OEC Café

I love love love this place! It’s a little hidden, and a little far from the core of downtown eateries, but definitely worth the extra 5 minute walk. I always get the Vegan Cold Soba with sesame dipping sauce (usually the spinach noodle, but the whole grain udon is just as yummy). Each plate comes with 2 sides, a vegetable like kabocha and a mini mixed rice musubi. Be sure to check them out on Facebook as well, they post weekly specials and pop-​ups. The shop is very clean and even has outdoor seating under some trees. It’s a great spot to eat and get fresh air at the same time. I’m positive I’ve been going to OEC at least once or twice a month since I started working downtown about 2 years ago.

OEC serves quality, fresh, gourmet food at very reasonable price. I appreciate the fact their menu, for the most part, changes daily. This is one of those rare places you hope stays around for a really long time. I can’ say that about many place in Hawaii.

I come here for lunch about once a week. They are more of a Japanese style plate lunch place. They usually have a fee entrees for the week, my favorite being the green thai curry, so delicious! Their playe lunches come with either brown or white rice, potato salad and green salad. Portions are good, I never finish and have leftovers for the next day. They also have sandwiches and salads, smoothies, muffins. Their cheese cakes are the best, petite but so good and only $ 2.

This is very well kept lunch place near the downtown post office. They are very clean and always happy to have you come and eat.
They have weekly lunch specials that are pretty reasonable.
I had the surf and turf plate that had tempura like shrimp and chicken. This is one of the best sauces for chicken I have had. The shrimp was very crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Everything was extremely well prepared.

I had lunch for the first time today, 12.7.15. We both ordered the hamburger steak katsu. I ordered mine with noodles & my co worker had it over rice. I thought it was ok, crispy on the outside & soft on the inside. It comes with a small scoop of potato salad & small green green salad. Overall, ok but not overly exciting. Very limited menu, probably due to small kitchen. I saw some pre made sandwiches in their refrigerated display case. Staff are friendly though. Large, outdoor seating area is a bonus.

This unassuming café serves up some seriously great food! You have to check their Facebook page for weekly and daily pop-​up specials. Their mabo tofu monchong is exquisite. The monchong is delicately fried, and it’s neatly bathed in a sauce of finely diced tofu in a perfectly spiced sauce. All the entrees come with rice (brown or white), a mixed green salad, and a potato salad that is inexplicably fluffy and light. I left with my monchong in hand, and a stranger stopped me on the street to ask me if OEC Café was good. I think I must have had a huge smile on my face as I was leaving with my food. Anyhow, I started raving to him about the food for what must have been five minutes or so. I’m a huge fan of this place. Sometimes lunch is the hardest decision of the day. After I’ve wandered fruitlessly across the Bishop Street desert, I find myself happily ending up here for a lunch that has never disappointed me yet!

I love the vegan noodle salad with spinach noodles and sesame dressing. It comes with a few pieces of roasted kabocha squash and a nori roll.
They have yummy tea drinks and fresh smoothies.
The service is friendly and fast, the restaurant is clean, and there is lovely outdoor seating.

Location: OEC café is what the uninspired NYMag food blogger would refer to as a «hidden gem.» The eatery is tucked quietly under the 888 Mililani St. building on Queen Street, and is partially concealed by trees like a tiny downtown oasis. It’s very easy to walk past when you’re scoping out a lunch spot with your office buddies, but you shouldn’t, because spending your lunch hour there is very pleasant.
Décor/​Atmosphere: OEC Café is the exact opposite of it’s ostentatiously bedecked predecessor Caffe Grazie. All the trappings of a forgotten Mardi Gras, flamboyant bric-​à-​brac, and several very theatrically adorned mannequins that used to stare at me when I ate have now been replaced with a clean, white, friendly interior. I was a bit miffed when @Grant S. told me we were having lunch in an open-​air café, as I love my air-​conditioned places with a passion, but eating outside under the cool shade of trees, away from the downtown hustle-​and-​bustle was very nice indeed.
Food: How to describe? It’s a «soft» plate lunch place, which means OEC runs a happy medium between a calorie-​laden, double-​mac salad Rainbow Drive In, and restaurant food. The portions are just right, imo. I had the mabo tofu with fried monchong, which I thought was pretty imaginative for a plate lunch. They also have an excellent fried chicken, and pastries, too. If you’re looking for a tasty, more healthful alternative to the mundane slew of chicken katsu or chili frank plate lunches, consumption of which renders you utterly useless for work thereafter, consider OEC! Oh, I know how to describe it now. It’s a plate lunch experience without the kanak. And, their mac salad has olives in it.
If you do end up ordering too much because everything on the menu looks so attractive, the walk back up to your office via Alakea will set you straight. Now, get back to work.

Working in town for the past three years, I am always looking for my go-​to place for when I have cravings for a certain type of food. If I want salad, I’ll go to San Francisco Salad Co. If I want soup, esp tomato bisque, I’ll go to Aloha Salads. If I want a bento, I’ll go to Mamaya. When I want cold noodles, I’m going to OEC.
Like most of my downtown lunch places, I heard about this place from a coworker. It’s a small place that is easily missed. It’s found nestled next to the Melin building, along Queen Street. It’s about a block away from the main post office. You have to go down a short flight of steps to get to the door, so it’s really hard to see just driving along Queen Street. There are signs that have dual purpose — one to find the place and the other is the post up the menu.
OEC has a menu that consists of three main entrees. This menu changes weekly. If you follow them on Facebook, they will post the menu of the week on Sunday. Sometimes, they will have a special for that day that they will also announce on Facebook too.
I’ve tried the cold noodles (both the spinach noodles and udon). They give the option of dipping sauce — soy sauce and sesame (goma) sauce. I absolutely love the sesame. It is a thicker sauce that really sticks to the cold noodles. The sauce is a little on the salty side, but it is a rich, creamy flavor that I have not tasted anywhere else. The cold noodles also come with two side dishes — kabocha (really soft, orange squash) and a mini-​sushi roll made with their mixed rice. It is a very filling meal that is perfect for the hot, humid days of summer. The cold noodles are their vegetarian dish, so it is always one of the three entrees on their menu.
I have also tried their chicken piccata. This dish is a good and cheap pasta in downtown. They use spaghetti noodles and top the noodles with at least three good size pieces of boneless chicken that has been cooked in a way that keeps the meat moist while having a nice crispy outside. The sauce is buttery, lemony, and a bit salty. The pasta also comes with a small salad and small scoop of macaroni salad.
The employees are always very nice and courteous.

This place is a few blocks from my office and I’ve been wanting to give it a try.
First impression, the place is cute! Clean and cute. I got the turkey panini with side of mac salad and greens, and the tropical smoothie. I thought the turkey panini said it had avocado but either they forgot to include it or I read the description wrong.
Regardless, the panini was pretty good! Huge in fact that I could only finish half. The mac salad… which was actually potato mac salad was Ah-​mazing!!! Seriously it was so different from the typical mac. Had a homemade, mashed potato sort of aspect to it. I loved it. The greens and dressing were tasty and fresh. Smoothie was refreshing, sweet and dense with fruit.
Service was good, very friendly. I will be back.

This lunch spot is great! It is a little set back from the sidewalk so keep an eye out for it as you go down Queen St.
I got the Chicken Namban with brown rice. It came with 10 chicken balls, potato salad, mixed green salad, a ton of rice and a small pot of spicy mayo dipping sauce. The chicken balls (like battered meatballs?) were a little greasy and heavy but I think that’s what I was in a mood for so it worked for me.
Good value lunch. I want to try their pork tofu over rice too. Will return!
#100in2015 (#55)

If you’re ever in dire need for a quick, healthy and affordable lunch spot in the downtown area, check out OEC Café. They offer a rotating menu that’s posted on the Facebook page. I’ve tried a lot of their dishes from the hot plates (chicken, katsu, and curry), cold soba noodles, and sandwiches. They have vegetarian dishes, pastries, and offer catering. I especially enjoy sitting outside on their picnic tables to enjoy my lunch.

I never come here anymore for lunch because iMO the food at Ono Café around the corner is better, but I like the seating area a lot so I stopped in for a frozen chai and it was AMAZING.
Well, the taste was amazing. I felt sick about 60% of the way through it and 40 minutes later, the overdose of sugar is still making my stomach curdle. For $ 4.19, I don’t think I’d get it again.
I wonder if I could just sit in that seating area unnoticed without buying anything. At least it would look busier, right?

This is a small hidden place on Queen street in downtown. I parked in the building parking and passed by. The prices are very affordable and staff very warm and friendly. Definitely a place to check out in the downtown area. I had the salmon over noodles which came with just enough potato salad and toss. I wiped it clean which is unusual for me. When asked what OEC stood for in their name, I was asked if I knew the word for «delicious» in Japanese. Working with Japanese tourists all day, I replied OISHII! and was told it was a clever play on words :) OEC = Oishii. And it was definitely Oishii-​né!
Outside seating is available. Be sure to check it out.

Went here for lunch. Walking distance from my downtown office.
I ordered the Chicken Karaage. Service was quick, but the food was less than amazing. The chicken pieces were small, and reminded me of McNuggets in both texture and taste.
My coworkers both ordered the clam linguine, they seemed to enjoy their meals. If I go back, it won’t be for the chicken.

Went here on my lunchbreak, on queen st. walking towards diamond head side, the location is on the right side before mililani st. Greeted by a nice lady (maybe the owner?), and told us her specials change weekly. Ordered the tonkatsu and a cheesecake. My belly is all kimochi’d out bah! Overall satisfried, Ill be back for the sweet tea.

This little gem!
My coworkers and I walked here for our lunch break — located next to the HGEA building on Queen Street/​Mililani in downtown. Walk down a little ramp, and you’ll find this cute little shop that only offers about 3 menu items per day.
We made it here just in time — got our orders with the two cute little Japanese women behind the counter, before the line formed.
There was 6 of us and we were able to snag a round table that we all could fit on. We all ordered chicken piccata and pork katsu/​curry on rice. Both were $ 8. They also offered a vegetarian soba type dish for $ 7.50.
Chicken Piccata was yumma — 4 pieces of fried chicken thighs (not greasy) over a bed of spaghetti noodles and lemon, butter, caper sauce. DELISH. Plates also came with mac/​potato salad which was heavenly because it wasn’t drowned in mayo, and tossed salad with Italian dressing.
Pork Katsu/​Curry on Rice was unusual — all the boys ordered this and did a head scratch when opening their plates to find that it looked nothing like the picture and maybe they ran out of curry??? It was definitely some type of stew (tomato-​based) over the katsu. None of them really complained — they’re boys and they were hungry!
We were able to walk here, eat, sit back and talk story, and still make it back to work with a leisurely walk within an hour. Love that.
Although the menu is really small and the portions aren’t gigantor, the food is really tasty and didn’t disappoint. The ladies are also very polite and the interior of the café was very clean and welcoming.
They also had self-​serve complimentary water station. Don’t come thirsty — they only have tiny water cups (the size that dentist offices give you to you swish your mouth out) HA! But I ain’t complaining — it was free!
Definitely will be back!

I’ve started a new fitness meal plan since I eat out practically every day of the week and it’s important to keep fit. I now only eat at lunch spots at least three blocks from my office.
OEC Café is about 8 minutes from downtown by foot depending on green lights and walk signals. On the Kaka’ako side of Queen St., OEC is in the old Caffe Grazzie space recessed off the street with a nice outdoor courtyard. The name is derived from the Japanese word for delicious, «oishii» and simplified to «ow ee see».
The café has a number of muffins, sandwiches and sweet treats for a quick and easy breakfast or lunch but the real hidden gems here are the three daily specials. Ranging from thick and juicy tonkatsu to healthy and fresh vegan cold soba, prices from $ 7.00-$ 8.50, lunch on a sunny day is an easy decision.
Most lunch spots have one or two great dishes that I’d think about ordering twice, OEC Café has an extensive number of specials that rotate regularly and I’ve come to trust their meals no matter what is on the board for the day.
They also have some fancy water filtration system which makes their complimentary water quite tasty. Strongly recommended. The rice here is also some of the best I’ve had. As simple as it sounds, the rice makes dishes for me and I crave their food because of it.
Sweet Chili Pork
The juicy fried pork is layered and sauced with a reduced sweet chili sauce that tastes great with the amazing and plentiful rice in the dish.
Vegan Cold Soba
Tofu with mushrooms, inari sushi, kabocha tempura accompany the refreshing cold soba for a healthy and filling lunch.
Thai Green Curry
They serve up some comfort food like the sweet coconut curry, a hearty stew for the hungriest of downtown workers.
Stroganoff
Creamy and rich, a nice stroganoff is a great way to start your week and reward yourself for the long walk to OEC Café.
Tonkatsu
Best tonkatsu in downtown. Thick cut pork, fried expertly, and topped with a tangy tonkatsu sauce. They also add a side of their homemade tartar sauce which is a pink concoction which is actually quite good with the tonkatsu sauce.
See you there this week.

Since its opening a few months back, OEC Café has grown in popularity tremendously. There used to be 1, maybe 2, people in front of me in line when I arrived. On my last visit, there were 4 people in front and a longer line forming behind me! Even though the wait is a bit longer, the food is still amazing and worth it! And now they accept credit card! There is a $ 5 minimum, but with every lunch special around $ 7-​$ 8, there should be no problem with that.
OEC is Oishii!

I would normally complain about paying $ 7.50 for a casual meal especially one that is meatless, but I felt like my $ 7.50 was well spent on today’s vegetarian option which was the green soba with tofu and a small roll of sushi. The meal was light, clean, and it felt like I did my body a favor today by eating such a healthy lunch.
As other Unilocalers have pointed out, their menu is limited and changes daily, but I have a feeling you can’t go wrong with whatever they’re making on any given day.
The lady who worked in the front was very friendly and the restaurant was spotless. If you’re like me and like to eat your lunch outdoors, this is your place as they have a lot of outdoor seating. But most people seem to come here for take out.
Unfortunately I don’t work in downtown so I probably won’t be a regular, but if I have to run an errand downtown I would definitely come back.

Tried this place again, and I still give it a 3. The restaurant chefs are really nice, but I have to be honest that twice I ate here, the food is ok, but just average because there seems to be something missing in it, but I can’t pinpoint what:
Shoyu Ramen — 3 ½ stars — serving was the same, but better than the miso ramen I ate the first time. Soup was tasty, but no oils to flavor it. Only had 2 small pieces of charsiu. The small cup of rice was different, but not much flavor in it.
Mabo Tofu Chicken — 3 stars — My foodie friend ordered this and had me try it. It’s made differently than chinese restaurants. The chicken is in bite sized pieces and fried with tofu and meat, however, it didn’t have much flavor and something was missing…
I feel bad giving an average rating for these two chefs, because they are really nice and are starting up their business, but I also, as a Unilocaler that wants to read honest reviews, don’t want to give a false opinion of the food I taste either.