Koi Catering Lunchwagon

I eat here just about everyday and am never disappointed! There isn’t anything on the menu that isn’t incredible, and the specials are always amazing. The quality of the ingredients are always high, and last but not at all least, you are always treated like Ohana, with friendly faces, smiles and conversations with the guys while you wait. Well with any wait there may be! Enjoy!

Two words: Garlic Chicken!
I’ve seen Koi many, many times at Eat the Street events but never got around to trying it until tonight! The lines were soooo crazy and I just wanted to get something and go! I stopped by the Koi truck and saw a garlic chicken bento for $ 6! That’s an awesome deal compared to all the other food trucks out there!
I was Sooo hungry after standing in lines FOREVER but Koi’s line was moving pretty fast and I got my food within 5 minutes!
When I finally got my bento it came with 4 huuuuge pieces of chicken, salad, and a scoop of rice. The chicken is super crispy with tons of sauce on it. The bottom of my plate was covered in sauce and I made sure I scooped some up with each bite! It was also all over my rice! Talk about flavorful!
I can’t believe I’ve never tried this place before and can’t wait to try other menu items! All the items on their menu are reasonably priced between $ 6 & $ 8. This is definitely my new go-​to place when I go to future Eat the Street events!

Best service I have ever had for a lunch wagon besides the manapua man by my house! Recommend everyone to come here. Even if there is a long line they try to move it along as fast as they can while getting everyone’s orders right and they act like family with there customers! Thumbs up for this place!

I’m a bit particular when it comes to fish. I only eat it (2) ways: When its a filet o fish (no tarter sauce) with french fries during Lent and mahi mahi when it’s prepared a certain way which is exactly the way Koi prepares it (not too fishy). This food truck has got me reeled in as a returning customer for their furikake crusted mahi. It’s $ 7.25 for a mini however this portion will only satisfy you if you have an extremely light appetite (as with all their other mini plates). For $ 2 more I recommend getting the regular size portion. The sucky part is they run out of this and I haven’t been here enough to recognize the pattern (although if a long line to order is formed that usually indicates they have the fish). They have daily specials and other items on the menu that are good too, but I come here strictly for their mahi. Once you’ve placed your order wait time for your food to come out is about 5 – 10 minutes (busy or not).
Aside from their mahi there are (2) other things I love about this food truck:
1) customer service. They are all super friendly and helpful, sometimes even comedic.
2) they have potatoes in their mac salad!
Tip: if ordering their mahi make sure you check that they gave you a portion cup of wasabi tarter before leaving (it’s what makes the fish taste so good).

Love this place. The food is top notch, and the guys inside are the best. I usually get the Koi Bento (garlic chicken, grilled steak, garlic ahi) to have a little of everything, but I love their hamburger steak as well.

Finally got to check them out on my lunch break today. So glad I did. Everything on the menu sounded good, but went with the mini hamburger steak. Good portion for the price $ 5.95, and very delicious. One scoop rice, hamburger steak with bacon in it and of course one scoop mac salad. The guys running the truck are super nice and know their customers by name. Will definitely be back on another day to try something new. Great food and great service!

Great food for a great price! You can’t beat the value and taste of plate lunches offered by Koi. They have full plate lunches and mini plates. I would definitely recommend getting lunch here.

Garlic chicken is my favorite. You have to go early.
They run low on provisions after 12:30. But it’s expected since it is a lunchwagon

Lunch wagon type. Sometimes they run out of rice or salad little early in the day but there food is good. I normally will have the lechon kawali when available.

The lunch wagon driver was mad dogging cause his driving skills were pissing people off.

Here at koi food wagon. Even though it’s just a like a truck or whatever that there working in, they are very nice workers. Running for errands with my mom to pay the water bill at board of water supply and I just so happened to see there wagon right across from it so I decided to check it out and there menu is everything that I love to eat. They even got some Filipino food too, hehe. So I ordered the Garlic Chicken plate with white rice and toss salad, and it was really good! Mouth watering!
It’s a really good to get for lunch if you work around that area or if you just need something to eat when on this side, it’s a moderate price and the food is really good. Won’t regret!

Excellent food… Plentiful, tasty & truly local. Outstanding service, humble, and friendly.

Just went last week and I always get the Furikake Mahimahi (which I did!) however, I got for my mom the «Wok Braised Shortribs» «WOW» that was «AWESOME»!!! Now, I gotta go and get it! Neva mind the Mahimahi now… the shortribs is on my list now!
However, I went this past Tuesday (2.24) and you folks wasn’t there and I was so sad :-(…

Pretty good gourmet plate lunch wagon. I’ve had the fish here, which was pretty good. I’ve also had the kalbi here. Unfortunately, the meat was tough and not well marinated. Nonetheless, I would return.

Food options at Queen’s Medical Center are very limited. Koi is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dreary food situation. Their mini plates are very reasonably priced; between $ 6-​$ 7, which is slightly cheaper than a plate at the hospital cafeteria. They have great options for every taste and appetite size; however, they are very popular so there is almost always a wait and they sell out of at least one to two items every day. However, it’s definitely a go-​to for me when I don’t feel like eating hospital cafeteria food!

My first day at my new job as a civil servant, I asked the most important question, «where do you guys eat besides home lunch?» The answer was unanimous, Koi Lunchwagon across Board of Water. Okay, I’ll try it. And as you can see by my uku-​million check-​ins, I like it, a lot.
The price is good, the portions are great, and the taste is awesome! There’s a hiccup very rarely and far in between but that’s usually because they are so busy. Otherwise, everything is consistently yummy.
Because they are so popular, the line does get long at times. I don’t mind waiting because I know I’ll get some delicious foods in my belly. What helps is that the person who is taking your order is always super nice. I mean seriously nice. Doesn’t matter which crew is working; the all guy crew, the all chick crew, or the mixed-​up crew. And the person who you pick it up from, is just as nice as the order taking person. They will make an attempt to remember each customer and talk story if possible.
The food is plate lunch food with desserts for purchase. I don’t have a particular favorite plate, because everything is delicious. From their standards of garlic chicken or hamburger steak, to their specials of lechon kawali or grilled pork chop. You can have brown rice and tossed salad if you aren’t into the standard white rice and mac salad. You can also order regular plate, mix plate, or mini for those people who have various appetites. They also have bentos, too. I appreciate that their food is not overly greasy and I feel somewhat healthy. That’s an oxymoron, healthy plate lunch, but I truly believe that Koi Lunchwagon does it!
They don’t have parking, hello, food truck! I just walk on over from my office. There aren’t tables to eat at, you’ll have to find your own eating area. I eat in the park. They take credit card and cash. Be careful of their napkin dispenser, sometimes it gives you more than you need. This is a great place to eat if you are in the civic center during lunch time.

Spicy smoked meat was delicious. For $ 6 a portion, the prices were fair for about 4 oz of pork meat, a scoop of brown rice, and a side salad. A bite of the meat brings a punch of flavor — they must have marinated this pork for a long time. The perfectly cooked rice and raw veggies are good additions to balance the saltiness of the meat. Yummy!

Very big portions for the price you pay!
Came here yesterday for lunch, since they are located close to my job and I didnt want to walk to downtown this time. The hapa guy at the window is super cool, even if were in the sun, burning, he was able to make the customers in front of me laugh and he knew them by their names. He greeted them when they came to the window and when they left he made sure they had their drinks.
When I went to order, I told him it was my first time there (but I believe ive been there when I was a young duckling) because I remember seeing the fish on the truck.
I ordered the furikake crusted mahimahi with the wasabi sauce. It was ONO! for $ 9 I finished the whole thing! (I’ma big eater lol) The sauce was PERFS. not to hot ant not too bland! the crust on the mahimahi I believe was tempura batter. It was nice a crunchy!
The guys who are in the truck cooking, are also super nice. I seen lots of team work, which is why my food came out so quick! i think i waited like 3 minutes the most!
I will definately be back for the garlic chicken since I heard it is popular there!

Here he comes to Save the Day!
My big brother…
He’s dashing, with no kids (that he knows of), living the life, lost a whole baby worth of pounds, able to party till the sun comes up, ugh.
My wife just gave birth the day before and guess what the hospital doesn’t feed the baby daddy. It’s not like the food at the hospital is gourmet but whatever. So keep this lunch wagon in mind people if your wifey decides to deliver at Queens Medical Hospital.
The Heart Attack that he delivered to me:
⁶⁰⁄₄₀ HAMBURGER STEAK WITH MUSHROOM GRAVY– Made with ground beef and ground bacon cooked in the bacon drippings. 2 good sized handmade patties. Doused with mushroom gravy, accompanied with rice, and of course 3 some accomplice mac salad. «Aww, yes, this is soooooooooo good, but sooooooooo bad.» I just kept saying that line while my wife watched me scarf it down like I hadn’t eaten in days. Why does everything that taste soooo goood be sooo bad for you?
What made it even more worse. My big brother, he ate a salad from the lunch wagaon (that looked tasty as well). He must have some secret agenda to make sure he will stay the cool, skinny, uncle. I guess his master plan is working. I can never say no to unhealthy food. It’s my kryptonite for sure.
P. S. This place also has a restaurant with set hours.
–You can substitute the Macorni salad for toss salad.
–You can substitute the white rice for brown rice.
–If your going to order the ⁶⁰⁄₄₀ what is the sense man. Really, go hard or go home, okay.
Unilocal 31 day challenge catch up: The Secret Agenda– ²⁸⁄₃₁

Koi Catering Lunchwagon now at QMC (The Queen’s Medical Center)! It occupies Yuki’s old spot down at the POB III Lot B. For those of you unfamiliar with the POBs, POB III is on the S Beretania end of Lauhala St. GoogleMaps-​it.
Anyway, because these guys were supposedly voted Hawaii’s Best of the Best Lunch Wagon for 2012 by the Honolulu Star-​Advertiser, I had to check it out.
The first things I noticed while standing in line were the seemingly outrageous prices. They are slightly pricier than some of the other lunch wagons I’ve been to, but the portions are pretty generous I guess. Most items are under $ 10 (so I guess I can fit Koi into my list of «Cheap Eats UNDER $ 10»), but I still feel that’s pretty pricy for a truck…
KOI BENTO $ 10
Grilled steak, garlic ahi with sweet wasabi, garlic chicken, and your choice of either white or brown rice. (Add $ 0.25 for brown.) $ 10 seems like a bit much to pay for a bento, but it’s really not all that bad considering the quality of protein included. To me, this bento is a good one to start with if you’re unsure of what to order. The garlic ahi was probably my favorite of the bunch.
GARLIC CHICKEN $ 4.50 (MINI)
Deep fried chicken in Koi’s homemade garlic sauce. Why the mini? Bc I just wanted a taste. And a taste is literally what I got — 3 slightly-​larger-​than-​a-​golf-​ball sized pieces of garlic chicken. At least it came with a scoop of rice and my choice of either mac salad or greens.
–SPECIALS–
SPICY SALMON DYNAMITE $ 8.75
Grilled salmon topped with spicy masago & unagi sauce. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. The salmon was not even close to being dry, so amen to that. I also really liked slight charred flavor from the grill. And the sauce was lovely, as all dynamite sauces are. I’d order this again.
BLACKENED AHI PLATE $ 9
2 nice-​sized Cajun-​rubbed Island ahi w/​Koi’s sweet wasabi aioli. (This actually is supposed to be a Blackened Ahi Caesar Salad, but I asked for this as a plate, with brown rice and toss.) The wasabi aioli is fan-​freakin-​tastic. I think out of all the dishes I’ve tried so far, this is my favorite. The fish has awesome texture without any sign of dryness at all. To me, this plate is well worth the seemingly hefty price.
**All plates include your choice of :
— White or brown rice ($ 0.25 extra per scoop of brown)
— Macaroni salad or toss salad
PAYMENT OPTIONS
Cash or Card: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa.
I can eat and earn miles /​rewards! Haha.
VERDICT
I’m overjoyed that Koi decided to start doing lunch at QMC. It’s definitely a nice change from the artery-​clogging food that I usually buy from the café (even though they’re trying to cook more health-​friendly dishes). For me, it’s Blackened Ahi all the way! :)