If you love having options, this new Build-Your-Own Ramen spot in Pearl Kai Shopping Center is a welcome addition to Aiea. The concept is simple but satisfying -- you choose your noodle, broth, proteins, spice level, and toppings, and they build your perfect bowl exactly the way you like it. The broths are flavorful without being overly salty, and the portions are generous. I enjoyed being able to customize everything, from the richness of the broth to how much heat I wanted. add-on toppings let you create something classic or completely unique. Pro Tip: when picking meat and veg. It is charged by weight so pick lighter stuff if you want a lot of items. Also there is a minimum weight and scale by the items... just no putting back items. It's a great spot for families, picky eaters, or anyone who enjoys variety. Service is friendly, the space is clean, and the ordering process is straightforward. Whether you're in the mood for a comforting tonkotsu or want to experiment with your own creation, this is a solid ramen option in the Aiea area. Perfect for a casual lunch, dinner with friends, or a quick bite after running errands at Pearl Kai. I'll definitely be back to try another combination. Bonus tip: it comes with a FREE Taiwanese style shave ice after read more

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Walk in and there are 2 open cold areas with labels on frozen meats to fresh vegetables. Once you collect your items, you select your noodles and broth. The ramen was 3, plenty of broth and noodles (rest of the items you select). The spicy broth was good, not great but good. I liked the amount of noodles given, just seemed to be missing a flavor. The fried chicken was 2 if not less. It was bland and greasy, no crunch and the coating was thin. The sauce given did not help or make it worse. I liked the ramen idea, just not a fan of the overall flavors. Plenty of seating and a small group hanging out there. If you are new, they are helpful to assist in how everything works. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Fried Chicken - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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I cannot believe it took me over SEVEN years on island to finally eat here--like, how did I miss this?! This spot in Aiea is a total hidden gem and exactly what I've been craving ever since my trip to Singapore. It's similar to mala tang in that you get to pick your own veggies, meats, seafood, etc. to build your soup. The broth options are a little different though--no mouth-numbing mala like you'd find at YGF Mala Tang--but honestly, I didn't mind one bit. The spicy pumpkin soup base was perfection: creamy, flavorful, with just the right kick. It didn't overwhelm my palate or leave me feeling heavy, and it tasted cleaner (less oily) than other broths I've tried. If you're into creamy soups, the pumpkin base is a must-try! Service was solid too. They refilled my water without me asking and even let me choose my seat (I was the first customer before the evening rush lol). The space was roomy, spotless, and you can tell it's a true mom-and-pop operation--genuine care for both the food and the customers. I'm already planning to come back this week because I cannot stop thinking about that pumpkin soup. Oh, and if soup isn't your thing (or if Hawaii's heat has you craving something else), they've got chicken katsu with curry, stir fry, and other specialty dishes too. VISIT. Seriously. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Pumpkin Broth with fish, cabbage, mushrooms, bok Choy, and quail eggs - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Another bookmark checked. With the abrupt closure of a popular, similar create your own bowl of ramen business in town in 2019, I was bummed but heard through the grapevine of a matching concept of create your own bowl of noodles across town. Located in Pearl Kai Shopping Center, Build Your Own Rmaen (BYOR) opened on December 26, 2018 offering create your own bowl of noodles. As a townie and not keen to fight traffic, I've bookmarked this business and finally made it here after 6 years. Late to the party but better than never... I was invited to celebrate a birthday with noodles and was asked to give suggestions near Pearl City area. I immediately jumped and mentioned BYOR, and used next door neighbor Island Glazed Donuts as an incentive. No further explanation needed so I took off 1/2 day from work to attend this get together. It was a right decision to come here for lunch as traffic from town was light and lots of parking as we arrived on a Wednesday. With many shared businesses in this lot, parking can get challenging here. The restaurant was fairly empty as I arrived at 1215pm and sat on a long table for our group of 5. They have picture menus so it's easy to follow the instructions to order. Interior was bright and welcoming with many signs of food pictures posted on the walls and as well on each table. Near the entrance are 2 long showcases of meats and vegetables. Signs advise you the price and there's also a laminated chart on the wall near the scale that calculates your cost as your bowl is dependent on the weight. You grab an empty basket and pair of tongs and you select what you want. For me, I chose head on shrimp, book tripe, beef tendon, fish ball with roe, squid, bamboo shoots, black fungus, fried tofu, pumpkin slices and king mushroom. You take your basket to the register to have it officially weighed where you also select your broth and type of starch. I was craving a curry broth but unfortunately that wasn't an option. I then took a leap of faith by trying the spicy sour cabbage broth. In addition to each of us getting our bowl of noodles, my sister also wanted to try their spring rolls. Perhaps because it wasn't busy our food came out quickly. Piping hot, our creations were nicely presented with toppings nicely arranged. We snapped away with our cameras and it was finally time to dig in. THE VERDICT: Overall, very impressed with the food quality and execution. Loved how tender the book tripe and beef tendon were. The head on shrimp were cooked until perfection - - juicy and lots of shrimp head fat. Yummo!!! My noodles had a great chew and bounce, however, I wasn't a real fan of the spicy sour cabbage broth. Kinda tasted like a tom yum koong but somewhat funky. I jazzed up my creation with their housemade satay sauce that was off the charts. Highly recommended. Service was above average as the staff came to check up on us and refilled our water cups. She even came to see if we had room for our complimentary Taiwanese style shave ice dessert that comes with ramen orders. This bowl was heavenly. So refreshing and cooled our palates down after a hot bowl of noodles. We enjoyed our first visit to BYOR and will be back again. I'll be sure to order another broth and perhaps sample other appetizers that got my attention. NOTE. You pay for your meal after you're done. My bowl was a whopping $35. For a party of 5 service charge of 18% was automatically tacked on to our bill. You also have the option of adding more gratuity in addition to the automatic service charge. 2026 #55 read more

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Love that we can pick out our veggies and choose the soup and noodles. Then everything is brought to your table!! Sooo fast!! Kinda cold in the restaurant but with the hot soup, perfect! read more

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Stopped in for lunch after my daughter's class as she is a big noodle fan. We have been here before but it's been awhile. We built a ramen bowl of which once seated you grab some gloves a basket and fill your bowl with various ingredients of your choice! They have a wide array of choices from seafood like shrimp and lobster balls to scallops and shrimp shumai as well as pork wontons. In the other side you have vegetable choices with different cabbages and bok choy Choi sum baby corn few assorted mushrooms like shiitake and seaweed. You can get carried away pretty quickly with all the choices but it is charged by weight of which a scale is conveniently placed if you want to check the weight at any time of your basket. It is $13 for every half pound so just be mindful depending on your budget! You then take it to the counter and they weigh and place your food order by allowing you to choose your soup base and what type of noodles you want. The food arrived quickly at our table and the soup flavoring was amazing! My daughter enjoyed her extra noodles as well. My husband ordered the chicken katsu curry which flavoring was also great and provides a cheaper alternative if members of your party want something other than noodles. Overall it was a bit pricey but a very great and tasteful option for a meal that satisfied our entire family. We will be back again! read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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It was our first time here and I must say... it was an interesting concept! But I love how we got to choose out our own toppings and then we got to choose our broth at the end and they cooked everything for us. It was pretty quick too! My husband wanted the curry that we seen posted on the door so he ordered that. We basically had a quick bite for lunch and came on a week day so it wasn't busy at all. Their prices are reasonable but be careful when adding on ingredients, it does add up and could cost a pretty penny like my mix that was $23! All in all, we would be back if we are in the area. It's so hard though when there's soo much good places to eat around the area... read more

Build Your Own Ramen - They got curry too! - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Seems like this business is always adding to their offerings. Since they first opened I enjoy taking a pair of tongs and a basket to select what I'd like to have in my soup: lobster ball, beef ball, beef tendon, bean curd, baby bok choy, black ear fungus. Today I also added a piece of seaweed, char siu, and imitation crab. I chose spicy for my broth and bean thread noodle. There are many flavors of broth, different noodles and more ingredients in their two display cases. You can pay additional for beef tongue, beef and more. Today I saw you can also select stir fry. They have appetizers and beverages you can also add to your order. The last few times I like their mixed fruit tea. After I finished drinking it I took the cup of fruit home and added a can of lychee chi drink to it- yum! Their shave ice is refreshing with many pretty colorful additions to the dessert. read more

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Really good Ramen and you can make it however you want very nice! And great atmosphere. They make it really fast. Looking forward to coming back soon. Wide variety of quality ingredients. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Nice bowl of build it yourself Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

First time here. Sister made a nice birthday Ramen lunch for my wife & cousin. 9 were in our party. Got there & table decorations by sister & restaurant staff had tables set. This is a self serve restaurant with a unique concept. 3 steps & eat. Plenty of variety of goodies , shrimp , fish ,tofu , sausages& about 20 more in a refrigerated freezer.The next icebox is where the vegetables are, mushrooms, sprouts , bok choy & a lot more. You pay by the weight after you put goodies in the blue basket, they will add your choice of soup & noodles. Good variety of both, so lots of options. With our party of 9, the staff of 2 got us set in a timely manner.Staff was friendly & efficient, water glasses were checked on & the ramen everyone commented was delicious! I look forward to another visit to try other soups& side dishes they offer. They also have complimentary shave ice with each ramen ordered, so refreshing! read more

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A nice spot for late night dinners! My family and I enjoyed building our own ramen and udon soups. There were so many great toppings to choose from! As someone who doesn't like seafood, I just wished they had more non seafood-broth options. Other than that, everything was good. Staff were so kind enough to even give us free dessert! read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I came to build your own ramen on a rainy day so it was perfect ramen weather! I filled my bowl with broccoli, fish cake, rice cakes, cabbage, mushrooms and aburage (I might be missing a few lol). You can also add on meat plates if you want, but I chose not to. After weighing my bowl, I chose udon noodles and spicy miso broth. The workers then bring your bowl to the back to cook. The food came out so fast!! I definitely recommend this place if you're looking for a quick, filling meal out for an affordable price. Our total bill for 2 people came out to just over $30 including the free shave ice. Such a good deal, you'll leave with a happy tummy and happy wallet :))) read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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I came once so many years ago and I enjoyed it. Just like the aunties ramen in town that closed down. Except they are so expensive now. They require a minimum weight limit for ingredients so you have to spend at least $15 or so and they charge $3 PER order of meat which only has about 4-5 small SLICES of meat. It's a scam. Quiet atmosphere and quick service. Good soup. Decent noodle and soup options. Unsure if I'd want to spend so much on something I could so easily make at home by throwing in all the ingredients I want into soup so much cheaper. It tastes good, but not anything special. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - My bowl - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

This place is the spot to go for Ramen. Not only can you choose what you put in your ramen, it is perfectly cooked and tastes great! Service here is also wonderful. The girls that work her are nice and helpful. The place is kept clean and cool so you are not sweating when eating your hot ramen. They also provide you with a free shave ice dessert which is delicious! Definitely get your ramen fix here!!!! read more

So, part of the cool factor is that you get to add as many ingredients from their refrigerated area such as tendon, tripe, charming sui, shrimp, oxtail, veggies including the mushrooms into a basket. You weigh the items making sure you meet minimum weight of .60 lbs. It's $13 per half pound. After gathering all the goodies, you bring your basket to the cashier who asks what kind of soup you want and what kind of noodles. Every soup can be made spicy. I got .65 lbs of food to add to my spicy lemongrass soup and bean thread noodles. It hit the spot. It's clean and bright. Had enough people in the shop that made me feel good about the turn over of food. This restaurant is located in Pearl Kai and for a Friday night we found parking easily. The ladies behind the cash register were very patient with us. Very much appreciated. read more

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Great food at a great price! There's nothing like hot soup on these rainy days. And hot savory soup paired with icy cold dessert is perfect for the warmer months. read more

Build your own ramen is a fun and delicious way to create your food masterpiece. Choosing the type of noodles, broth, and hand selecting your toppings, this restaurant is a must try when you want to eat ramen your way. At this restaurant, you'll leave satisfied that you got what you wanted and got what you have been craving for. After your meal, you'll get a complimentary shave ice dessert. So make room! Service is good and inside is clean and organized. Payment Cash or credit card Parking Private lot read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Complimentary shave ice - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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We miss Aunty's in Moili'ili that had the same build your own concept. This one is located in the Pearl Kai shopping center across Pearlridge Mall. It's next to the Cuu Long restaurant. Parking can be tough during weekends, just so you know. It was our first time here so the nice server walked us through. There's a station with plastic baskets, tongs, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Grab a basket and tongs (please hand sanitize first! We don't want norovirius) and pick out your stuff. Be careful how much you put in the basket because it'll add up! The minimum weight is 0.6 which was $16. There's a scale there to check. Then you bring I to the counter and choose your broth and noodles. I THINK you can have it stir fried if you don't want it in broth. Broth and noodles are included. The staff brings it to the table after being cooked for you. I chose the pumpkin soup - it's soooo good! It was creamy and tasty. Also included was the Taiwanese style shave ice for the table. We really enjoyed our meal and there were lots of items to chose from. The only thing it is a tad pricey. The sides were all $8 for what looked like in the pics only 4 pieces. Pay cash to avoid the 3% merchant fee. read more

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Build Your Own Ramen, and I loved it! No noodles for me though, but they had so many noodle and broth options. I really loved the vegetable and dumplings selection and will be going back. The bowls were HUGE, check the hand size comparison. 10/10 recommend. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen with beef broth and slight spice. No noodles, various vegetables and dumplings as well as char siu pork, beef meatballs, and tofu. - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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Well. I've found my new comfort food restaurant in Aiea. Like I've eaten and gotten takeout here way too many times, and I'll continue to do so cause it's sooooo good. Now I tend to avoid weigh-your-food places cause they're so dangerous. But alas, when it's good it's good. I tend to go heavier on the proteins, and really appreciate they've got some good ones like oxtail, tendon, tripe, seafood and different meat/fish balls. Plenty of vegetable options too. My weight is usually in the 0.7-0.8 lbs range. So you put some gloves on, grab a basket and tongs, and just make your way down the buffet. Jk not buffet lol. First case is proteins, second case is vegetables and tofu products. There's a scale there to keep track of what you're out, and a chart of weight prices. Also a little holder with slips for other sliced common proteins (beef, pork, etc). These cost extra, about $3 for 4-5 slices, which I tend to avoid these as they'll add up fast. Note minimum charge is around $13, or half a pound of food. My favorites are udon noodles with the healthy herb soup. It's milky because of creamer, and oh man is this broth delicious. The bowl that it comes out in is HUGE. Like I usually have half a bowl left of broth that I take home to make my own ramen. You can also ask for it to be spicy, and I like that they have their homemade chili spice available at each table for me to load up on and make extra spicy. As if I didn't love their savory foods enough, when dining in they provide a free Taiwanese style shave ice dessert. They'll bring out a portion large enough for your party, and the best part is that it's free!!! There are plenty of tables inside, and it's usually pretty chilly with the AC blasting (which is preferred when eating hot soup). The servers are quite friendly and work hard. Whenever I order takeout they stay true to the weight-to-cost ratio and i get my money's worth. Parking can sometimes get crowded in the Plaza. There's a credit card fee surcharge. read more

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I haven't been here in years and we went for dinner tonight and it was really good. No pics but I had the pumpkin soup mild, not spicy with ramen oodles and an asst of veggies and a couple of meats. Service was fast and the place is clean. It's a small, nothing fancy family type of business. I'll be back. Silly me, I can't forget to mention the shaved ice for dessert. read more

My wife loves coming here and getting the healthy herb broth with rice pho (gluten free). It's a bit pricey but fun to pick your own toppings and they get it out to you fast in a huge bowl. The free shave ice after is also fun and delicious, it reminds me of creations out of Ice Garden in Pearl City. Highly recommend read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Shave ice dessert - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

We love this place! Open late, lots of parking, lots of options, kid friendly, reasonably priced, and free dessert! Bowls of ramen are huge and other non ramen food options are just as tasty. We love their doughnut with condensed milk. Must try especially if your party wants to eat different things. read more

Interesting concept. Sort of reminds me of hot pot. Walk in choose your own seating. Start by creating your bowl with a variety of meats, veggies. Protein meats such as pork belly or beef are $3 I believe for 3-4 pieces. There's a chart that displays the weight of your bowl and its cost. After that, you take your bowl to the front counter where employees weigh it for you and you can choose what noodles and broth you want. My bowl came out to $21. I got char siu, gyoza, variety of veggies, spam, and pork belly with ramen noodles and miso as my choice of soup. The miso tasted very watered down. It barely had taste. I would choose a different broth next time. We got free dessert right after and it was soooo gooood! It was shaved ice with so many flavors that pop all in your mouth. I swear I tasted coffee, strawberry, jelly and boba! read more

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I remember discovering BYO-Ramen during 2020, it's 2024 now and this place has always delivered whenever I'm fixing for ramen. I'm surprised it hasn't expanded yet or hasn't gotten busier. Every time I come here I'm immediately seated and sure, that's awesome for someone as impatient as me, but I hope that Hawaii will continue supporting this small business. Even if I had to wait, I would still wait to get in so I could build my own ramen! I don't think there's anywhere else on island like this! First, when you walk in, it's casual and pick your own table or the staff will point you to the best available one for your party size. If you're a group bigger than four be prepared to be seated in the long middle table. After you're seated, or honestly you don't even have to sit down, just put down your stuff at your table and get to those toppings! I love the amount of veggies being offered here, and they never seem to go down. The staff is really great at keeping everything stocked so I don't have to worry about some of my favorites or whatever I'm craving to not be available for the night. They offer traditional and non-traditional assortment of veggies, meats, and dumplings for ramen; I didn't know I could love garlic chicken in ramen so much. What you may not know about this place is that they offer ingredients and broth to make PHO! So if you're like me (team ramen) or my husband (team pho) this place makes us both happy, it's like everybody wins! As someone who considers her diet 25% ramen, this is one of my favorite places to get in my much loved sodium boost lol Hope you get this try this place one day! I mean the idea of Build Your Own should be enticing enough to get you in the door, am I right? read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Spicy, spicy, and more spicy. - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

FYI, they're closed from now until June 25. Was calling them for days with no response so finally went in-person to make a reservation and saw this sign. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Closed from June 8, 2025 - June 24, 2025. - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I always love eating here! I missed the concept of AYCE hotpot like Sweet Home Cafe, for a while now, but I have since found my spot! This place is cute and quaint! The waitress is always polite and they are diligent about filling your water. You are able to choose and customize what you want and how much to put. Personally, I love the Spicy and Sour Cabbage soup, and haven't been able to find another place that makes it quite the same! They offer meat at a reasonable price as well :-) After your meal, they also serve you free dessert! The size varies depending on your party but man does it hit the spot! Highly recommend! read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Free Homemade Shaved Ice! - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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GRUBHUB/Delivery Review: Take note, when you order to build your own ramen, you get a preset amount of toppings (0.7lb for the 5 choices or 1lb if you do the 7 choices. The 7 choice is considered a large ramen). If you're ok with that then proceed with ordering lol. WHAT I ORDERED: -1 Regular size (build your own ramen) with lemon grass base, & pho noodles, with the 5 topping choice: king mushroom, baby bok choy, Chinese cabbage, fish ball with roe (3 pieces), bean curd (5 pieces). Regular spice level. -1 order beef - 1 order spring rolls Overall the springs rolls were great! Perfectly cooked and still crispy when it arrived. My ramen of choice didn't look appealing after putting it together but it was actually good. I liked the flavor of the soup and my choice of toppings (except the bean curd. Too rubbery and chewy. But wanted to try it anyway) I was also satisfied with the amount of beef and fish ball roe. It didn't seem like there was a lot of mushroom or veggies, but I was ok with that. I definitely recommend the in person experience vs doing take out. But at least I got my lemon grass soup craving fixed read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

This was the perfect rainy day dinner! Instead of going to a common ramen spot, we thought to give this place a try. Initially the staff just starred at us when we walked in but they probably assumed we knew how to select our meats and veggies. They were helpful after the fact! I was happy with their speed. I was a little skeptical at first because it is a pricey bowl but gosh the broths were delicious. My husband got the healthy herb and I tried the pumpkin. It was such a rich and flavorful broth but not overly oily! We both agreed that despite the cost being high, we had a bunch of leftovers for the next day. Of course, dessert shave ice is a plus. We have a new fave spot once again! We will definitely be back. read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Shave ice dessert - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

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Perfect place if you're looking for a quick, custom made bowl of noodles and soup! It's a fun experience getting to pick out your toppings from the vast selection from quail eggs all the way to baby corn! Our bowls came out quick and piping hot! My boyfriend got the miso broth with the ramen noodles and he did not like the broth. He said that the broth was not too flavorful and tasted watered down. He said that the noodles were cooked perfectly though! My sister and I got the spicy broth with the bean thread noodles. We both loved our meals and thought the noodles and broth paired perfectly together. The noodles were such a fun, chewy texture! The soup could have been a little more spicy but it was a perfect level for those who don't want their broth too hot. All of us agreed that the free dessert was the best part of dinner! The silky almond tofu, the colorful array of tapioca, and the chewy boba mixed with the shaved ice was the perfect treat after a hot bowl of noodles! We will definitely be back to try the different soups! read more

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Loooooove this spot and their pumpkin broth is AMAZING, especially when I add in extra chili oil. I love being able to choose what I wanna include in my bowl and my faves are the bean thread noodles, fish roe balls, and loooots of mushrooms and veggies with the pumpkin broth. HUGE portions and super quick service. Love this spot! read more

This place is so good, but a bit pricey. You can choose whatever refrigerated ingredients you want for $13 a half pound. You don't get much for half a pound. My ingredients came out to .80 and it was around $20. I got mostly seafood. You can also order meat for $3 an order. After picking your ingredients, you get to choose a soup and noodles/rice. I always get the healthy herb broth when I go to places like these. Most people pick noodles, but I opted for rice on the side. I gave the rice to the hubby, so that he could eat it with his bowl of udon spicy soup. They offer ramen, udon, bean thread and pho noodle.The healthy herb broth was spot on with dates and goji berries. The spicy soup was pretty good also, and not too spicy. They have sides that are fried for $7.99. I got the fried oysters (4 pieces). The oysters were fresh and super crispy with the breading. I tried the milk tea with boba. It was yummy. The sweetness was perfect and it was fragrant. The cashier told me that they use a type of jasmine tea. I'd go back for another milk tea. read more

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Nestled in the heart of Pearl Ridge is an amazing restaurant filled with aloha and choices! Build your own Ramen is a brilliant idea and one that has insanely delicious results! They have a great shaved ice dessert with every Ramen purchase, which is complementary don't forget to tell them Paul sent you! read more

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Still a favorite place to eat especially for my kids. The kids first choice is always BYOR. Still love the pumpkin broth and the healthy herb which is very tasteful (unlike another kapolei establishment with similar setup which I reviewed in another). Tried other similar places which turn out to be let downs and keep coming back here. You get to pick as much or as little items as you want. When I eat at any restaurant, i don't care or fall for how fancy your establishment looks. This place does not have a fancy restaurant setup but gets everything satisfied foodwise, pricewise, and what is the most important, the taste of food/broth, noodle texture, and complimentary dessert. Typical/minimal food service, but nothing wrong with it. read more

This review is for the service. My husband and I got pushed away upon arriving minutes after another party at 930pm on a Monday. Asked if they're still open and they said no we're closed. Then let us out the door and turned off the open signs. Talk about RUDE!!!! read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I like the pumpkin soup. However the scale in the front is slightly off from the scale at the cashier. They give free shave ice dessert. If you want meat, it cost extra, but they do give you decent amount of ramen so you will be full. read more

I think it's safe to say this is one of my favorite places on the island. I frequent this restaurant more than any other on the island, almost an every two week occasion. I'm a huge fan of the spicy pumpkin soup with bean thread noodles and the Cheese Gau Gee. I've tried 2 other soup bases before, but as soon as I tried the pumpkin, that was it. I just can't get myself to try anything else. I like the style of selecting your own protein and veg. They have a scale near the food bar so you can see if you meet the minimum half pound requirement. Then when you get to the counter, you select your soup base and noodles as well as any additional meats (beef, beef tongue, pork belly, chicken) to add to your soup. Once the soup is brought to your table, I add the housemade chili for added flavor and spice. If you dine with me, you might catch me saying, "this pumpkin soup just hits your soul." read more

Service is always fast. I get my food within 10 minutes of ordering. You have two choices of buying things by the pound (minimum order is $13 and meat is $3 each) to make your own noodle dish or ordering from the menu. I always like the build your own ramen option and my default soup is the herb one which feels so refreshing after a cold day. Afterwards they always give free shave ice. I truly recommend them read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I love being able to customize my own dish. Their spicy lemongrass broth is my favorite read more

Build Your Own Ramen - Spicy Lemongrass Broth w/Udon - Ramen Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

We love coming here every time we're over on this side of the island. It's mostly self-serve, but the staff here have always been friendly and helpful. How it works: grab a basket, pick your toppings from the freezers, get a meat ticket (optional add on for $3), go to the front to pick your broth and add spice if you want, and pick a noodle. The first .6 pound of toppings are included in the base price and price goes up incrementally from there based on weight. There's a scale for easy monitoring as you're filling your basket. I usually get some char siu as a topping and don't add the extra $3 meat. The oxtail is hit or miss (we've had some really chewy ones and some ok ones) plus they're heavy so I avoid it. Nice selection of mushrooms, greens, and other vegetarian items like mochi, yuba, tofu, taro, etc. As someone with food sensitivities, I appreciate that they have rice noodles and bean threads as gluten-free options, and most of their broths are dairy free (but not all so ask them if it's an issue for you! I think the tonkotsu, healthy and one other one has dairy). My kids enjoy the udon and hubby likes the ramen noodles. One of the few places we can all eat ramen together! It also comes with an epic shave ice with all kinds of delicious toppings (boba, jelly, coffee custard, condensed milk) which the kids love! read more