Chun’s Meat Market

Best pork butcher on the island.
Best Roasted Pork with crispy skin on the island.
Awesome char siu!
Awesome customer service!
I decided at the last minute that I wanted to bring back Hawaiian Island Pork with me to Los Angeles. Local pork is absolutely bombshadiggidyoohsodelicious as compared to the mainland pork. I took a last minute run to downtown Chinatown to go visit Chun’s Meat Market, because they have the best local meats at reasonable prices! After looking at my Yelipe ( Unilocal Elite) friend Brian M. and Cin T.‘s review, I knew that this place was the perfect place to go and that they were opened EARLY! I got there at 6:15 a.m. and they were already open!
Every cut of the pork that you can imagine is sold here — butt, shoulder, ears, brains, blood, intestines, snout, head, feet, bones, etc. The pork butt here is cut so that the bone is exposed (not like huge 7 lb chunk pieces they do in the mainland). I just told Mr. Butcher what I wanted, the parts I didn’t want, and he cut my meat right there in front of me. At $ 3.99 a lb, it was a bit more than what I was expecting to pay, but I knew it was good fresh island meat! Meat Grade: A–
This market also has roasted pork (siu ji yuk), roasted pork (char siu), turkey tails, turkey wings, intestines, stomach, roast duck, roast chicken, duck wings, and about any kind of roasted goodness that you are craving.
I also tried to get a piece of roasted pork. I pointed out a small piece on the tray, and Mr. Butcher said, «No! That piece is dry. You have to try this nice juicy piece of meat.» With a smile, I said yes and while he was cutting my meat he even gave me a bit sized piece to try. It was delicious, juicy, crispy skin, and delightful. This roast pork was the best I’ve tried ever in my life! Grade: A+
I also decided to get a piece of char siu (roast pork) to add to my lunch. I asked Mr. Butcher for a piece and he chose a very nice piece of meat (wasn’t the first one off the skewer that could have been pulled off). Score. Mr. Butcher didn’t give me a sample of his meat, but I knew it was going to be delicious. It was sweet, tender, and juicy! Score! Grade: A!
Parking in downtown Chinatown can be a biot*h, but if you go early enough, you might be lucky to find street parking. Friendly service, reasonable prices, fun to shop.
Product Grade: A
Service Grade: A
Worth the Money Grade: A–
Overall Impression Grade: A

Decent place for cheap roasted meats. We ordered a half pound of char siu and half pound of roast pork (about $ 12) and a giant thing of crackling ($ 5). The char siu was not bad; the roast pork could use more salt. Overall, there are much better places in Chinatown for roasted meat.

How can I come into town and not visit my namesake?! Sorry in advance, if you don’t understand my chinglish and bad phonetic translations, but I’ll try to provide english translations where I can. I did try the char siu (roast pork) and siu jieh (roast pig), but didn’t get to try my favorite, the faw ngop (roast duck) because the wife wouldn’t let me have it. Pretty decent siu lop (BBQ roasted meats) though. That whole roast pig hanging on a chain from the ceiling just reminds me of when I had to deliver one to my (at the time) fiancée’s house to trade for her hand in marriage (yeah, we have some strange traditions). One pig for one wife? Not a bad deal (I thought at the time, anyways). If we were back in the old country, that pig would probably be live and I’d have it on a leash.
How can I give my hok jai less than 5 stars, you ask? OK, I have to dock my boy a star for cleanliness, but that’s the way it is in Chinatown.

After a Chinese friend (Who is a very good cook) recommended Chun’s Meat Market and reading Cin T.‘s review I knew this was the place to go.
I came on a Saturday at 6:30am in search of spare ribs to make for a cookout later in the day, I’m sure that they open at 6am or earlier… Wow…
The first thing I noticed was the display cases full of a meat eater’s dream, pork, beef, intestines and just about every body part that you can think of. I liked that this meat shop is pretty clean considering it’s in Chinatown and everything is displayed nicely.
I ordered my spare ribs which the gentleman cut up with his band saw to sweet sour size and was he fast!
I enjoyed that he was really helpful and smiling throughout my interactions with him. The best thing of all was the total amount I paid $ 12.69 for 3lbs, I know that if I went to a supermarket I would easily be paying double the amount for sure, plus you just have to love the Chinatown experience. The next visit here I’m going to pick up some of the Roast Duck, Char Siu and Roast Pork that was on display, Dayam! They all look so good! *Drool*
*Street Meter Parking or Municipal Parking Available near by.

really hard to say if this store has the best roast pork in Chinatown but they always close around two because they sell out. the duck and chicken are among the best-​you can even get it as a plate lunch.
Unfortunately they use mainland pork belly so although the roast pork has just the right amount of fat in between the layers of meat. the flavors is not as good as island pork HOWEVER THE SKIN IS ALWAYS CRISPY.
I think that are only two places which still have island pork– you can taste the difference but the marbleizing is not as consistent.

Attention fellow meat lovers and carniWhores!
From snout to tail, this one-​stop meat shop has EVERYTHING you need!
Be it roast duck, fresh pork or whole roast pigs, Chun’s Meat Market delivers on execution and taste every time.
As mentioned in my previous review, my family has been patronizing Chun’s for decades. In addition to local favorites like char siu and roast pork by the pound ($ 7−8/lb), we exclusively order whole roast pigs from them for special occasions at least a couple times a year.
Whether it be for birthdays, anniversaries or Chinese-​Vietnamese ancestral ceremonies, Chun’s is our go-​to place for the main star of our parties.
— Orders needs to be placed at least 1 week in advance.
— Their suckling pig is also to die for! But we usually get the full-​grown pig to feed our guests.
WHOLE ROAST PIG ($ 7.99 if buying individually by the pound):
— Weight varies around 30 to 35 pounds per pig. We usually pay anywhere from $ 225 to $ 250 each time (my dad usually gets discounted since he’s been a loyal customer for years):
— Perfectly seasoned and salted w/​5-​spice and cooked to tender perfection. There was a good ratio of meat-​to-​fat on our last pig.
— The crispy crackling is my favorite part. It’s the first thing I go for as soon as I eyes on the poor piggy.
The pig’s entrails are also included with each whole hog order. Nothing goes to waste, love offal!
Don’t forget to grab a few pounds of their other popular items while you’re there: Price varies from $ 7 to $ 8 a pound:
CHAR SIU RIBS: Tender and lean riblets. Not as flavorful as their regular boneless char siu (see below), but still pretty tasty.
COMBO OF TRIPES (honeycomb and blanket beef tripes) and PIG EARS (right side): Cooked in a ginger, shoyu, mirin-​based sauce.
CHAR SIU (old pics from first review, sorry for the poor quality):

I had to visit here because my favorite place for Roast Pork and Char Siu Pork was closed today. Service was fine, and price was the same as Fong’s Meat Market (
), but quality was nowhere near what I’ve come to love.
Both the Roast Pork and the Char Siu was cold. Not even room temperature. Cold. Even though there were several hanging under the warmer lights. Also, there was a lot more fat and gristle and inedible parts that I just had to throw away. I won’t go here again.
I ventured away from Fong’s only out of necessity, and if I have to do so again, I won’t be going here.

We always buy Chun’s meat market’s roast pork and roast duck.
Roast pork 5 star. If you eat it right away, the skin is crispy and the meat is not as salty as other stores.
Roast duck — 5 star lots of meat on it, and not so oily or salty!
We also order turkey tails, but I haven’t for a very long time, so I can’t rate it.