FUUD: Royal Kitchen in Chinatown
By Cat
It's one of the biggest food debates in Hawai'i:
Who's got the best manapua?
Most people have answers ready to go. Char Hung Sut on Pauahi Street. Libby Manapua Shop in Kalihi. Island Manapua in Manoa. 'Aiea Manapua & Snacks in 'Aiea. The list goes on. (Check out fellow blogger Melissa Chang's photo gallery "Manapua Wars" on Metromix.)
One manapua shop that has garnered a loyal following since it opened in Chinatown 35 years ago is Royal Kitchen.
Outside the little manapua shop near River and Kukui streets in Chinatown.
Inside, where it's standing room only, especially on the weekends.
Royal Kitchen — my boyfriend's pick, by the way — was one of the first shops to offer baked manapua — or bao — instead of steamed ones. And over the years, that's become its signature menu item, luring visitors from the Mainland and Neighbor Islands to the little shop in Chinatown.
The display case at Royal Kitchen showcases its most popular menu item: baked manapua.
While it serves up traditional Chinese fare — beef broccoli, sweet-sour pork, ginger chicken, kau yuk — Royal Kitchen is known for its variety of manapua filling, from traditional char sui to lup cheong, coconut, black sugar, Okinawan sweet potato and kalua pork. (There's even a vegetarian manapua.) Most are $1.10 each.
Royal Kitchen has some unique manapua fillings including Okinawan sweet potato, coconut and lup cheong.
When we go, we order baked manapua filled with Portuguese sausage, lup cheong and — my favorite — kalua pig.
A typical order for us.
The pork hash (60 cents each) is a must-have, too.
So I'm throwing it out there: What's your favorite manapua shop? And what makes a good manapua, anyway?
Royal Kitchen, Chinatown Cultural Plaza, near River and Kukui streets. Hours: 5:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sunday. Phone: 524-4461, 524-3843.
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SHOPPING DAYS LEFT: 14
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Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at cat@thecatdish.com.
The Daily Dish
December 11th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Not to further add to the controversy surrounding Chinatown and its merchants (because, honestly, I love Royal Kitchen myself), but my father bit into a manapua from there recently and found a tooth. Pictures were taken and the Department of Health was notified. Subsequently, we were told that they couldn't do anything; the DOH called the store, asked if anyone had "lost a tooth," and were told "no," so that was the end of that. Just FYI.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:17 am
that gift is GENIUS!!!
As far as manapua is concerned, the bread can't be too dry, and equally, it can't be so moist that it just falls apart... What's most important though is the filling... if the filling is good, the bread can be a little less than perfect. For me, it's all about Libby Manapua Shop for their Char siu Manapua, however, Island Manapua had the BEST manapua I ever had. It was a Peking Duck manapua with a meaty piece of duck, lemongrass and plum sauce... paired with bread that was just right, oh man, I'm craving one right now!
NEO
1st? maybe?
December 11th, 2009 at 6:28 am
I remember when Royal Kitchen first opened and they were the only ones (to my knowledge) that had baked manapua. I would go out of my way to get a box of it. I also remember that there were times when I had to wait because the demand was so great that they constantly had to bake a new batch. Give me a baked manapua over a steamed one any day.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Good morning Cat!
Fuud pixs Friday!
I like Royal Kitchen for the bake bao and Char Hung Sut for the steam bao. I like the traditional char siu bao and gotta have pork hash too. What's manapua without pork hash.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Royal Kitchen used to be crip but now they've fallen to the wayside. Just look at those dilapidated pork hash. Shameful! The manapua, like Mufi's chances to win the governorship, are smaller than they used to be as well.
I prefer Char Hung Sut because when you bite in, you don't get globs of fat and your teeth don't get stained like you just used your teeth to fight off an attack by the Killer Tomatoes. At CHS the manapua always come fresh like Jay-Z and hot like Beyonce. At RK they can sit on the rack for long periods of time like discount Ed Hardy shirts at Nordstrom. (Who wants discount Ed Hardy shirts? It's like buying an engagement ring from Sam's Club!)
December 11th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Fuud Pix Friday! I like Royal Kitchen, but I haven't been there in years......
Actually, I get my cultural reminders of manapua at the Blood Bank of Hawaii at Dillingham. After I donate blood, they generously offer one while I rest up and read the paper before hitting the road. I should ask from what shop they get their manapua .... it's baked manapua.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:46 am
@Ron, I think the Blood Bank serves Gold Coin manapua. OK, but not in the class of Char Hung Sut.
The pizza manapua from 'Aiea Manapua and Snacks is popular with kids.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Manapua one of the many great things about Hawai'i. I miss good manapua a lot.
@frankie ... loved your post.
December 11th, 2009 at 8:14 am
... hey Cat!!! ... hmmm, a topic on manapua??? ... by a Cat???
... interesting??? ... nawh, I better not go there ...
... always get my fav, Char Hung Sut manapua ... shredded filling, YES!!! ... actually love their half moon even more (sorry don't know the Chinese name for it) ... da flavor, da crunch, mmmm ... what da heck is in the half moon anyway??? ...
... and if I go to Royal Kitchen ... I'm a sucker for the curry-filled ones ...
... as far as I'm concerned ... if someone else is picking it up ... for the office or a party ... you got no complaints from me ... they're all good!!! ...
... Have a Good One Everyone!!! ...
December 11th, 2009 at 9:28 am
The beer holster is a flop. The beer belongs in the hand and is in perpetual motion until depleted.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I haven't really tried to many shops, but I've always liked Island Manapua in Manoa... I particularly like the peanut/sesame seed candy there too...
Now, as for the beer holster... Ummm... I'd have to question the sanity of anyone who paid $50 for it, LOL! Anyone see the Progressive Insurance commercial on TV where the fellow while standing next to his wife tells the insurance lady that his man purse, excuse me, his "European Shoulder Bag" was a "gift," as to just why he was wearing it? Same category...
December 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Gotta agree emphatically with frankie. Heard so much about this place, and then was pretty, pretty crappy fare. Won't be going to Royal Kitchen again. Try Chun Wah Kam.
December 11th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I'm actually a Char Sung Hut fan myself. I got hooked when I was a kid and I never found another char siu bao that compared...
December 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I often park in the lot near the back door of Royal Kitchen...I've seen rats squeeze under the metal screen door and right into their kitchen on numerous occasions. That was enough to make me stay away from there forever!
I love Aiea Manapua!
December 11th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
... hey Cat ... OMFG!!! ... Char Hung Sut is da bomb!!! ... I think in your excitement you got the spelling wrong though!!! ... unless there's another place called Char Sung Hut??? ...
... sorry Cat, just trying to blast a few of my favorite Advertiser blogs ... with the abbreviation that was censored in another blog ... making small kine trouble ...
December 11th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Best baked manapua in town, in my honest opinion!
And the best place for steamed bao has gotta be Char Hung Sut!
That beer holster is awesome! I gotta get one for my dad for when he goes golfing!
December 11th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Real Manapua is Char Siu Bao. You can only find them at Dim Sum houses. For the prices these manapua places charge, might as well go get the real thing with real char siu not water chestnut .
Royal Kitchen needs to speed up their service.
December 11th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
OMG...need to get that holster for B!! LOL!! Fab find!
December 11th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
@rayboyjr
I like your posts, but this is Cat's blog and she is a lady. Not sure why you feel compelled to use that abbreviation. It is in bad taste and I think you do Cat a disservice by putting it here. You are a very articulate guy and that is a classless abbreviation.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
My vote is for Chun Wah Kam. Royal Kitchen is second. Char Hung Sut doesn't even make the grade. Their Char Siu Bao is not char siu but canned corn beef, and too much bread.
December 11th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
@maxcat ... never compelled to use that abbreviation ... just compelled to argue its censorship ...
... but you have your voice and a right to your opinion and I respect that ...
... btw, thanks for associating me with being classless ...
... and I already knew that Cat is a classy lady ... didn't have to point that out to me ...
December 11th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I can't eat manapua anymore. A long time ago a friend and I visted an establishment that made and sold it. He parked in the driveway and went into the store while I sat waiting in the car. In the driveway was a van that they used to transport and sell their manapua.
As I sat in the car an employee came out of the store with an open tray of manapua which he was going to put in the van. He tripped as he walked and I watched the manapua fall off of the tray and roll down the driveway.
He put the tray into the van then went about gathering the manapua. I had thought that he was going to throw them out until...............he began blowing on them as he wiped them off on his shirt. And yes he put them back on the tray.
As my friend returned I explained to him what had happened. He did not believe me but after what I saw I could never bring myself to eat manapua again.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Sure ,the beer holster is a nice novelty,but i gotta think that...practically speaking its a flop.Too much motion causing spillage and foam,is my arguement.If it was a lot cheaper it may be worth the few laughs it'll generate upon unwrapping on Christmas day.I dont think there's a drinker alive who'd rather have that gadget gift than 50 bucks worth of spirits. I'd prefer giving ,as a gift, a bottle of an adult beverage with an accompanying gift. For example, Veuve Clicquot Champagne gives a nice ,colorful,champagne sleeve cooler wrap when u buy a bottle.I think its around $40-ish. Dont get me wrong,i have had my share of these gadget gifts but they always seem to fail...and at an inflated price. Remember that one ab-crunch machine.T-shaped shaped with handles and u pull it towards your stomach.Not really any better than a normal crunch one does with feet in the air.It cost$50 bucks.I see them now at just about every thrift shop and rummage sale i go to.......for $5. But hey.....its the thought that counts,right? Cheers.
December 11th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
No thanks on Char Hung Sut. Royal kitchen stingy on the fillings plus take them forever to get your food.
Might as well go to 7 eleven for the variety.
December 11th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
OK, some of you have reeeeally turned me off to manapua from your horror stories of sanitation issues...
@oldshoes-->I agree, I'd rather have $50 in spirits too.
I think the other flaw with the holster is that it seems to require you wear a belt... how many people on this island wear belts when in backyard, beer drinking situations? Plus, that girlie garter strapping around your leg... nuh uh!
Cat, sorry to critique your gift recommendations so harshly (with this, and with the USB jump drive the other day). But, in regards to the drive, I would want to know there were other options out there for literally a small "fraction" of the cost. As for the holster... well, that one was BEGGING to have an opinion weighed in on it.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:38 am
anybody try the ones at Mr Man Doo? also the ones sold at Shirokiya...they make them there about twice a year.
December 13th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
we like the baked bao from happy days in kaimuki.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Where da rats at