Lam’s Garden

Party tray of crispy gau gee picked up on 5÷20÷16. The smell of oil was strong, which made me think the oil was old. Then I asked my son how his class enjoyed the gau gee. It was okay, but several gau gee had ROACH LEGS IN THE FILLING!
LAST TIME I PICK UP FOOD THERE.

Gon lo mein, salt and pepper shrimp, crispy gau gee, ginger onion fish, ginger chicken, are very good. I always order take out so I don’t know how their service is.

Lunch specials are now $ 9. Lams are continuing to increase all prices. It’s been okay for last ten years to substitute soft noodles in place of rice with no extra charge. Today they tried to charge me an additional $ 2.50. I was going to walk out, but they said they wouldn’t charge me this time.
Why would I return?

The food is good service is a one star. If better service maybe 4 stars. We ordered steamed buns and wanted the plum sauce that usually comes with it but it never came. They bring food out fast but the waitresses are slow and can’t do simple requests. I usually like this place but today I’m minusing points/​stars. Four people on my table asked separately.

The Chinese NEW YEARS JAI is awesome!
I just went back today but the special jai is gone. Sad face
I tried their regular jai but it doesn’t have the bean curd or those gingko nuts.
I’ll be back in a year for more Chinese New Years JAI.

Great food and they are super fast for takeout. Our order only took 10 minutes once we called and it was Saturday night. We had the char siu fried rice, salt and pepper shrimp, beef and broccoli, and cold ginger chicken. Everything was well seasoned and priced right

I can’t believe I haven’t written about this place yet. I actually go out of my way to drive all the way to the east side just to buy certain dishes from Lam’s Garden to take home. After many restaurants come and go, it seems that the specialty also leaves, which makes us try and find a dish as comparably tasty as the ones we found before:
Ginger Chicken — 5 stars — it’s hard to find fresh non-​pasty chicken at any chinese restaurant, but this one has never let us down. Chicken is fresh and the sauce is a little salty, but the same as chinese restaurants.
Stuffed duck — 5 stars — a dish that’s very hard to find that includes all the different ingredients. This is the only place that will make authentic, great tasting stuffed duck at a reasonable price.
ginger onion steamed fish — 4 stars — not fishy, but about the same as other chinese restaurants.
Gai Lan or chinese broccoli — 3 stars — ok but a bit oily.
Jai — 4 stars — a little oily, but the sauce is a bit different than other restaurants. Lots of ingredients as others have scrimped on, however, they sometimes add too much sauce that kills the jai.
Lots of parking across Kahala Mall, however, the parking lot is small and it’s a hole in the wall, so it can be easily missed.

Headed to Honolulu a couple weekends ago for my sister’s wedding. Dined at Lam’s Garden the night before to meet the groom’s side of the family for the first time.
Lam’s Garden is a Cantonese restaurant across the street from Kahala Mall. It is in a complex that also houses Honolulu Burger Co. If you are on H-​1 eastbound and take the Kahala exit or heading east on Waialae Avenue, you need to make a U-​turn at Kilauea Avenue to reach the restaurant.
The restaurant is on the smallish side, but they do have room for four big tables. I noticed during my visit on a Saturday that the restaurant was quite full during the early evening hours (6 pm-​ish). Yet cleared out later in the evening. There were only a few diners a couple hours later. Not sure if that is typical. The restaurant does close relatively early at 9 pm daily.
The food here is the usual sort that you will find in Chinese restaurants around Honolulu which are predominantly Cantonese. This is because the majority of Chinese immigrants to Hawaii are originally from the Guangdong Province. This also explains why dim sum is so popular in Hawaii.
Can’t recall exactly how many dishes there were. About 10. Having eaten a lot of Cantonese restaurant food in Hawaii, I would say the food here was hit and miss.
Of the dishes I tried, the walnut shrimp and Peking duck were my favorites of the bunch. The walnuts have a candy like glaze that tastes almost like coffee. I could eat these on my own as a snack. The Peking duck is always a crowd pleaser when accompanied on a steamed bun as it is here. If you want to order veggies, I would recommend the ong choy. Though the version here cooked Cantonese style had me wishing for the one that I had in Penang which has shrimp paste and sambal instead. That is to say I like spice.
Some dishes were not as successful. I found the salt & pepper pork chops to be okay. Though my mom claimed they were too salty. I thought they could use some chili peppers on the side as garnish. The minute chicken cake noodle was the most disappointing dish of the night. The cake noodle part was fine, but there was way too much sauce.
The food here was okay, but I thought the best part of my meal here was that the restaurant was so accommodating in handling such a big group. I know it is not easy to serve a large crowd, but they did a good job.
There are better Cantonese restaurants in Honolulu offering the same type of food. But most of them are in town, not many are in the vicinity of the Kahala area. If you are looking for one specifically in Kahala, Lam’s Garden is your best bet. Otherwise head over to Kaimuki for more selection.

I love Chinese food. Heck for that matter I love food in general, however I really love good Chinese food.
My go-​to Chinese restaurant used to be Hong Nien in Kalihi, but the owner retired. The new owners should be arrested for watering down the recipes of the previous owners and selling it as Chinese food.
So I looked around and found Lam’s garden by my house. Based on the reviews here tried it out and was pleasantly surprised. So I’ve been going there for the past few months. Of the seven times I’ve been there I’ve been very happy with the good food. The prices are a little bit higher than other mom and pop Chinese restaurants but the portions are bigger so it evens out.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve eaten here so I figured it was time to take the family here for our Christmas get together.
I ordered a large meal in the hopes that it would be as delicious as my previous orders but lo and behold I was SORELY DISAPPOINTED.
Let me say that it wasn’t the quality of the food (or lack of) it was the service. The restaurant was only half filled at about seven pm. They had two servers, the usual older Chinese ladies, not very pleasant nor very sociable, but courteous.
We sat down and waited to be helped but I watched as two other groups who arrived after us were given water first and their orders taken. Finally after we placed our order, I waited patiently for the food to arrive.
One by one our plates arrived and we hungrily gobbled each one down in eager anticipation of the next steaming hot morsel of yumminess to come.
I should have realized something was wrong when they would only bring our order one plate at a time. Finally after the fourth dish our food stopped arriving. I was perplexed. I know I ordered twice the amount food but where was it?
One of the ladies comes to my table and tries to give me a plate of food and I tell her that it isn’t mine. She gives me a distrustful look and goes back into the kitchen. A minute later the other server comes out and tells me that I ordered the plate the other server took back in. I told her politely… Uh no I didn’t. My wife’s allergic to that particular plate, why would I order it.
Mind you, during the meal up to this point no one had refilled our empty water glasses.
So the server begrudgingly takes the plate back in and we are forced to wait again. By this time I’m no longer hungry and I’m irritated as hell.
I speak loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear me and I tell them to cancel the rest of my order. I ask for my check and I talk to the server and ask them what happened today.
«what happened to the rest of my order? «I asked.
» what you taking about? «she replies.
I look at her dumbfounded.
«you only brought me half my order,» I reply.
She continues to argue that it’s not their fault. I told her to forget it and just give me the total. She shows me the order and IT’S IN CHINESE. i told her, I’m not paying for the other food and she swears that shes only charging me for what I got. But how the hell am I supposed to know? I can’t read it.
By this time I just want to leave and I hesitate around the, tip, portion of the bill. But I know my wife is going to want to come back so I give a small ten percent tip. I normally give twenty to twenty five.
By this time the lady is apologetic and she tries to blame the owner of the restaurant by claiming that its not their fault that they only have two servers today.
Sorry but it’s not my problem. Especially since you gave me attitude. I wouldn’t have been so upset if you were humble about it but this restaurant needs to fire this lady.
A week later my wife tells me her brother related that the same server tried to charge him for a beef plate that he didn’t order, during a previous meal, not realizing that he could read Chinese. They got into an argument about it but she finally acquiesced and took it off the bill.
There should be a law about the final bill being in English.
Anyway, horrible horrible experience. Don’t know if I’ll be back. I’m sure my wife will tell me to give them another chance but now Im worried that they’ll spit in my food.
So I’m giving the restaurant two stars because the food is good, but if I could I would give it one… Middle finger… To that rude lady server.
More on on the hunt for another good, somewhat clean Chinese restaurant.

Had lunch here yesterday. Very good egg flower soup. Also got beef with tomatoes and black beans sauce and chicken. Very hot and fresh. Bill was less than 20 for two. Included the soup and tea… highly recommended for the lunch special. Gets docked one star for not accepting Amex. We will go again and looks to be a good take out option on the way home from town.

Best egg drop soup! Tried the garlic shrimp for the first time and it was really good. We also had the Mongolian beef and minute chicken and they were really tasty. Will definitely be back!

Lam’s Garden was one of the staples of my diet growing up. We literally got takeout from this place at least once a week for years and years. This is one of the select few that makes our list of places to eat at when we come back to visit.
For the most part, Lam’s Garden is a slightly above average Cantonese restaurant. But the one thing they do better than anyone else is cake noodle. The cake noodle, which we like to pair with oyster sauce beef, is so dense and thick that while the outside gets seared to a crunchy dark brown, the inside is delicious soft compact noodle.
Overall, I don’t give out 5 stars much, but when a place does one particular dish better than anyone else, and that one dish is delicious, I feel the top rating is warranted. Lam’s Garden is a favorite, and I will continue to give them business every time I come back to Hawaii.

I’m giving 4 stars for the crispy gaugee, cake noodles, fried pork and green beans/​pork. All good, sodium filled dishes! I’ve only done take out, and I can call in ahead of time to minimize the wait. Parking not bad — small lot shared by other stores.

This place is pretty hit or miss. The fried rice is good and the vegetables they use are quite fresh. Broccoli or snow peas or the kai lan are always good.
However, the place never seems to have enough people working on the floor. I was there once and waited at a table for 20 minutes without anyone even giving us a menu or water… nothing. We left.

Lam’s Garden is one of my go to Chinese restaurants. It is located across the street in a strip mall on the Whole Foods side of Kahala Mall. They have a private parking lot. The décor is like a typical Chinese restaurant. Their service is hit or miss. Sometimes you can get a happy person but most times a standoffish one. But I’m here for the food so that doesn’t bother me as they let me eat in peace.
On to the food. Some winners we order:
Garlic Fried Rice
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Garlic Chicken
Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
I’m in the middle for their chicken cake noodles. Sometimes there isn’t enough sauce.
One thing I didn’t care for was their Hot and Sour Soup. Don’t ask me why it just doesn’t taste good to me.

Overall:
It pains me to write only a lukewarm review of Lam’s since it’s been the site of so many happy family gatherings over the years. After my last visit though, I finally snapped out of it. I realized that, for years, I’ve been conflating good memories with good food. Alas, while some dishes are honest-​to-​goodness first-​thing-​I-​eat-​off-​the-​plane favorites, the food is pretty average on the whole.
Food:
–I highly recommend the Gon lo mein and Steamed fish with ginger and green onions. The steamed fish is actually a favorite of both myself and my grandma, so it has broad appeal.
–Steer clear of the «garlic chicken» special. The meat was way overcooked and, weirdly, it didn’t actually taste much like garlic. This dish was actively bad.
Logistics:
–Parking typically isn’t too bad here. There’s a free lot right out front.
–How crowded it is seems to vary widely by day of the week. I’ve been here when it’s packed to the gills and when my fam is the only one there for our entire meal. Call ahead if it’s a weekend and you’re at all concerned.
–This place also does a robust takeout business. Based on my last visit, they must do well over half of their business through takeout. My family of four often orders a full tray of gon lo mein (a little over $ 20) and it takes us at least 2 days to get through.
–The bathroom is weirdly semi-​outside. You’ll see what I mean when you go.

Occasionally I go here. The crispy gau gee is very good and sometimes you just get a craving.
The ginger chicken is ok, although I find that the one at Fook Yuen seems cleaner. I always order the scallop soup, which is way too much for me when all you want is one little bowl, but it’s nice and hot (temperature wise) when you feel a bit under the weather. It’s a little fishy though, and I always have to add black pepper AND Spicy chili sauce to it.
I’ve never found a place that can’t do salt and pepper shrimp correctly so that’s always a win, although maybe next time I’ll get the salt and pepper calamari, since no Chinese restaurant cleans that poo vein from the shrimp and you can’t really go around that when you bite into one.
I’d give this place four stars except that they always seem to be preparing food in the dining area and no one wants to see a big pile of raw pork with flies buzzing around it when you order the very thing they are preparing. Tastes good though, and I’ve worked food and beverage so I’m of the opinion that if you want clean food, you just have to make it yourself at home and well. I just can’t cook.
I didn’t care for the chicken rice soup, way too much ginger in it, big slices of ginger. You can ask for no msg in food, but lots of dishes are prepared beforehand with it and they don’t let you know which ones will have it. But better to ask than not.

This is your typical Chinese restaurant. I went to order take out and they were pretty fast, 10 minute wait. The prices are very reasonable. They have some lunch specials that sounded pretty good too but I missed the time frame (10am-​2pm).
The food was okay and nothing special. I tried the minute chicken cake noodle which was ok. The chicken pieces were a bit larger than I expected. I think I’m used to smaller pieces in my past experience. The gravy was ok but didn’t have a lot of flavor. I also tried the beef broccoli which was pretty good. The beef was soft and not too tough. And lastly I got the crispy gau gee. The meat filling was quite tasty. The hot mustard they gave tho unfortunately was not hot at all and was more shoyu based.
Overall, everything was ok. I would come back when I have a gau gee craving or maybe try other things when I’m in the neighborhood. But I wouldn’t go out of my way.

On the off chance I do eat Chinese, whether I lose my mind or not, I stick to the places that are familiar to me in the Kaimuki and Kahala area. With that said, Lam’s Garden is directly across the Kahala Mall Shopping Center. Before discovering Unilocal,I knew this place had existed but never gone in to check things out. After discovering Unilocal,I felt the need to come over here and see what they are all about. They are next to the Chevron gas station, with a private parking lot. Sometimes, it’s full, but other times, its pretty empty, depending on when you go.
I’m happy that I walked over from the house, which gave me some bit of exercise before chowing down. Lam’s Garden is your typical cantonese Chinese restaurant, which offers your favorites. The service can be improved, but I just gotten take out a few times before just to test the waters of this place. Maybe next time, I’ll sit down and eat. But for now, getting take out is working for me when I need to buy. Lam’s Garden does not pretend to be upscale, which would be impossible. Chinese restaurants typically can’t be upscale, unless you try too hard like P.F. Changs. The beef broccoli is a childhood favorite, along with the orange chicken — with plenty of sauce. I’m glad to know that this place is a full service restaurant, with an extensive menu — from beef and chicken dishes, as well as seafood options for your adventure seeking friends and family.
Unilocaler Traci H had compared Lam’s Garden to Panda Express, and I kind of agree with that assessment of this place, but this place has some flare and finness that comes with a restaurant. If I wanted fancy, I would take my business elsewhere, but since I am trying to be on a budget, I would have to come over here when craving Chinese food. Overall, this place is a good, decent option to do, if you are in the area and not really picky on where to go.

I was so exhausted that instead of cooking lunch for 7 of us … I dialed Lam’s Garden & ordered:
2 beef broccoli
2 walnut shrimp
2 gau gee
1 house special noodle
1 orange chicken
1 choy sum
1 oyster chicken with cake noodles
The lady was VERY NICE & helpful with our questions !! She had everything packed up with tape for the ride home & had included generous amounts of chopsticks, mustard sauce, and napkins. Everything was good & we still have left overs for dinner.