New Mui Kwai Chop Suey

Well maybe one day when I actually get to eat stuff from here I will update the rating… but after my doctor’s appointment Monday morning, I clicked on Unilocal to see if there was a Chinese restaurant in the area that made the brown Kau Yuk… not the red one that most places have… for some reason I have been craving it because from my experience it is normally softer type meat easy to chew and tastes good to me… don’t really care for the taro if it comes with it… so if it was without it would be better. Anyway I got there around 9:30am…the Unilocal page didn’t have any hours listed so I parked behind the building and went to the door… but per the sign in the window, they open 10am… so I thought ok… I didn’t find anywhere else in the area that was open and made brown Kau Yuk so I figured I would wait it out playing an irritating game on my iPhone… it is irritating, but better than just standing there waiting doing nothing. When 10:00 came, I pushed the door and it was open, but a man in the back doing dishes or whatever kept telling me it was closed. I told him the sign says 10am, but he must have said it 10+ times «closed» and a couple other Chinese words I have no clue what he said. I asked when do they open… maybe he doesn’t know English… lol…but all he knew and said was closed over and over… so irritating to see a sign say 10am combined with the waiting. Needless to say I was not a happy camper and odds are I will not take the time to try again.

Ordered fried fish filet with garlic chili. Best eaten fresh out of the fryer! Also had Shanghai noodles is not as common around the island but that was good too. Customer service was fine even though there was only one server for the whole place.

Terrible customer service. Woman gave me the hardest time when I offered to pay her extra money just to get more cold ginger chicken sauce.

I like the food it very good I like the chicken wings and fried rice and also the salt and pepper pork chop it very delicious and The food is better than Panda Express in my opinion the fried rice is very good the chicken wings are my favourite

Just delicious! Was at the movie theater for 4 hrs today. Missed 3 Purium meals. Then there is this crazy traffic. WtH I go to eat. So I ate a Chinese Chicken Salad. It was soooo goood!

Nothing spectacular but they are very friendly and consistent with serving size and flavor.
I usually get their shrimp fried rice, minute chicken, beef chow fun, or the dinner combo plate.
If you’re in the area of Liliha, I would recommend New Mui Kwai!

I wasn’t too impressed with this place. Hoy Tin and Pauoa chop suey are way better. Had the kau yuk with taro. The meat was an odd mixture of too fatty and dry. Had the kung pao shrimp. It was just ok. Syrupy sauce and the portion was on the smaller size. Also had the egg fu yung. Nothing to write home about.

So, our Hawaii posse’s buddy from L.A., Marko C. announces to us he’s coming home for a visit. Ok. What shall we do? Drink (most logical), eat (no fun if it’s not home cooked) or both. Haha, easy. Both, of course! So, my fabulous friend, Terry K suggests we have a PYE with our close friends since Marko is claustrophobic around big crowds. Nah, just joking Marko! She is a great planner and when she mentioned it, I was all ears. So the plan of attack was set and the list of peeps was finalized.
The original venue was changed because when Marko tried to negotiate and reserve a table, the manager was hee-​hawing about the time being late, having to wait in line because we had a big group, on and on and on… Oh brother! Drama, after he told me what happened, he moved it to his favorite Chinese restaurant in town. New Mui Kwai Chop Suey. Ok, we’re set. Ah, gotta mention this. It just so happens that the dinner was post Iselle, the hurricane that passed through the islands as a tropical storm. Haha, post-​hurricane party.
The party was set for 7:00 sharp. Ah yes. As always is the case, I have a hard time appeasing the parking gods. Why not Miss Parking herself, Terry K. Ha! Here I am driving around in circles because there is no parking on the street, except miles away. Try walking with a 12 pack of Heinekens in the dark, through the hood, I can see myself getting mugged for it! I get a call from Marko because I’m the only person who isn’t there yet, so I sarcastically tell him, that’s what you get for picking someplace that got no parking! I stop in front, drop off the +1 Lori M. and the beer and just as I’m about to go off again in search of a parking spot, Marko comes out waving his hands and the parking gods bless me with a wafer thin stall in back! I swear, if I were five pounds heavier, I wouldn’t be able to get out of my car!
So in I march, making the grand entrance. After the hellos, hugs, sneers and teasing, I am welcomed to my seat by my Unilocal brother, Brian M. Mahalos Cuz, the cold beers were right behind him and I. Very convenient! And we slid back a few too! Add brudda Rod U. to the mix and BadBoy club was in da house!
This was my first time dining here at New Mui Kwai, I really enjoyed each dish. We all got to pick one dish each and it turned out super perfect! There were what seemed like an endless parade of different dishes arriving table side just as everyone had finished taking a portion of the dish before. There were so many dishes that I can’t remember them all (ask Brian, he knows what I mean!) but I will try! There was my choice, Kau Yuk with Taro, Shoyu Duck, Orange Chicken, Lobster with Black Bean, Pork Chop with Black Bean, Garlic Shrimp with Chow Fun Noodles, Choi Sum with Oyster Sauce, man, that’s a lot of Chinese Food!!! Plus we had Salted Chicken Fried Rice AND Steamed Rice to go with the meal! Talk about Chinese Dinner overload, that’s exactly what it was! But it was good, plus, considering the company we were all with, it was an awesome evening! Thank you to my friend Jo Y. for her sweetness and generosity in bringing a Lemon Crunch Cake for dessert. The lady has such a thoughtful heart! And Marko, thank you for the mochi from Maui! I haven’t had those in a while! I better get back to Maui… And oh boy… leave it to Marko to come up with these themes for our next Alewa Heights Top Chef cook off. You really outdid yourself Brotha, but it’s up for grabs… I can hardly wait. Uh, T, my apron size is XL! Really enjoyed our PYE at this restaurant. If you have the chance, go and don’t give up if you can’t find parking right away. The service is excellent and they go out of their way to make you happy. They have really friendly service with a smile and it shows in their food!

Unilocaler friend Marko C, who grew up on Oahu & now lives in LAX, was in town & w/​fellow Unilocaler Terry K, had arranged a Chinese dinner for our group of friends & their spouses at the New Mui Kwai III Restaurant on Liliha St. The dinner for 11 of us was scheduled during the time Hurricane Iselle was to hit Oahu. Doubts were raised as to whether to cancel this dinner. In an effort to have residents remain at home, State/​city government was shut down for the day, as well as all schools, public transportation, financial institutions, sports/​special events, major shopping centers.
Fortunately, Hurricane Iselle was downgraded to a tropical storm & had veered slightly south of the islands after hitting the Big Island. With some rain on Oahu, Marko polled us as to whether the dinner should be cancelled.
Dinner was on! Apparently, good friends, all of whom have met via Unilocal,felt that dinner took priority over the tropical storm. Our friendship is a special bond among us who have common backgrounds & interests. We enjoy each other’s company, understand each other w/​compassion, are able to be our true selves & express our feelings, make mistakes w/​out being judged by others, and are eager to share ideas & personal feelings. Yes, dinner was definitely on!
New Mui Kwai III is one of Marko’s favorite Chinese restaurants, a little hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant serving Hong Kong style traditional & comfort Chinese food, w/​more than 150 reasonably-​priced menu offerings. Owned by husband/​wife team, Peter & Mei Lam for the past six years, it offers Hong Kong style Cantonese dishes. This restaurant initially was under the same ownership of the other two New Mui Kwai I (Kaneohe) and New Mui Kwai II (Kailua); but the existing cooks, Peter & Mai Lam, bought the restaurant from the owners who presently own the two restaurants on the Windward side, & kept the restaurant name as is. The menu differs from the other two Windward restaurants.
Instead of determining the menu, Marko was kind enough to have each person order his/​her favorite dish. Some of us voiced our favorites prior to the dinner & others at the start of the dinner. We had a scrumptious feast of a wide variety of dishes with generous portions:
— Chinese chicken salad
— Soy sauce duck
— Beef w/​sweet sour cabbage
— Honey orange chicken
— Beef stew w/​tendon & tripe
— Lobster w/​green peppers & black bean sauce

— Minute chicken
— Kau yuk w/​taro
— Garlic shrimp over chow fun

— Gai lan w/​oyster sauce
— Lemon chicken
— Pork chops w/​black bean sauce
— Ginger chicken
— House special fried rice w/​salted fish
Can’t believe that we had 14 dishes, & all were so flavorful & delicious! Thank you to the Lam’s who accommodated our wishes in preparing a similar popular lobster dish that we knew about at another restaurant. The Lam’s asked us to describe how it was prepared, e.g., whether it was wet or dry. They got the fresh lobster directly from Chinatown & prepared it to our liking. It was better than what we experienced from the other restaurant, as the Lam’s prepared it by cutting the lobster in large pieces with the shell on & stir-​fried in a savory black bean sauce. It was a magnificent dish, both in its presentation & taste! The other dishes were just as amazing!
We ended the dinner on a sweet note w/​tasty & so soft chocolate mochi from Maui Specialty Chocolates in Kahului & the famous delicious Lemon Crunch Cake from Diamond Head Market & Grill. Awesome desserts!

After dinner, Marko surprised us all w/​each of us drawing from a bag, sight unseen, two kinds of exotic spices & herbs for an upcoming Top Chef cookout using these items. Surprise indeed, as Marko was to be the one competing for the Top Chef, but we know he won’t get away that easily, as we have something up our sleeves…
Service was friendly & attentive, considering that there were others dining also in the midst of the tropical storm warning. The dishes came out one by one as we ate until there was no end. Our plates were replaced w/​clean ones, teapot refilled when empty & water glasses continuously refilled.
Located across from Foodland & McDonald’s, there’s free parking in 5 stalls (#1 to #5) in a small parking lot in the back of the restaurant, or street parking.
We had three hours of fun & laughter w/​good friends & would have gone longer if the restaurant didn’t have to close. Thank you Marko & Terry for planning! Good food/​drinks at New Mui Kwai III w/​great Unilocal fellowship — who could ask for more?! Thank you, Unilocal,for good friends!

5^th star for the Great service and hospitality– offsets and makes me look beyond the lack of parking issue.
There were 11 of us… Partaking in good food, fellowship and fun… We each got to select a dish and what a selection and balanced meal we had! Seafood poultry, pork, beef, noodles, vegetables and of course, great libations (leave it to Rod U to select a great whiskey to chase the delicacies.
Last but not least. Jo Y graced us with lemon crunch cake…
And all this– thank you Marko for spending time with us during your visit to Honolulu and for planning and coordinating a great fellowship.
Ohhhh… The grab bag from Dean And Deluca as a preface to the top chef face off next year!!! Great idea !!

New Mui Kwai is located in Liliha across McDonald’s with limited parking in there rear of their building stalls 1 – 4,other than that it’s meter street parking.
Dinner seems to always taste better when you’re with good friends and of course the great libations doesn’t hurt either.
Marko C. was in town and a bunch of Elites Unilocalies and spouses got together to have dinner or was it to talk sh#t and harass each other? Yes, I’m talking about Marko C., Jo Y., Terry K., Rod U., Dave F., Michael C., love you guys!
Service was excellent and the dishes kept on coming one after another as we all picked our favorite Chinese eats to share.
What we ordered:
Asian Salad
Black Bean Lobster
Kau Yuk Pork Belly with Taro
Ginger Chicken
Chinese Beef Stew
Black Bean Pork Chop
Shoyu Duck
Beef Sweet Sour Cabbage
Orange Chicken
Chicken Fried Rice
Minute Chicken
Garlic Shrimp with Funn
Oyster Sauce Choy Sum
I love eating family style getting to enjoy each delicious food with wonderful company. All of the dishes were full of flavor and very tasty, sorry Jo about the flying food that slipped out of my fingers… lol! Mahalo’s to Jo Y. for bring the Lemon Crunch Cake
from Diamond Head Market and Marko C. for the Dark Chocolate Truffle Mochi from Maui Specialty Chocolates
, they were fantastic!

My *favorite* Chinese restaurant in Honolulu! Love this place. It is a small hole in the wall place, yet the food is ono! Ask for Mei or Hua as they are the owners who run this really great restaurant! I learned that the chef is a famous chef from Hong Kong that used to be one of the Head Chefs of one of the major Hotel Chains! He cooks Hong Kong style without changing the style for the Western pallate. AMAZING!
My Unilocal 1+ Terry K. and I pulled together a group of Yelites to hang out and catch up! Thanks to the Honolulu Crew — Terry K., Dave F., Lori M., Jo Y., Brian M., Rod U., and Michael C. for coming out to grind! What a great time!
We sure did eat — here’s a quick summary of what we had:
Lobster and Black Bean Sauce (Double Order, suggested by Jo Y.): The owners didn’t have this on the menu, but I asked them to make it in advance. They went to Chinatown to get the ingredients just for our get together! THAT is customer service. Lobster wok-​fried in black bean sauce. The best dish of the night! Grade: A+
Kau Yuk with Taro (Double Order, suggested by Dave F.): A clay pot filled with braised pork belly and taro root. Traditional, old style, and tasty! Grade: A–
Soy Sauce Duck (suggested by Terry K.). A whole duck marinated and cooked in soy sauce. One of the house specialties. Tender and flavorful! Grade: A–
Garlic Shrimp on Chow Fun Noodles (Group suggestion). Shrimp split in half and marinated with garlic, steamed on a bed of chow fun noodles. Tons of garlic, taste amazing! Get this! Grade: A
Chinese Chicken Salad (My sister’s choice): Your typical Chinese chicken salad of lettuce, crispy won tons, cilantro, etc. topped with a thousand island dressing. OK, the dressing wasn’t my favorite. It should be replaced with thousand island dressing. Grade: C+
Pork Chops with Black Bean Sauce (Suggested by Brian M.): Pieces of pork chop cut up, battered and deep fried. Tossed with black beans. This dish didn’t do much for me, as I found it rather bland. Grade: C+
Orange Chicken (Suggested by Brian M’s 1+): bite sized pieces of chicken battered and deep fried. The batter was puffy and this tasted like lemon chicken. Tart & sweet. This was perhaps my least favorite dish of the night. Grade: C.
Beef with Sin Choy (Suggested by Jo Y’s 1+): tender beef sauteed with pickled Chinese mustard cabbage. This version of the dish was more dry than I am used to, but I actually liked it. It was a bit on the sweet side. Grade: B+
Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce (Suggested by Lori I): Steamed fresh chinese greens topped with oyster sauce. Simple, healthy, tasty. Grade: B+
Minute Chicken (Suggested by Michael C.): Tiny bite sized pieces of chicken battered and deep fried. Tasted like it was salt and peppered. Simple. Grade: C+
Beef Hot Pot (Suggested by Rod U.): One of the winner dishes in my opinion. This was beef chunks, tripe, tendon, daikon radish made into a traditional Chinese stew. Heavy taste of anise. The dish brings you back to your childhood. Amazing. Grade: A
House Fried Rice with Salted Fish (Group Choice): Chicken fried rice made with onions, egg, etc. and fried with bits of salted fish (Ham Yu). They even cooked it with lettuce slices, which is typical Hong Kong style. Amazing. Grade: A
Why the 5 star rating? The food is GOOD here. The service is EXCELLENT! The owners went out of their way to get the ingredients for our dishes, they were super accommodating to our large party (the restaurant is small). The food tasted like it was straight from Hong Kong (which is kind of is, given their chef).
Food Grade: A–
Service Grade: A+
Worth the Money Grade: A
Overall Impression Grade: A

I could have sworn I wrote a review for my favorite saimin place. Where the noodles used to be fresh and chewy and broth was porky, shrimpy yum. Tonight I needed a saimin fix most deperately and was sorely disappointed. Bleh. Broken noodles. Yucky poot poot. Basic chicken broth. So sad, too bad. Not even mustard sauce could help it.
But I ate it, yes I did, uh huh, indeed. Some generous person was paying again. Can~not, must~not! Damnit Jim!!! bitch while eating food someone else is paying for. No matter how auglay tasting. That’s what Unilocal is for later on. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but THE TOOTH.
My beloved salt pepper squid which is usually lightly dusted with flour and heavily seasoned, flash fried and served piping hot and tender, was heavily ladened with a thick, yellow, batter and without much flavor. Rubberty bing bong chewy you get it, I know. There must have been a new chef working tonight whose food I have never eaten, ever before. The one I don’t like anymore.
We did catch the brass ring on an order of deep fried oysters which surprisingly, was fantastically delicious. I don’t know if we just went on the day they freshly shucked those babies but I haven’t ever eaten such fresh, delicious, fat oysters, never ever. And I’ve had them in some purty fancy places, on the half shell! There was not one tiny bit of armpit of the ocean smell. No high surf duts odor. Oh c’mon, all y’alls spit out a bad oyster at least once in your lifetime. Admit it.
OMG great. Unquestionably a redux. But will it ever happen again? I’m leaving 3 blank stars to find out. Reserving my extra stars for later. Consistency.

order the fried fish w/​chili flakes! nuff said.

This very small Chinese restaurant on Liliha Street I discovered while looking for a new lunch spot while not going back to McDonald’s for their dollar menu options. While Chinese food wasn’t the best idea, Unilocaling new and hole in the wall places was good. Located nearby to McDonald’s and the Liliha medical building, it almost resembles a typical Chinese take out place, without the restaurant component attached to it. Without really much of parking options to speak of, I’d suggest parking in one of the neighborhood streets or park in Foodland and run across the street, but there is limited parking in the back of the building.
I was surprised to see a plethora of offerings from this place. It felt like being at home, but I didn’t dine in and I just ordered take out to satisfy my stomach for that afternoon. I was there just about 12:15pm and the place was practically empty. Just a few seats were taken. I went for the beef choi sum with chow fun and the crispy gau gee cake noodle, as recommended by fellow Unilocalers. The musty ambiance of the place kind of put me off, but I just had to give them a benefit of a double. The beef choi sum came out better than expected with decent sized portions and the taste was pretty good. The crispy gau chee cake noodle was tolerable, but not up to my standards. It still was tasty, but just a bit off and I didn’t like that at all.
While I did love the pricing @ $ 5.50 an entrée, the place wasn’t as clean as I thought. Then again, I just came for take out only. Overall, this place is pretty good, although I just need to come here more just to sample more and see what else specialities they have to offer. The prices are great and they continually have specials daily. Maybe I should have called ahead, like a Unilocaler had suggested, instead of waiting and being bored off my rocker. I must’ve waited a good 15 minutes before receiving my orders. I’m not going to recommend this place until I come back to this place and sample the seafood entrees and make a concrete assessment. So far, so good.
B–

We went for dinner here on a Thursday night, and I hope I never go here again. We had three dishes:
– Steamed fish fillets: good, except too salty
– Shanghai noodles: oily and tasteless
– Fujian style tofu: tofu tasted old (going bad), and my Dad found a small cockroach in the dish as well.
This being Hawaii, I understand about the bugs (and found them in my food before)… but really I didn’t have much appetite after that.

Went there for a «Its much too late to cook and I am feeling like a tired lazy sloth» take out. We ordered beef broccoli cake noodle, kung pao chicken, and Mongolian beef.
Portions are good, the price points are pretty good too. I always ask where ever I go if they could please cook without MSG and they said they could. Over all the food was good and if i am ever in that mood again I would keep them on my mind as a go to for Chinese food.

Pretty good chinese restaurant if you happen to be in the mood for some local style food. Prices are good and they always have a ton of specials. Portions are decent sized and you won’t be disappointed. I personally always have to have the crispy gau gee cake noodle! Also, I’d call ahead and take out… service can be a little slow sometimes.
Btw…limited parking is available in the back of the building!

Happened to be working out in the Liliha area today and saw the 7^th anniversary sign out front with specials listed so I decided to have lunch here. I’ve been to the restaurant in Kailua so I know it’s good decent food.
My coworker and I walked in at almost 1pm but the place was empty. There are a lot of specials listed on the walls besides the ones listed on their sign out front. Anniversary specials included a few chow fun dishes for just $ 5.50 and lunch specials started from $ 6.50 and included soup of the day, rice and entrée.
I ordered the beef choi sum with chow fun ($ 5.50) and my coworker ordered the lunch special with Kung Pao chicken ($ 6.50). For $ 5.50 I was expecting a half order of the chow fun but it was a full order that was piled high with chow fun, beef, choi sum and gravy. Now for $ 5.50 that was a great deal. The lunch special was also a generous serving. It first of all came with the soup of the day which was seaweed with tofu. The plate included 2 huge scoops of rice and not scoops made with an ice cream scoop either. The Kung Pao chicken included baby corn, celery, and other veggies. My coworker said it was kind of on the spicy side compared to what you’d get at some other restaurants.
Overall, for the price and taste it’s a great deal for lunch. If I’m ever in the area again during lunch I’ll stop by again…

I’ve been eating at Mui Kwai for awhile now. Its a little chinese place but they’ve still got some good prices. Chinese chicken salad is $ 5.75 now but still way cheaper then what other restaurants sell a salad for. Due to staffing changes (someones daughter went to college?), service has been slower lately, so call in an order if you dont want to wait around.
Check out their specials, a dinner out with your family wont break the bank.
There are 4 parking stalls in the back, or you can park on the street.