Dim Sum House

My default place for lunch, I don’ t know what to eat. If I feel like eating something lite, then I’ll get a small chicken salad and a dim sum (I like the one with the pork, peanuts, and I think chives). Or if it’s Thursday, I’ll get the special, Crispy Gau Gee with cake noodle. Well, sometimes I don’t get it on Thursday’s and pay a little more. They have a set daily special menu, as well as ready made food, so you just how many choices you want in your plate. If you don’t want plate, they have a nice selection of tasty dim sum. Don’t want either? They also have a regular menu to order off of.

Another go to place for me during lunch. Food is pretty good and always fresh! I would HIGHLY recommend going before noon. Once the food is gone it’s gone… they don’t make more lol

I love their bamboo roll dim sum, I always order this with side order rice. This makes such a filling meal, especially with the gravy drizzled over the rice. This is available from early morning. My other favorites are the har gar, pork hash, and pot stickers. When I want to bring food for my coworkers I always come here in the morning to pick up dim sum.
When I worked in town, I enjoyed the stuffed eggplant and mapo tofu for lunch. I would order this as a mini combo… so good and reasonably priced. I also like the Jook, it is made to order, so it may take a while.
The workers in the morning are always so sweet and accommodating. At lunch, it is really crowded and if you are not familiar with how the lines work then it gets frustrating. I would suggest that if you want to try the dim sum, go in the morning so that you can look and ask questions.
There are a couple of tables in the restaurant, and several more outside. At lunch, you may feel a little rushed.

Their cake noodle special is pretty good. They have a special for each day and Wednesday and Thursday is my personal favorite beef and broccoli cake noodle Wednesday and Thursday is crispy gau gee cake noodles. They Chinese people who work the front is usually pretty friendly especially the older guy. I would recommend this place if your looking for something fast and no complaints here with their dim sum have always been good to me.

I know. Another downtown take out place that has decent but not stellar food that I’m giving four stars to. Let me explain. I eat downtown at least once a day, Monday through Friday. I have to give thanks to those places downtown that (1) allow me to pick up something to eat really quick so that I can run back to my office without anyone even noticing that I left, (ii) provides me with consistently good food, and (ii) gives me diversity in my every day eats. These are the places that I go back to day after day (I cannot and will not eat a home brought sandwich every day).
On to the review… I come here to Dim Sum House often. They have many of my go-​to items and, like I mentioned, I can pick these items up quickly. Today, I went with Dim Sum (even though I had Dim Sum earlier this week at my favorite Dim Sum restaurant). The Dim Sum is all $ 2.75 per basket (including tax). I enjoy their spinach and shrimp dumpling and shrimp half moon dumpling. Just those two items alone will keep me full for the rest of the day, so they are decent sized and well filled.
Another item that I order time and again is the Won Ton Soup (no noodles) which is a flavorful broth containing nice sized shrimp and pork won tons. It’s «Hong Kong style» which I like because the wrapping is not doughy like other won tons. The won tons are also well filled. I want to say that their Won Ton Soup is about $ 6.50.
Finally (and strangely), I like to order their Hot Sour Soup (I work in a freezing cold office), which I think is also around $ 6.50. This Hot Sour Soup is not your typical Hot Sour Soup and most aficionados will not approve. They don’t use the normal ingredients in their soup. For instance, usually my Hot Sour Soup here will contain egg, and either bamboo shoots or tofu (not both), and maybe chicken. Yes, there is no pork, no black fungus, no mushrooms, nothing else that you may find in your Hot Sour Soup. I think I like it so much because of the broth (which also does not taste like your typical Hot Sour Soup). I like this soup, but if you’re true to your Hot Sour Soup, stick with the dumplings.

Recently, there was an article my friend posted on Facebook about restaurants lacing their food with opiates. The taste was so addicting that folks would come back again and again to eat.
Well, not saying that this is what happens at Dim Sum House, but all I know is that the Chinese chicken salad here is da bomb addicting! Seriously.
Here the dish is very simple — julienned slices of head lettuce and shredded chicken tossed with dressing and topped with crunchy won tons and diced peanuts. Oh, yah, and they sprinkle a half spoonful of white dust on the salad. They claim it’s «salt» and not MSG.
So, what is it? I’m not sure but I must have this salad at least once a week!

Really reasonable prices for dim sum. They open at 6:30 and have daily specials. This place has a set price for all dim sum, which I like. The choices are basic, but good. Definitely a must go when you’re in the downtown area.

Ordered the oyster sauce chicken. Chicken wasn’t cooked right. Oyster sauce was watery, rice was over cooked.

Good place for reasonable dim sum baskets and the meals are affordable for a downtown location. There’s many to choose from and they offer daily specials with cake noodles. Good place for jook when having digestive issues. I think overall it’s ok.

Whenever I am hungry for Chinese food, which is often, Dim Sum House is my go-​to place. It is conveniently located downstairs of the Remington College Building on Bishop St. I seriously consider this a hidden gem. Other people may consider Junbo Chinese Restaurant the hidden gem in Downtown Honolulu… well…I guess Junbo is more hidden than Dim Sum House, but Dim Sum House is more of a gem than Junbo!
Dim Sum House offers one, two, and three choice Chinese plate lunches along with a full menu of other popular Chinese dishes like Crispy Gau Gee Cake Noodle, which is one of my favorite dishes to order for lunch. I usually select the Stuffed Eggplant and Chicken with Green Long Beans. I am also a fan of their Hong Kong Shrimp Won Ton Mein! Check the door for their daily lunch and breakfast specials. Their Chinese Chicken Salad is so refreshing to eat!
While their may be other places with better Dim Sum, such as Mandalay or Mei Sum Chinese Restaurant, Dim Sum House is a great place to pick up Dim Sum quickly without waiting for the Dim Sum lady to roll by with her cart. The variety of Dim Sum is great too! I love the Shrimp Dumplings as well as the Chive and Shrimp Dumplings.
I have also ordered pans of Chow Fun (not too many places where you can order Chow Fun in Downtown) for office parties. The staff were so helpful and had everything ready on time for the party.
So, while others flock to Junbo, I am a happy camper and loyal customer of Dim Sum House!

Ok, for people that work downtown (like me) and want an easy dim sum fix, this is a good choice. They do serve chinese plate lunch food here as well (one, two or three items with fried rice or chow fun noodles). Although I usually only come for the dim sum, the chow fun is pretty good.
The dim sum is at least average quality, but it is not cheap. The worst thing about this restaurant is that the dim sum is often only warm. Sometimes it’s piping hot, but often, the food is lukewarm temperature. The service is at least decent, like most downtown establishments.
The best thing about this restaurant is the downstarirs, garden-​style seating that is the benefit of eating at one of the Remington plaza restaurants. With many downtown restaurants offering no seating or if there is seating, the ambiance is often really bad… That’s why most people who work downtown get there lunch to go. You can eat just outside Dim Sum House in a quiet, chill lunch environment. By 12:00 noon though, most of the seats are gone.
Summary — for the «donwtowners», this place is ok, but I definitely would not travel to downtown and deal with parking jus to eat here.

DIM SUM ON THE FLY
If you to eat dim sum, but don’t a crowded restaurant and have to wait for a cart to come around, then this is the place. Dim sum is in stacks at the front counter. Just ask what they have and they will open each basket to show you. It’s hot, fresh, a good variety of chicken, pork and seafood options and all are tasty. There are even fried choices. All baskets are just $ 2.63. They even offer Chinese take out (Panda Express style) and have daily specials. Today I tried the black bean cake noodle. The noodle was the skinny Hong Kong style and pretty fresh. They did not over fry it– the cake noodle had a light crisp in the outside and soft in the inside. Ink negative was the sauce was too thin and there were no bright green veggies. Only won bok– so it was a very brown dish. The women in there are very helpful and moderate friendly. Very solid choice for dim sum take out.

I was iffy about trying Dim Sum House because of all the mediocre reviews, but I now stop here for a quick breakfast at least once a week. Their shrimp dumplings (har gow) are actually pretty good. The dumpling skin holds up well, and the shrimp are crunchy. Mushy shrimp in har gow = a big no no. I’ve only tried a few dishes, but so far, they have been tasty. Prices are now $ 2.75 per basket, including tax, which is way cheaper than the Chinatown joints I go to. So, if you work downtown and want a quick and cheap breakfast, I suggest giving Dim Sum House a try.

Visiting HNL we always seek out Chinese food to take back to Maui. As participants in the UHCC Day celebration at the state capitol, we found this place recommended by legislative staff members.
For $ 31we took home three boxes of dim sum. Family and friends loved the variety and seasoning of the dim sum, from siu mai and har gow to wu gok and gin dui. Nice to have these places sprinkled around downtown in a pinch.

Good place to get dim sum downtown, if you’re too lazy to walk to China Town and dont want to pay an arm and a leg for Mandalay. They have the basic dim sum Hau Gau (shrimp Dumplings), short ribs, spinach shrimp dumplings, pork hash, gau gee, etc. They also have other food like plate lunch style, like pandas starch and entrée. They also have daily Cake Noodle specials. They’re very friendly and helpful. You can eat in or dine outside on the small tables. If you’re like me and too lazy to walk to China Town, this is a decent place for Dim Sum. They just don’t have the chili pepper sauce.

One of the perks of working in downtown Honolulu — — LUNCH options!!!
For some reason, many people in my office like to come here for a quick bite. I mean, Mandalay is closer to our building but perhaps of the price, Dim Sum House is the place of choice.
Located in the same building as Remington College on the corner of Hotel St and Bishop St, Dim Sum House is downstairs on the Mauka corner. People in our office start early so many times if we’re hungry and want some dim sum we walk over here at 7am. As you enter you can see the bamboo baskets stacked up. The cool thing is that you can have them lift up the cover to see what’s under! If you come here a little later they also have deep fried goodies (JIN DOI, fried taro puffs, spring rolls, deep fried shrimp) in a large sheet tray.
I have tried many things here and noticed this place uses ground chicken in many items. I am particular with my food and can taste the difference between pork and chicken. I mean, I bite into their steamed dumplings and stuffed bean curd roll with bamboo shoots and it’s lacking taste and fat. When I looked inside I realized it’s sure not ground pork or coarsely chopped pork. It’s CHICKEN!!! Hence, I am NOT a fan of many things here. So nontraditional to use chicken. Perhaps this place has altered the food to cater the more health conscious? I highly doubt that…
However, the only decent thing I like is their steamed spareribs. Many times I stop by here in the morning to get an order of steamed spareribs with some rice for under $ 3. The portion is quite decent where I can eat this small box for lunch and be satisfied!
I have ventured in their lunch specials (i.e. oyster sauce cake noodle, chow fun) only to be disappointed. The food lacks finesse and doesn’t make the grade with me.
If you’re on the run and need a quick bite and easy on the wallet, this place is for you. However, don’t expect the food to be good.

Their dim sum is gross and it’s not cheap either. Their shrimp and chive dumpling, which the lady said only contained shrimp and chives, contains pork. Good thing I ate it and not my friend that doesn’t eat pork. I asked for chili sauce and the lady directed me to a container filled with. .. taco sauce. Like the kind you get at Taco Bell. So interesting.
They do have a cheap breakfast menu. I got shrimp won ton mein and chicken jook for $ 3.95 each. Super cheap! And the plate lunch is not bad. Just don’t go for the dim sum.

During the work week if I’m lazy and I’m craving dim sum, I come here. They are located inside the Remington College Plaza on the bottom floor. You have to go down the stairs and walk to the end; it’s the last shop. If you go before noon you’ll have a lot of choices for dim sum because the steamers are stacked high. If you go after 12:30pm, there’s a limited selection. For the deep fried items you can mix and match 3 items from the metal tray (s). I recommend trying the seaweed roll. It’s shrimp and fishcake rolled up in seaweed, dipped in batter and fried to golden brown.
If you don’t want to eat dim sum, they have daily specials and regular entrees. The portion size for their daily specials is half the size of Jun Bo’s daily special. The won ton mein here is good and worth trying. They also have «jook» if you’re feeling under the weather.
Downtown lunch prices are constantly going up but this place is good at keep their food at a reasonable price. They also started taking credit cards but I don’t think they advertise it in the shop.

1.11.13
I was craving this today and I completely forgot that I brought home lunch today. Fail. But I will guilty admit that I am ok with that :)
This place is located in the Remington College building and is a short walk away from where I work. It may not be the best dim sum in the area but its convenient, still delish and only $ 2.50 per basket. I have to say for «fast food» this place is decent, but I prefer the dim sum from The Mandalay (I know, spoiled haha).
Aside from dim sum they also have a plate lunch option and there are special plates offered each day. I believe the daily specials are some sort of meat with cake noodle – YUM (~$ 6) and can last for two meals.
Today I really needed a dim sum fix. I always make sure I order the shrimp dumpling (har gau?) and the mochi rice (wrapped in lotus leaves). These two are my favs; I was only introduced to dim sum about 5 years ago and I couldn’t believe on what I was missing out on! I tried the char siu bau today along with my other two choices but sadly, I was not a fan. The char siu was way too sweet for me.
Overall, I enjoy coming to this place mainly for price and convenience. However, I’m no dim sum expert so come try this place for yourself!
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #011/​365

So I am now an official fan of Dim Sum House. It’s a little hole in the wall, located on Bishop Street. It’s off the beaten path and a bit hard to find because you have to go downstairs, on top of that they are located at the very back of a food court area. I found them by accident as I was trying to figure out what to eat.
I’ve tried their Saimen and would not recommend that. However, what I do recommend is their Dim Sum! They don’t have a large selection, but they have my favorites! Shrimp with Chives, Shrimp with Chicken, Shrimp Dumping, Spinach with Shrimp Gau, Dry Scallop Dumpling, Shrimp half moon, and Bamboo rolls to name a few. For $ 2.18 per basket who can go wrong!
So if your in the downtown area, look for the Hawaiian Telcom Building (1177 Bishop Street) the building right next to it where there is a Coin Store and a Philippine National Bank is where they are located at. You won’t be able to find parking nearby unless you come on a Saturday! They are open from 10 am to 2pm on Saturdays.