Dowon Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Honolulu

Dowon is a small hybrid Chinese-Korean restaurant hiding behind the Teapresso off of Piikoi. Just turn off onto Kona and then go behind the Teapresso for their private lot. Parking in the lot is cheap at a buck per hour. There is someone watching the lot to see if your spot is paid up - and to make sure that no one breaks in your window while you dine or go to the yoga studio upstairs. That lot is small and may fill up - in which case parking down the block at Ala Moana is only a short walk away.

Dowon continues to be small inside, with only a dozen tables - but the staff have big hearts and will gladly greet you and show your party immediately to a seat if they are able. Your dinner may open with a complimentary hot green tea and the usual pickled Korean goodies to much on while you wait for your entrees. It was a warm delight to drink on a rainy night, and the daikon was deliciously crunchy. Their kimchee was not terribly spicy - a trend that continued with the rest of our meal.

My companion and I had come to try their jjajangmyeon and chili shrimp. She was nostalgic for the flavors of home, and I just really had a hankering for spicy crunchy shrimp. We added some eggplant-mushroom to that so that we could claim to be healthy by eating our vegetables. After our order was placed, we could hear a flurry of activity from the kitchen, and they brought one plate out after another in quick succession. All three dishes were serviceable. The batter on the shrimp was still fresh and crispy, but the chili was not fire in our mouths. The bean sauce on the jjajangmyeon was rich, but not notably flavorful. The eggplant was well-prepared, but not overwhelming. Good, but not great. It filled us up. A reasonable expectation for downtown on a rainy night.

For the portion size, prices are a little on the steep side (they have gone up marginally higher from the photos I saw on Yelp), but we have leftovers to share for at least one more meal - so your mileage may vary on that point. We would eat here again - possibly for lunch on our way to run errands...

Came here a while ago to try it after seeing someone rave about it on instagram. It was pretty busy when we went & waited like 30 minutes for food. (Parking is $2.50/hr, so just waiting for food after we put in the order took half of the parking fee.) The food wasn't great, I've had better jjajangmyeons in Hawaii. The sauce tasted like one of those instant jjajang sauces you can get from hmart, the noodles weren't as chewy as I expect jjajangmyeon noodles to be. Realized there was gochu jjajangmyeon AFTER we ordered so I wanted to come back to try that another time and to give it another chance.

Went back to try the gochu jjajangmyeon, the restaurant wasn't nearly as busy (there was one other table when we got seated) but food still took 30 minutes and the table that came in after us got their food first. :( We wanted to share 고추쟁반짜장 (gochu jaengban jjajang) between 2 of us, but we were told it wasn't going to be enough for 2 people, which I thought was weird because 쟁반짜장 is usually good for 2-3 people in Korea. So we felt pressured to order another dish and got tangsuyuk as well. Tangsuyuk was lacking in flavor and felt more watery than what I was used to. Jjajangmyeon was ok, but I didn't like the sides at all except for the raw onions. Quantity for jaengban jjajang was indeed lacking.

Service was not rude but not friendly either. She greeted us by asking if we had reservation, and when we said no, she just waved us towards the tables. She didn't give us water while every other table that came in after us got water and we had to ask twice after we got the food to get water. The food took a LONG time to come out and it was really hard to get her attention to even get the water since she never came around or even looked around to see if we needed anything.

Overall would not come back since there is better jjajangmyeon place in Hawaii where the food is better, service is fast, and staff is...

Well this place sure was hard to find, but well worth it. Based on the address and Google Maps, you would think it was right where the marker is, but it is actually located in the back of the building and by the way the building is designed, you would never know it. That being said, go to the address and then pop behind the building to find the front door in the parking lot.

Due to the location, I recommend parking at the mall and walking over. It is much easier that way. There is parking, but it is awkward, limited and a small charge to pay.

So this place is place is Chinese/Korean. There are both ethnic dishes available. The place is decorated in Chinese fare, but the staff are all speaking Korean. The ladies working are all very nice and attentive. Friendly and welcoming from the start. I also found this place to be very clean and well lighted with comfortable seating despite their small size.

This visit, I got the #6 which is a spicy seafood noodle soup called Jjamppong in Korean. It was loaded with lots of veggies and seafood in a spicy broth. My order also came with banchan (Korean side dishes) of kimchi, daikon, and onions with black bean sauce to dip in. The soup was amazing and warms you up with the heat and spicy. I was also impressed with their kimchi.

I really liked this place and want to go back to try their Chinese dishes, so yes I do recommend...