Seasons Taiwanese Eatery 绣蘭竹苑 — Restaurant in Honolulu

While the immediate surroundings may not be appealing, don’t let it stop you from visiting Seasons Taiwanese Eatery. They are tucked away in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. When coming out of the parking garage from the Maunakea Street entrance, walk straight in, turn left and then a right (towards the canal) to find Seasons Taiwanese Eatery.

This place has been on my radar for some time. I had already done some searching on social media and Yelp to decide what I wanted before going in. I knew the popcorn chicken and Dragon dumplings were a must for me. This place was also on my bestie’s radar, so she came along with me for lunch. She had made a reservation for the two of us on Yelp, but it wasn’t really necessary, as it wasn’t busy at all. We also decided to try the egg pancake roll and she wanted the Classic Beef Broth noodles, which I believe she chose the tendon as her choice of meat.

Popcorn chicken: You can choose your spiciness level for this dish. While the menu says to choose from a spicy level of 0-5, the server just asked if we wanted spicy or not. My friend didn’t want spicy. It doesn't need heat to be enjoyable, as this dish has spices encompassed in it to make it so tasty. I enjoyed this the most out of all the items we chose. The basil leaves that came with it were super crispy! We related it to like eating nori. They didn’t have flavor, but were a nice touch to the dish. The popcorn chicken itself is very crispy on the outside and tender meat on the inside. Great balance!

Dragon dumplings: Their dumplings menu consist of boiled chive dumplings, dragon dumplings and pan fried dumplings. The base of them all are the chive dumplings, but whether you want it boiled, fried or spicy. The dragon dumplings contain Sichuan pepper oil. We asked the server how spicy it was because you can’t choose your spicy level for this one. She explained that she isn’t a fan of spicy foods, this sauce does leave a numbing feeling. She said we could leave the sauce on the side and decide how much sauce to use for each dumpling. We decided to go with that idea because her description of it as numbing made us a little nervous. This was a good idea because while at first it wasn’t too bad, eating more of it does eventually give your tongue a numbing feeling. It’s good to be able to decide how much of the sauce you want.

Beef broth noodles: I think my friend chose the tendon as the meat for this dish. I’m not normally a fan of noodle/soupy dishes, but I did try the meat. So soft! The meat was breaking apart as I was trying to grab some from her bowl. While the dish as a whole wasn’t super satisfying, the meat in it was the MVP and worth getting for that.

Egg pancake roll: This dish came with a bottle of some kind of garlic sauce that complimented the roll. Very light and not super flavorful without the sauce. It looked enticing in the photos, but I don’t think I’d get it again.

The service here was excellent. The servers were very attentive and friendly throughout our entire visit. We also got to meet the owner (Brian) who was doing some work at the counter, but available to chat throughout our entire visit. He also looked over us throughout our time there and checked on us to make sure we were enjoying everything. Super nice guy!

Parking: As of this review (5/18/25), Chinatown Cultural Plaza has not updated their website regarding parking, but ‘New Rate’ paper signs are posted on site saying that the new rate started as of May 1, 2025. Be sure to enter from the Maunakea Street entrance, as the Kukui Street entrance will cost more per every hour after the first hour. There is a 30 minute grace period, so that’s good if you’re...

Just came to visit Seasons Taiwanese eatery. They're located in the chinese cultural plaza across from legends seafood. We tried pretty much their entire menu. I got their braised tofu, taiwanese popcorn chicken, two choice appetizer (boiled pork, and braised beef shank), Chef Special Ma La noodle, and their dragon dumplings.

Braised tofu: 4/5 Flashed fried tofu with a ginger sauce that was tangy and refreshing. Tofu was crispy and well fried on the outside and soft and silky on the inside. This was served with a side of pickled cabbage.

Taiwanese popcorn chicken: 3/5 Honestly had very high hopes for this one. I grew up eating this at my favorite bubble tea shops as a kid. Maybe it was my mistake for ordering this at a level 5 spicy because it was very salty. The chicken itself was fried well and was very tasty, but the seasonings on the outside were so salty that it didn't even really taste spicy.

2 choice appetizer: 5/5 Boiled pork was similar to korean bossam with that same ginger sauce that was on the braised tofu, very tasty and meat was nice and tender. Braised beef shank was probably my most favorite thing on the menu here. The beef was so tender and flavorful and had some type of ground meat on top. If I could've just got a plate of this I would have.

Chef Special Ma-La Noodle: 5/5 Noodles are bought from Sun Noodle company, so you know the dish was going to be delicious. The broth was warm and spicy with those great sichuan tingling spices. TONS of meat very tender and great flavor. Lots of basil and vegetables.

Dragons Dumplings: 5/5 Similar to a chili oil dumpling. Very tender wrapper, and well seasoned meat filling. Can't go wrong here.

Overall, the restaurant is clean, the staff are very attentive and food came out very quickly. I think the concept is unique and different to the other foods that we have in Hawaii. Pro tip: if you like that burn your booty hole spicy level of food, they got that here at their level 5 spicy, but if black pepper is too spicy for you, stick to...

Update: we’ve returned to try different dishes. We ordered the braised pork belly (different than your typical Taiwanese dish of stewed pork belly as this was a 滷肉飯， not a 控肉飯) and it was very tasty. Not only the flavor was right on, the texture of both the fat and lean portions of the pork belly was good as well. We also tried the popcorn chicken, but requested it in medium spiciness instead of mild like last time). This time the chicken was tender and flavorful, much better than our last visit. We still haven’t tried its dinner menu, that will have to wait until more friends from mainland visiting us. I think with my braised pork belly and the improved popcorn chicken, this place is equal if not better than some of my favorite Taiwanese eateries in SoCal.

It deserves a 5* for being a Taiwanese eatery in Honolulu. We tried the classic combo (meat + tendon) noodle, which was decent but the portion was slightly smaller than in California. The flavor was fine as it wasn’t overpowering unlike those you’d find at Yongkang Street Beef Noodle, the most famous beef noodle place in Taiwan And both the beef and the tendons were nicely flavored and tender. We also tried the popcorn chicken, which was fried to perfection, but lacked the slightly peppery flavor that you m’d find in Taiwan. It did come with the most fried mint leaves that I have ever seen in a popcorn chicken plate, which was great since I love fried mint leaves. The service was friendly and quick, and there’s plenty of parking in the Chinatown Culture Plaza. Do note that this eatery is difficult to find from the inside of the plaza. It’s better to head for the direction to the river on the outside perimeter of the plaza.

Please also note that the lunch menu was quite limited, but the dinner menu offered a better selection if anyone...