Palama Snack Corner

Great Korean take out food… great prices! Reminds me of Korea. Recommend this place to anybody who has that hunger for Korean food and in the area.

Hooray for cheap eats! After shopping at Palama, it’s a must pick up lunch from here. If you’re a fan of soondabu or soybean stew look no further, this is the cheapest you’ll probably get. Prices range from $ 6-​$ 8 with a wide selection of different dishes. All soups and stews comes with sides and rice.
My go to’s are usually the soondabu or the soybean stew. Their soondabu does have seafood in it such as clams and shrimp so just a heads up if you’re allergic. I decided to be adventurous the last time and tried the cold noodle. It was quite interesting because it had pieces of ice and apples in it. Their cold noodle was refreshing because it was hot but the sauce had a little too much vinegar taste for me to handle.
Overall it’s great, cheap, and fast! Portions aren’t skimpy at all. And for those on the go, take out is always a good option!

Was really hungry one day and was craving some Korean food. I shopped here ever since I was little but ever since it moved, I stopped going as often (I have no idea why because it just moved down the block). Anyways, I went on Unilocal and found this place. Based on the reviews and price I decided to give it a shot. This place is lacked at the back of the store, they have an area with tables and chars for whoever is eating there. It kinda has a open kitchen so you can see what and how they are making your food. The staff was nice and friendly and they have a very good variety of dishes. The price is very reasonable and compared able to other Korean places. My favorite soup is yook gae jang, and it was not bad at all. They give a very good portion of the soup and rice along with 3 side dishes. The side dishes are alright, I had better ones. Wished they had the fishcake side dish which is another one of my favorites. Cant wait to come back and try their other dishes, maybe soondubu or bibimbap. If you get takeout, order then use the waiting time to shop around they store. They have some good things on sale sometimes!

After 3 visits I have to admit this is my new go-​to spot for spicy pork based on the following…
Location ~ nearby, perfect.
Price ~ $ 7, excellent.
Quality ~ delicious (but not really spicy for me, could use more heat), meaty and not fatty, grilled flavor.
Quantity ~ good portion size + kimchee/​little veggies included.
Just ordered catering for class party 4 days in advance (only day required) so will see how that turns out (and if 5 stars is truly deserved)…$ 35 total for spicy pork (small tray-​$ 20) + fried mandoo (60pcs-​$ 15).
Update (¹⁰⁄₂₉): picked up my catered food right on the dot as they promised. Portion size was excellent for small tray. Lots and lots of pork and mandoo… so much I was able to still take some home after the party! #FTW

Previously reviewed under the market itself, but here again after two weeks travel in Korea and Japan. Writing this second review under a different Unilocal location as I was so impressed again that I need to get the word out on the highest quality and low cost Korean food on the island. Ordered my typical fav of soon du bu this AM. So good and better than I had over the 4 days spent last week in Korea. Generous clams, scallops, tiny squid, huge chunk tofu, zucchini, mushrooms and all yummy stuff galore. They have now hired local girls to work up front with the true awesome Korean chefs in the back doing the real work. I had to yell back about specific order mods to the chefs in Korean because the front staff does not understand basic Korean. Still 5 stars and an awesome meal for only 7 bucks!

Over the years we have eaten ROLLS & ROLLS of kim bap from Palama Snack Corner. (It was one of our ‘go to’s” for parties) This past monday, we ordered 4 rolls to go with a family dinner. We threw out 4 rolls minus 2 pieces. It had soured. I bought it at 5 and served it at 5:30, coming straight home. I am SO grateful we did not get sick from it!!! We won’t be going back.

No smiles no friendliness robot order taking a shame. Food reasonable and good value pricing. Do not expect service. Order and get out.

I’ve been coming to palama to eat and shop for years now, because of the prices and the amount of food you get. That being said prices of the food can go up, but as I got my food and asked for the vinegar spicy sauce which cost them less than 5 cents they asked for 50 cent I mean I don’t use you soy sauce… And I didn’t have cash and she saw me pay in credit card. I mean come on… One sauce I’m not trying to be cheap but u can go take out at a restaurant for a little bit more and get all the Sauses you want thanks a lot palama for disappointing me from something so small.

A friend of mine took me here after a volleyball game, and since he raves about the good food at reasonable prices, I figured «what the hell.»
Not bad, not great … ya know, somewhere in the middle. The portions are good for the price: $ 7 — $ 12 depending on what you get. The flavors were pretty good, but I’m far from an expert on Korean food.
To be honest, if given the choice, I would stick with Sam’s Deli on Nuuanu.

Palama Snack Corner = Okay food and decent prices.
I visited this nook, hidden in the right corner of this Palama Market, looking for some savory breakfast. They have about ten plus types of dishes to order, and I opted for their daily special (beef soup) and kimbap (Korean sushi).
*Beef soup: While I do love chewy beef organ parts, the broth tasted very watery and flavorless. It definitely needed more salt and simmering. The soup also came with a side of white rice to put in, but it just seemed like a dish to help satisfy someone’s hunger. Not anything more. If someone saw this special, I wouldn’t recommend him or her getting it. ($ 5)
*Kimbap: With the eggs, veggies, and rice inside, it did just the trick for me to help tame my voracious morning hunger. ($ 6)
I didn’t leave completely satisfied, but it’s hard to expect anything mind-​blowing with those more than affordable prices. (Especially considering that it’s in Hawaii.)

Ever since Queen’s market closed up, I’ve been looking for a place to satisfy my soondae cravings. For those of you that don’t know what soondae is, it’s Korean sausage. Surprisingly, not many places serve it even though it’s pretty popular among Koreans. A friend said I could find it being served at Palama (Keeamoku Supermarket doesn’t have any at this time, they’re waiting for the shipment). I was suprised to find that they were actually serving it. It’s $ 8, which is a little steep, especially since Queens used to sell it for $ 6… I still decided to order anyway because nothing can keep me away from my food cravings.
Upon my first bite I found that it was completely… cold. The sausage was COLD! I took it back and told the girl working at the counter to heat it up because it wasn’t warm at all and she told me that they don’t have a microwave. Um… there’s no microwave here? What? So then my mom proceeded to speak to one of the Korean employees and she said she would steam it up for me. Ok, that sounds good right? After she steamed it, the entire sausage was obliterated. It no longer resembled anything like what I was originally given. We asked for a refund and my mom told the employees that food like this should not be served.
I mean seriously, how can you serve such low quality food and call yourself a food establishment. How can you serve food that is still cold and expect people not to complain. The soondae comes precooked in a vacuum sealed package and all they had to do was HEAT IT UP. Apparently the dial that controls the temperature of the water automatically switches to cold… which is not an acceptable excuse for cold food. «Sorry we’re a restaurant that serves cold food because our equipment is outdated» makes no sense at all. Maybe you should purchase something that effectively heats water instead of using that as an excuse?
Ugh I was so disappointed that I’m never dining here again. I’m mortified by the fact that they can serve this kind of low quality food and give terrible excuses and call themselves an establishment that serves food. That’s not food! It’s NOT EDIBLE, that’s what it is. So sad.

Looks like food quality has stabilized. All is good!
It’s really hard to find a place that has pretty good food, generous portions and is affordable. Most dishes will run you around $ 7 — $ 8.
The best dish is the soft tofu soup.

I was innocently shopping at Palama Supermarket last night when I noticed the line! The combination of impending doom from Hurricane Iselle and lots of places being closed must have brought all the people. I was curious and hungry so I stopped by and had a gander.
After seeing the cheap prices, I joined the line. I had to wait at least 10 minutes to get to the front. Since I’m trying to be healthy, I settled on the BBQ Chicken plate. A full-​sized plate was priced at only $ 7!
Wait time to receive my food was about 15 minutes. I did not mind as I wanted to catch up on my phone notifications and I was too lazy to make food at home. My number was called and I was excited. I love food!
The portion size is generous. You get 3 large pieces of slightly burnt, well-​marinated chicken, about two cups of white rice, corn with a little cheese on top, kim chee, bean sprouts, and cabbage.
I will definitely stop by again when I’m secretly shopping for spicy noodle bowls that don’t belong in my diet.

I once rated the food under the actual super market. So I guess I’ll put one here.
Sure the food aint as cheap as it used to be and all the new staff are even more ornery. But I still love their kim bap and spicy squid. The squid is always the right kick of spice and I never can drive by without picking up 1 or 2 rolls of «Korean meat sushi».
Ive ventured out to try some other items but always come back to the tried and true.
Heck. I’m eating it now.

You get a lot of food for the price, which is a big plus, but the veggies are pre-​set unlike the other Korean take out places. If you’re on your way grocery shopping and need a quick, large lunch then this place makes sense but otherwise go to a place that offer more customization of your order. That being said, they have a large menu with lots of entrée options to choose from.

Great place to get Korean food at a good price!
There are many great places to get Korean food in town, however, a lot of them are sit down restaurants and if you don’t have time or any friends to go eat with you (isn’t that the most annoying thing ever?) then you should definitely give this place a shot! I only know of this place because, I myself, am Korean and we know everything about everything. JUST KIDDING. I know of this place because it’s located in Palama, a Korean Supermarket! The portions are a good size and they have everything you could crave. BBQ chicken, Kalbi, Bi Bim Bap, Kim Bap, you name it! It’s there! I normally call ahead and put in my order so I can go home and stuff my face in privacy. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. They do have a pretty spacious dine in area and the prices are very reasonable. I always get the BBQ chicken which is $ 7. As a poor college student, this is good. My bank account thanks you Palama Snack Corner.
Try this place out! Order first, shop around a bit, and eat! Easy peasy pumpkin squeezey.

If you are ever craving Korean but a bit lost with the menu’s then this is a great spot with all the pics of their offerings. But it seems to be a very hit and miss spot for me.
I’m a big fan of the Spicy Squid because of the flavor (think the spicy paste they use is standard but tasty). Then finally ventured into the Tofu-​Soup (Sundubu) after a friends recommendation… it fell into the average category (I’ve had this in Korea, Tokyo, LA). It will hit the spot if you want a little guilt free low calorie Tofu Soup.
Then… it was time to move onto the Kimchee Soup. My indications that the Kimchee here is rather old is the frequent sighting of gray spots all over the lettuce they use. I can only assume it is old and they get a great deal from the bordering Palama Supermarket veggie isle. After one taste of the Kimchee soup my first reaction was super sour… there were pieces of pork inside that failed to impress as most were fatty and few still had shards of bones (thought I lost a tooth but later realized it was pork bones). Overall the Kimchee soup kinda sucked… I won’t be back for this.
I finally realized that all the customers around me were speaking either Chinese or English and I rarely saw any Korean customers here… I guess real Korean foodies don’t hit this spot.
Oh, the rice used here was such a low grade… so dry and flavorless.

If there’s one thing I go to Palama Food Court /​Snack Corner for, it’s the Kim Bap. The Palama Kim Bap is tasty with all the basic Kim Bap ingredients, but tastes better than many others I’ve tried. I don’t know if they sprinkle crack in there or what, but I can’t just buy one roll… I buy at least 3… for me. And at $ 3.50 a roll, I can get a little carried away sometimes. And I don’t even use the Kim Bap sauce that many people ask for. To me, I feel like it takes away from the deliciousness of the Kim Bap. And as of recently, they service more than one kind of Kim Bap — original, veggie /​Gobo, and Kim Chee. The original is my fave.
Prices at this «Snack Corner» are very good: Bibim Kooksoo is $ 5.50, 6 – 8 pieces of fried mandoo run for $ 3.50, and naengmyun is only $ 6. These Palama Snack Corner people aim to please! Also, bottled water is only $.50 or $.75, which is dang cheap compared to most other places where you get ripped the eff off.
Parking sucks, but I usually am very lucky. Be careful who you park next to bc these (Korean) people cannot drive for bananas!!! (I am Korean and I can’t drive!!! But trust, these crazy Palama shoppers are worse.) Take a look at the lamp pole bases! They are covered /​cushioned with thick rope, so they don’t eff up the 20 bumpers a day that back into ‘em. I’m serious. I’ve seen it in action before, with my own eyes!
Considering both the price and taste, Palama serves up some pretty good Americanized Korean dishes. This blows Yummy Korean BBQ and many of those other Korean BBQs (serving American Korean Fare) out of the water. Plus, the food here are sold at prices that are hard to beat.
**BTW — If you like Chicken Alice Chicken, you can get it here!
Unilocal 365 — #221/​365

Was a slightly cold night after my relaxing time at Aloha spa, so my friend and I walked to the Market and into the snack corner. Saw soonduboon/​tofu stew and immediately ordered it.
Came with rice and some sides of veggie. Not bad for a little market corner. Serving was a bit small, but reasonable prices. Would not hesitate to come back.

After reading reviews of the Palama Food Court, we decided to make it our lunch stop for the day. Located next door to Don Quijote, Palama Food Court is located inside the Palama Supermarket. It’s essentially the Korean version of Shirokiya.
After scanning the few vendors in the court, we ordered from an unnamed food booth in the corner of the food court and I was surprised at how cheap it was! $ 6 for my BF’s BBQ chicken plate and $ 5 for my Bibim Kooksoo (cold spicy noodles). Yobo say what?! For $ 11, you really can’t beat that! The women cooking were all Korean so that’s always a good sign. It was a 10 – 15 minute wait for our food but it was certainly better than the standard Yummy’s fare. There’s a decent amount of seating at the food court, portions are hearty and we both left full.
Word to the wise: Parking sucks. The lot was completely cray cray and we ended up just doing metered parking on the street. I’ll certainly be back to do take-​out, but I think the success of my food gathering missions will depend heavily on what parking looks like for the day.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #6/​365 (The Yobo Say What)