Regal Bakery Cafe

Donuts good, Hong Kong milk tea and Thai iced tea is sour…
Not sure if it’s because of the condensed milk or burnt tea…
Went the first time a few months ago and got the Thai iced tea or Thai milk tea to fulfill a craving and that did not hit the spot. It had a strange sour taste in my mouth as I drank it. But I thought maybe it was a flop or one time mistake, so I went again recently and got the hong kong milk tea, just as sour. It’s so weird…
Donuts are yummy, everything else, maybe not so much…

Note: I am a Unilocaler focused on finding the healthier options restaurants and new study spots (other than the same ol’ starbucks).
Good for:
— meeting up with friends over coffee and doughnuts
— studying (a number of outlets, free wifi and is quiet and empty at non-​meal times)
— group dinners (hot pot is fairly priced and there are 3 big tables that can fit around 8 – 10 people
— watching tv while dining (staff allowed us to change channels & restaurant isn’t too loud, so hearing the tv isn’t really a problem)
— breakfast for dinner because they serve it all day
Healthier options:
— sandwiches can be made with whole wheat bread
— brown rice and green salad available for plate lunches
— most drinks can be made with less sugar
— there are smoothies made with real fruit
— most items don’t have msg added, but some may have it in the seasoning mix
Parking:
— there is 15minute parking right in front of the restaurant OR you may park in the chinese cultural plaza. Since Regal bakery café is in the plaza, don’t forget to bring your parking ticket and get it validated so that parking is only $ 1 per hour.
Food we’ve tried:
— Garlic Shrimp plate w/​brown rice and toss salad (8 pieces jumbo shrimp, a lot of brown rice and a green salad with pickled vegetble) — ~$ 13, but I think they charged $ 1 for brown rice, so it came out to ~$ 14. The shrimp was very flavorful and the plate was split between myself and a friend. It was a bit pricey though and I could probably get this cheaper elsewhere.
— Jasmine milk tea with boba (one set price for a big cup… size of a veinte at starbucks maybe…, toppings are additional) ~$ 4.50 w/​boba adding. — no the best boba tea, as it was a bit watery and jasmine tea flavor was quite overwhelming
–BBQ Chicken plate (2 scoops rice, 2 big pieces chicken, side of salad with pickled veg) ~$ 9. Good deal for the amount of food given! Splittable amount. Make sure to dip the chicken in shoyu because it needs that extraa flavor.
— Lemon honey tea — not too sweet and is refreshing ~$ 3.50
Will I go back?
— To study with coffee and try one of their many doughnuts or to try out their hotpot, yes.

I never writes reviews but I am so upset by this place that I had to write this. I have been to Regal Bakery many times while shopping in China town for groceries and while the donuts are always delicious this review is aimed toward the SMOOTHIES and EGG PUFFS.
The last two times I have been to Regal Bakery have been AWFUL!!!
The first time was to just get a light snack, the egg puff waffle. My sister and I decided to get it with chocolate chips in it. The wait was ridiculous. A worker had turned off the machine and thus to heat it back up and to make our order took forever. No one seemed to be paying attention to when it got hot enough and instead went around filling other orders that came after ours. Furthermore when the egg puffs came out they were just okay, not even crispy. Nor was there enough chocolate chips in them to justify the extra charge. Overall not good.
The second event which has solidified why I do not like ordering anything besides donuts from this place is their smoothie selection. Today, 1÷1÷16, I ordered a watermelon smoothie since my favorite store, Thang’s, was closed. I specifically asked the woman at the counter what was inside the smoothie and what it was made with to ensure that I would be getting what I wanted (just a simple smoothie made with real fruit). She told me that the smoothies were indeed made with real fruit and when I asked if there was any creamers/​ice cream/​powders added she said no, and confirmed that it was just fruit and some water/​juice.
After feeling secure that I made the right drink choice I had to deal with ANOTHER long wait. There weren’t many patrons in the store and yet I had to wait over 15 mins for a simple fruit and juice smoothie. I even peeked into the kitchen to figure out what was taking so long and saw a male worker putting powder into the blender!!! Unbelievable.
However the worst part is how the drink actually tastes. After the ridiculous wait (3 other customers got serviced before me even though they ordered much later than I did), my order finally came out and while it looked good it TASTED VERY BAD. First, it didn’t taste like watermelon at all. When I had a sip I mistook it for bubble gum! That leads to the next problem which is that the smoothie tastes fake. It has a super heavy cream taste to it and barely any of this real fruit flavor that the woman promised me. Complete false advertising.
Overall just extremely disappointed with my past 2 experiences at this bakery. I really wanted to like the drinks and snacks because it is located at such a convenient location but unfortunately the service as well as products are just no good.
tl;dr: DONT get the smoothies here. Not made with real fruit. Also if you plan on getting anything other than donuts/​milk tea EXPECT A WAIT. But honestly, If you want a real fruit smoothie w/​wo boba just go to Thang’s located in the Mauna Kea plaza.

Donuts, hit or miss with the freshness, and 20 million items on the menu. Keep it simple.

I’ve been going here every weekend for about a month now. The location is convenient. The pastries look good. My boyfriend and I ordered the loco moco for breakfast and it was horrible. Great price. Great portion size on the rice and eggs. But the hamburger was too tiny and very sour. The next day I ordered a Hong Kong Style Milk Tea and Egg Puff combo. Hong Kong Style Milk Tea was okay. My egg puffs were soggy and over cooked — burnt to be exact. The customer service was horrible. Three people to work at one register? The communication was horrible. Never going here again.

Never actually been to this location before but man is it better than the mcully (more convenient) location. The guy behind the corner was so friendly and helpful! What a change from the grumpy ladies at mcculy who give you the evil glares if you take too long and don’t have exact change the minute they give you your total.
We only had doughnuts this morning. The glazed twist hit the spot! Chewy and sweet. Bf had the Oreo one, not bad Oreo glaze but could’ve used cookie bits in the doughnut maybe. Place is big with lots of tables and clean. So much more comfortable than the mcully I just can’t get over it. What a pleasant surprise in china town!

Five star donuts and three star food.
Donuts: Yeast donuts that are my favorite… maple chocolate, oreo dream.
Cake donuts that are my favorite… muddy (chocolate with crushed oreo on top), red velvet.
After 4PM, BUY 2 GET 1 FREE (except for the mooncakes, manapuas, chocolate dipped cookies, scones, and breadsticks)
Food: oxtail soup. Great tasting broth, mediocre meat.
Honey garlic chicken. Good flavor and texture. I usually prefer to eat something on the healthier side, especially since I always get a donut when I’m here.

Hawaii doesn’t have a lot of donut joints, so this is my usual «go-​to» place. I just wish they had more fluffy donut offerings versus the dense ones. I usually buy 2 – 5 donuts each time. I like the Strawberry Delight one because it has a real strawberry topping the actual donut. It cuts the sweetness of the sizable donut. Not all of the flavors are available at all times because they offer flavor-​of-​the-​month specials. One can’t really go wrong with the Red Velvet donut. It’s dense and just sweet enough! A while ago, I tried the blue raspberry flavored donut and a green tea Cronut which were both amazing! The Cronut (croissant + donut) was perfectly buttery and flakey all at the same time. Check back often because they are always coming out with new flavor offerings.

Unilocal 100 Review Challenge 2015: ⁸⁴⁄₁₀₀
My experience with Dim Sum was an utter fail so since I was still hungry & needing something to refresh my taste buds from all the grease and oil I had just devoured, I headed over to Regal Bakery.
I frequently their McCully location often when I was a student at the University since they have awesome, cheap breakfast items and donuts by the dozens! This location is much more modern and spacious. They have an extensive menu offering both hot meals and desserts alike. The café was nearly empty and the counter-​help were very friendly. My fiancé and I decided on sharing a chocolate dipped cheesecake that came out to ~$ 5. We enjoyed chatting and snacking in their air conditioning eating area while sipping on complimentary ice water glasses.
The cheesecake itself was a bit too cheesy for my liking, we ended up not finishing it all but the experience was very pleasant and I am open to trying other menu items in the future since I’ve already had a lifetime worth of donuts back in college from Regal’s Bakery!
p. s. they sell day-​old donuts at a discount!

I wanted to like this place; I really did. Any place with donuts and plate lunches is likely to be a winner for me.
So why only 2 stars? The donuts, while creative (e.g. the crème brûlée donut and the maple bacon donut), are only okay, and when the higher priced ones are $ 2.50−3.00 each, that’s just not good enough. Buying by the dozen is a better deal, though you may not get access to the premium flavors. Likewise, the plate lunches, while decent, are priced a bit high for my budget. We had won ton noodle soup, a combo bbq beef plate, and a loco moco. The loco moco was the best of the bunch.
The service was inconsistent — hard to get their attention at times, but friendly and helpful when engaged.
There was a delightful dance performance the Monday night we went.
Parking in the lot was only good for 15 minutes, so we had to park on the street a block or two away.
It was good enough, but we probably won’t be back anytime soon; there are too many places that are better at this price point.

(This was written prior to me experiencing the wonder of Voodoo Donuts in Portland and becoming donut monogamous)
I walked in for two doughnuts.
I left with 12.
I don’t remember what happened, but it must have been glorious.
Of all of their doughnuts, I enjoyed the simple glazed donut the best. Does that make me dull? Does that make me unadventurous? No. That makes me classy and classic like those starlets in black and white hollywood movies.
Not to say that the other doughnuts were not delicious, for they were and we enjoyed them all quite a lot.

A year late, but I finally got down to this location. I’ve been to the other Regal a few times, but haven’t ventured to this one! I believe this location is about a year old, maybe pushing two! So, after playing Hawaiian-​time I walk in to…
REGAL BAKERY CAFE!
Hey, late is better than never, right? Of course with so much doughnut options all over town that’s probably a valid reason too. Plus, I’m not one to enjoy parking in tight spots and of course this location is on Beretania St. in Chinatown, so up your anti-​anxiety pills! Okay, so I’m actually here because it’s «Dad Errand Day» and he wants to go to Legend’s for some Dim-​sum. I can do that, plus we can check-​out this semi-​new bakery too, since it’s in that same Chinatown outdoor cement mall! Yay! So, after our tasty, but slightly overpriced Dim-​sum, we slowly (I’m walking with gimpy Dad) make our way over to…
REGAL BAKERY CAFE!
We enter and we’re immediately impressed with the modern décor, spaciousness, and cleanliness! I’m immediately greeted (remember Dad’s 5 limps behind me). Smiles and cheerleader greetings! Yay! Umm okay, I guess I need to decide. So, after staring at the doughnuts and then looking up at the hipster cashier staring «bright eyed and bushy tailed» right back at me *kinda awkward moment*… I decide on the…
— BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUT
— MUD DOUGHNUT
— BAKED MANAPUA X2
Verdict? The Buttermilk Doughnut was very good and I would get it again. The Mud Doughnut I believe was a combo of expresso & chocolate — not a fan of that one. The Manapua was good, but not as fresh as if I was at Char Hung Sut or Libby’s. In fact, they microwaved the Manapua — Yikes! Plus, it was a pricier bun! Hmm. Yet, even though my bakery experience was about average… I have to bump it up a notch for a myriad of choices and overly friendly service! I’m only speaking for the bakery side as I do know there’s also a café side with very mixed reviews. I can still recommend…
REGAL BAKERY CAFE!
A standard Americanized Bakery with a kick of Café vibe! The choices are many and some quite unique, i.e. The Bacon, Matcha, Cornflakes, etc. There’s a narrow strip of parking right upfront, but if bringing the flaming pink Lamborghini be aware of the swinging car doors! I would return, but will once again head straight to the Bakery with the very, very cheerful hipster cashier flapping her eyelashes at me… Props? I think so.
OVERALL GRADE: 3.8-STARS!
Unilocal REVIEW #470/​500

Went here to use up a groupon… we ordered the Singapore rice noodles, it was so so, not as good as other Chinese restaurants, second time I ordered the beef tendon noodles, the first time the soup base was really tasty, tonight it was bland. we also had the teri beef fried noodles, not a good combination. the only good dish we had was the honey garlic chicken, I would order it again. Waiter service was good, we asked how the noodles were cooked, he asked the kitchen, the cook even came out to tell us how it was made… for being the only ones ordering food, they took a while to get it to our table. Next time here we’ll just get the donuts…

The smell of the donuts really fills the air in the restaurant. But there is also a place to dine in for their «real» food menu.
But this is not a place where you want to eat hot pot. There are many choices you can order with your hot pot meal, but unlike other places you do not get to see the vegetables or sauces to accompany the soup.
The soup takes about 30 minutes to get to your table. The meat slices looked as the were previously cut and rolled into nice pieces but then re-​frozen. They meat slices came all deflated and frozen stuck together. It was a pain to wait for them to defrost and stick them in the pot.
Overall the value for the quality of food, experience, and service is really low.

Food was delicious, fresh, and cooked right.
Service was all right, but they tried to help you.
Portion sizes were awesome.
My husband and I found this place on Groupon while on vacation in Waikiki. The location is in a nice part of downtown honolulu. We walked there from our hotel but took an Über back. Lol.
We ordered the garlic chicken, which was crispy and excellent! I know that Americans are known for their fried chicken and stuff, but the Asians can fry good chicken too! The chicken was breaded and not battered, which helped keep it light and crispy.
We also ordered the meat lover’s shabu shabu hot pot with the ox tail soup broth (forget the exact name). Very tasty! Even though we ordered the small, the soup and veggies were so plentiful that we two could only eat a small portion of the soup. We ended up taking about half of it back to the hotel. (They charge $ 1 for each Togo box). Note they charge for the soup broth separately ($ 7 – 8)…
The meat portions were decent — for the small size, we received about 4−5oz of chicken, 2 – 3 thinly sliced pieces of beef and pork each, 3 – 4 meat balls, 3 – 4 little sausage links, and imitation crab meat ball.
We enjoyed the meal twice that day. This was also my husband’s first time having shabu shabu, and he absolutely loved it! We both left stuffed and satisfied!

While on my quest to find the hole in the wall semi-​hidden phở restaurant this morning, I stumbled across the Regal Bakery. And let me tell you, Regal it is.
I just HAD to try this place. First thing I saw was a picture on the window of a plate of breakfast that consisted of an egg and a bunch of meat. Looked good actually. Then I saw they had hot pot in the evenings. Hmmm, breakfast diner meets donut/​coffee shop meets hot pot restaurant, all under one roof?!? Busy! Oh, by the way, they also have plate lunches! Haha
I made a mental note to run to the car to renew my hour limit time, and come walk back after my meal– to eat some donuts and drink some coffee.
Starting with drinks, I wanted coffee with donuts so decided on a Kona blend. Nothing special, as 10% Kona blend is just that. However, it wasn’t bad coffee. I have no complaints. The wife wanted a tea, so asked for a recommendation. We were told a chrysanthemum tea was good, so she took that. Sadly, it didn’t dawn on us to ask if it was sweet, so when we both sipped it, we were pretty surprised. It was very sweet and sadly not too good.
I’m not the type to grumble and take things back, so that’s ok, we shared the coffee and lesson learned– don’t forget to ask if it’s unsweetened.
Now on to the good stuff– the donuts.
There were 2 cases to choose from, all looked good. There were also some traditional Chinese sweets and local favorites (Manapua etc) as well.
I have been craving a cronut, so that was the first thing I looked for. There were Bavarian, green tea and POG to choose from. I went with Bavarian.
I also wanted to try a regular donut, so went with the Muddy (chocolate donut, vanilla icing, Oreo crumbles).
Dear lord the donuts were amazing. Perfect. High quality, done correctly. I couldn’t find a fault with either of them, except they were gone all too soon.
After eating 2 donuts– after eating a meal, I decided I needed to examine 2 more donuts.
This round I went with the flavor of the month which was honeydew melon. To offset that I got a Choco chip (yeast donut, chocolate icing, chocolate chip).
The honeydew was pretty good, the consistency still there. Nice and crisp where the icing is and perfectly soft and chewy in the center.
The choco chip being a yeast donut was thicker and heavier. It delivered the KO that put me out. Official kanak attack after eating all this. I was ready for a nap!
I will most definitely be going back to Regal, hell, maybe even tonight!

Located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza, Beretania side. Parking is either in the parking structure or street parking.
I stumbled across this place wander during the Chinese New Years festivities. I walked in wanting to look at the donuts since I’ve heard a lot about them. As I looked around the dinning area, I saw tables of customers having hot pot for dinner. My friend wanted to eat and we decided to give it a try. We ordered up at the counter off the menu, found a table and they came to set it up for us. We got the meat lovers with the the basic soup (I don’t remember which one). If you’re expected MEAT, don’t. I was waiting for more meat to arrive, but it was just that one plate barely satisfying the both of us. There were noodles, tofu, and veggies also.
The staff is friendly and service is fast. There’s a lot of choices to choose from if you’re hungry. It’s almost an upscale of L & L’s with café drink options, baked goods and better food selection (plate lunches). It is actually a bit overwhelming with options.
I’m ok with this place, don’t think I would return as a «must go back» kind of place, but if I’m in the area. Maybe next time I’ll try their donuts. And they have free wifi.

I can only speak to the donuts, which are outstanding! (When fresh. When older, they leave something to be desired.) The options are creative and often unique, and the flavors are incorporated throughout the dough, not just in the icing like in many places. Despite how they look, the donuts are also not too sweet — well, for donuts… — which is surprising in many cases. I’ve tried six of them and they were all excellent, but the maple bacon ones and the crème brulee ones are sinfully good.
Late in the day, the main donut case is empty — except for fascinating descriptions of those donuts you missed out on – and only a few of the special donuts are left as the restaurant focuses on the non-​breakfast side of the business (which does include a wealth of pies and such, if you were generally hoping for pastries of some type at this point). The donuts I had in the evening definitely showed the promise of the fresh ones but had been sitting too long and were going stale, leaving them relatively dry and hard. The flavor was there though, which is why I made sure to get here in the morning on another day to give the more fresh donuts a try, and I’m glad I did!
Regal is a huge place, with tabletop hot plates on most of the dining room tables. A smallish, more lounge-​y area is on one end. There’s a decent amount of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options on the menu. In the morning, Regal seemed to be managed by warm, friendly, attentive staff; in the evening, though, the staff remained friendly but was easily distracted, meaning you frequently had to be patient and repeat things with them.

1. VERDICT/​VALUE: With tough competition for donuts in town (Zippy’s/Napoleon and Kamehameha for example come to mind), Regal holds on with its wide selection of non-​yeast donuts. On the food side, it’s alright, especially with so much competition around it in Chinatown.
2. FOOD: The price and donuts generally keep us coming here, but it’s hit or miss.
In general, avoid the drinks if you’ve tasted authentic Asian drinks — the milk tea and lemon tea are of their own recipe.
The hot entrees can be good (e.g. breakfast, mushroom chicken, Asian chicken salad, etc.) but some might be worth passing on.
For example, the Spicy Pepper Pork Chop ($ 9.95) comes with two scoops of rice, choice of mac or tossed salad, and some salt-​and-​pepper spicy pork chop pieces served on a bed of chopped cabbage. The cost is a little hard to justify when the amount of rice easily exceeds the amount of meat.
They offer an Afternoon Tea Special, as is common in a lot of Asian eateries. Here, you can get a dish and drink for $ 5.95 or $ 7.95, depending on the entrée. The wonton mein /​noodles might be worth passing on, as it’s one bag of the cheap instant noodles (not the nicer, thicker Japanese or Korean ones) with 6 pieces of small wonton, one piece of Chinese broccoli (chopped), and garnished with green onions.
No restaurant is perfect, but you’ll need to watch more for the hit-​or-​miss factor here. The McCully location is the one we try to go to every week and it’s definitely more consistent food-​wise and serves larger portions.
3. SERVICE: This too is also hit or miss, depending on who is working the counters and even if you speak Cantonese. Sometimes, you’ll get someone young and responsive; other times, you’ll need to state your order, repeat such, and then correct them afterward. When dining in and ordering hot entrees, the speed is usually pretty good.
4. ATMOSPHERE: Much larger and nicer than the McCully Shopping Center location; there’s contemporary furniture and a TV to boot. Those used to Asian cafes and bubble tea houses will see where the influence came from. For those that care, the AC is always cranked up here, so it’s a great escape during the no/​Kona wind days, but some (ahem, ladies usually!) may find it a little chilly. The TV cannot have its channel changed (hope you like the Food Network) and the free parking out front is only valid for 15 minutes. Free WiFi is available if you spend more than $ 5.

I finally stopped in on the way to work because a groupon I purchased was about to expire, like tomorrow. lol!
I knew having scored some free Kona coffee this past weekend that doughnuts would be a perfect match to take to work along with all that coffee.
Their choices are pretty much the same as the other two locations, but the food choices are different. It’s seems this location serves sandwiches, plate lunches and has a nice seating area to enjoy your goodies in cool AC.
*Hey who doesn’t enjoy a doughnut in the morning!
*Hopefully you can get one of the open stalls in front of the bakery on Beretania St, if not validated parking is available at the Chinese Cultural Plaza.
Store Hours:
*Mon — Fri 5:30am –10:00pm, Sat 7:00am — 10:00pm, Sun 7:00am — 9:00pm