One of my old standby vegetarian restaurants in town. It's a cozy, clean spot with the added convenience of free parking in the back. The friendly lady who served us was welcoming and attentive, bringing us water and taking our order promptly. The chicken tenders were perfectly fried, with a crispy exterior and wonderful texture. The fried noodles were another highlight--crispy, loaded with a variety of vegetables, and tossed in a flavorful sauce. The combination of textures was excellent. My guest also really enjoyed her vermicelli. Overall, another satisfying visit. I'll definitely be back the next time I'm craving vegetarian food! read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Pan fried noodles - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I love that the menu is so extensive and all of it is vegetarian with vegan options also. Everything was very delicious and there are Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian foods. Vegan shrimp is one of my favorite faux meats and they have a lot of dishes with it. Portions are decent and food comes quickly. Staff is friendly. There are around 3 spaces in the back with a very small lot (same entrance and exit). What I thought was cool was a fried shrimp appetizer that has the shrimp wrapped in vermicelli then friend on a stick. Dipping sauce was good too. The staff speak Vietnamese and English. Indoor seating is plentiful and we had a large party of 8. read more

Amazing food! Great service! We're also able to find parking for Saturday lunch time. The restaurant had plenty of tables. The place is dated but don't let it deter you from trying it otherwise you'll miss out! Items that we tried and loved - curry noodle soup - tasted like laksa with fried tofu and veggies. Full of flavor. Amazing! Pho - delicious simple broth, good noodles with lots of veggies. Beef chow fun with gravy - well-charred noodles with good smoky and peppery flavor, beef mock meat tasted fine (not weird), lots of veggies. Banana flower salad - yummy, minty, sweet, umami, next time I'd ask for a side of peanuts. Definitely would be back. Can't wait to try all the other items on the menu! read more

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Restaurant is very clean and staff is very friendly and helpful. The prices are very reasonable for O'ahu and there are so many options! Not just Asian food, but many other types of cuisines as well! The bhan mi is really really really good!! Highly recommend and can't wait to come back! read more

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A friend recently took me to lunch at Simple Joy! I'm not a vegetarian, but I totally enjoyed everything about dining here. Pleasant atmosphere, friendly and attentive service and the food, delicious! I read the reviews on Yelp and viewed the menu before going. I had already decided to have the Pumpkin Soup and the Chow Fun! It exceeded my expectations! The pumpkin/kabocha soup was comforting and full of pieces of kabocha! The chow fun was perfect, even the "mock" beef was tasty, who knew! I definitely will be back to try their other dishes! Highly recommend! read more

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I came here for the first time and I highly recommend 2 things. 1. The beef stew You have a choice of getting it with rice, bread, or noodles. My boyfriend wanted to try the noodles and so we got it. It was super good. Very flavorful, lots of depth in the soup, and noodles were cooked to the t. It was super addicting although there was probably a lot of MSG because it makes you super thirsty after haha. 2. Clay pot sensation This tastes very similar to a sukiyaki. It's the perfect balance of sweet and salty. Everything was simmered to perfection and it was very flavorful. I did wish they gave more rice, but the amount of veggies countered for that. I'm not a huge fan of sweet and sour soup, but my boyfriend thought it was amazing. This meal was very filling. Overall, I'd totally come back. Also get the sugarcane juice because it's super refreshing!! Also food comes out really fast too. read more

Simple Joy has been around a long time and is a consistently good option for vegans, vegetarians, and those with dietary restrictions. They have so many options on their menu it's hard to choose. Italian, Asian, local, they got it all with a vegetarian twist of course. The server was so sweet and kept checking on us so service was great. Setting is fine, nothing special but gets the job done. I came for lunch on a weekday and easily got a table. The weekly gochuchang peanut ramen special caught my eye so both my friend and I ordered it. I expected it to be good but I was surprised by how good it was! The ramen was very hearty with both (impossible?) beef and tofu and veggies. I'm not used to that generous of toppings so I was full for the rest of the day. The faux beef was so good and not just some basic soy meat. The broth was very rich with a nice kick. 10/10 no notes. I actually liked this better than Noods, and I like their vegan ramen a lot. Definitely need to make my way through more of the menu to try more dishes. The ramen was $20. Lots of street parking nearby. I was able to park at a meter right outside. read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - $20 for the weekly special, very hearty and filling - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The best. Huge menu. Anything you want to eat vegan they will have from Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, pasta, and even garlic shrimp. Healthy and clean. 3 parking spaces in the back. Friendly service. They take Apple Pay read more

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It was the second time I visited the place. Four of us really enjoyed everything! Mapo Tofu was with lots of ginger and a little spicy for mild but all good. The banana flower salad was also one of the best dishes. We also had curry with brown rice. Very good as well. We finished the meal with vegan flan. Will definitely return. read more

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Friendly staff. Quick seating... The fact the whole menu is VEGAN IS A 10 out of 10 for me ! However ... Small appetizer portions sharing for two okay Need like 3-4 appetizers to share with a large group . Not a fan of their drinks I ordered an iced green tea it was very watered down (maybe too much ice) def had no green tea taste. (Also no alcoholic drinks available) The actual meals were really good I def will be returning and giving it a second chance when it Hawaii. Ps- don't forget to order dessert they got great Flan read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Curry noodles (just wished it had more tofu) But delicious 10/10 - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Enjoyed a lovely comforting and nourishing family meal here. I got their lemongrass tofu which was quite flavorful and satisfying, and also got to try nibbles of their unassumingly tasty Puttanesca pasta, which came with some great mock chicken that had all the texture and flavor to satisfy a meat craving. Staff were very sweet too. Also recommend their appetizers, and banana salad flower, which was very unique and refreshing! read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Puttanesca pasta with mock chicken - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Simple Joy is a fully vegan menu featuring Vietnamese, Chinese, and Italian cuisine. They also offer some gluten free options. I am a fan of the sweet and sour "spare ribs", the banana blossom salad, and the lemongrass tofu. We always order the housemade lemonade, which isn't too sweet. A salad, an appetizer, and two mains was $65 in 2024, not bad! read more

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Thank goddess this exists in Hawai'i. Born and raised but now live in the mainland, California to be exact, the mecca of vegetarian food. Simple Joy holds up. Pretty friendly service, no frills but clean, peaceful and with minimal decor. read more

Simple Joy has been our home away from home for the past 4 years. Great vegan food, homey setting and Kevin's fast, friendly service! Our all time favorite is their Vegetable Claypot, which includes a delicious soup, stew and rice - a delicious full meal. They have an extensive menu to choose from. Easy King Street weekday parking after 6:30 pm or tight parking in the back. I think weekend parking is even easier. read more

We arrived here for lunch just before closing. They were able to seat us immediately. We quickly placed our order. We ordered their summer rolls and salad and some other dishes. I enjoyed the textures and variety of flavors while my wife, is vegetarian, was happy but not ecstatic. I had the fresh fresh sugar tank, which was very nice to have read more

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Loved that there's a place such as Simple Joy on this island! My parents are strictly vegetarian and the owner was more than accommodating. She gave us recommendations that we all enjoyed well! Be back soon! read more

Amazing everything this family owned and operated restaurant is a must for casual or special occasions!

A date of mine is vegan and recommend we try this place and off we went. While parking is a pain I understand it given the lack of space in town but if the you don't miss the lot and it's not packed it's not bad but if it's either of the former and especially the latter it's gonna be a pain especially without backup cameras and sensors. Overall the food made up for it. Despite the hole in the wall vibe I got it his place had quite an expansive menu and I loved the variety in genres of food on offer. We ended up splitting everything which was: gyoza, puttanesca pasta, and chicken pesto masala. All of which tasted amazing with good texture and seasoning which is what I think is needed in a place especially with no meat on the menu. Everything came out fast, was big and made us quite content. Where I have a slight problem with is the pricing. The entrees were each $21 bucks and while heaping I do wish it was at least 17-19 instead those couple bucks make a difference over time. Though I'd definitely give this place a go moving forward to try out the rest of the menu. Places like this make me hopeful more people will give the diet a good go as it haves much more benefits than just the environment! read more

Food is delicious and very tasty. We've had a few of their menu items. Lots to choose from! The lady who takes the order, serves the food, and takes payment is such a sweetheart. Space in the restaurant can probably hold up to maybe 20 people comfortably. They also do specials for Thanskgiving and CHRISTmas meals. read more

We were looking for somewhere to eat New Years Day, and realized that in spite of living quite close, we'd never tried Simple Joy. We tried a bunch of different dishes and loved all of them. Great flavors and not overly large servings. Only complaint is that the entrees are designed for a single person to eat rather than sharing at a table, so they don't bring serving spoons. Since we all wanted to try all the dishes, we had to use our eating spoons to put food on our plates. read more

Great vegetarian fare!! The whole family enjoyed the restaurant and high quality service

The food is so good here! The all vegan menu is huge! So many delicious choices! We will be back for sure. read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Bahn mi, loco moco, potstickers, taro soup - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

this place is in my top 3 for sure. the menu is huge and everything i try is always sooo good. they're in my area and open late which is something i really appreciate after long busy days of working and doing errands. read more

This is not a good Asian vegan-vegetarian place, and it was apparent when I saw random things on the menu like pasta, sandwiches, and burgers; a jack of all trades...definitely master of none. The Mapo tofu was pretty bad, and it tasted nothing like what is known as that numbing/spicy tofu dish. The chicken sandwich was extremely dry. Also, the rice and chicken (plant based) were pretty bland, too. It felt like they just bought and defrosted it and threw it in as a topping (rather than marinate it). The service was very-very slow and they were not accommodating. It was a hole-in-the-wall type place, so the ambiance was expectedly average; it went with the food. 1.5/5 read more

Simple Joy was just that, delicious healthy food that also provided many superb gluten free options. Great flavors, fantastic service and an absolute pleasure. We were so grateful to find this GEM! read more

The food here is awesome!!! The service is great And place it's very clean Parking is a little tight could use more parking but there are a few street parking read more

Just solidly good vegetarian food! Lots of options from various cuisines, so vegetarians don't have to settle for a salad or fries. Service was really nice. Cute hole in the wall on S King Street, but sadly not lots of parking. I'm not vegetarian, but I enjoyed the food. Nice to know there's a place I can take vegetarian/vegan friends. I'd happily return just to grab some healthy food for myself too. It's not good for vegetarian food, but just good food in general! read more

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What a de-lite-ful surprise. Arrived with our party of five with only two in the group being previous diners. Impressed with the utter freshness and bold tastes. Loved every bite. A lot of garlic used here, fresh garlic, which makes this palate happy. Difficult to believe all the dishes are vegan! We sampled, then repeated a couple of favorite dishes. What we ordered: Pad Thai- nicely balanced flavors with bean sprouts and yummie tofu. Compared to non-vegan versions, fish sauce noticeably missing. Delicious nonetheless. Potstickers - were these really meat free!?! Deep fried "shrim" fritters (play on shrimp) - seemed to be a table favorite (not mine) served with a dipping sauce. Definitely tasty. Stir fried broccoli - simple yet delicious. Love loved every bite causing me to go back for seconds on this one. And hate to admit, ate more than I expected. That's how much I loved the yummie food. Grilled plate - Tasty rendition; cross between Chinese turnip cake and Shanghai scallion pancakes. Served with the best most freshest spinach and mushroom stirfry and a scoop of rice. Amazing that it actually tasted like it had bits of pork in it! Would definitely repeat. Located on South King Street, right next to the Bike Shop, and just after Restaurant Bac Nam, parking behind the restaurant is limited to 4 spaces. Best parking strategy is to either arrive BEFORE they open to get one of those spaces or...after 630pm when street parking becomes unrestricted. Of course bring your most memorable company to make the evening awesome! Thank you Elaine for the most memorable meal and all for the great company! Looking forward to returning. read more

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Location: King Street. Between Pensacola Street and Piikoi Street Parking: Private parking lot. Turn right into alley after passing restaurant. If you're lucky, you can get one of the 3 parking stalls otherwise, find street parking on King Street. Ambiance: Casual Family local style Restaurant Service: Friendly Food: What we Ordered: Crispy Spring Rolls-3/5, quite pricy for the amount. It was crispy Tom Yum Soup-1/5 Pad Thai-1/5 Lemon grass Tofu-2/5, meh Sizzling Pancake-3/5, tasty Pot of tea Overall-meh! Quality and taste needs improvement. read more

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Got the Thai Curry, veggie fried rice, the braised eggplant tofu plate, and crispy egg rolls. I'm not vegetarian, but I do eat vegetables. This place a good place to eat if I was a strict vegetarian. I Wouldn't get the eggplant tofu or the egg rolls again, they were ok, and kinda pricey. , but I'd definitely get the Thai Curry and veggie fried rice because they were a good mix. read more

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Highly varied, all-vegan, Asian mishmash cuisine with some Western/Italian options as well. We stopped for dinner one evening. I got the Joy Noodle Soup ($16.50), a spicy lemongrass noodle soup with tofu, soy beef, mixed veggies, and a lemongrass-like tang to the broth. Real nice. My wife got the Lemongrass Tofu ($14.95), a nicely seasoned tofu dish with broccoli, mushroom, onion, and a side of kimchi, plus brown rice. The taste I had of the tofu was very nice. We also split some Ong choy (Chinese water spinach; $12), as we had very much missed this as a staple when visiting Southeast Asia -- this was cooked magnificently, in a salty, garlicky brown sauce. Delicious. Very friendly service, and the food all came in ~15 minutes. Recommended. read more

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I have to say that these guys are the best...got their flavors down, freshly made, well seasoned. My friend and I always come back. We didn't eat during their rush hour...but, later and more quiet. Drink: We ordered a avocado smoothie...refreshing, creamy and tasty...yummy! Then, a side of ice water with basil or mint in a picture. Appetizers: (8) pot stickers Soup: pumpkin in coconut broth, peas, carrots, cilantro. Entree: Ban Xeo (vegetable pancake, mushrooms, broccoli, bean strings) Banana flower salad Sides: garlic broccoli These items are gentle food and comforting on your stomach. Whenever I've eaten had heavy shabu shabu meats day before, I'm looking for anything vegetables. Thus, Simple Joy is my place. I give my body a real break. The pumpkin soup was amazing, warm, light, carrots, cilantro enhanced the coconut broth, and peas. Pot stickers appetizer was shared, four for each and chomped quickly. It was enough to curtail our appetite until the entrees came. The vegetable pancake was gluten free...made of rice, mushrooms and broccoli were highlight of dish with other components. The banana flower salad was phenomenal. What I thought was noodles had turned out to be the flower?! It was different and refreshing. You should all try this salad...Ciao!!! read more

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Best food ever!!!!!! Big bowls, big plates, small cups, butt sign, big step, good seasoning, dad slurped all the noodles, good customer service. read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Butt Funny - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Been going here for a while now it's in my top 5 most visited restaurants for " vegan " non animal food . Absolutely amazing always such a mellow peaceful ambiance when you sit down . Service is usually really fast for the quality of the meal you're chosing. Personally my favorite is the Loco Moco ! Try their other items everything is amazing on the menu along with the smoothies read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Vegan loco moco plant based patty gravy onions brown rice and just egg ( plant based egg substitute great price also - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

My cousin is vegan. Whenever she comes to town, we try different vegan restaurants. The food here is awesome. We started with the chicken nuggets and shrimp nests. The chicken nuggets were the best we've had. Not a lot of breading. It came with a BBQ dipping sauce. The shrimp nests were beautifully made and tasted like real shrimp. The sauce was nice and spicy. We each ordered a small bowl of soup, but it was big. I had the Tom yum soup. It tasted just like you get in Thailand. The broth is spicy and flavorful and filled with vegetables and tofu. My cuz ordered the pumpkin sour with a coconut milk broth. He liked it, and his wife had the tofu and seaweed soup. It's a mild soup l. She enjoyed it. Before dinner, we shared the vegetable curry, beef and broccoli, and the vegetable clay pot. The vegetable curry was tasty. The sauce was great. The beef in the beef and broccoli dish looked just like beef - it was good. IT also had Chinese mushrooms, which I love. The clay pot came with soup. The survey should have told us so when we had ordered 3 soups. I love clay pot dishes. This one was not as flavorful as the other food we ordered. The menu was extensive. It was hard to decide what to order. The only thing they need to work on is the timing of the food. We got our appetizers as soon as we finished that the soup came out. Right after we started eating the soup, she was bringing our entrees. I asked her to wait to bring the entrees until we finished our soup. read more

This review would have been a 3-star if my friend would have been overcharged as well. Weird thing to say, but I was the only one who was over-charged. Does my face say "I am so rich please overcharge me!", does it say "my shorts and tummy-length T shirt scream money", does it say "my car is a scratched up Toyota but I am super rich that I actually have a Ferrari sitting in my garage!!" Well apparently yes (and read til the end to find out what this extra charge was). But first lets talk about: 1. PARKING = a bane of any Oahu-ite's daily dining out experiences. First thing I do is a Yelp search: "Parking" like I did on Yelp today before driving all the way from Central Oahu to be treated to mediocre food. Simple Joy has three stalls in a tiny lot behind the restaurant, and I mean TINY. If your parking/backing and driving down a short lane where you will have to reverse back into McCully Bike's parking lot skills are bad, stay away from this place. Same if you have a monster truck. I actually pulled in, then decided to leave, because once the lot gets full, you're going to have a hell of a time backing out, unless, of course, you drive better than me, and most people seem to. I ended up parking on Pensacola for free and walking here. I'd rather walk several blocks than park in those stalls. 2. BATHROOM = what does this have to do with food? NOTHING!! But maybe some folk who read reviews want to know if the bathroom is accessible. NOPE. 3. ATMOSPHERE = very warm inside, probably like 79 degrees warm in the day. 4. SERVICE = Zombies have more personality. A simple acknowledgement would be nice too, like "You're Welcome". A smile too, oh wait, Zombies don't smile. I think if they actually did their jaw would fall off. I have no idea why I left a tip, that was real dumb (keep reading). Now finally, the important stuff, the food: FOOD: - Crispy Spring Rolls, 4 pieces Actual Price: $5.95, my price: $6.23 (+0.28): Super funny. I almost laughed when I saw the plate because the rolls were the super small. One of them was the size of my thumb. So let's see, almost $6.00 divided by 4 small pieces, about a $1.50 a piece. If you saw these for sale in some window for a $1.50 a piece, you wouldn't get it. The taste was good, though, each piece gone in 3 seconds as that's how long it takes to chew them. Horrible value. - Thai Curry, Actual Price: $13.50, my price: $14.14 (+0.64): Taste was OK, not spectacular. The taste was on the sweeter side, very faint spice. I wasn't asked if I wanted it mild or spicy, which is fine, because my friend ate some of my dish and she doesn't like spicy stuff. The portion was medium-sized. I would not spend $14 on this dish. Bleh value for portion/price. I'm actually eating instant ramen and typing this review after leaving the place because I was hungry leaving there. - Rice, White. Actual Price: who knows. My price $2.04 They started cooking the rice after I ordered it. They open at 10:30, I arrive at 11:30 you'd think they would have white rice. The waiter seemed miffed that I would wait for white rice instead of settling for brown rice. Note to waiter: I have brown rice sitting in my rice cooker at home! I want a treat when I go out! Value was actually OK for this mound of cheap medium-grained rice. This was the only thing of value. VALUE: Not for me. Maybe for someone else who drives a Ferrari. I actually found out that the EXTRA charges tacked onto your food was the TIP, a.k.a GRATUITY. Now why would you do something that low-ball? I was stupid enough to leave a tip on top of the tip that was added to my food, so in the end, I am the fool. Not only that, they add TAX onto your TIP and you can't adjust the total. What is this, double taxation??? My friend didn't get any tip added to her food, it was the straight $12.95 for her, with rice included. Sheesh. It's not only getting automatic tip added to the food, and then taxed on the tip without choice, it's not only about the forgettable food and the tiny spring rolls, it's not only about the undead service, it's about principle. RETURN FACTOR: Not even if you're the one paying. read more

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Desperately needed fresh healthy vegan food & Simple Joy delivered! Tofu & veggies were cooked perfectly, very nice woman served us.

Vegetarian healthy, ono pho and teriyaki kebabs with lots of vegetables and healthy goodness at @simplejoycuisine ! A wonderful weekend lunch treat! read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Pho - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Absolutely delicious food. I highly recommend the tasty glory if you like peanut butter. read more

Simple Joy Vegetarian Cuisine - Tasty glory, delicious - New American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

For a vegetarian, this restaurant is heaven. Food is not only healthy, it's delicious too! Service and ambience is good too! Don't forget to ask their special dessert of the day/week! read more