Moon Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Honolulu

If you're hoping for a true Chinese restaurant experience...This is the place! It's a hole in the wall-like place with a variety of different tables, at different levels, some with table cloths, some without, the floor had stuff all over it and our table was a bit sticky...Customer service was, to me, true Chinese style: grumpy, no eye contact, but they know you are there. When we finally got a table, we didn't know if we were supposed to walk up and order or what the deal was.

So, honestly, the first 15 minutes, I was pretty over the place. We managed to order and got our hot tea so that was the start of the turnaround. Then, our food came out and, seriously, they do food well here!! We got the Won Ton Soup (for my cold, I wanted a soup and it hit the spot), Char Siu Fried Rice (sooooo good!), Steamed Fish (because we love fish!), and the Drunken Clams (served cold which I didn't expect, but still so good).

Paying our bill was as tricky as trying to find the hot mustard dishes and placing our order, but eventually you get someone's attention. Parking can be tight, but we got lucky. I highly recommend trying to make a reservation, if you can. Or order takeout which it seemed a lot of people did.

All in all, would I go back? Yes, for sure. I honestly can't wait to order other things that people rave about. It's...

The place was a little hard to find because the blinds on the porch block you from seeing the sign. We had to park behind the building and walk up to see that it was in fact there. It is a small restaurant but homey. Two of the teenagers with us are picky about food and we had to explain that is is served family style so not everyone is picking an option from the menu. The 4 adults picked one entree each for the 9 of us plus we picked two appetizers and rice. When the food arrived it looked delicious. It all tasted as good as it looked. You are given chopsticks for your meal but can ask for a fork as my 5 year old did. She is still learning chopsticks. Everyone enjoyed the food, including the picky teens. We ate almost all of it except for some of the fried rice that we took home with us. We didn't leave hungry at all but very full. The water served with the meal was tap but tasted very good. They offer soda as well if that is what you prefer. It seemed to me a very authentic style Cantonese meal. Great place to go to try something new. Not too far away from Pearl Harbor or the national cemetery. Very worth the drive. Affordable too, under $100...

Apologies in advance, the food looked so good that we started to eat before I posted these pics. For the price you pay, this dive would have earned an 6th star if Google offered it. This is one of few Cantonese style resturant you will find on Oahu that takes you back to the motherland. They must use a very well fired up wok because you can taste that distinctive flavor in their dishes. My only gripe about this place was the tight parking in the back or on the street and very confined dining space. If you plane to eat here, call in advance (like a couple of days before) to reserve a table. Wear something light weight since it could get warm in the restaurant. Finally, bring a Cantonese speaking friend, that person will be very helpful when you order. Man, still thinking of...