Mei Sum dim sum restaurant
65 North Pauahi Street Suite A, Honolulu
Ph. 808.531.3268
* On the corner of Smith and N. Pauahi
I also wrote an entry previously about our last trip to Chinatown back in January 2008, when I was only days pregnant with Baby Champuru, then referred to as the Snowflake.
One thing to note about Mei Sum that differentiates it from other Chinese restaurants offering dim sum is the courteous service. Come on, don’t tell me that you haven’t experienced the typically brusque and often pushy treatment from other dim sum cart pushers. At Mei Sum, our water glasses were never allowed to go empty and the servers offered obliging pleasantries such as “thank you for waiting” and “you’re welcome” when thanked. Perhaps due to the language barrier or maybe even cultural disparities, I almost expect to be treated rudely at Chinese restaurants, so it was definitely a pleasant surprise.
So, next time you’re in Chinatown looking for some good dim sum, check out Mei Sum.
It amuses me endlessly how many non-Chinese always go to and rave about Mei Sum and Little Village.. don’t get me wrong, they are fine restaurants, but they.. haha.. I wouldn’t say they “aren’t Chinese,” but how many Chinese diners have you seen at these places? Maybe Mei Sum has a few more… and by that, I mean they have a few. =D
Check out Won Kee if you have a chance! I’m assuming that you’ve already been to Legend’s.
Cheers!
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Donna Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Aloha Sophia!
Thanks for the recommendation. You’re right, I am an absolute amateur when it comes to Chinese food.
I just know what my palate says is good and I quite enjoy the food at Mei Sum. We’ve also been to Legend and enjoyed it there as well. Will check out Won Kee next time. So, tell me, how is the service there? Courteous or brusque? 
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Oh yum. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!
I love dim sum! Legend is great . . . a little more expensive than other dim sum places, but very good.
I also love Little Village. They make the best honey walnut shrimp.
You should avoid dim sum places on any special occasion. We went once on a holiday (forget which one — it could have been Chinese New Year) and we got there at peak time. Bad idea. There were riots. The carts barely made it out of the kitchen before people grabbed baskets (us included, or else we would have never gotten food).
As a person of Chinese descent with two barely-speaking English parents, I would still say that Little Village and Mei Sum are good. But so are your local Chinese restuarants you find in your neighborhood. You just gotta know what to order.
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Donna Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Hi Cindy!
Honey walnut shrimp sounds awesome!
Wow, riots over the dim sum carts. Sounds scary. Mental note: steer clear on special occasions!
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Donna!
The service there of course depends on your server, but Won Kee has mostly awesome ones =) My haole coworker went on my recommendation with his girlfriend and loved it!
Cindy’s right though – some dishes are WAY better at certain restaurants compared to others. I guess you gotta find each restaurant’s specialties.
And sometimes the best tasting, and cheap places are also the ones that scare you because they look so unclean… funny how that is!
(Also, completely understand the language barrier discomfort… but I still can’t figure out how some of the ladies can have lived here for probably 20+ years and still not really speak/understand English! It boggles the mind!)
Also, long live Little Village! I know the owners personally, as a matter of fact =D
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Donna Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Putting Won Kee on my Must-Try list. Where is that located anyway?
You see, that’s my problem. I don’t know what to order at Chinese restaurants. Recommendations are always welcome!
We almost went to Little Village Noodle House. Do they have dim sum there? Looked like they had more entrees and we were in the mood for a variety of small dishes rather than large portions of a couple of entrees.
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Whoops, sorry about that! Won Kee is adjacent to Legend’s in the Cultural Plaza. If you’re going Ewa on Beretania, Won Kee is just before Legend.
Dim sum at Little Village… hmm I think they have some.. but it’s more like appetizers, and not really traditional dim sum.
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Donna Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Sophia: Thanks for the info about Won Kee. On our next jaunt to Chinatown, we’ll check it out!
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when we stay in waikiki, our first stop before checking into our hotel we stop for lunch at Mei sum…food is really good, and it’s also cheap…
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