A guide to great Chinese New Year dining
Friday - February 16, 2007
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No need to tell you it’s a big food weekend. When the Chinese celebrate New Year, expect good food at every turn. But these days not all Chinese restaurants are created equal. Here’s a guide to some of the best, and what to expect this weekend.
Kung Hee Fat Choy!
When the Chinese celebrate New Year, expect good food at every turn. But not all Chinese restaurants are created equal. Here’s a guide ...
Shanghai Bistro
Discovery Bay Center
1778 Ala Moana Blvd.
955-8668
Head here if you want an elegant Chinese New Year and one with an emphasis on creative fusion cuisine. This is not your average noodle house. With décor that transcends the norm and imported teak furniture that wouldn’t be out of place at The Pineapple Room or Roy’s, Shanghai Bistro is the place to go if you want to dress up and dine out.
Chef Chih Chieh Chang puts his heart into a menu that’s not just creative - it’s really good. Look for more unusual items here like abalone poke, scallop spring rolls, golden treasure bag, dried scallops with black moss and the specialty of the house, hot and spicy tenderloin steak. Special set meal this weekend is just $28 per person and features a multi-course fusion menu.
Hong Kong Harbor View
Aloha Tower Marketplace
2nd Floor
566-9989
Same executive chef as Shanghai Bistro, but a different menu and a focus on more traditional dishes at this restaurant with a terrific view of Honolulu Harbor. This weekend choose the menu that has been wowing guests since its introduction in September. “We tried to take it off the menu,” says owner Li May Tang, ” but people just keep calling and asking for it.”
The menu serves 8-10 people and standout dishes include live Dungeness crab with coconut and dried garlic, live Maine lobster with a black pepper and butter sauce and a tasty tender-loin steak that comes to the table on fire. The $228.99 menu for 8 to 10 also features tofu dishes, whole fish and the restaurant’s signature (and irresistible) mango pudding. At 7 p.m. Feb. 18 there will be a traditional lion dance. Probably the best gau in town.
Fresh Seafood in a taro basket with Chinatown noodles is
one of the many specialty dishes at Wah Kung Seafood
Restaurant in Mapunapuna
Wah Kung Chinese Restaurant
1151 Mapunapuna St.
(99 Ranch Market mauka side)
833-0880
If you’re near Mapunapuna there’s no question where you should go this weekend for dinner.Wah Kung serves undoubtedly some of the best traditional Chinese food in town. Regulars love their noodles, soups and specialty dishes that include flavorful clams with black bean sauce, roast duck with plum sauce, scallop soup, minute chicken and cake noodles and Chinese chicken salad. This is where to go if you really want to eat - prices are great, and portions are large. The owners, Celina Gum, Yun-Hung Yeung and Sui -Man Leung have been friends and partners for more than 25 years, and their passion and dedication to their craft and to customers is obvious in every plate. It’s large, it’s luminous, it’s in the 99 Ranch Market - and oh, it’s good.
XO Seafood Restaurant
1718 Kapiolani Blvd.
(Opposite Convention Center)
942-2020
One of the newest restaurants to open in Honolulu, but chef owner Raymond Chau is no stranger to the restaurant scene. He’s garnered a loyal following among those who appreciate dishes that sing with flavor and burst with the talent of a chef who loves to cook. Chau designed the restaurant as well as the menu, and his creative touch is everywhere. Taste it in the excellent Mongolian lamb ribs, XO rib eye steak, the yin and yan poke and freshly steamed fish. It’s not your grandma’s Chinese food. Make a reservation now if you want to see where Chinese food is headed.
James Lee with son Charles — Hee Hing is a place where
second and third generations take their families for New
Year
Hee Hing Restaurant
449 Kapahulu Ave.
735-5544
Your mom and dad may have taken you to Hee Hing to celebrate Chinese New Year when you were just a budding foodie. Maybe even your grandparents too - the Lee family started their family business more than 40 years ago, and theirs remains a favorite of families throughout Honolulu.
“We have generations coming through the doors,” says owner James Lee, whose own son now helps out when dad needs an extra pair of hands. Look for traditional dishes here for Chinese New Year and one of the few excellent buffets in town. Hee Hing’s $24.95 New Year buffet features dim sum, roast suckling pig, Szechuan roast beef and char siu tenderloin. There’s a lion dance at 6:45 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Take the kids, and start your own tradition.
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