Won Kee Seafood Restaurant

It’s been awhile since the last time I’ve been to Won Kee for dim sum. There’s just so many Chinese restaurants and I don’t go out to eat as much, so it takes a while for a restaurant to turn up in my rolodex of Chinese restaurants. :) In time… in time…
Located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza, right next to Legend Restaurant, and several other dim sum restaurants steps away, Won Kee has a lot of positives that makes it stand out above the rest. The best is the price of each dim sum at $ 2.95 for EVERYTHING, except the beef tripe, and the look funn, of course. How awesome is that?! It’s cheaper than Fook Lam and Yee Hong, 5-​cents cheaper than Empress, and a hell of a lot cheaper than Tai Pan and Legend. The portion size is on the generous side as well. The décor is the typical classic, Chinese style with the similar tables and chairs and artwork you will see at almost any other Chinese restaurant. Another thing I like about this place is how comfortable and cool it is inside. Now it’s not the cleanest nor is it the dirtiest, but I still consider it highly acceptable by Chinatown standards.
Today I came here with my grandma. She always had a lot of good things to say about this place over the years, with the price being paramount and the portion size being the next. She’s right!
Looking at the dim sum menu, it would seem like there isn’t much variety (and direly needs an update, aesthetically) even though there’s a total of 40 items on it, there’s still a good amount of variety with the main staples with some items not even listed. One of them is the Snow Mountain Baked Bun. Even though, the «snow mountain» was a little scorched by baby dragons, the bun was still very good. It was soft and warm, and the crust was nice and crispy. The taro filling was good as well. It wasn’t overly sweet, creamy, and tasty. Though, with taro, it’s usually heavy and really fills you up fast. I wish I hadn’t started my meal with this! Next, of course, is my staple, the chicken feet. I was disappointed. It did taste good, but the meat and skin were not tender and ate a little grainy. Another one of my favorite is the Fried Seaweed Seafood Roll. It was hot, nicely battered and crispy. The filling was very tasty. The chives and shrimp really stood out and went very well with the seaweed. The Glutinous Rice Balls were all right. They were a bit bland and wasn’t exciting enough for me to type anything more than that. I prefer the ones wrapped in the lotus leaves with chicken. We ordered the jin dui (fried sesame ball) because they were huge! Though, they were a big disappointment. The dough was way too thick and not crispy, which made it difficult to eat. Lastly, my grandma’s favorite is the Steamed Beef Balls. These were surprisingly light and meaty and beefy. They were well-​portioned and loaded with scallions. More often than not, the beef balls are heavy and oily, and sometimes have too much starch, but these were none of those.
Overall, I was satisfied with the food. We came here after 2PM, and normally by that time, most of the dim sum places are closing down and are out of most items, the baked items are cold just sitting in the carts or display cases, most of the servers have gone home, or the cooks in the back are on break and eating their lunch. Mostly, that wasn’t the case. The servers were all gone, so the owner (boss lady) served us. She was very friendly and attentive. We caught the cooks right before lunch, and everything single dim sum was hot, freshly fried or steamed, and the baked items were actually warm. At $ 2.95 for each dim sum is already a great deal to begin with, and considering several of the items, such as the seafood items and the glutinous rice in lotus leaf, are a lot more expensive at other places, this is a steal!
It’s not the best dim sum restaurant in my book, but with such great prices, comfortable seating, and good portions. I’d definitely return for dim sum.
I’ve been here for dinner with co-​workers many months ago, and that was a very good experience. I remember the highlight was the roasted squab and the salted egg yolk prawns. Another couple of highlights is Won Kee is BYOB, and it has a Karaōke room. ;p

The food here is decent, but the service was extremely slow when I ate dinner here this past Sunday night. It took forever to get the check, and the neighboring table experienced the same thing. Hopefully the service will be better the next time we visit.

I went here for dinner and it was… Unexpected. Granted, the dishes we got weren’t traditional Chinese dishes but I felt like the proportions of ingredients were somewhat imbalanced. But, what can I say… I love me some pig face… They won me over with that a bit.

My rating is an average of 5* for the food and 1* for the service. Like the other reviewers, we waited 45 min. with two grandchildren ages 5 and 7 before the first dish arrived. I was ready to walk out when the rest arrived at 1 hour. By this time one child was asleep. This is a clear restaurant emergency that needs a management makeover. Such good food, such a pitiable mess of a business.

To come straight to the point, Won Kee is the best Chinese restaurant in Hawaii right now for a sit-​down meal of traditional Cantonese cuisine. In the last 3 months, we have come here for lunch and dinner parties — several of both. All good experiences. Won Kee remains our first choice among the limited number of establishments that go beyond the typical chop-​suey restaurant.
The «Golden» Crab (黃金蟹) — dungeness crab washed in salted duck egg yolk and deep fried — is a must try.
You may want to note that the present ownership of Won Kee has been in place for about 6 years (I asked). If you came here before this like we did you may not have been inclined to return. A lot has changed and it’s definitely worth a return visit.

We had a great family dinner here! The service was good & the food was even better. The are very accommodating for larger parties. We will go back every time we visit our family in Hawaii!

Not bad, not great. It’s your typical chinatown restaurant. There was a hair in the soup and the waiters forgot to bring our fried rice until we were almost done with our meal. The owner is really nice though and the food was decent (other than the hair in my soup)

I’m quite disappointed to be writing this review because my family and I used to love going here. Sometimes the service is great and sometimes the service sucks, depending on who your server is. But recently, my family and I have had very poor customer service and don’t think we’ll be coming back.
It was my younger cousin’s birthday that we were celebrating before she went back to California. When we got seated, no water was offered and we had to order our own drinks instead. When we decided on what we were going to eat, our food took 20 – 30 minutes to come out. The rice even came out last. Not only did our food take a long time to come out, but our server was beyond rude! Every time we asked for something she would just walk away and take a while to come back with what we needed and even replied with «yeah yeah yeah». She rarely ever checked up on us and she looked like she dreaded being our server whenever she had to help us. We saw other tables who got seated after us that were already finishing up when we just got our dishes. When we finished the entrees, she took forever to come back to clear our table for dessert. We had to stack our own plates to get her attention. My family and I also always bring a cake to celebrate someone’s birthday and we asked for a knife (mind that they never had a problem with this and always accommodated us with smaller plates, forks, and a knife). After we ate the cake and finished up she finally came back and grabbed ONLY the knife. She grabbed only the knife from us and swung it in the air to take back with her! That’s the thing that really pissed us off. It’s not safe and could’ve been a hazard.
I actually loved coming here for the food but this was the last straw. Their customer service definitely needs work. Customer service there used to be great with other servers but this time, enough was enough. I’m only giving two stars for the other servers who were great when they served us and for the food. I hope anyone who comes here will not be as disappointed as I am.

Unfortunately we had tried this place to go out the box with new dim sum places and will not be coming back. I knew when we walked in at 10am and no body was eating here we were in for some crap. My precognition was correct. The other dim sum spots we passed like next doors legends was packed but this was dead dead empty. I had to even grab my own chili sauce and soy. I can tell when shrimp gau is old and the wrap falls apart very easy so it must be old. Shrimp also was not de veined and shit still in. Eeeeew. Sorry I will stick with Mei Sum or Tai pan. A lot more tasty.

This place has been here forever! The food has been up and down over the decades, however the food was excellent this time around. Although the place was packed, they even ran out of serving spoons for a while, the food was excellently made. Service was kinda poor since they were so packed, but overall as long as the food is delicious, everything else can be taken by perspective right? If you do visit, order the kau yuk, such fatty and tasty goodness!

I was recently invited to Won Kee for a family celebration. I think it was 7 or 9 courses… but I lost count… and I think we left early before at least one course was served.
I was pleasantly surprised to find parking very easy in the Cultural Plaza lot at 6:30 on a Thursday night. I guess most of their traffic is during the day. I was also pleasantly surprised that Won Kee was not very crowded, as well. It’s a big restaurant, and I saw mostly the round 10-​top tables in there. I think there may have been 5 or 6 parties in the place, and we did not take up half of the space.
Service was very nice. All of our food was brought to the table and plated for us. We also got fresh plates a few courses into the meal. Water refills were frequent as well. The restaurant was clean enough, by Chinatown standards. I did not look to closely (I try not to in Chinatown!).
The food was all tasty. It wasn’t «Wow, this is awesome! I need to come back here.» tasty, but it was good.
Service, location, convenience (not crowded, easy parking) for the given time have a big influence on my rating. I don’t know if I’d make a point to frequent Won Kee, but I’d go back.

This place is shady. I don’t judge Chinese restaurants based on service as they aren’t known for it, but I wish I could give this place zero stars. They included tip to our party of six bill (not indicated). At first we didn’t understand why our bill was more than what we anticipated. Our server rudely explained general addition and multiplication to get our bill total of $ 430, however she was still short $ 80. When we asked again, she left and came back with another server, who rambled through our order, saying it was the alcohol. (Yes, we know what we ordered, we literally just finished eating your mediocre food! And yes, I can still do arithmetic after having a few drinks). After much explanation and busting out my calculator, we asked if tip was included, which we found out it was!

My wife’s family has been dinning at this restaurant for decades. Over the past few years it has turned from one of the «stand-​by» Chinese restaurants to go to, to, I will never go there again. Last night’s meal was the «last straw». We, (4 of us), were seated at 5:05pm, one of only 4 tables seated. We ordered Lobster, Salt and Pepper style, Lobster, Ginger and Onion style, ½ Peking Duck with bun, Crispy Gau Gee, Sweet Sour Pork and Szechuan Noodles.
The restaurant filled up over the next 30 minutes.
After waiting for approx. 30 minutes the sweet sour pork arrived. After another 20 minutes the crispy Gau Gee arrived. after waiting another 15 minutes I asked the waitress if we can expect our food anytime soon. She said «we very busy», but said she would ask.
The Lobster Ginger and Onion arrived 25 minutes after the Crispy Gau Gee. One of the lobster’s claws had obviously suffered an injury while in the «tank» or where ever it is stored. It looked diseased. (see pic uploaded titled «lobster claw».) I called over the manager. I asked if she felt the lobster met her standard for quality. She answered without even looking at the lobster, indicating she knew what I was referring to, even before I asked the question. «This is the way we get it from our supplier», was her response. I was floored. When is it okay to serve rotting food to a customer just because this is the way you receive it from supplier?
We paid for the two dishes that were delivered and left. Time 6:35pm.

Save your tastebuds and go to Legends instead. Everything is overly salted and their selection of dim sum is not expansive. The biggest disappointments 1. Extremely soggy taro and 2. Soup dumplings that didn’t contain a drop of soup. This is my first and last time dining here. The one star is for the decent waitress who apologized for the soggy dimsum.

Came on a Friday morning around 10:30am. Only a couple people were there and decided to go only because Legends was closed. The lunch crowd picked up around 11:30am
Not impressed at all. Only 1 cart with a few items on it. Items from menu were steamed to order. For dim sum, I expect all items ready with carts continually coming by. That was not the case here.
Plain look funn was like soft tofu. Spinach scallop dumpling was just ok. My fam ate the peking duck and liked it, but that also took a long time to make. Meat balls just ok. Seafood dumplings were a little mushy with the imitation crab.
I was very disappointed an wouldn’t come back at all.

In my family, there are two options for Easter dinner:
1) Chinese food
2) Chinese food
My Mother (bless her beautiful heart) loves it when her children get together on holidays, but no one wants to cook these days because everyone is so busy. And usually we go to the same Chinese restaurant in Aiea and order the same six dishes we’ve been eating for the last thirty years. But out of nowhere they decided to change the location of our meal because my brother is engaged to a Chinese girl. I’ll admit I was a little scared walking into Won Kee because it doesn’t have the greatest rating on Unilocal and that’s a big no-​no in my book. But after we sat down, who should mosey on in but Cathy T, who is Chinese to the core and it made me feel so much better to know that her family deems Won Kee a-​okay in their book.
Won Kee is by no means glamorous, nor the most cleanly of restaurants but it’s also not the worst I’ve eaten at either. All the dishes we ate were tasty (see my photos) and the peking duck came with gigantic pieces of bird. It’s still not my favorite Chinese restaurant but from what I’m told they’ve got very reasonable prices and that must be why all the important Chinese people in my life choose this spot out of all the others. My favorite part? Although they serve liquor (beer & wine), they still allowed us to BYOB and didn’t charge us corkage. Woot woot!

11÷28÷13. Thanksgiving dinner.
There were only 2 of us… but we ordered the dinner for 4 which included 4 entrees and a lobster… we opted to «upgrade» to the crab for $ 5…so now we are up to $ 65
Waaay too much food… it was all really delicious. People there are really nice… Food was prepared quickly and everything was served nice and hot!
Crispy chicken, salt and pepper shrimp, steamed fish and spicy, garlic eggplant.
Mostly ate the crab and brought the rest of the food home for dinner the following night.
12÷24÷13 Christmas Eve dinner.
We enjoy the food here so much that we decided to come her for Christmas Eve… This time there were 4 of us… Ordered the scallop soup, Crab (won kee style), ong choy with garlic, clams with black bean, fried pork chop… next time we’d pass on the pork chop… the rest of the items were very good…
Good service, good food and reasonable prices… will definitely be back again!

Visiting Won Kee was a backup plan as my parents and I had intended to dine at Legend for dinner. Unfortunately, there was a party which appeared to take up the whole restaurant. As a result, we ended up at Won Kee after checking out what restaurants were open nearby. I am sure this is pretty common as Won Kee must get the overflow business when Legend is full.
While it is easy to find good dim sum in Honolulu, finding a good Chinese dinner spot can be a challenge. Chinese restaurants can be a crapshoot because they offer huge menus, but unless you have dined there often, you won’t know till you try a dish whether it is good. It really all depends on the chef’s skills.
The restaurant was quite full which is a good sign. The restaurant is smaller than Legend, but still is a moderately sized place. I have dined here a few times (dim sum and regular menu) and it does not look any different then previous occasions I have visited. It is not a casual place, but not an elegant one either. It is just fine if you come here in a t-​shirt and slippers.
We considered ordering off the set menu which includes a choice of a selection of dishes as well as a lobster dish. But I suggested offering a la carte instead because the pricing did not seem to justify it especially since this was a meal for three. Ordering off the set menu would have certainly meant leftovers. Most land meat (chicken/​beef/​pork) items seemed to fall in the $ 10 – 12 range here. Note that dish portions are smaller in Hawaii compared to the mainland however.
Ordered three dishes. Fried pork chops, fish with choy sum and another item that I have forgotten. I think it was a tofu hot pot dish. We also ordered a salted fish fried rice. When it comes to ordering rice at a Chinese restaurant, it is better to get fried rice since they charge you for each bowl of steamed rice. The price difference is not that much different, so it is better to just get fried rice.
Overall, I thought the meal was just alright. Though my parents were quite impressed with the dishes as they were better than they expected. The pork chops were disappointing. They were missing the crispiness that I look for. The other items were fine taste wise. Left feeling full and there was still leftovers for the next day.
Won Kee is not my first choice for dim sum or Chinese food. But if I was nearby and I was not able to eat at the place that I want, I would consider Won Kee as a backup spot.

I’ve been eating here for years now — — mostly to meet clients for dim sum lunch or dinner parties to celebrate someone’s birthday.
We had out-​of-​town relatives and came here to celebrate. We had dinner reservations for 630pm for 2 tables and this place was rocking. The whole restaurant was packed with Chinese peeps and I knew I was going to be in for a great meal.
First of all, eating with family has always been high on my list. But when you add good food, it cannot be any better.
The menu was pre-​determined starting off with the cold appetizer plate. We had children on our table so I let them gobble up the char siu but I’m a fan of the sliced boneless pig feet, where I enjoy the gelatinous texture and gristle. I know it’s not good for you but if I hike Koko Head religiously every weekend doing a back-​to-​back double, I’m going to make sure I reward myself.
Next came the seafood soup and I was surprised it was piping HOT, they way soup should be served. It could have used a little more flavor but overall, a very good bowl of soup.
Many authentic Chinese enjoy free-​range chicken but it’s okay to me. I’ll admit it is slightly flavorful than your regular chicken. But I’d rather be chowing down on Hong Kong-​style crispy chicken where you enjoy the plump meat of human raised chickens. Our dish was served beautifully and resembled a phoenix, perhaps? A cold ginger sauce came on the side.
A popular dish on our table was the deep-​fried stuffed tofu with shrimp dish. Ever since I’ve been successful of long-​term weight loss, I try my best to control deep-​fried foods so I stopped at one piece. It was very crispy, piping HOT and not greasy at all. A very SOLID dish.
Another big hit was their crab with the signature house-​sauce. It was cooked until perfection. The crab meat was very sweet and easy to crack with your teeth. The sauce was interesting — — some fermented black beans with XO sauce??? Very tasty…
Next came their stir-​fried green beans with minced pork and dried shrimp. Another popular dish on our table and SOLID. Very good.
Their honey-​glazed pork chop was lean and deep-​fried well but the honey glaze was overpowering. Too much honey in my opinion.
The seafood stir-​fry with broccoli was okay. I’ve had better. The sauce was very light and the seafood taste perhaps got lost somewhere? But I’ll admit the broccoli was cooked perfectly. It was al dente with that crunch and bright green color.
Lastly, you cannot end a traditional Chinese 9-​course meal without noodles. We were celebrating the matriarch’s long-​life (in her 90’s) so we had stir-​fried E-​MEIN noodles. It was very simple, the way it should be but I like my food with bold flavors.
I was surprised for dessert you were given a choice of either almond tofu w/​fruit cocktail OR red bean dessert. The almond tofu was the generic package mix where I enjoy it made from scratch starting with evaporated milk and Knox gelatine.
Because the whole restaurant was packed, service was not at its best. I used to work at a Chinese restaurant so I can relate. I’m lenient in this category. We had to ask for white rice, hot tea & water refills, forks for the children, etc. I noticed empty water glasses on my table including my favorite niece (I only have one so she wins by default) so I stood up and searched for the water pitcher and brought it back to our table for self-​service. When I dine with my family I try my best to make their dining experience great so I do not mind at all refilling our own waters. I did this several times and asked the staff to please add more ice as I like my water COLD.
Overall, the quality of food exceeded my expectations so it gets 5-​stars. Service could have been better but overall, decent at 4-​stars. We came here for food so this place gets the benefit of rounding-​up to my final 5-​star review.
NOTE: Parking at the Chinese Cultural Plaza is either metered street parking OR their parking lot at a rate of $ 3. DO NOT park at their loading zone (by Regal Bakery) as there clearly is a sign stating LOADING ZONE only for 15 minutes.

This is probably the place I come to most often because the other restaurants in cultural plaza are full (which means there are better options).
Service 3.5-stars:
Owners/​Managers are dressed in casual clothes. If they weren’t standing up the whole time, I wouldn’t have guessed they worked there. They have the ol’ cart-​style dim sum service. Unfortunately, this means you get hustled. Meaning, whether or not you can decide on what to eat, they will always try to suggest other dishes. Good for tourists, but I’m Chinese. I already know what I want to eat. However, we DID order har gau but the whole time we were there, it wasn’t available.
Food 3-​stars:
Steamed food isn’t too bad. It’s pretty consistent in terms of quality. Fried food cart is my concern. The food isn’t really fresh. It’s cold and in some cases, may be even stale. I’d stick to the steamed stuff or anything that’s made to order like their funn plates.
Overall:
I’ll probably be back again. I was thinking they’re probably not really popular because they don’t have distinctive competencies. I mean they have some new dishes coming out that other people don’t have, but the fact that they’re probably created that day, chances of those dishes coming out again are low even if they’re good. Food isn’t especially fresh or anything so they’re kind of on-​par with the standard. Nothing special.
Today was just especially strange because there was some guy at the other table that kept staring at me. I looked behind me to make sure… nothing there. Maybe I had something on my face or in my hair. I have no idea. Point is, I was covering my ass hole walking out the door.
Btw, it’s dirt cheap. Good for big groups.