Campus Center Dining

AJA bentos @ 20% off from around 1:45 or 2ish, try to get there by 3. Substantial chix and other full meat plates plus brown/​white rice, at a discount. Go too late, and the whole caf is closed.
My fave’s the garlic chicken with brown rice plate, which comes with some kind of white dressing plus a healthy dose of romaine lettuce. Chix is soft with a slight crunch, and sweet-​spicy like Thai chili sauce. Perfect ending to a long day on UHM campus.
Ala Moana Food Court AJA also has late-​night discounts, when that court is closing down. Ditto the AJA in the AM Building.
Can’t beat ethnic small business: they don’t wanna waste old food, so sell it to you cheaply (relatively).

The last time I was at the Campus Center DIning was a few years ago, since then things have changed. I like the variety: hot foods, made to order foods, prepared bentos and sushi, salads, fruit and drinks. What more can you ask for? Everything is reasonably priced too.
I came here last with a group of international students and was surprised at how patient and kind the workers were. Maybe they’re used to serving students with limited English abilities, but I was impressed with how they handled our large group.
There’s a burger section that also serves loco mocos, a made to order salad section, drinks galore, a hot food area with daily specials, a bento section and a sushi section that has spicy ahi bowls. The sushi gets discounted after the lunch rush, so if you’re counting change, but are craving spicy ahi, go later during «lunch».
There is a variety of seating options, including some tables outside, and everything was surprisingly clean! I loved that there were chopsticks in the utensil section, and water dispensers to fill up water bottles and cups.
If nothing here suits your fancy, there’s always Jamba Juice and Starbucks right next door. Very convenient. There is also a UH credit union branch right next to the entrance!

Back in the day when I we had to walk to school in the snow barefeet. Okay over exaggeration, however it has been awhile since I have been back and a lot has changed. As a UH Student I got to witness AC and Alika dominate, Football was a joke, arrival of the Rainbow Shuttle and do you remember the Dough Boy mascot. Yes I’m showing my age but life back then was about partying, UH sports, Marriot food and oh yeah that studying thing.
The only good thing about Marriot food was I had a meal plan (thanks mom and dad). There really wasn’t much choices back then, was either Marriot food or taco bell or pizza hut.
So when I was on campus, I decided to check out the old campus Will Ferral style :). Walked in to campus center and I was blown away. I was so excited of all the choices. They have salads, calzones, loco mocos, burgers, bentos and array of plate lunch choices.
I was like wow you lucky students. I would gain even more weight… then I noticed the prices. First thought is wow prices are pretty expensive for students. How do poor college students afford this. I was a poor student living week to week… okay it was all blown on alcohal but regardless pretty expensive. Yes I know cost of living of change but I look at it this way. I could buy a better plate lunch for $ 7 someplace else.
Décor still looked the same, the only difference is now you have all these people looking at their electronic devices instead talking to people.
So for all you current UH students reading this, be happy you have choices. For those alumni like me, we might have to take out a student loan just to buy food. :)

As a frequent visitor to the various eateries at UH Manoa’s Campus Center, I felt like it was my due diligence to write this review. Yes, sometimes I get tired of seeing the same selections being offered, but different days, different taste buds, right? :P
Some of my go-​to favorites:
–Mesquite Chicken Salad
–Furikake Crusted Fish
–Teri Burger
OK, not a whole lot, I know, but they also do have daily specials like their grilled steak, which is pretty ono. Aside from my usuals, they have a create-​your-​own-​pasta bar, Korean bentos, curry bentos, sushi, soups, sandwiches, musubis, udon bar, burger grill etc to give you some variety.
So you don’t like what you see at the café? There’s always Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Subway, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, too. And the Quick Corner Mart that serves up some cheap hot dogs, sandwiches, pastries and my fave, Le Gelateria gelatos! So really, as much as there is to complain, you can’t really with all the dining options available at Campus Center.

There is no place like the center of campus for students to connect and share experiences other than academia. As one walks in and notices the riveting tables imported from Wal Mart one can only imagine the lavish spending budget the University of Hawaii has the pleasure to utilize. The unique dishes prepared by the 5 star chefs make it really to easy to study while listening to students give tours to high schoolers and people slowly begin talking progressively louder. I love the long lines during peak hours between classes and sometimes running out of food. This is place is amazing.

When I was going to school, i would sometimes come by here for food. There’s like 3 to 4 different types of food that you can get here. For breakfast, they usually have some nice selections like pancakes, waffles, plates lunches with eggs/​sausages/​rice/​etc, fruits, yogurt, cereal, pastries, donuts, and other good morning food stuff. For lunch, they would have a section where you can get some fresh salads (used to be Yummy’s Korean BBQ), sandwiches, bentos, and some plate lunches. A lot of the plate lunches and bentos are pretty fresh but depending on what time of the day you are getting your food depends on how good it is going to be sometimes. I recently had a furikake fish plate with some brown rice and vegetables which was pretty good. The brown rice, however, was pretty soggy and soft. They also gave me a little bit of tartar sauce. The dining area has a pretty good amount of tables and seats to eat in. They also have a nice selection of condiments and plastic utensils laid out all for you. I usually take a handful of tobasco sauce and use it all over my meal, I just love it. The prices for the food is pretty decent. They also have other side kind of things to go with your meal like fruits, chips, cookies, etc. It’s conveniently located inside the Campus Center on the 2^nd floor and the entrance is right next to Jamba Juice. The staff and customer service is good.

Good selection of food — sushi, salads, bentos, udon, burgers, plate lunch, etc., and everything is decent quality. But, the food can be kinda pricey for what you’re getting. It gets crazy crowded during normal lunch hour which can mean a substantial wait (only four cashiers) and no seats.
The pre-​made bentos are closer to room temperature than hot and sometimes the contents (like mandoo) can be soggy.

Prices keep going up, but the food… Meh…
The things I enjoy the most here are the breakfast items, such as the oatmeal, breakfast special (scrambled eggs, potatoes or rice and breakfast meat), and the chicken loco moco. The salad station ingredients could be fresher as I usually end up with somewhat wilted lettuce. The garlic chicken from the Aja bento counter is mighty tasty, but the portions have been getting smaller and smaller.
For the price you pay you’ll be better off heading across the campus center to get a $ 6 foot long from Subway.: \

I like the choices here: burgers, sushi, breakfast food, noodles, etc etc. The coffee is good too!
Most of the premade foods aren’t very warm when you get them. Plus you wait in line for a while if you’re there during the lunch rushes. Some of the foods are a bit expensive too. I mean, a dollar sixty or so for a spam musubi?! Expensive.
There aren’t many places to sit if you’re there around 11am-​12pm.

Oh Campus Center — How we ever-​hungry, but broke college students seem to always flock to you around breakfast and lunch time.
Campus Center is a convenient spot for students to grab a bite to eat. Located by the bookstore and on the way to many classes, it’s easy to run in, grab what you need, and run out. There’s free wi-​fi for UHM students, and it’s a good place to meet up with people because the location is so centralized.
They have bentos, sushi, plate lunches, udon, salads, burgers, and more to choose from. My only wish? That they make available healthier options (less grease please!). They take meal plans, which is great (who wants to eat at the caf EVERYDAY?).
Their breakfast options are pretty good as well. They have the grill (loco mocos, breakfast burritos, etc), a breakfast specials area, and breakfast croissants. If nothing else looks appetizing they also (usually) have fruit cups, JELL-​O with whipped cream, or fresh papaya. If you’re lucky they might also have a parfait available for your enjoyment. They also have pastries (for all you donut-​bagel lovers out there) for people to choose from. A toaster is available for those of you who prefer your bagels crispy, not soft!

The selection at this facility is pretty good. They have salads, sushi, bentos, burgers, yogurt, and hot entrees. I’ve never tried their hot breakfast items yet, but the aroma of mini waffles cooking in their waffle maker sure does smell good.
For lunch, I’ve given up on their hot plate lunches. I tried the chicken katsu once or twice and it was pretty lame. They used to sell fried noodles which was my fave, but they took that off the serving line a year or two ago (I guess I was the only one who liked it!). So now my go-​to food when I’m desperate for food is the udon station. They use packaged udon, but it’s actually pretty good, they don’t overcook the noodles, and they put green onion, seaweed, kamaboko (fish cake), and tempura flakes on it. Not bad for a little over $ 4.
Their musubis (fried fish or spam) also make for great snacks.
At a certain point every afternoon, they discount the bentos and musubis (I think it’s 20%). I’m a little wary of buying those items because they could have been sitting there from the morning time (these items are not chilled or kept at high heat throughout the day), which goes against food safety standards, but I guess when you’re a starving student, you’ll take it!

So I’m not a health nut but if I die early, it’s probably due to CC Dining. Everything is so greasy there! That’s the main ingredient. The food doesn’t taste bad and the quality is pretty decent but you will most definitely get sick of the food soon enough. They recently added a new udon stand but they’ve taken away this really good spicy shrimp bowl, fried rice, and butter fish from a couple years back. The salad is pretty good, it makes you feel somewhat healthy at least. This place is good to spend your meal plan on since the cafeteria isn’t that much better anyway. It’s a ³⁄₅ if I base this review on college food but compared to actual restaurants – not a fan…

I like how there are so many options in one place. Theres sushi, plate lunches, fresh salads, chicken bakes, burgers, and bentos. My favorite is the specials! Mini waffles for 0.99 each. Perfect morning meal! Occasionally they have 1.00 mandoo special. They offer vegetarian sides as well. The place gets PACKED during lunch. But there is a lot of seating and the lines move along pretty quick.
The only flaw is… no ice cream! When ice cream is available, 5 stars it is.