Au’s Garden Restaurant

My family and I have been coming to Au’s garden for 26+ years and have been through at least 4 new owner changes during that time. There has always been slight tweaks in the food if a new chef was hired, but nothing very noticeable. This is the only Chinese food restaurant my family ever came to… simply because it was the best.
This all changed at the end of last year when a new owner/​cook bought it. My family came in as usual and ordered our favorites (the best crispy gaugee you could find anywhere, 2xstuffed tofu, pork broccoli, cau yuk, shrimp canton, crispy gaugee mein and orange chicken). When we got our food it was immediately evident that all the food was different. Everything was very dull colored and upon seeing the pork in the gaugee and stuffed tofu we new something was wrong (it was light pink in color). Everything was incredibly bland and anything that normally had a brown sauce on it didn’t taste like anything. The worst was the gaugee and stuffed tofu, which taste nothing like it used to! I was so sad!
The waitress who we have know for all those years asked us if something was wrong because we normally wipe out all the food and she saw we barely touched it. She then informed us of the owner/​cook change.
We hadn’t had Chinese food for months and were really craving it today so we all agreed that we would give Au’s a second try to see if they changed the food back. Immediately upon entering we notice that it was empty (unheard of at dinner time) and none of the waitresses that we’ve known for years were there! and the smell of jasmine rice was sooo strong (we all hate jasmine rice). We decided to order only a little in case it was bad. good thing we did. The gaugee was still bland, not pink in color though, but still half the size of the original ones. The pork broccoil taste like the pork was close to being bad. also bland. The crispy gaugee mein was also incredibly bland! The bast part about Chinese food are the amazing flavors… this cook doesn’t even know how to salt his food, much less use other seasonings. We also ordered orange chicken, what we got was I believe lemon chicken, which tasted like a funnel cake with a weird artificial sauce on it. To top it all off our waitress never came back after she dropped off our food. we flagged her down to get our check and then left.
Sadly we don’t believe we will ever come back, unless somehow we find out the owners have changed again. I’m so sad that we have to find a new place to eat.

I love this place. I live on the west side and this is my go-​to Chinese restaurant. The staff is friendly and attentive. The food so far has never disappointed me. The crappy part is their tiny parking lot next to a bar and across of some weird adult store. The lines are so faint you basically have to guess if you’re in a stall or not.

Au’s Garden has the best chicken plate in the whole Honolulu! Lobster is fresh and tasty. Yet, the price is very cheap.
Plenty parking, you get giving a try!

The food here is decent and I always order the won ton funn. However, I’ve been contemplating on whether I should write this review. The last time I went to pick up my take out order, I was at the cash register counter and there was a dead roach already by the adding machine and then there was a live roach crawling slowly across the counter and the cashier nonchalantly covered it with a napkin and picked it up and put it somewhere else.
I was slightly horrified and disgusted.
I always liked this place but that day is scarred in my memory.

If you enjoy the food at Legend Seafood Restaurant and Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, you need to try Au’s Garden Restaurant. The chef owner here had been head chef at Legend and Jade Dynasty before he took over Au’s Garden from the previous owner in mid-​June. You can expect to pay less for the same quality of food here at Au’s.
The menu has stayed the same and covers everything from authentic Chinese dishes to Americanized Chinese dishes. However, to showcase seasonal ingredients and the chef’s expertise, there is also a daily specials menu. If you are adventurous/​looking for authentic Chinese cuisine, I highly recommend ordering from this menu.
I have been here twice in the last month and got to try a variety of different dishes. Some of my favorites include the honey walnut shrimp, shrimp yi mein (noodles), and braised pork belly. I believe the restaurant is BYOB and if you treat the staff with courtesy, they will return the favor and serve you with pleasure.

Excellent food, reasonable price bring your own alcohol. You will eat the high quality restaurant taste with lower price. The food is amazing. You won’t regret giving it a try with this new management and new cook!!!

By far the best place to get/​eat Chinese food from!
Service is so so … some ladies are super friendly, some forget your order and some look mean/​grouchy — yikes!
The restaurant could use a makeover but overall food is ono delicious!
We love the dinner plate #2, dry beef chow fun (no onions), shrimp canton, crispy fault gee, duck w/​rice, lemon chicken, etc … yum!

Great food!!! Highly recommended! Waitress was friendly! Will definitely be back for more!!!

My first time trying the food at this restaurant and I would have to say that the food was awesome! Hands down, the best Honey walnut shrimp! Great service as well. I would definitely recommend!

My family have been ordering Chinese Take Out from here for years. For dine in we usually share a few ala carte items with their dinner plate or the Wun Tun Min Noodle Soup or Abalone Soup.
For take out food we always order the following: Yeung Chow Fried Rice, Steamed fish with Green Onion and Ginger, Salt and Pepper Pork Chop or Shrimp, Beef and Snow peas, and Chicken with Black mushroom. Those are our favorite dishes but we also try their specials for the day.
Service is always quick. Call ahead and your food will be ready within 15 minutes.

Great service. These ladies work as a team and are very nice!!! Food is good and portions are large. Great value!
We had the Roast Duck on Rice, sautéed Chinese Peas, Wor won ton Min. Yum!

I have new favorites. The French steak is yummy good. The choi sum with oyster sauce was very Ono. And we like the beef chow fun special on Thursdays. We go here mostly on Thursdays now.

I know it’s Mother’s Day & it will be busy but to tell a walk in customer who is inquiring how long more will it be for the remaining 2 dishes «you see the line over here? Its for take out order & they are waiting.» Is very bad customer service. A take out order is supposed to be started as soon as its called not 5 minutes later. The other 2 ladies are always nice. This one was rude. No smile no greeting. The service here is usually good.

My familys favorite chinese food spot…
Tonights order… Crispy gau gee $ 6.75 for 8 fat pieces. Mmmm soooo good!(one of the best ive had)
Oyster sauce chicken on cake noodle is always a favorite with us. Got some extra crispy chicken on the side for the kids. Kau yuk, another family favorite.
Also got the Steamed fish w/​onion and ginger and Stuffed eggplant (pork hash meat stuffed eggplant in black bean sauce) Yummy!
Oh, our order came with a little bag of shrimp chips too. a yummy treat for the ride home:) Lol

hands down best chinese food in Kalihi!
scallop soup is BOMB
so is everything else
hole in the wall but so goood

Used to be better as we would go here everytime when we visit the fam… now it seems to have gone downhill. I ordered the minute chicken with cake noodle and it took about 20 minutes to get my dish. My other family members were almost completely finished with their dish before ai even got my plate. Oh well… looking for a new cake noodle place for next time

I’m not much of a fan of Chinese food but I must say this place makes me love it. The friendly staff made my experience so much more pleasant than usual at a Chinese restaurant. Very nice ladies here.
I enjoy this place so much that I had my daughter sweet 16 birthday party here. And yes, it was a very good experience. They were on time with the food and the service was really good. The food was delicious. They were very accommodating and made whatever changes I wanted in the menu. No questions asked.
My favorite dish would be the orange chicken. It’s crispy and not so drowned in the sauce. Next is the string beans with pork. Nice spicy kick to it.
The only thing would be the parking and location. Not very fond of the area and it’s hard to find parking some times but to me, that’s a small problem.
Highly recommend.

Au’s is not exactly in a prime area but I must say the food is very good, I feel they make the best crispy gau gee, Its like they mix it with a little beef because its not that pale grey color that is usually inside of gau gee, theirs is so rich in flavor and a must try if you go there! The stuffed duck is one of my favorite dishes from there, it has barley and chick peas and the amount they give is so much.

Sometimes a wannabe princess just wants to go have some greasy bad for you Chinese (or Americanized Chinese) food. This is where I go to when I’m in that mood.
Small kind sketchy area? Check!
Hole in the wall ambiance? Check!
«No MSG used» sign missing? Check!
My BF and I usually order one of their plate specials… I eat about half of mine and take the rest for lunch the next day. Their plates pack a lot of food, so we could share a plate, but we never do!

i like them only because it’s a little easier to get parking. One of the few places I consistently go to eat cold ginger chicken. Tasty Chop Sui is the other place. Service on par with what i expect from a Chinese restaurant.
i need to eat other chinese restaurants or try more menu items.
the table next to me had the saimin, the size alone looks to be at least $ 6 worth. it must have been great because the guy ate an drank everything besides his mustard sauce an chop sticks.