First timer at the Noodle Fest Hawaii (2nd Annual). If you love noodles, then its worth checking out! For locals, it's an opportunity to sample festival exclusive noodle dishes from vendors across the state, but mostly from those doing business on Oahu. For all other visitors, it's a good place to learn about Hawaii's comfort food: Saimin. After reading an article by Frolic Hawaii prior to the event, I decided I was going to visit the Sun Noodle booth to try their Noodle Fest exclusive: Garlic Butter Shrimp Saimin. Luckily, I had arrived at 3:00pm sharp, so I was probably the 5th in line. I thoroughly enjoyed their bowl of saimin in a hot dashi, which was prepared by Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. Topped with green onions, fishcake, luncheon meat and garlic butter shrimp, it was satisfying even on this sweltering afternoon in Honolulu! I mean it was prime time heat! So, naturally, I was craving for something chilled soonafter, but the line for Sweet Creams was just too long to stand any longer in the heat. The 2019 festivities were held in the grassy area of Victoria Ward Park, where the old Marukai used to be. There were chairs and tables in front of the stage, and standing only tables scattered throughout. Some folks found shade towards the back of the park and just plopped themselves down in the grass. Before I left, I purchased a Noodle Fest t-shirt designed by VH07V - very cute! Proceeds from the $25 navy-colored event shirt will go to the Hawaii Foodbank. I found free parking at the lot near Ross and actually did some business at the Ohana Hale Marketplace. Fully air conditioned, the Hale was a great place to cool down after (or even during) the Fest, which was conveniently located right next door to the event. Thai Tea Gelato from Friend Cafe Express hit the spot! Wear a hat or bring an umbrella for sun protection. Stay for the entertainment including the Noodle Eating Competitions! read more

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Judging by the crowds and parkibg shortage, Honolulu loves oodles of noodles!!! It was wall to wall people and their four-legged friends seeking good noodle eats! We were in search of black noodles that were publicized on air. Closest we got was the truffle ramen from gomatei. The line wasn't long but the dashi was lukewarm Will try this at gomatei! read more

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Let's type a review while I am waiting in the never ending line to GYOZILLA... This is the second annual Noodle Fest, and my first time attending. It is located at Ward, next to the theatres. Free parking is available all around with multiple parking lots and structures. I luckily found a beautiful, spacious parking stall with no cars around across the venue right when I arrived. There is literally a sea of people here all in search (and super long lines) of noodles, noodles, and more noodles! There are about 20 vendors here. The main vendors are obviously GYOZILLA and The Pig and the Lady based on the exceedingly long lines. There aren't really any other notable ones. Most of the other vendors are nearby businesses, and several repetitive vendors. It's saimin and ramen with a pho here, a pad Thai there, and random pasta ones. There's NO CHINESE NOODLES. How ridiculous and disappointing!! Overall, it is a great event because noodles are very popular here, but there should be a more variety of cuisines and types of noodles. It's not just saimin and ramen! Well, I'm almost to the front of GYOZILLA. Noodle out! read more

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I was excited to go to Noodle Fest this year with my friends. What I really liked: 1. Parking....there were plenty of space to park. 2. Food was pretty good. What they can do better: 1. Shades! So hot :( 2. More tables!! There were so few tables...we were very lucky. 3. More vendors thus less long line! This is only the second year so hopefully next year will be better!! read more

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I don't know why "Noodle Fest" isn't a thing globally! I mean so many cultures incorporate noodles into their cuisine, it is a crying shame to deny yourself oodles of noodles. This was held at the Victoria Ward park, and true to form; if you build a festival, locals will come in droves! Parking was available for a very lucky few and when that filled up, they were on their own to find a parking lot. I decided to bring my younger teen daughter and wife to this event. Normally, crowds can cause tension in our little clan, but we gave ourselves some healthy perimeters, each had money to go spend where they wanted. There were vendors all along in a horse shoe like shape, the Pig and the Lady, Shige's Saimin Stand, Laverne's, and everything from Ramen to Pho to Spaghetti noodles were well represented! There was a small stage set up for entertainment, and plenty of round tables and chairs for people to hang out to watch young Ukulele performers, martial arts demos, and raising money for the Food Bank. Here's my brilliant idea that went over about as well as tying a brick to a string and calling it a "kite". I wanted to prepare ahead of time and brought out own bento shaped Tupperware and flatware so we were not contributing to more disposable waste. Sounds altruistic right? My family begrudgingly took their containers and got into line for some Saimin and Ramen. So, I get in line for Shoyu Ramen. The lines were long, and the sun was beating down. As I approached to make my order, I say "Shoyu Ramen please, and if you could use my container, I would appreciate it" This woman just gaped at me like "What is this Haole doing?" My container was not bowl shaped, it was rectangular with sections in it! I felt so embarrassed as I waited, wondering if the chef was going to come after me, flinging fish cake and swearing! But no. They were ultra polite and delivered my bowl of Shoyu Ramen in the best way they could! My daughter was already looking at dessert, and we just happened to sit down in the grass next to the Hawaiian Honey Cones booth. This "J" shaped cone smells like Captain Crunch cereal, but has a honey taste and is filled with Vanilla ice cream. Perfect way to cool off under the hot sun. Since my family and I usually have about a 3 hour max for most festivals we attend, we missed the Noodle eating contests. Sadly, 2020 cancelled the 3rd Annual Noodle fest, but we are crossing our fingers that they will have one this year! The last I read, it was March 2021..... Either way, we will be there and I will bring a Ramen Tupperware bowl like a normal person! read more

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Checked out NOODLE FEST HAWAII 2019 On 3/30/19 Saturday @ Ward, and man what can I say it was PACKED HOUSE inside the VENUE area. Got there about 6/615PM And there was a lot of people. It was our first time checking out the noodle fest, didn't go to the 1st annual noodle festival last year. VENDORS * Lots or different food vendors and other vendors selling T-shirt's and other items. IMO and what I noticed is that there was couple food vendors were the LINES was very very long probably wait time is approx 25/30MINS I would say just to order and get your food. One was *Hokkaido Ramen Santouka x SUN noodle food stand And *GYO-Zilla, Sweet Creams 808 just to make a few. The first line we waited at was the line for the GYO-Zilla And we were about 20 mins in waiting in-line but still far away from the front, then we hear from the front of the line that they RAN out of GYOZA and I was like what is out someone says GYOZA, I was like What in the world I was literally waiting 25 mins in-line and found out they RAN OUT (SMH) very disappointing I tell you. How can they don't really stock up for this event. Bad planning I would say. Then the other Food eatery we stand in-line was SWEET CREAMS 808 another long line waited about 20mins +. And gladly here though they didn't sell out outta of the RAMEN ROLL BOWLS. One thing I wish I tried and wish they wasn't SOLD OUT, Was FRIED SAIMIN noodles from SHIGE's FOOD STAND. They were sold at 6PM (SMH) Parking for the event * LOTS OF FREE PARKING around WARD. read more

The noodle fest this year, 2019 was held at ward, next to the theaters, where the Christmas lights were held. This event showcases a taste of different restaurants serving saimin or Ramen noodles. There were many more vendors, but I only tried the below: Nori - 5 stars - for $6, there wasn't a very long line like some others, but I thought their cold ramen bowl was the best. The noodles had a flavorful shoyu based dressing with fish cake, onions and nori. They also sold pickled mustard cabbage in a jar and chocolate mochi cake. Santouka - 3 stars - for $6, they sold butter ramen only because they ran out of shrimp ramen before I arrived, which was only a half hour after the event started. The ramen was ok, but it's sun noodle. They had a display of different sun noodles which was interesting. Shige's - 4 stars - $7 for saimin, $5 for fried saimin - loved their homemade noodles which tasted so much better than regular sun noodles with a fresh chewy texture. However their broth and fried saimin was really salty. Burgers on bishop - 4 stars - for $11, 2 large pieces of soft teri pork belly with a lot of fat on ramen was very filling, but also very oily. They sold water in an aluminum reusable bottle, which was very useful. The person taking orders was very animated and funny. Yelp booth - of course 5 stars! Raelyn was very helpful and friendly in checking in, and giving me a choice of a cooler or eco bag. This event had long lines at certain tents and only within half hour after opening, some items were sold out. It was great to be able to buy a small servings of ramen or saimin at different restaurants. Parking - all around ward, but we decided to walk to the event after shopping at ala moana. I noticed they had a Lyft drop off area right next to the event. read more

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I went around 3:15 and didn't want to chance parking at ward warehouse area so I parked by the old sports authority and walked in. A lot of people were doing this XD It was already super packed when I got there! One had a line across the street and then some. Lots of local favorites were there. I hightailed it to shiro's because I don't get to go to Aiea that often anymore. They thankfully had a short line, I was almost distracted and went to S&S who had no line. One of the things about a noodle festival is everyone who serves ramen it is really hot!!! So need to wait to let it cool before eating and you need to be careful to not spill anything on you. It impedes how much food you can consume. Next I hit up sweet roll because I needed to get their "ramen bowl" just for the photos...I mean it was good too but yeah! I was a little bummed they forgot my ice coffee and had already walked away by the time I noticed =( That day was raining all morning so I was glad it finally stopped at around 2:45 and it was dry. It was super humid tho and with it being so packed didn't help =( some people saw my IG feed and decided to come down because they saw it wasn't raining XD overall it was enjoyable, I had to run to another event or I would have liked to stay longer than an hour and a half to eat more. read more

Noodle Fest Hawaii - Shiro ramen - Festivals Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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We got to Noodle Fest (2019) at around 5:30pm, and had a relatively easy time parking in the lot right across Victoria Ward Park. There were many people and lines were packed, but I loved that there were so many vendors to choose from. **GYOZILLA** I've always been meaning to try Gyozilla ever since I saw them at the events hosted by Art + Flea. We got the Okonomiyaki Gyoza, Garlic Gyoza, and the special Baecon (Bacon wrapped mochi), and Garlic Noodz (egg noodles with shoyu, garlic, and parmesan) Everything was SO good and the workers were very quick to get everything out to us. Will definitely check them out at other events! ** SWEET CREAMS ** I used to work right next to Sweet Creams when they first opened, and remember seeing lines go out the door every night. I was reminded of that at this event, because the line to get the Ramen Rolled Ice Cream was also insane. Their special was super cute and actually resembled a ramen bowl (white chocolate egg, the "kamaboko" was mochi, coconut flakes for the "green onions" and pocky sticks for chopsticks). We got the tea "broth" and it paired well with the biscoff ice cream! I love their creativity and can't wait to see what they'll bring next year! The only negative of the event (besides the crazy long lines) was that ambiguity of the parking. I had the VIP parking pass and followed the map, but couldn't find the designated place to park. Luckily, it didn't take too long to find a stall, but hoping to get more clarity with parking next year! Can't wait for Noodle Fest 2020! read more

This was the first annual Noodle Fest! A small portion of the street was blocked off in front of Ward Center and man was it packed! It was pouring rain all day and luckily it cleared up right in time for the event. And it was overcast so it wasn't too hot. There were tons of different noodles from around the world...saimin, ramen, pho, pad thai, pho to name a few. They even had a cute ice cream place that had ice cream that looked like a little ramen bowl. And if you didn't like noodles, there were other food choices too, not a ton but afterwards this is a Noodle Fest right? Interestingly, no Italian spaghetti or even Chinese noodles. Most places were reasonably priced. It's an event after all! There was a noodle eating contest and entertainment too! The lines were long but they moved pretty fast. Some places ran out of food early. Sad. But a lot of other places still had a ton of food at least! This was actually a more fun event than I expected and will definitely come check it out next year, if they have it again. ******** Do you like noodles? Then this is the place to go! oodles of noodles read more

First time the family and I attended and it was packed! We were lucky to get a parking stall at about 6:30 p.m. during peak dinner time. By then, Shige's had already sold out. We did get to try Nori's which my son devoured all of his noodles. Wish they would put more tables out although we were lucky to use one by sharing with another couple. Great event that will only get better with minor improvements. I really don't like crowds so we left early but we enjoyed the free entertainment. read more

Noodle Fest Hawaii - Packed with people! - Festivals Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Sponsored by local noodle icon, Sun Noodle, this inaugural festival in the Ward area was a talked-about event this spring. The Noodle Festival was the first of its kind, a block-party style event located in the street, in between Pier 1 Imports and Via Gelato. Ward is booming as a modern community, hosting plenty of events and activities like group yoga, paid entrance brunch-time get togethers supporting a local cause or mission and is the hub for anyone wanting to learn or see what's coming. TOTALLY scored on parking in the Nordstrom/TJ Maxx structure and arrived around 4:00pm (Event time 3:00pm-9:00pm). The street was packed shoulder to shoulder with noodle seekers, many confused in the many long lines. Drinks were available for a buck or so from specific vendors. There were a handful of non-noodle vendors that offered items like t-shirts, spam musubis, rolled ice cream, mochi, cookies and adorable succulents for sale by Junior Achievement entrepreneur students as well. In the hour I was there (not including parking time...), I was able to taste Asahi Grill's O xtail Ramen $7, and Agu Ramen's Tonkotsu Ramen $6. Both were hot and tasty, yet nothing new. Below list was posted as a tentative for 2018: Agu Ramen Bistro (Shio Ramen, Tonkotsu) Asahi Grill (Ox Tail Ramen) Elena's Filipino Food (Pancit) Goma Tei (Ramen) Laverne's (Chicken Long Rice, Fried Noodles) Maile's Thai Bistro (Pad Thai) The Pig & the Lady (Pho) Shiro's Saimin (Saimin) Tanaka Saimin (Saimin) Tatsuo's (Spam Musubi, Mochi, Cookies) Tonkotsu Kazan (Ramen) Umami Teppan Kingyo (Yakisoba) Toyota Hawaii Entertainment Stage included: Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Hawaii Olivia Thai Miss Chinatown Court Appearance Music by: Heart & Soul and Kui Lima Micah Ganiron & Friends Karlie Goya Honoka & Azita Noodle Related Contests; THE NOODLE BOWL challenge, Tsuru Ton Tan Udon Eating and 88 Pal Pal Spicy Noodle Eating read more

Noodle Fest Hawaii - Festivals Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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It was hot and crowded. However since there was grass, it was more manageable than the previous year, where it was hot and crowded on a street. Last year, my husband and I ordered nothing and just went to a restaurant in the end. There were no maps or directional signs. That would be helpful in deciding which noodles to eat. Do we stand in line? Is there script? We jostled around through the crowds looking at venues. Where were the bathrooms? No signs. How about an atm machine? Should have had one on site. Most vendors were cash only. We didn't want to go hunting down an atm machine off site. So we left after the cash ran out. Let's say we only $20. Can't get much. A program guide that has the map and list of vendors would help. It would be nice to know which performances were coming and which ones were missed. It would be nice if there was more shade. I felt like I couldn't wait to leave. Drink vendors such a Tea Girls would have been nice and the place that sells Otto pops. All there was, was pipe ice cream. Shaved ice booth, Jamba Juice, or some other local cold dessert shop. Something to keep hydrated and cool. The variety of noodles wasn't the most extensive and this is a noodle festival. Korean cold noodle soup and Korean noodle dishes? Chinese noodle dishes? Italian? Okinawan? A bigger variety would have been nice besides Japanese saimin, udon, ramen. Maybe this noodle festival should be called Japanese Noodle Festival because the lack of variety. Hopefully they improve next year. Maybe consider having this festival indoors at the Blaisedell or Convention Center, so you don't have to worry about dehydration and heat stroke. read more

Noodle Fest Hawaii - Festivals Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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First time at noodlefest and had a blast. Not as many noodles as I was expecting and it was sunny af but still the selection was great. There was staples like pig and the lady along with gyozazilla but it was also nice to see spaghetti and Nori from the big island. By far Nori was the most talked about. I've spoke with several that said they missed the taste of Noris saimin and it reminded them of home. The foie gras saimin was rich and tasty, their chocolate mochi cake was delicious as well. All in all a successful event and I left satisfied and full of noodles! read more

Noodle Fest Hawaii - Foie gras saimin - Festivals Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

With a 3pm start, we knew that it would be hot and packed. We got there a 3:15 and there were long lines and the small Victoria Ward park was packed! We were excited as we didn't get to attend the event last year. This was the 2nd annual event. We had a good time but there were a few things that the event coordinators could help improve with next year. Many Yelpers have stated what could be improved upon so I will pass on repeating. Overall, great event. We knew that we had to get there early because like last year, many vendors sold out a few hours into the event. Tried to get Gyozilla, which the line was crazy long event at 3:15!!!! We'll visit the restaurant instead ;) Looking forward to next years Noodlefest! So glad that we got there for tee-shirts as they were sold out online! read more

A fun family event with lots of offerings. All the portions were full sized so it made it difficult to try everything that your noodle-heart desired. We went at the beginning, granted it was hot. But we didn't want to run the risk of a booth potentially "selling out" of any particular offering. Recommend to put some sunscreen on as the afternoon 3pm sun was blistering. Bring water and a hat if you need to as well. We stayed for about 1.5 hours and didn't have a chance to browse through all the booths. read more

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Arrived at the Fest and it was packed.It got me all excited to see everything that they have to serve.It was nice and cool when i went in the evening with boyfriend.We saw the the news when they had a few that was showing there noodles on tv to try out.So i went and tried out the Mexicanese noodles and it was different from the usual noodles which it was great.It had eggs on top and it taste like a mix of mexican,Chili,italian.It was different but was good.We wiped it out haha.The lines to all the noodle booth was long so we tried out other stuffs and it was yummy.Yelp had a booth to where u can take pic.It was cute seeing kids put in the noodle costume for pic.There was entertainment singing and Noodle challenge.So much good stuff at this noodle fest.We really enjoyed it.Parking is free so that was a plus for us.We found parking easily across the fest where the parking garage is at.Alot of people sat out on lawn across the fest it was just a awesome vibe u get here.They had tables throughout the the area where u can put your food on and eat and stand and enjoy.They even had tables and chair where the entertainmment was going on.Really nice.Seeing everyone having a great time and eating it up was just great.I am totally looking forward to next years one.Thank u noodle fest it was a blast this year.Mahalo to those that help start this fest.five thumbs up read more

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I was looking forward to this as did my husband. Finding the location was fairly easy as it was obvious from the crowd and such. We were lucky to find parking at the nearby parking garage. So many vendors to look at and choose from. I had looked online beforehand as to what some of the star dishes to try. It didn't take long for us to find the festival a downer. It was hot and crowded. The crowd became a bit too much for my husband due to his PTSD. We tried the truffle cold udon noodles. It certainly didn't look like the picture and tasted awkward. Then we tried the pho pie. It was more of an open pie than a closed one. The pho itself was mediocre as was the crust. Lastly we tried the rolled ice cream. Nothing too spectacular. And sure there were some tables and chairs but not enough with how many people were there. Every time we got food we were either standing or sitting on the grass. I wish we could've liked this more with how exciting it sounded. But it felt much of a disappointment. The food didn't taste nor was the portion worth the high prices. It was nice to give it a try but not worth trying again. We could use that money that was spent elsewhere and more worth it. read more

The girlfriend and I decided to check this out when we saw one of the vendors on the news that morning going over what they would be serving. We saw the event would be from 3-9 so we decided it would be our eat-out night for dinner. We arrived around 6:45 and the event was packed! The entire grounds was sea of people with some lines for the venders literally forming a human wall from one end of the event area to the next. We were not going to waste the entire evening standing in a line so we went for the shortest lines and ordered whatever we could since every vendor seemed to only have a few items left due to being sold out of product. We were still able to try several dishes there from various vendors, some with noodles, some without, but the best thing we ate all night were the fish tacos from Wahoo's. And they were great! Only complaint is they only served one with accompanying baja rolls which were good. Would have gladly forgone the baja rolls for an extra taco. We enjoyed the live music and the eating contests. I'm guessing this event was wildly more successful than they had planned and that's the reason for the packed grounds and half of EVERYTHING being sold out with two hours to go in a six hour event. That being said will probably do it again next year but I really hope all the parties involved plan better. Bring enough product and find a larger space. Or expand the hours of operation. read more

Hosted in a better location for the 2nd annual event. Although lines were still crazy waiting to get food from various vendors. The best vendor was piggy smalls. Great food selection and better quick service than other vendors. I loved the Aloha t shirt vendor and hope the come up with a new T-shirt design for the next noodle festival. The gyoza line was not worth the product we got. Gyoza needed way more flavor and crispy texture. One cool feature was the Thai pineapple noodles with shrimp from the burger truck. Definitely worth the wait and buy. Overall it was okay, not a place to bring young kids due to the massive crowd. read more

Never again! So crowded and long waits and lines. Got there at 5:00 and lot of food sold out. Food wasn't good for n taste and quality and quite pricey for what you got. read more

Noodles are go-to, never fail comfort food, right? So building a festival around them seems like a no-brainer. With some time this could become a legit cultural event. Right now, in its infancy, it is like eat the street, noodle edition. The tightly compressed layout made it hard to fully enjoy the entertainment on the stage and basically do anything other than try not to step on other patrons. The same layout made it tough to figure where the lines were as the snaked around all willy nilly. Will I be back? Heck yes! Because sitting on the curb (not enough room at the stand up tables) trying to spill and waste any of that buttery smooth and savory ramen broth (or scald myself because the bowl was buckling under the weight of its piping hot payload) was worth all 174 minutes it will take to burn off the calories on the treadmill. And the dessert bowls!! Oh my word, they were the cutest! Made to look like a bowl of saimin, they were garnished with mochi fish cake and coconut seaweed. The guy who made mine was pure artistry in motion. He and almost everyone I saw working the festival was hustling! I hope they all get to put their feet up tonight because they were a blur of constant activity. The keiki ukulele ensemble was too adorable for words and made the wait for the food so much better. If the festival keeps the good parts (hard working vendors turning out quality food, fun live music) and figures out a better configuration, I think this could become a tradition for me! read more