Simply Ono

Good fast food in a food court. Quick and easy in and out. Menu choices were varied but nothing special. Worth a try.

No longer at 99 Moanalua complex.

i like the seared ahi here, i come here to get that when it’s available. however, i always go during the dinner hours, and everything looks like it’s been sitting since lunch, the meat looks old and dried up… so i’ve never tried anything else. only the seared ahi is fine at all hours because they keep it refridgerated.

I really thought i would like the food here because i liked the selections. I mean they had, baked spaghetti, veal cutlet, beef stew, and so on.
Once I got there, the first thing I notice, was the food looked old. But I gave them the benefit of a doubt. So I tried a combo of veal cutlet, and a fish with lup cheong and mac salad. As I start to taste the food, I start to lose my appetite.
Mac Salad– It seemed old or something else was wrong with it. The mayo seemed like it separated. It also tasted bad.
Veal Cutlet– Isn’t a veal cutlet supposed to be moist in the inside. The cutlet was hard, rubbery, and dry. Flavor sucks, and the gravy was cold. Actually, everything was cold.
Fish– Again, it was dry. Taste was just okay, and the lup cheong was unnecessary .
Maybe I went there on a bad day… but i can never see myself ordering food there again. Well at least the Fruit punch was good!

Sorry guys. I love the Simply Ono lunchwagon at UH. and I was happy to hear that they opened up a new location, but I did not walk away a happy customer this time.
As I walked in building, I saw a sign for Simply Ono, listing the daily specials. The Hawaiian plates sounded good but I decided on the pulled pork sandwich because I knew it was something I could finish.
I went to the counter and the girl nicely asked what I wanted to order. So I ordered, «pulled pork sandwich», and she turned to the lady next to her (she was «busy» doing paperwork) and said, «do I get it from the back?»
I’m thinking, s***, I know what that means, it’s gonna be leftovers. or something’s gotta be wrong with it. So the girl disappears in the back.
In the meantime, there’s this other customer next to me, just about ready to order. and the lady doing paperwork, hollers at the girl to come to back. and «just use the pork over there». I guess they had kalua pig ready to go… but that was probably for the Hawaiian plate?
I felt bad for the girl. I mean she’s already working on something and here’s this lady, unwilling to lift a finger. (I’ve worked in the food industry before, so I know very well how people can be)
Not long after, another girl comes out, I think she probably preps the food. and girl #2 starts up the cashier. She incorrectly charges me for a drink, but I mentioned that it was someone else that ordered the drink, and not me. So problem solved.
But in the middle of this chaos of a few minutes, there are a total of 3 customers and no system in place. Who does what and who helps out when the other is busy? And then, the only thing I see the lady do is pour a drink from the fountain. And in the corner of my eye, I see the first girl place the pulled pork into the sandwich… which I think she just pulled from the microwave?
It doesn’t end there. I was given the choice of mac or tossed salad, and chose tossed. But when I received my lunch, I had no dressing! I had no fork. not even a bag in case I didn’t finish.
I ended up eating plain lettuce with my hands and… the pulled pork sandwich? It was smothered in tangy bbq sauce. which I didn’t appeal to me as much. I could have bought my own May’s kalua pork and put it in some hamburger bun, make my own tossed salad, and still eat it with a fork.
Don’t stand in the front if you’re not gonna help out! If you work in the food business, it’s about teamwork, no matter if you’re the owner, manager, whatever. It’s your business so do your part to make it a success.

Simply ono is… ONO — kanack attack heaven!
Great plate lunch place serving up lunch wagon (they have a truck on dole street) goodness from inside 99 ranch market! Yeah you can sit down somewhere and not have to haul your 2 lbs worth of food back to the office and eat at your desk!
$ 6.50 for a huge serving (6 pcs) of Ono with a cream gravy and onions and lup chong. I couldve done without the lup chong but it was still delicious. It came with a truck load of rice (2 heaping scoops) and a salad choice. You can pick from mac, green, bean salad or okara! What a different selection!
The bf had a plate full of beef stroganoff which we both agreed was super tasty yet super rich (which is expected when you eat a pound of spaghetti noodles smothered in gravy, steak pieces, and mushrooms). But wow it was a lot for the 6 bucks!
They had about 6 – 8 specials and they change regularly so check it out. The worker said people really like the turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce and the ahi with ponzu sauce so I gotta check those out when I can né né after lunch!

I’ve patronized this place in Mapunapuna about 4 times now. After reading previous reviews about their lunchwagon meals being served on the UH campus being a hit or miss, i thought I’d at least give them a try. My verdict? Well, based on the dishes I’ve tried from them, it definitely has been sure misses.
Why do I keep going back? Didn’t I learn my lesson after my first experience of eating a cheddarwurst? It was nothing special in my books. Just sausage with cheese in the middle, sauerkraut, rice, and two sides. And the okara was too wet for me.
The second time around, the dish I tried was their eggplant parmesan over spaghetti noodles. Lots of spaghetti noodles, but some of the eggplant was a little too overcooked and dry. What made it taste okay was the melted cheese on the top, yet the sauce on the noodles had no ‘umph’ to it. Rather it just tasted like plain old tomato sauce which seemed watered down that was heated, and meant to serve as the marinara sauce.
My third time there i ordered a crab and avocado club sandwich. This being my third try, you’d think something’s gotta go right by now, but to no avail, I was disappointed again. There was a thin spread of crab on two outer bread halves… about less than a teaspoonful put together, that it didn’t coat the bread at all, even my co-​workers were surprised at it. There was quite a bit of bacon, that I ended up taking the two halves of bread with the crab and making ½ a sandwich (if you’d call it that), tossed out the middle slice of bread, and then taking the other bread halves with the bacon (which was cooked to soft for my palate, so I reheated them in the micro to crisp it up more), the lettuce & tomato, and made a BLT sandwich!
After staying away from them for 2 months, I decided to try it out once again… so my fourth and most likely the very last time I will check this place out, I had a lasagna dish and once more it just didn’t score points in my book, but at least their tomato sauce had a better flavor to it this time, although it had too much red bell peppers in between the layers.
As far as desserts, I tried a braided looking pastry with fruit spread in it, that just didn’t have any flavor. Also tried a red velvet cake slice… because it just looked sooo good. Shared it with a friend, but unfortunately, the frosting was gummy, sugary, and chewy, the cake itself was too crumbly, and it tasted like there was almond extract in it.
Kudos though for the large portions and prices are okay (except for that crab sandwich) Yes, their food is simple, but as far as ono… well, you get the picture.
Oh yeah…4 stars for the service as everyone is quite friendly, and the miso salad dressing isn’t bad.

This place saves my lunch hour from the subway on base and from the non-​existent lunch options in Ft. Shafter Flats. It has tons of healthy options (brown rice, toss salad, okara) and variety in entrees. I ordered shoyu pork today and it was awesome! They also serve tons of seafood, meat, chicken, pasta dishes which could make anyone stand there for an hour trying to decide what they want. I would wander aimlessly around 99-​ranch trying to decide what I want and wasting time on stuff that I would already know it would be a greasy disaster. Bottom line: Nice, friendly counter service, yummy food, generous portions.

I once was walking out of the UH Art Building and saw one of my instructors sitting on the tables outside. He had a plate of what looked like spaghetti alfredo.
«Where in the world did you get that?» I asked. I had never seen food other than vegan grossness, taco bell, and bale on campus.
«Simply Ono. It really is the best.» He told me that it was at a lunchwagon on Dole.
Unfortunately they weren’t open during the hours I wasn’t in class. So I went the whole semester without trying it. I recently went to the website and learned that they opened a location at 99 Ranch at Mapunapuna and that it’s open all day.
Ah nice, my mom likes to take her dry cleaning to Elgant, so it all worked out. So I hopped in the car with my mother the next time she went.
I don’t know how, but they managed to get the largest piece of property at 99 Ranch, despite being a new business. I can’t really describe «atmosphere» without doing a review on 99 Ranch itself. But basically, it’s a big food court.
Seared Ahi with Sesame Wasabi Shoyu, Garlic Rice, and Okara Salad was what I chose. For $ 7.25, I expected only a few pieces– no more than 6. But they loaded it up! I’m including pics with this review, look at them!
Not only was there so much food, but this was quality Seared Ahi! Mind you, I only eat Seared Ahi at restaurants like Roy’s. Once I had «Seared» Ahi at You Hungry, it was cooked totally through and tasted gross/​rubbery/​salty/​stale. After that, I never wanted to eat cheap Seared Ahi ever again. Simply Ono changed this for me, I will totally eat this Ahi over and over again.
Can’t wait til my mother does her dry cleaning again. Yum!

Went on a Thursday and was happy to find they had roasted turkey on the menu. It comes with stuffing, gravy, cranberry and choice of starch and salad. I got mashed potato and mac salad. :) However, I didn’t get any cranberry :(, I think the dude behind the counter got distracted and forgot.
The roasted turkey was a mix of white and dark meat which was perfect because I shared it with my fiancé. I like the dark meat and he likes the white meat. The dark meats contained a lot of the ligaments which needed to be picked out like large fish bones.
The stuffing was delicious! So was the gravy. Overall, everything was pretty salty and I felt parched after a few bites. The cranberries would have temporarily cut the salt off the taste buds, so I missed it even more.
The plate was HUGE for $ 7.something and was enough for 2 of us for lunch. I would definitely return to Simply Ono and order the roast turkey again.