Pavillion by Red Cafe

This review is for their lunch. Value and taste. Especially for the seafood options. Everything is $ 8 and the portions are big. So far I tried the minute chicken with cake noodle, garlic fish fillet, and curry chow fun with beef and have not been disappointed. Everything I tried is tasty and I usually have leftovers for another meal. Solid place for lunch if you’re in the area.

Disclosure :
I was on my way to «This Is It» for a tasty burger, then I smelled something great while driving near «Cooke Street Diner»…I thought it was «Pavillion by Red Café» so I U-​turned and changed my lunch plans to try out this new place. Later I found out the tasty smells were coming from «Karen’s», but oh well, at least I get to try something new. So I altered plans for here and I chose the wrong place, so I’m hoping I did not make a mistake! It was sunny/​hot waiting outside. And it was lunchtime where time is of importance.
First the bad. Took over 20 minutes to get my food. This is workday lunch time… everyone is in a rush… So for a work-​day-​lunch-​time place, this gets a low mark for the length of time. Add to that, that it was too long a wait, loses another star… two stars down already… Only two other people ordered ahead of me, and they were wondering too why it was over 20 minutes for their order. The cook/​owner was standing around ready to greet/​welcome us, so there was no other order being done before we ordered.
Food was actually good. Even though it was a little light in «quantity», it made up for it in «quality» for the price… everything is $ 8. I ordered the Pepper-​Salt-​Pork-​Chop, which was chunks of pork chops battered in some pepper-​salt coating, I guess.
Only a tiny covered area with maybe 3 tables to sit grand total of maybe 8 people, I think. If you are ordering take-​out, you have to wait in the sun.
So if you want to order a good tasting Pepper-​Salt-​Pork-​Chop, this is the place. Just phone order ahead of time.
I hope they get their kitchen-​work-​flow corrected to speed things up! Seems like good eats!

Ok, this is the place to drink and sing karaōke. A lot if songs from Japan, Hong Kong, American, and Mandarin.
Great place to play dice game. Which is a drinking game. Only a few Chinese bar carry this kind of dice games.
They have a lot of variety of food. My favorite is Lo Lau Mein. Comes with a soup and a noodle. They have many other great selections of pupus.

Kinda hidden in the Kaka’ako district. Apparently, this place used to be a member’s only bar /​restaurant.
It has a pretty cool urban-​ish ambiance. Latest K-​pop playing in the background.
You can play Chinese dice games at your table (no idea what it’s called though).
The drinks here are quite standard — American macrobrews and regular mixed drinks.
I think what sets this place apart from other restaurants is that they serve exotic dishes e.g. intestine. It’s a little expensive but I guess that’s what you pay for «trendiness.»
Beware that a lot of people smoke here inside…
Cool place to pre-​game before heading out to Ginza and other clubs in the downtown area.

My friends and I heard a rumor that Auntie Mai from the original Saigon Deli had set up shop here and we could once again get her amazingly delicious phở. We arrived anticipating reliving the old glory days, when bowls of phở floated past our table making us drool as we waited impatiently to devour our own orders. Unfortunately our sources were somewhat mistaken.
Auntie Mai was indeed there, but we had come on a night when she wasn’t in the kitchen. Instead she was on the dance floor! It turns out Red Café hosts a dance night for (mostly) seniors once a month and we had unwittingly stumbled into their party!
Aca-​awkward! We said our hellos to Auntie Mai, who promptly told us about her grand re-​opening that’s happening soon. We were cheered at the thought that phở would soon be available to us once again.
We decided to be good sports about the ordeal and ordered some garlic steak, an appetizer sampler platter, some fried fish and a shabu-​shabu/​nabe type hot pot dish. I am sad to say that we were not wowed with anything we had. Whether this is because of our initial disappointment over lost phở or because the food was actually underwhelming is hard to say.
All I know is that when Auntie Mai has her big reopening, we will be there with our appetites primed and ready to eat!

food was pretty good, though some 3, some 4 star, we had the 4 choice appetizer, capitol pork chops, singapore noodles, and seasonal vegetable hot pot. the curry puff and shrimp wonton appetizer and hot pot were best. loved the music playing through the karaōke system. this place was yokohama back in the day, was in there drinking beer when the elephant escaped from the NBC and was wandering around 1 block away.

Does it get any better than this! Only in heaven! Food is cooked and presented like a five star restaurant. Be adventures and try the Pork Chitlins or how about the Salt and Pepper Gizzards? Yummy! Staff are well informed on the menu and very help in making you feel like a king. Parking is kinda tight but it’s worth it if you want get drunk and fill you tummy with some Chinese yummy!

Formerly Queen Bee.
Not a great deal of parking for the size of the place…
Taking a taxi is probably the safest and smartest mode of transportation.
SUSHI BAH
Red Café is a fairly large joint, inclusive of its own sushi bar (pronounced sushi «bah» with an AZN accent) and everything.
On the night I went with my SS, the fish looked sub-​par… But even though we didn’t have any, we saw several people who sat and ate at the sushi bar. I didn’t really notice if they were happy with the food, but they stayed for quite some time… I’m guessing the sushi was at least decent.
CHINESE STYLE BEEF STEW WITH VEGETABLES ($ 12)
I’ve never had a Chinese beef stew before, so I had no idea what to expect. I thought «Chinese Style» might have meant «spicy» or «MSG,» but I didn’t suspect either of those while eating. I tasted no spice. In fact, my SS and I had to ask for some chili sauce. I didn’t really detect any (or a lot of) MSG bc I wasn’t over thirsty (or whatever MSG makes the average person feel) after. Anyway, this dish was good. There weren’t a lot of veggies — mostly just onions and garlic — but I wasn’t disappointed. I’d have it again.
CHICKEN WING CASSEROLE ($ 20)
Tasty, but I didn’t like the weird cuts of chicken. If this dish were made with wings or more manageable cuts of bird, I think I’d love it even more. Right now, the chunks of chicken are cut up randomly — there’s bones all over the place, to the point where it’s almost too difficult to eat. Or maybe I was just being extra cautious… There were several times where I didn’t know if I bit into hard cartilage or bone, so I just spit it out.
Other than the whole bone fiasco, this dish was awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything quite like this before. And even though it may be tricky to eat, I’d eat it again bc it’s so gosh darned good.
EXOTIC EATS
If you’re the swashbuckling-​type, Red Café offers exciting, crazy, and exotic eats like Pepper Salt Chicken Gizzard ($ 10), Deep Fried Squab ($ 19), Deep Fried Quail ($ 10), Stir Fried Soy Bean Sprout with Chitlin ($ 12), and Deep Fried Chitlin ($ 10). They also have original and tantalizing dish names like Mouthwatering Chicken ($ 15), which I’m dying to try BTW. (I’m serious. I want to try it.)
BUY ME DRINKY
Red Café, as restaurant-​y as it sounds, doubles as a hostess /​karaōke bar. Yes, it’s got dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder (MPD)! So, not only can you stuff your face with a variety of exciting Chinese-​influenced dishes, you can also sing and get your leg rubbed! (And if you have read some of my other bar reviews, you know how hostess bars have a special place in my heart.) I don’t go for the girls (obvi, bc I am one), but they are a lot of fun. I don’t go for the karaōke either, but it’s there if you want it.
VERDICT
I am a fan. Interesting yet appetizing dishes, hostesses, sing-​a-​long songs, and a sushi bar??! Why not?!!
But, what I’m really looking forward to is the Mouthwatering Chicken. (I hope it lives up to its name!!)
31 Unilocal Review Challenge — #18/​31

Come here to drink or sing karaōke frequently. The first time I walked in, I was overwhelmed by loud Chinese music. I felt like I fell in a hole that led to China. I’m used to it now though, just was a bit of a surprise. The grey goose is $ 8 or $ 9 a shot. I don’t know what it is but the shots here taste nastier. Might just be me though, still gets you drunk haha. I love that they stay open late though! Big plus.

I absolutely love this place! I used to dine here when there were on young street, a whole in the wall. I love their vegetable saimin and their sashimi is BOMB! I cannot wait to go their again. Their service is awesome.!! I love trying to get sober and listening to Chinese karaōke

I have been coming here for lunch ever since I started working around this area not too long ago and let me tell you, Kaka’ako has some competition. There are a good deal of options within walking and short driving distance, but what to choose. Well, if you’re feeling chinese how about checking out Red Café.
What I love about Red Café is the fact that the people listen to their customers — and their food tastes good. That doesn’t mean that they’ll move any way the tide pulls them, but at least they’ll take everything in for consideration. For example, my coworkers and I like to order their crispy gau gee often. It was originally only available as an order of six pieces. After some requesting, they changed the menu to allow the option to order by the piece. They have also made other changes with us customers in mind.
Service is also great. Every time I go I am greeted with smiles and a sort of Chinese mama feeling (for lack of better words), lol! I’m not sure if it’s family owned, but you can tell that they are proud of their food and what they do. They’re definitely not twiddling their thumbs and waiting for pau hana time to come around.
Their menu primarily consists of chinese food though they have items such as New York steak, sea bass, and salmon which are all decent. If you go during lunchtime, you will see that outside their restaurant they have your typical chinese fast food hot tray setup. You can choose to get a one, two, or three entrée plate. There are usually only three or four entrees to choose from daily, but the selection is not repetitive. They do not use MSG in their cooking. You can also choose to order some items to make such as the steak or fish mentioned above. Because they are setup outside for lunch and I only go during that time, I have never been inside the restaurant. The restaurant/​bar portion opens at night by the way. There are also a bunch of other items available to order on their dinner menu.
Pricing is pretty worth it in my opinion. The portion is decent and the taste and quality fits the bill. If you want cheap and don’t mind everything being somewhat «enhanced» through oil, there is Queens BBQ across the street (which I like too).
All in all Red Café is worth a try. If you are familiar with the area, it’s where the old Diamond Head Video used to be on the corner of Cooke and Queen. Definitely a more wholesome addition to take the spot of it’s former occupant. No adult videos, instead… CHINESE MAMA! Lol (I need to find out her name already)! There are about 7 or 8 stalls of parking too.

Many people now are interested in China: either exploring, working, or looking to bank. An essential part you MUST know to the social aspect of being there, networking, building trust and relationships can be found here.
Red Café (the «hidden» bar side) sort of has a reputation for being the «FOB» bar with super stylized cookie-​cutter Asians *cough Chinese* that have you simultaneously ‘mirin and left in wonderment as to how they can make it in the USA. This reputation is true.
But that doesn’t mean Red Café is inclusive.
No, far from it.
The Chinese are as open and trusting to anyone who can take their (seemingly) crass behavior, relentless screaming and jeering, smoking and swear and general IDGAF I’M CHINESE BIITCH. A quiet classy place this is not.
But you have to play along: yell, swear, play the dice game, light everyone’s cigarettes, drink a lot. If someone offers you a cig, take it! Even if you don’t smoke
The social dynamics at play here are complex but it’s refreshingly simple. People are down to earth, easy to talk to and will care for you if your intentions are good, and expectations open.
To make it in China you must make it in Red Café.
(some might hate me for writing this)

We walked in at 5:30 because the front door was open. Oops! The owner glared at me and brushed me away with a flick of his arm, «We not open yet!!». When I asked him what time he opened he looked at me like I was stupid and barked «6:00». I can’t comment on the food since I decided to spend my money at a more hospitable restaurant. I eat out most days of the week and I can say this was the rudest reception I’d ever received.

At the old club queen bee you will find the best late-​night food! The sushi is to die for! They also do some delicious authentic Chinese. Gone is the nasty carpeting and seedy private rooms. Step up to the sleek and brightly lit sushi-​bar and enjoy some top shelf drinks. Come after work for some ono pupus. It’s a small, intimate space and the owner David Chan is really friendly. The pics do not do justice to the amazing variety and artistry of the sushi. I forgot to take a picture of the oysters but they are HUGE! My favorite was the steamed Big Island abalone with the look fun re-​rolled more tightly and sliced at an angle. So beautiful and delicious! The nigiri was great – big slices of fresh fish (melt in your mouth!) on *small* portions of rice. Perfect! Also tried the «chicken casserole» which is served in a baked pot and served sizzling hot. Lots of ginger and scallions, great accompaniment to any of their sakes, shochus, beer, etc. Kampai!