TK Noodle & hot pot — Restaurant in Hawaii

Such an oddity. Food is decent with a large variety of options, which was intended as a deviation from local dishes but ended up being very lackluster and highly disappointing. It was very mediocre experience and rather expensive, at about $27 a dish.

SERVICE: They are busy. Expect to order at the front and to wait a few minutes since staff is multitasking. You are allowed to sit and grab a table before/after ordering. Overall time to order was about five minutes, which is a bit awkward standing by the cash register while staff shuffle back and forth from the kitchen to tables. There was no service after ordering too, so we did not have refills on water.

FOOD: Pictured here was the spicy beef rib udon. It’s moderately spicy, and that is coming from someone that enjoys that chilis. The udon was soft and chewy, the beef was tender and fell off the bone, but the soup was mediocre.

I came with a group that got the oxtail and ribeye pho and the boat noodles with beef ribs. Each was even less remarkable, with the soup for each departing from expectations. The pho was just odd and lacking the rich flavor it usually possesses. The noodles were also thick, identical to the boat soup noodles (thicker but small-medium sized rice noodles rather than vermicelli). Noodles were also a bit too chewy.

The boat noodles soup were bad. The soup was almost sweet, tasting like cinnamon and beef soup. Chewy...

TK Noodles had the most amazing, freshly prepared dishes and you MUST EAT HERE when you’re in Kona!!! There is a parking lot right outside, but it’s a paid public lot like most of the area. Thankfully they offer a 90 minute validation at the front when you order on a kiosk to the side, so take advantage of that free parking time and walk to the art gallery and museum at the Kamehameha hotel down the street afterwards. This isn’t a full sit down service restaurant, so you’ll order at the front and take a number for your food. Keep in mind many restaurants in Kona, including this one, add a 3% charge for credit cards, so bring cash if you can.

Our food arrived super quickly and the portions are massive. We got the lilikoi friend chicken and green papaya salad, and both were outstanding! The chicken was tender, juicy and crispy in a light batter, with a delicious lilikoi honey reduction that coated everything on the plate. I loved how many vegetables came with it as well and the rice was perfect for soaking up more of the sauce. The salad was a great contrast with it being lighter, cold and tangy. It was advertised to only come with 4 shrimp, but we got a few more and were pleasantly full after splitting these plates...

Weird experience with this restaurant. My wife desired a dish from here so I called to order take out. Repeated attempts failed as the operator said this number was temporarily disconnected ( more likely off the hook). I finally got thru about 20 minutes later and was immediately and without warning put on hold and proceeded to the delight of hearing staff converse or argue about something. When the female voice came back after about 5 minutes later she announced she was ready to take my order. However she would not stop talking to others and after several attempts where I was interrupted I asked here to just listen. She hung up!!!! I physically went to the restaurant and asked for the boss. They would not tell me who this was but finally it was TK himself that was in Pahoa. Since then I have received no response to my e-mails to him. Here is my message. Tk , stop with the nepotism and family favors. They have no social skills and make you look bad. I have no doubt this female who answered the phone is a family member or a girlfriend who does not belong there. This happens all the time in Hawaii — which is why so many services are truly so horrible. This was...