Daechun Restaurant

Just went there last night with my gf. i passed by a few times and notice a lot of Korean eat there. so it might be good right? WRONG!
i order kimchee fried rice, and it was BAD! the worst fried rice ever! rice was too WET. Kimchee have no flavor. they used SPAM in the fried rice, and a lot of oil. WORST fried rice ever.
As for customer service — not goood. this is my last time going there.

Ladies and gentlemen, before I proceed, will you please turn off your cell phone before I begin the memorial service for Daechun Restaurant. Thank you.
I will now begin the funeral services for Daechun Restaurant.
Clarence S. Darrow the famous attorney said: «I never wanted to see anybody die. There are few obituary notices I have read with pleasure.»
A few of you know that I write restaurant reviews on Unilocal.It saddens me that I am writing a eulogy and not a review because I procrastinated and took too long to write my review on Daechun.
Now look what happen. Daechun has closed it’s doors.
Damn! (Oops!) I feel like kicking myself in the butt. I am sad because instead of you reading a 4 star review about the food and service at Daechun; you are reading this eulogy.
Many of you didn’t know this restaurant existed. Many of you don’t know where this restaurant was located.
For many of you, you didn’t know that the restaurant was owned by a hardworking middle aged Korean couple. Many of you don’t even care.
None of you really care about what Honolulu high school the two of them graduated from. None of you care if either of them went to a private or public school. One thing that is for sure is that neither of them graduated from UH.
None of you care what the food tasted like because the fact of the matter is that they are now closed and have passed.
But I care. I am Buddhist, and am a very caring and compassionate person. YOU may not care; but I care.
I feel very bad about what has happened. The people at this restaurant were very good to me even if the only things that I ever ordered was their $ 4.99 daily specials. I used to love their $ 4.99 black noodle Naengmyun.
I loved Daechun because the owner’s never judged me. They never gave me the stink eye or complained when I didn’t order their $ 14.99 Kalbi or anything else that was over $ 10.00 on their menu. They were always nice to me and that is why I always, always, always left them a $.75 tip. [1]
[1] $ 4.99 + tax is $ 5.25 so I just gave them $ 6.00.
My favorite memory of this place is when I heard the husband (adeshi) yelling at one of the workers in front of all of his customers. One of his friends had to come over and told him to tone it down. That was a real shock to me.
Ladies and gentlemen; this is a lesson in life on Unilocal.Many of you procrastinate and don’t write reviews of restaurants until weeks and even months later. This has got to change.
I can tell you from experience that it will tear your insides up knowing that you could have written a stellar review of a restaurant and then out of the blue… the restaurant closes. First there shock… and then confusion.
Ladies and gentlemen, put yourself in my shoes. Think about it! Do you enjoy writing a eulogy for a funeral?
It is time for us to remember and be thankful and celebrate the life that Daechun had. To the ajjumma and adeshi of Daechun, I would like to thank you for the wonderful $ 4.99 plus tax and $.75 tip food that I experienced at your restaurant.
Ajjumma, you were always very cordial and thoughtful.
Adeshi. I think you should have learned to control your temper.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us bow our heads and pray.
Almighty God! Please give safe journey, future success, good health and happiness to the owners and family of Daechun. Protect them always as we express our gratitude for the fine food and service they provided. Ahem!
This ends the memorial service for Daechun Restaurant. Please drive home safely.

Oh what a bummer… I guess we missed the $ 4.99 specials because now they are $ 6.99. We decided to eat here after shopping at the Keeamouku Supermarket. We came here knowing that these type of restaurants don’t and usually don’t have the best service or personalities. So we took it as an adventure because also, knowing that we were going to eat here, they don’t speak or understand English that well (or so they want you believe). Anway, asking the waitress what does this or that mean or what in it was hopless. I just went with the cold noodles which I liked. My husband chose the Goat Stew and Mochiko Chicken. He enjoyed the goat stew and the mochiko chicken. The mochiko chicken is not like the Japanese version but it was still pretty good. I wouldn’t call this a cheap place to eat and you go in there taking a risk on ordering food that you are not familiar with because the waiter/​waitress doesn’t really help in explaining what’s in the dishes. But all in all, it was a plesant experience.

this isn’t actually a review but what I observed yesterday, planned to eat the cold noodles, invited my parents and everything, my father beat me there and was able to park right in front of the restaurant. Someone from the restaurant tapped on his window to ask him to move his car cause the moving people were loading up and his car was in the way. It seems they were in the process of empting out the place, moving or closing I don’t know, I actually saw them unscrewing the big sign above the doorway. Sad, I really like this place. Guess only time will tell if they pop up somewhere else, hopefully with the same name.

Not worth the money I paid and it was fricken hot in there… I ate soondubu… I recommend so gong dong instead.

DON’T order the beef stew with cabbage from their 4.99 $ menu !!!
sigh… my hubby wanted to eat cold noodle so we came here because it was advertised at 4.99 $. pretty good deal… and i ordered the beef stew with cabbage (4.99 $) as you can see from my pics it’s basically just a cabbage soup with 1 piece of very tough meat in it. the cabbage was really overcooked and the broth had very little flavor. the cold noodle was ok… not enough flavor in the broth either though. chodang has waaaayyyy better tasting deals for 4.99 $ — 5.99 $ !!

Service a little slow, but food was excellent and fairly priced. Cold noodles, bibimbap, and the fiery duk-​bok-​gi hit the spot. Banchan all good except for the slightly stale kimchi.

The thing about daechun is that they have $ 4.99 plates. Really $ 4.99 plates? Where else can you get a plate for $ 4.99 that isn’t chodang? I don’t know of a place! (if you do… Please inbox me and let me know) This is the main reason we come here to eat. Of the couple of times I’ve been here, last night was the first time I’ve ordered something from the $ 4.99 menu.
The $ 4.99 menu has choice of mochiko chicken, beef stew with cabbage, beef curry, and cold noodles. Last night I had the cold noodle which has a very strong ginger taste. I’m not saying that in a bad way, it’s just besides the ginger I felt like it had no other flavor. Loved the little bits of ice that the noodles are served it, I can imagine it being awesome in a summer afternoon. Portion was big for the price you pay and you still have your banchan. I’ve also order the soondubu a couple of times before and to be honest for $ 9.00, it was just ok and in all honesty I think chodang’s is better. This is still a perfect place to stop in on your way home from watching a movie or after you’ve spent all your money at the mall. Oh, and it’s BYOB with a liquor store right next door :)

Unilocal 365: ⁰⁴⁶⁄₃₆₅
The food is okay, worth the money you spend here. I never expected too much with the crowd that goes in here: older Koreans who come here daily to unwind. I have not tried their entire menu, but I have tried at least a third of it. I’ll tell you know what I liked and not really liked at this place.
Food: I love their red pepper paste mixed cold noodles. They have two kinds I have tried here. The one in liquid and the one without. I like the one without; mainly due to the amount of spice you can add in there! Ask for the hot sauce and they hand you this (appropriately red) bottle which you can add as much as you like. Not just full of spice, but a little sweet and sour. Mmmmmm…
I have tried their kalbi stew. In my opinion, the stews from Choi’s Garden match my taste more, but it is worth it for the amount you spend. Also the seafood stew here is totally worth the cheap price! Tasty, cheap, and served in a big bowl makes this good for eats for your buck! I have tried some of their other stews, but I like Choi’s Garden’s stews better.
Service: The service is kind of lacking. I see more and more local people come in here nowadays. I think this place needs a worker more proficient in English. It’s one of the reasons why this place is not going to get their fifth star from me; not yet anyway. The service here is nice, but you need more English proficient workers…
Bottom line is if you don’t have much in your pocket, this is the place to go! Happy Unilocaling!!!

So far i’ve tried their cold noodles, steamed mandoo, spicy BBQ pork, and seafood pancake. Everything was great except for the ban chan, which strangely were all quite bad.
I especially like the fact that it’s byob and that you can buy a 6 pack of Hite at the Korean market next door for $ 4.99.

My friends introduced me to this restaurant, which is mauka of Sorobol, and makai of the supermarket on Keeaumoku street. It’s facing sideways, so you can miss it if you go too fast. Can’t go wrong with the $ 4.99 menu of 4 items to choose from. Their other items are regular at $ 8 — $ 10. Parking is right in front of the restaurant, which makes it convenient to drive to:
Black noodle soup — 3 stars — very basic black noodles with a piece of meat and egg on it. However, the soup had too much vinegar in it, so it was not drinkable. But for $ 4.99, what more can you expect?
Panchan — 2 stars — 5 different dishes, but very basic. Somewhat the same as yummy’s, so I didn’t really care for it.
Service — 3 stars — it was ok, like an average korean restaurant. Our waters were filled, and with a time limited lunch, can’t really expect much.

4.99 lunch!!! I came here for lunch this past week with a couple co-​workers (Cory M. and Gavin). The 4.99 lunch is a little deceiving because although it’s cheap, the portion is small. Despite the main dish being small, once you throw in the side dishes, which the refill of course, the meal becomes pretty hearty.
I had the loco moco. Before you start getting up on me about eating a loco moco at a korean place hear me out. The loco moco was pretty good. The gravy was a thick, dark brown gravy… very tasty. The egg was cooked perfectly, which is a little runny, just how I like it. The rice is that healthy, purple-​ish korean rice. If anyone can tell me what kind of rice that is or what they call it, that would be much appreciated. My co-​workers both had the mochiko chicken and they both said that the chicken was more batter than chicken.
Overall, i will definitely be back and I will definitely try the korean food next time, hopefully. The staff is super cool and the food is awesome… and they have a pay phone on the wall… what more could you want?! I definitely recommend this place to others especially if you want a cheap lunch. 3 stars for the overall great experience and 1 more for the pay phone.

I was craving Korean cold noodles and my friend suggested to me that I go here. So my bf & I went last week for the first time and it was a good experience.
The location is a little hard to find parking, especially during peak meal hours. And the restaurant itself is really small, but I don’t mind the mom&pop hole in the wall kinda places. That’s how you know its authentic.
The menu is pretty simple. I like how they organized it by price and just listed what foods are that price.
We ordered the combo: 2 cold noodles + kalbi for $ 21. Very good deal. The cold noodles were good. Not quite the way I like it, but still really good. The kalbi serving was kinda skimpy. I was hoping for more cause it looked like only two pieces cut up into smaller pieces.
But the service was good. The lady was really nice. Check it out if you’re ever in the mood for cold noodles.

its $ 4.99 so I cant really complain but I have had better. The place was a little busy when my sister and I went to try. There were 2 open tables. 1 table for 4 that was in the middle of the restaurant and a table for 6 that was in the corner right next to the bathroom. Guess which table they sat us at after standing by the door for 5 minutes? Anywho, another party of 2 came in about 10 minutes after us and we still were not checked on. They got their waters and their order taken before us as well. We ordered the cold noodles and it was a large portion for $ 4.99. its not as good as Yu Chun but it is cheaper.

I love Korean Food! I’m Korean American and I grew up in Los Angeles, the other Mecca of Korean food besides korea. So, when I love finding cheap but delicious food, I praise God and tell the world. So here is my first review after finding my heart’s desire…
Moving to Hawaii was a bit difficult since finding good Korean food was much more harder to come by than that California’s Korea Town. So, finding Daechun was like a miraculous blessing from heaven.
They have an all day $ 4.99 menu.
I’ve tried 3 of the items, and I LIKED IT!
They are generous with their choices of Banchan (Korean side dishes) and it was good!
We came with a large group of friends (who were mostly all Korean) and we all feasted. Many of us had the naengmyun (cold noodles with icy broth). IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I couldn’t believe it was $ 4.99. There was definitely much love put in that broth. They also have green tea noodles too! My friend didn’t look up from her bowl, sat absolutely silent and she devoured it in 10 minutes.
My husband had the bibim naengmyun (cold noodles with spicy sauce) and not one noodle was left.
What made us COME BACK THE NEXT DAY was their beef stew with kimchee. It reminded me of my mom’s stew when she was trying really hard to make it good. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else but the food.
For $ 4.99, reminders of my home town of Ktown and my mama’s beef stew, I definitely will come back to Daechun!

They have a $ 4.99 lunch deal that consists of one Korean item — their mool (water) naeng myun. Is it really good? It’s average and it’s a pretty fair portion for $ 4.99. They give you the black buckwheat noodles like Yu Chun on Kapiolani. They give you lots of apple slices and squash in there too. However, they give you three little dishes of panchan (kimchee, peppered beat sprouts and a kimchee variation). The other $ 4.99 items — beef stew, beef curry, loco moco, chicken mochiko. Say what?
The rest of the menu is pretty expensive for a small place like this. Most of the entrees like bibimbap, soondubu or mandoo guk (dumpling soup) are $ 8.99. I’m not sure I want to explore any further.
I did have their «special» mandoo for $ 4.99 which consisted of 6 pieces of steamed beef-​mandoo and it came in a dim sum tray. These guys are just mixing and matching food genres with abandon. The mandoo wasn’t bad so worth a try. I couldn’t tell if they made the mandoo from scratch or they bought it frozen but since I am telling you this, I’m guessing it’s from a mandoo bag.
I was hoping that with the opening of the new Korean market in the back, that this place would be good. There were lots of customers and that’s probably due to the leverage they have of the market customer traffic. Plus there was ample parking on both sides of the plaza (at least at mid-​day on a Wednesday). However, seems like this place and the Chinese-​Korean place in the same plaza (Nihao) have missed the boat in stepping up the efficacy of the Keeaumoku Street scene and experience. The more great quality restaurants and shops, the more exciting the place becomes. Right now this and (from what I’ve heard, see Myong C’s review) Nihao have not raised the bar at all.

$ 4.99 neng myun and other specials! Pretty good quality, right next to the new Keeaumoku Supermarket!

Meh, food was ok.. .service horrible.. .guess you get what you pay for.

I came here for NaengMyun (not sure if I spelt it right). I usually just have the plaine ones with the shave ice in the soup and light pickled vegetables. However, this time I had the Green Tea Bimbim NaengMyun. It was pretty good, but the noodles were kinda stuck together, probably precooked too early? not sure. I remember it to be better. Maybe it was the green tea noodle that was weird. Usually I would have the black (buckweed?) noddles. The kimchee is pretty good.
I was looking forward so much to eat it when I went back to visit Honolulu after an year. It kinda disappoint though. I’ll still go back and order my usual next time. But this time around, it was A-​OK.

Went there for the korean cold noodle. service was good comparing to many small resturants. and our table was clean although there was a little bug on the wall. they have free parking which is good.