Au's Garden Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Honolulu

Absolutely disgusting

I was really excited to try this place, as I’ve been exploring different spots in the area. Unfortunately, my experience here was a huge letdown. I ordered the sweet and sour pork, and what I received was completely unacceptable. The pork was so dry its beef jerky. It was hard to chew like it feels when you get super old nuggets. Just writing this review and thinking about it makes my stomach turn. I understand that I requested it without sauce, but even so, it shouldn’t have been served in this condition. Food prepared properly should still be moist and flavorful, with or without sauce, and this was far from it.

I rarely write reviews, but I honestly feel tricked into picking this place because of its 4-star rating. I’ve never been this disappointed by a meal and truly don’t understand how what I was served made it out of the kitchen. I ordered the sweet and sour pork, and after a few bites, I just couldn’t keep eating. The pork was unbearably dry—like leather or beef jerky—and the sweet and sour sauce couldn’t even save it because it was bland and unappetizing. The entire dish was beyond gross and a huge disappointment.

The house rice was the only thing that was okay, but it wasn’t enough to justify the meal. Honestly, I feel like I was robbed—I would’ve been better off buying frozen food from the grocery store. This experience was such a letdown, and I had really high hopes for this place.

I'm willing giving it another shot if the restaurant makes things right, otherwise I do not recommend this place at all. This was absolutely unacceptable. The...

I thought I was walking into some authentic Chinese restaurant until the food came. We ordered orange chicken, Mongolian beef and house chowmein. Orange chicken was too sweet, like lemon chicken, drenched in lemon sauce The outer part and the chicken was chewy, obviously not fresh. Mongolian beef did not have the flavor as it should and it was served with mostly onions and bell peppers, small amount of beef. If you're expecting large portions, you'll be disappointed because these family plates are only good for one. The chowmein noodles were overcooked and drenched with sauce. We ordered House Special Chowmein and only had 2 tiny shrimps, couple pieces of chicken, no beef and bunch of pork meat. There was nothing special about it. Lastly, in the chowmein, I found hair in one of the broccoli. We brought to the servers attention and they offered to make another. As bad as it was, we did not want it replaced but removed from the bill and when we paid the bill, it was still included. Anyway, this was our first time here and definitely will be our last. The restaurant seem to keep their deco from the 70's or 80's and their eating area is used as a storage room as well. That's the reason for 2 star rating on atmosphere. The photo shows the hair I pulled from the broccoli as you can see the piece of broccoli still...

Very accommodating restaurant! They didn't serve alcohol but they allowed us to run down to the liquor store a few doors down and bring our own. They even set up a deep tray full of ice to keep our beer cold! We ordered about 10 entrées and it came out pretty quick! Once they placed it on the Lazy Susan, they went back and grabbed the next item. We celebrated a wedding and a birthday that night and boy did we make a mess! We offered to clean up but they insisted that they would do it. Staff was super friendly and engaging as the alcohol took over control, they were nice enough to tolerate our drunken debauchery. It made the night very enjoyable. I would definitely throw another party here! The staff seem genuinely delighted to host and invited us back "soon". Food was delicious and I had better, but just the whole experience with the service, their willingness to assist in helping me pull off a dual celebration that consisted of about 30+ guests, balloons, a couple cakes, and the whole cleanup process made me believe that Au's Garden deserves this...