is not a dim sum place though, just regular dishes.
We got some wontons, mapo tofu, and a shrimp fried rice. The fried rice was extremely bland, but then again I’d rather have dry and bland rice than oily, over-​saturated rice. I should have tried the garlic chicken one. The tea they serve is good though, it helps wash everything down after the meal.
I’d go back and try more menu items when I’m in the mood for Chinese. Reasonable prices and convenient location.

Let me educate you…
1. «ASIA» is the Earth’s largest and most populous continent! Didn’t know that one, huh?
2. «MANOA» is rich in history and (Mānoa) means thick, solid, vast, depth or thickness in the Hawaiian language! Probably why it’s where the very first plantations in Hawaii were located! Pretty cool, huh?
3. «CHINESE» are wise people of Asia. Or, should I say 90% of Asia since the population of China alone is 1 billion and change! Not counting all the Chinese in Vietnam, Laos, Southeast Asia, Vancouver, San Francisco, etc. Oh, and here in Hawaii too! Like wise rabbits, huh?
4. «RESTAURANT» is a place where you eat. I mean I hope you know that one! Preferably decent grub! I mean I can’t educate you on everything, right?! Geez, Louisa!
Okay, I live in Manoa. I have lineage here that stretches over a century, but you know what’s odd? I never stepped in here once (unless I was a baby and didn’t know)! TBH I feel after everything I said above (1., 2., 3., and 4.)… The name of this place simply sucks! Sounds cheesy and I figured the food must suck too, right? I mean it’s a pretty dumb name… C’mon now…
ASIA MANOA CHINESE RESTAURANT!
Confucius say:
«Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.»
See «stupid» written on my forehead? You better not! Umm, but you know what? Never, never, ever judge a book by it’s cover or a restaurant by it’s ugly lame name! I learned this because of my experiences in my colorful life and the Chinese grub here simply ROCKS!
Confucius say:
«Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.»
So, maybe I do think too much. I mean I’m analytical by nature, but why didn’t I just keep it simple and don’t judge by only the ugly name. So, I finally find the courage to try this place and we walk in to a well-​lit restaurant with faux Asian décor! Hey, it worked! Yup, it is a «typical» neighborhood Chinese restaurant, but more organized and seemed cleaner than the norm, too! Visually at least. After perusing the pretty extensive menu we settle on the:
SPECIAL DINNER PLATE ($ 10.50):
Roasted Chicken, Beef Vegetable Noodle (s), Sweet Sour Spare Ribs, Crispy Won Ton, Char Sui Fried Rice. Everything was delicious on this plate! A better «special» Chinese local plate that I’ve had, but it’s about $ 1 – 2 more than the typical places. Definitely worth it!
SPECIAL «D» COMBO ($ 11.00):
Won Ton Soup, Shrimp Broccoli, Roasted Chicken, Crispy Won Ton, Steamed Rice. A winning combo plate. Everything fresh and tasty. Again, a tad more than places like «Golden Duck» or Chop Suey Houses, but IMHO definitely worth it!
Confucius say:
«I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.»
So yes, I definitely recommend…
ASIA MANOA CHINESE RESTAURANT!
Confucius say:
«Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.»
It was clean and inviting, the servers were a tad gruff at first, but seemed efficient and actually warmed up during the meal! Patience is really a virtue in life. The house tea was smooth and didn’t taste «recycled» like some places. It’s a good Chinese neighborhood restaurant with very, very good grub! Not high-​end, but casual with delicious foods and quite generous, too!
That’s the lecture for today. ‘Til next time, be good, keep an open mind, hug a Chinese Shar Pei, and remember…
Confucius say:
«Wherever you go, go with all your heart…»
OVERALL GRADE: 4.0-STARS! (Solid!)
LIVE ALOHA…
Unilocal REVIEW #403

The food is ohhhhh sooolomiyo delicious !
Whenever I am looking for good Chinese food I know this place doesn’t disappoint. The vegetables are always fresh and with good selection. Enjoy the large selection of dishes including a few I have only seen here at Asia Manoa. For example…
Whenever my mom wants her boneless chicken fried rice with salted fish I know she means she wants me to take out food for her here. And when she wants to dine in… we all love the white fungus soup. Yes, I know, doesn’t sound too appetizing. Believe me when I say… names can be deceiving. It is delicious!
The only reason I give it one less star from perfection is that there never seems to be enough parking in the lot… nor tables at peak dinner time. The restaurant is not very big. Perhaps only seating 40 persons. So how to they sustain the higher prices that they do? …By offering some outstanding tasty dishes! K, gotta go… its time for some Chinese yummieness !

So if you got a fixin for Chinese Food then this will do the trick. There are better places for Chinese food, but Asia Manoa is ok.
The Honey Walnut Shrimp is pretty good. The pieces of shrimp are plump and have a good flavor. They are very generous with the amount of walnut pieces they give.
The cake noodle had good flavor and a lot of pieces of minute chicken. However, I thought the noodles were too hard, even after I put on the gravy.
the black pepper beef was not to my liking. It wasn’t cooked bad, but the pepper was a little overpowering for me.
Overall this place has nice service and friendly waiters. I would give it a 3.5 actually.
If you want Chinese food and want to stay in Manoa, definitely go here.

This place is clean, cool and has a surprisingly big, comfortable dining room. It’s across the street from Serge’s, and we thought about going, but since it was a hot day, we didn’t want to sweat it out in outdoor seating. The food is very good; nothing over the top good, just solid. We had honey walnut shrimp, crispy tofu, hong kong crispy noodles with chicken, string beans with minced pork. It was plentiful for a party of 5. Parking is pretty decent (if you get there early like 11:30am), and it’s convenient for Manoa. Since there are not a lot of great choices for dining in Manoa, this place is worth keeping in mind when you are around the area.

Just a quick update: tonight my Dad’s comment was chuckle & Unilocal worthy: «For a Chinese restaurant, the bathroom is REALLY clean – for ANY restaurant, it’s really clean!» And the expert on restaurant restrooms has spoken :-)

Wintertime in Hawaii should not weaken the breath of the dragon!
Manoa isn’t exactly an along-​the-​way area, so I’ve only been here a few times. The place is small with two or three big round tables, so if you have a party of 5 or 6 and those round tables are reserved, you’re forced to sit on several small, square, uneven tables, which doesn’t offer much room for food. Each time I’ve come here, I’m always seated at the corner near the front door, and every time some one comes in, you will feel a current of air blow in.
The service is run by two women who do every single front of the house operation from serving, taking orders, answering phone calls, seating customers, cashiering, bussing, etc. etc. It’s ridiculous the amount of work they do. The problem with this, as a customer, is that after taking your order, they won’t check on you ever again. You must wait for the opportune time to get their attention to get whatever you need. Also, if the place is busy, the service will be even more slow, and your food can be left in the window for a while because they do so many things. They definitely need a third person working the front.
The food here is hit or miss. At the most recent visit, we had:
–Cold Ginger Chicken: The chicken was cooked well and not overcooked, and the ginger and green onion sauce was good. The problem here was the chicken pieces were chopped inconsistently, so you had really big pieces and small pieces.
–Long Green Bean with Minced Pork: Asia Manoa prepares this dish differently than other Chinese restaurants on Oahu. It uses a sauce similar to sweet chili sauce, and a lot of garlic. It was a tasty dish and the green beans were tender, but the dish lacked the wok-​heat char that is usually very prominent at other restaurants.
–Island Pork Chop, Capital Style: This is a staple dish I always order at every Chinese restaurants, and the one at Asia Manoa ranks in the top tier. The pork is very good quality here, and the slices are the perfect size. Most of the time at other places, the pork are sliced too thick or too thin, and the pork is mostly fat, but here doesn’t have that.. The pork was fried nicely, and the sauce was tasty and had a nice consistency that kept the pork moist. However, this dish needed a little bit more time in the wok, or a higher heat because onions were more on the raw side and lacked the wok-​heat char. Still a decent dish.
–Deep Fried Sea Bass in Sweet and Sour Sauce: When this dish arrived, I could smell the vinegar right away. At first glance (and smell), I thought this dish would be overly sour, but I was wrong. It was the best dish of the day. The sauce was tasty and had a good consistency. The batter they used on the (basa) fish was excellent, and the fish was fried very well. The meat was soft on the inside, and very crispy on the outside even with the sauce dredged over it. A very well made dish.
–Beef Stew with Lettuce (not in the casserole): This was a nice dish. The beef brisket and tendons were tender and not chewy at all. The sauce was not rich or overpowering.
–Satay Beef Chow Funn: I’ve mentioned a couple of times already of dishes not staying in the wok long enough, and this was the worst of them all. The chow funn were still in clumps in the middle of the dish, the thicker beef slices were still raw, chewy, and basically inedible, and the onions and green bell peppers weren’t even cooked through. The taste of this dish was strange and bland, and the ratio of chow funn was way too little compared to the amount of meat. When you call this «satay beef,» I am expecting that char flavor that you get with satay. This completely missed the mark.
–House Special Fried Noodles: This was the second most disappointing dish. Typically, the House Special Fried Noodles have a generally even mixture of meat, seafood, and vegetables. Here, there were two of every thing, and the rest was slices of pork with bad choy sum. The way this dish was prepared seemed like the noodles were boiled with the sauce poured on top without ever being in a wok. Similar to the chow funn, this dish was also strange and bland, and had way too much meat on top compared to the amount of noodles.
Overall, the food wasn’t so spectacular that I will drive into Manoa for. It sorely lacked the breath of the dragon from their woks. This restaurant leans more to the local, Amercanized-​style of Chinese food.
The service wasn’t great. On this trip, after taking our order, one of the women plopped down a big bowl of rice. We did not ask for rice or asked if we wanted rice, but we received a big bowl, which we thought was free since typically you order individual bowls. Later on, when we received the check, the total amount was more than what we calculated, and the check didn’t list the price for what we ordered. We figured out that we were all charged 1 rice per person… when we never asked for it or even asked if anyone wanted rice… –_​– Awful!