I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven past this place thinking it was one of the cutest little restaurant in Chinatown. I don’t know if you guys have ever been to Chinatown or not, but it seems as though any Chinatown you go to, doesn’t matter what city or state, but they’re always super crowded and filthy. So when there’s a cute restaurant that looks inviting it tends to stand out a bit and that’s exactly the place that Little Village is. I’m a bit annoyed that I forgot to take a photo of the outside but here’s the view from outside the restroom.

I came here after work and it was a pretty shitty day at the office so I decided to splurge on a couple of dishes to make up for it. I ordered with the Spicy Garlic Shrimp, $13.95. There definitely was a lot of garlic to this dish, but as a whole it really didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, and I think the ambiance made me think I enjoyed the dish more than I really did. The texture of the sauce tasted and reminded me of the Thai sweet spicy sauce. I have to say, it was just boring in flavor.

I also ordered half a Peking Duck, $17.00. It came with small white buns to wrap around. If your a chicken and biscuit type of gal, or guy, and you like duck then you love these.

The waiter came and proceeded to insert pieces of the duck, and duck skin into all the buns. This was entirely too much work for him and required too much patience on my end, no thanks I’ll do it myself, thank you.

The crispy duck skin was served on top of fresh, crispy shrimp chips. I like laying the chips on the tongue until I feel it sizzle. A thing I use to do as a child and I like to keep the tradition alive. As for the duck skin, uhh, not a fan. My parents think I’m crazy for never eating duck skin, or the skin of any animal for that matter. I guess it’s unheard of for a Chinese to not eat duck skin. I mine as well not eat chicken feet, uh wait, I don’t. Sorry mom. Eating duck skin is no different from eating crispy chicken skin, if you like that then I promise you you’ll be happy with duck skin. It really adds more flavor to the whole duck and bun experience.

My favorite was the lettuce wraps, $7.95. This was probably one of the better lettuce wraps I’ve had. Definitely better than PF Changs and Brew Moon. My friend was like, “what is this again because I would totally order just this next time.” It wasn’t too salty, like PF Changs and had way more flavor than Brew Moon. I loved loved the chopped up black mushrooms and crunch from the water chestnuts.

Alright guys, there you go. Overall, I would definitely say this place was worth coming to. Stay away from the garlic shrimp and don’t leave without the lettuce wraps.

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Little Village
1113 Smith St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Get Directions(808) 545-3008

Wild Ginger had their grand opening back in November. I didn’t get a chance to make it but I did make it a few days after and boy I gotta tell you this place is good.

The inside is roomy so accommodating larges parties I wouldn’t think would be a problem. Everything looks clean and fresh, the way a new restaurant should look.

After ordering they brought us a small dish of pickled sweet and sour veggies. I loved this stuff. It was slightly sweet, slightly sour and crispy. It was a perfect appetizer to wake up my taste buds for more tantalizing dishes.

For starters we ordered Vietnamese Summer Rolls, $6.00. It came with four pieces, or two rolls cut in half. If you look closer you can see big chunks of seafood. The rolls were topped with seaweed and radishes.

Selena ordered the Vietnamese Salad, $6.00. Being the picky person that she is she ordered the dressing on the side. It was our server’s first day of work and she forgot to tell them to leave the dressing off. She felt really bad and it really wasn’t a big deal. After that the cook and manager, everyone kept coming up to our table asking how everything was, if we needed anything, more water, rice, a foot rub? Everyone was so nice but so there in your face. As soon as we finish swallowing someone new was there at our table happily ready it get us whatever our hearts desire. Everything’s great, food’s fantastic and service is a little over the top. We just want to eat our food in peace people. Leave us alone! Please, leave us alone. Anyhow, the salad was delish. Really fresh and crisp, slightly sweet and nutty.

We tried to get dishes that we all could enjoy. This is the Yaki Soba Dish with Chicken, $8.00. It was garnished with a ginger. I don’t really think that ginger was the best garnish for it but whatever, it’s garnish right? The noodles had great flavor. They weren’t skimpy on the chicken either. Extra hint of veggies made for a crisp bite every time. There’s nothing I would change about this one.

And here is the dish that tied everything together. This is where all the magic happened, the Steam XO Sea Bass, $15.50. It was a sea bass fillet steamed in XO sauce and served with fresh veggies. This dish is one of those dishes you would have a personal chef prepare for you when your still trying to be healthy. I don’t know what XO sauce is but I’m a fan. I always thought that XOXO meant hugs and kisses so maybe it’s just sauce that’s made with love. Works for me. The fish was tender and flaky and tasted so good. I think everyone could agree that this was the best dish.

There you have it folks. Another great find. Now I know this place isn’t the icon for cheap places, but It’s somewhat affordable. So if you feel like treating someone you love to a nice meal this would be the place. Like I said, service was a little over the top, but I think it had something to do with just opening up and trying to make sure everyone had a great experience. Overall I have to say we all did. At the end of our meal, the manager gave us 25% off our check for the inconvenience of the dressing on the salad. It wasn’t a big deal, but I’m never going to fight a discount. So in the end, for us, it was a cheap place to eat.

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Wild Ginger
3441 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
808 738-1168

After our usual morning swim, we cruised the streets of Kailua for some serious grub. I’m not picky, my rule of thumb is as long as I’ve never been before, I’m down for the cause, the hunger cause that is. None of us really had much of an opinion, so after no debate we ended up at New Chinese Garden Restaurant.

I wouldn’t expect anything less than red and golden colors at a Chinese restaurant.

Ray likes noodles so when I saw Shanghai Noodles, a noodle dish that I wasn’t familiar with I had no choice but to find out. First I asked the waitress what the Shanghai noodles were like. There was an obvious language barrier there so she held out her pen and said, “big, big.” Alright, I’m assuming that Shanghai noodles are round and as thick as her pen. Sweet, sounds good, we’ll take one of those. It cost $5.75 and came with cabbage, fungus, and really small pieces of pork. We didn’t realize it came with meat until halfway through the plate since the pork pieces were so small. We weren’t expecting any meat so I guess some is better than none. The noodles were a little mushy and it just tasted like everything was slapped together, microwaved, and brought out for our consumption and their profit.

I picked Combination Seafood with Mixed Vegetables on a Sizzling Platter, $8.50. Again, this dish was yet another disappointment. It didn’t taste old, but rather like it was made with no effort or care whatsoever. I mean, really, does this look like a sizzling platter to anyone? No sizzle at all. It was extremely dry for a Chinese dish, no gravy to be found, not even when we cleared the plate was there gravy.

Of course Chinese food just wouldn’t be the same without steamed white rice, .90 cents. These days Ray and I manage to share one bowl.

Overall I was not impressed with this place. Needless to say, I’m not coming back. Now, I don’t want to give off the impression that I had a horrible experience here. I was just disappointed. There’s far too many better places I have been and still yet to go.

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New Chinese Garden Restaurant
426 Uluniu Street
Kailua, HI
(808) 261-9345