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    Hong Yeon

    3.9 (95 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

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    Bok Choy and Mushrooms
    Jillian T.

    Saw this place pop up on my social media, advertising $9.99 Jajangmyeon for the entire month of May, and I couldn't resist. Located on Isenberg where the old Maple Garden used to be; they really brightened and cleaned up the place. About 15 or so parking stalls to the side/back of the restaurant, with parallel street parking options up front as well. We got seated promptly, and the place filled up rather quickly for a Friday night. The service was quick, attentive, and efficient. As for the food, the Jajangmyeon was a little too bland for my palate, as I had expected it to have more flavor. The salt and pepper chicken on the other hand, was too salty for me. The bok choy and mushrooms was my favorite dish of the evening with just the right amount of flavor. I ended up putting that sauce on top of my Jajangmyeon. Portion sizes are definitely shareable. We got all 3 items in the medium size (smallest size) to share amongst 2 people and ended up taking home leftovers. To end it all, they provided complimentary candied apples, which was yummy, though parts of the candy were too hard, so I peeled some of it off and ate the candied apple innards. All in all, this was a fulfilling meal, though I would come back to try other items on their menu.

    Yaki mandu, stir-fried bok choy with mushrooms, sweet and sour pork and jajangmyeon
    Hailley O.

    This review has been long overdue, but went to Hangyeon with some friends and it was a nice experience! We ordered the Jajangmyeon, sweet and sour pork, yaki mandu and the stir-fried bok choy with mushrooms. Everything was pretty good! I think my favorite was the sweet and sour pork with how big and juicy the pieces were. The Jajangmyeon was good, but honestly I think another place does it better. The mandu and the bok choy with mushrooms were great accompaniments to the main dishes! They even gave us a fried pineapple dessert thjng towards the end which was nice. The restaurant itself is clean and spacious and there's easy parking in the front! Service was friendly and fast.

    Anna B.

    Upon a rave review of the black noodles from a fellow foodie, I couldn't wait to try them for myself! Homemade noodles, the sauce wasn't too salty and it was the perfect comfort food. I could not get enough. My biggest complaint of noodle dishes like this are that they are too salty or leave me feeling tired and sluggish but that was not the case at all. I felt great after my meal and I am so excited to have found my new comfort food spot. We also ordered the sweet and sour pork, salt and pepper shrimp, veggie tofu, orange chicken and fried mandu and egg rolls. Everything was incredible. The sweet and sour pork was just amazing, I loved the sauce on the side, kept the pork amazingly crispy and the sauce wasn't too sweet. The veggies in the sauce made it extra yummy. The veggie tofu we ordered was spicier than I expected but I really loved the fried soft tofu and the noodles in this dish. I would order everything again and I want to come back asap. The service was super attentive and the food came out incredibly fast, and piping hot. Our experience was perfect.

    Kelly D.

    Petition to bring their lunch specials to the weekend! It's sad that I probably won't be able to experience their lunch specials for a long time because it can be hard to get off on a weekday. It's such a great deal because you get a a noodle dish AND an entree for an average of $25 and that alone can easily be shared between two people. My friend and I went a little crazy because we decided to get two of their lunch deals, on top of their Kung Pao Chicken and Shrimp Toast which in total gave us 5 dishes between 2 people.... Did we eat most of it? Yes. Did it hurt? Also yes. I would love to come back for their Jajjangmyeon - you can tell their noodles are homemade because the bite hits different and paired with the sauce is chefs kiss. I was a bit nervous to try their Tangsuyuk because of previous reviews of the strong cinnamon flavor but it seemed like they listened and learned because I didn't taste any! The sauce is more on the sweeter side (probably because of the pineapple) but I didn't mind it much

    Original jajangmyun
    Ruth M.

    For the month of May, they brought back the $9.99 jjajangmyun special. The lunch combo jjajangmyun, now $26 if I remember because it was $24 before. In the Korean newspaper they advertised that they lowered the price on menu items but not sure, as I didn't really try to look and compare but only the lunch combo I noticed it went up. Seemed to me like not a big difference. Anyways, I still enjoy their jjajangmyun and the taste is still good, on the lighter side some might say but I'm glad it's not saltier as is. I tried their ganpoong chicken lunch combo - like sweet and sour and a little spicy which was good and good portion. I think the lunch combo with jjajangmyun or jampong; the entree is bigger than the portion size of the jjajangmyun/ jampong so you could share that. If you want bigger portion of jjajangmyun, you should get it individually. Also, I noticed servers weren't as attentive even though place was not busy at all, so that was a little annoying to have to wait for them to come out from the back all the time for refills.

    Beef broccoli
    Ruby S.

    Convenient to get in and out via reverse parking. No access to lunch combo specials on Thanksgiving via signs posted and informed by employees. Required to order from regular lunch menu. Spacious. Love the gray tables. I'm not supposed to be eating an excessive amount of onions. Yet, my mom was determined to try jaja myeong. I inquired if we're able to get little bit of onions or no onions for black bean sauce. Employees were unable to accommodate our request as black bean sauce includes onions. One of the employees recommended and we chose gan jajang where black bean sauce and onions can be served separately from noodles. She also recommended eating and dipping pickled onions and daikon in black bean sauce which we did. Each order is ideal for family style dining. Gan jajang: 2/5 stars. We're able to pour and control the amount of black bean sauce. Tiny pieces of pork with veggies hiding and swimming amongst plethora of onions in black bean sauce. We could only finish half of black bean sauce due to onions dominating this entree. Noodles were immediately served warm and turned cold quickly. Finished all the noodles. An underwhelming experience. Sweet and sour pork: 5/5 stars. Heat hot, crispy fried pork coated in a light batter. Not oily. Pickled veggies immersed in sweet, thick sauce. Highly recommend using a separate serving utensil. Beef broccoli: 5/5 stars. My son only wanted beef broccoli and a bowl of rice. Beef was thinly sliced, tender and flavorful while broccoli, bamboo shoots were cooked to perfection. My son and I gave two thumbs up for delicious beef broccoli. Fried apple dessert: 5/5 stars. Compliments from the restaurant. Not listed on the menu. Served on a toothpick and consumed after our meal. Yummy. Employees were very helpful and offered menu suggestions: jaja myeong, jampong, sweet and sour pork, shrimp fried rice. They ensured we were well taken care of, offered water, napkins, separate bowls, and chopsticks refills.

    Regular jjajangmyeon
    Mona W.

    First time with my sister at this restaurant. We came 30 mins before opening and got stared down by the cooks at the parking lot so we decided to leave and come back later. Can back at around 6pm or so and got sat immediately. The restaurant wasn't as busy so there were still a good amount of tables open. We decided to order the regular jjajangmyeon, seafood jjamppong, tangsuyuk, and the shrimp toast. Everything was really good! I haven't eaten this in a while and was very impressed that the jjajangmyeon wasn't overly oily or salty, it was seasoned just right. The jjamppong as well wasn't overly oily either and was seasoned just right as well! The tangsuyuk was a little different as the sauce was sweet but had a more pungent vinegar taste and smell but still very delicious. Love the fact that they don't toss the meat with the sauce so you can just dip as you eat so it doesn't get soggy! The shrimp toast was good too! I enjoyed both of the dipping sauce it comes with. My sister liked the sweet chili more and I liked both the hot honey mustard and the sweet chili as it gives the toast a different flavor. Overall the experience we had was great. We had a great time there as well and love that the interior was redone so it's nice and bright inside. I will definitely come back and would recommend trying this place as well. They also gave us a candied apple for dessert at the end. My sister didn't really care for it lol and to me it was alright. It's like a battered apple with the tonghulu sugar coating on the outside but soft not that hard sugar. If you haven't tried this place, I would say to try it at least once. The jjamppong was my favorite!!

    Located on Isenberg Street in the former Maple Garden Restaurant
    Lyla D.

    While traveling in late December 2024, I heard that our longtime favorite Korean-Chinese restaurant, Eastern Garden, was closing after nearly 50 years in business. One of our favorite dishes at Eastern Garden was their jjajangmyeon (짜장면), which featured thick wheat noodles topped with a savory mixture of pork or seafood, and vegetables in a stir-fried Korean black bean sauce called "jjajang" (춘장). Eastern Garden's jjajangmyeon was our go-to after-work snack or sometimes weekend comfort food. Although we had tasted jjajangmyeon at other local and Mainland Korean Chinese restaurants, we held the version at Eastern Garden as our "gold standard." However, earlier this year, during a free day of sightseeing, shopping, and dining out in Seoul, Korea, we visited the Deoksungang Palace with fellow cruise passengers who were also interested in Korean Chinese comfort foods. The wife of the couple, a Korean national, recommended Andonjang Chinese restaurant, so we followed them onto public transportation, walked a few minutes, and voilà, the restaurant appeared. She told us that Andonjang was historic, as it is the longest continually running Korean-Chinese restaurant in Seoul, and is famous for its jjajangmyeon and oyster jjamppong. We, of course, tried both dishes and exclaimed that the authentic jjajangmyeon was the flavor, aroma, and texture that Eastern Garden brought to our taste buds. That's when our disappointment about the Eastern Garden owners' retirement hit us hard. Luckily, I read about the Grand Opening of Hong Yeon Korean Chinese restaurant from fellow Yelp Elites in September and suggested having lunch with my husband after a challenging physical therapy session. We were aware of this restaurant's location and limited parking spaces because it occupies the former Maple Garden restaurant on Isenberg Street. When we arrived at the restaurant, all the parking spaces in the lot were filled, but we lucked out with a recently vacated metered parking space directly across the street. There were six groups ahead of us, but the turnover in the crowded restaurant was relatively quick, and we waited for only 15 minutes before being seated. The service was friendly and quick, as one of the female servers came to our table with a greeting and asked if we had any questions about the menu. We only had one question about the lunch special, which my husband was interested in, and she answered quickly, so we just placed our order. After taking our order, she returned with glasses of iced water and a small tray of chopped raw onions, pickled daikon, and a savory, mildly sweet, and spicy bean paste. FOOD: Lunch Specials -Jjajangmyeon + Tangsuyuk (Sweet & Sour Pork): A massive bowl of jjajangmyeon and a plateful of lightly fried and battered pork strips with tangy, sweet, and sour sauce in a rice bowl was gleefully delivered by our server. I was surprised by the generous portions of the lunch special, as they appeared to be full entrees. The taste, aroma, and texture of jjajangmyeon were SIMILAR to our previous experiences, and I'd say Hong Yeon gets my nod to become our new go-to Korean Chinese restaurant. The tangsuyuk, or sweet and sour pork, was also good, as its soft-crisp, battered crust remained crisp when dipped into the sauce. As for the pork strips, they weren't particularly tender, but they had a meaty chewiness and tasted somewhat bland. The sweet and sour sauce wasn't overly sweet or vinegary like at some Chinese restaurants. $24 -Jjajangmyeon + Fried Chicken and Hot Sauce Combo: My husband chose this combination after asking if the fried chicken was tossed in the hot sauce before serving or if the sauce could be served on the side. The server said that the fried chicken was tossed in sauce, and the hot sauce wasn't particularly spicy. I think she thought my husband was concerned about the spice level instead of the potential sogginess. However, he went with the flow and was pleasantly surprised by the crispness of the fried crust, the mildly spiced sauce, and the tender boneless chicken chunks. $24 We'd be likely to return to Hong Yeon for more Korean-Chinese or Junghwa Yori (중화요리) as our new go-to for comfort foods. 4.4 stars

    Sweet and sour pork
    Doris D.

    Very good traditional Korean place. We had the Jajeongmin, sweet and sour pork, fried chicken with hot sauce, and eggplant in spicy sauce. The portions are huuuge and pretty expensive so I wonder why they don't cut down the sizes and prices to something manageable. Two adults can probably share a single dish and be full! The eggplant didn't need to be deep fried. I liked how the sweet and sour sauce was on the side.

    Judy C.

    Yep. been seeing all the social media post on Hong Yeon, nice & new Korean-Chinese restaurant, super close by to me, I was excited to check it out! This visit would make it my 2nd time trying this type of cuisine. The very first time was in Vegas and it was truly amazing! I didn't have that feeling while here but I have to say I can't compare apples to apples. First lets start off with the parking, the one thing I have to say is the junk part, the lot is very small, spacing is also small and with only one disabled parking stall, when I arrived there was only one tiny stall in the back which I know I will have a hard time parking, so I drove out to look for street parking with no luck, none avail. I just sucked it up and tried my best to take the small tight spot. The restaurant is very modern, welcoming, I loved what they did with the renovations. I frequent Maple Garden often so I kind of know the layout of the previous restaurant. Fyi-The door to the woman's restroom, you have to push real hard to enter. The staff were working very nice and attentive. They work very hard despite how busy it gets. We had great wait service from beginning to end, getting what we needed and answering questions I had. I had the lunch special in mind prior to visiting, it is a great deal, keep in mind only available Mon-Friday , dine in only. The lunch specials are $26. all one price, for full order of Jajang or Jampong, and choice of 8 menu items listed on the Lunch Special menu. The portion are huge and more than enough to share for 2. I opt for the seafood Jampong and sweet and sour pork. A cute tray of daikon, onions, and black bean is provided, along with complimentary hot tea. The verdict, I loved our jampong bowl of noodles, came with seafood ( shrimp, mussels & calamari) and vegetables. I love the broth, I asked the waiter if I could more broth but he mentioned the chef cooks them when its being ordered. Tangsuyuk, sweet and sour pork, came with a big bowl of sweet and sour sauce on the side for dipping. I like this idea so the pork doesn't get soggy. When I took a bite of the sweet and sour pork, it didn't taste the same as when I first had it, I had better. It taste a little bland, not sure if it is due to the sauce not mixed together?. They had non-stop customers coming in, majority orderd the Jajang, black noodles, seems like everyone is enjoying this dish. ( will try this next time visit) Spoke to the owner while I went to pay for my bill, asked him what the meaning of Hong Yeon which means together, he is also the owner of Choi's restaurant. No big deal but after looking at my receipt the next day, I noticed the price for lunch special: $26.91, plus tax. not sure what the .91 is for? Overall, we had a great dining experience. Seems like they got everything under control with grand opening and the crowds coming in. Private rooms are also available. We look forward to visiting again! Welcome to the neighborhood, Hong Yeon!

    $9.99 special until 9.30.25
    Nadine C.

    Dinner in Honolulu, Hawaii... Hong Yeon, a new Chinese-Korean restaurant, took the place of the former Maple Garden, a Chinese restaurant that had been across from The Old Stadium Park on Isenberg Street for decades. Parking was challenging on a Saturday night. The private parking lot was packed. We found a metered street stall, which was free because it was after hours! Yay! Inside, the restaurant was full! We wrote our name on the clipboard and had a seat on the bench to wait for a table. We all knew that we each wanted the $9.99 special: Jajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles). We looked around at what the people around us were eating and also ordered the pork with sweet sour sauce and the shrimp toast appetizer. We were a bit disappointed in the shrimp toast because it was on the oily side. The dipping sauces (one was mustard-based and the other was like a sweet chili type) made it a bit better, but I was only able to just eat one. I liked the chewy noodles a lot, but avoided eating most of the onions. It did have a few small cubes of zucchini and pork. The $9.99 special ends at the end of September 2025. The sweet sour pork was pricey at $32, but i liked it more than I thought it would. The pork is lightly battered and fried. You can dip the pork into the bowl of sauce. My friend asked for a spoon so she could pour the sauce over the pork. We don't think we'll return soon. There are other restaurants with more competitive prices and easier parking. Service was okay, but not the best. Good luck to this new business!

    Signage
    Paul C.

    ***4.5 STARS*** When I saw that a Korean-Chinese restaurant opened in the space previously occupied by long time tenant Maple Garden, I knew I had to try them. I enjoy this type of fusion cuisine and what a better way to try them is to convince the fam to go so you'll get to sample an array of their offerings. With their advertised grand opening on 9/10/25, Hong Yeon (HY) is one of Honolulu's newest restaurants. They boast homemade noodles which sure got my family's interest. I wasn't feeling that great and knew I had to get out of the house so I asked sister if she was interested in trying here. Sent them their lunch special and also mentioned their grand opening special of Jajangmyeon at $9.99 dine-in only. Family's schedule opened up as their appointment finished early, so we met up at 12:30pm to a nearly full house restaurant. Impressive. I also saw grand opening flowers still on display. Glad to see this business starting off strong. Appreciated the much needed renovation as the restaurant is much brighter and livelier. Because HY is fairly new, there weren't many food pics posted on their Yelp page so we relied on what type of dishes we enjoy and ordered from there. I noticed the entrees are smaller when paired with either Jajangmyeon or Jjamppong. Because there were 4 of us, I opted to get full entrees of spicy shrimp, spicy chicken and sweet and sour pork. We also got 2 lunch specials and a full order of their Jajangmyeon, which is $9.99 until the end of the month. It didn't seem that long before our food came out. We snapped photos of our soon to be full table and it was finally time to dig in. THE VERDICT: Overall, food is made to order here and it was delivered piping hot to our table. The noodles were exceptional. Nice chew and the flavors were there. Surprisingly, the Mongolian beef and Sweet and Sour Pork were executed well. I could taste the wok hei and the pork was still crunchy. Happy that the sweet and sour sauce is automatically served on the side. We didn't think highly of their spicy shrimp and chicken was we had better at another restaurant. We also weren't a fan of their mapo tofu. Flavor was good but didn't like the usage of firm tofu. Texture was off and less desirable. Service was above average. Staff came to check on us and refilled our water cups and brought us takeout containers. Overall, a great first experience at HY where I'd be game for a return visit. I'd like to sample more of their offerings from their extensive menu. NOTES: 1) Do not park in the lots of neighboring businesses as your car will be towed away. If HY's lot is full, look for street parking. 2) I saw Jo Y.'s check in as we sat down and immediately saw her and Marvin. We exchanged words as she was leaving the restaurant just as we submitted our food order.

    Hailey W.

    As a huge fan of jajangmyeon, I had been waiting to try Hong Yeon since I saw their "Opening Soon" signs! From their fresh, homemade noodles, to their perfectly hearty and savory sauce, to their large portion, their jajangmyeon definitely did not disappoint. While some of their other dishes are more pricey, this was a reasonable $14, and they also offer weekday lunch combos too. We also tried their Sizzling Rice Soup and Fried Chicken with Hot Sauce. The soup was flavorful and also included a generous amount of fillings, and the chicken also had a delicious, almost sweet-and sour sauce that wasn't too spicy (but as someone whose spice tolerance isn't great, no complaints there). It looks like others have had mixed experiences with the service here, but I personally thought it was great! We were greeted warmly by who I think were the owners or managers of the restaurant, and our waiter was friendly and efficient. We were also seated right away, which was a surprise given that it was a weekend and I had heard they got crowded when they were still offering their opening lunch specials. There were still a good amount of other customers the entire time I was there, though! Overall, I was impressed by the meal I had here and would definitely come back!

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    Good service, very polite, good options. Pork, poultry, beef, veggie, seafood, etc. Noods, rice.

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    Seoul Cook

    Seoul Cook

    3.3
    (61 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    Right next to H-Mart is Seoul Cook in Kaka'ako. I was starving after taking two back-to-back…read moreworkout classes nearby and my friend recommended we get food here and I'm so glad we did. First off, all the complimentary banchan (Korean side dishes). From the classic kimchi, fishcake, cucumber kimchi, and radish. And if you're dining in, just ask and you can get refills of whatever you want more of. If you're doing take out, they still give you all of the banchan!v We did dine-in but take out / online orders seemed popular. But I loved dining in because of the Ajumma here! She was so sweet and funny, and even made the perfect bite (radish kimchi on top of the meat jun, so the acid offsets the oily fried jun) and fed it to my boyfriend LOL. We got a ton of food! The seafood soondabu soup, seafood korean pancake, seafood bibimbap, meat jun, and zucchini jun. We had a lot of leftovers that we took home. The food was good but it's really the service and love that makes this a 5-star experience.

    Came in for the tofu soondubu lunch set and it totally hit the spot. The soup was rich, deeply…read moresavory, and comforting, with that perfect spicy kick you can adjust to your liking. The tofu was silky soft and fresh, soaking up all the flavor from the broth. The lunch set is a great value--you get soondubu bubbling hot, rice, and banchan that were all solid and well-seasoned. Portions were filling without being heavy, which makes it an ideal lunch option. Service was friendly and efficient, and the food came out fast even during lunch hours. This is definitely one of those places you crave when you want something warm, satisfying, and comforting. I'll absolutely be back for this again.

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    Interior of restaurant
    Interior of restaurant
    Banchan (sides)
    Banchan (sides)
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    Inside
    ‘I'O Waikiki Korean BBQ Restaurant

    ‘I'O Waikiki Korean BBQ Restaurant

    3.9
    (178 reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$$

    I tried their $29 lunch special and it was sooo worth it. The quality of the meat was honestly…read moreimpressive for the price. The brisket and beef belly (toro) were my favorites, super flavorful and cooked perfectly. It doesn't come with salad, egg, or soup, but you still get a solid KBBQ experience with just meat and banchan. If you're looking for something simple and satisfying, this is a great deal. Also, the restaurant is really spacious, which makes the whole experience feel more relaxed and comfortable. Would definitely come back for a quick KBBQ fix.

    Sorry, but this place feels like a tourist trap. They're clearly benefiting from being in a prime…read morelocation with very few Korean BBQ options nearby. The premium AYCE option is around $60 per person, which would be reasonable if the quality matched the price. Unfortunately, it doesn't. We're from the Bay Area and have been to countless Korean BBQ restaurants with significantly better meat quality for the same price or less. To make matters worse, even at the highest-priced AYCE tier, fountain drinks aren't included. What really left a bad impression was the automatic 20% gratuity. Our group consisted of two separate parties of three people each. We were seated together at one large table with two grills, but we had separate bills, ordered different AYCE meats option, didn't share food, and made that CLEAR before ordering. The menu states that automatic gratuity applies to parties of five or more, yet we were still charged because we happened to sit together. Had we known this was their policy, we would have chosen another restaurant or sat at different areas of the restaurant. The reason I'm giving two stars instead of one is because our servers were friendly, patient, and knowledgeable. They answered all of our questions about the menu and provided excellent service throughout the meal. Unfortunately, when we brought the gratuity issue to the manager, he insisted we were one large party despite us being separate parties with separate orders and separate checks. At the end of the day, the only difference was that we happened to be sitting at the same table. Overall, the service from the staff was great, but the overpriced food, disappointing meat quality, and questionable gratuity policy make it hard for me to recommend this place.

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    ‘I'O Waikiki Korean BBQ Restaurant
    Very marbled beef (I can't remember the name)
    Very marbled beef (I can't remember the name)
    Pork belly and Kalbi

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    Pork belly and Kalbi

    Hong Yeon - chinese - Updated July 2026

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