The day we paid Honolulu Café’s Greenbelt 5 branch, the restaurant was already teeming with diners, and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet. People were also lining up to bring home a box of egg tarts, roasted items and barbecue buns.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Those who haven’t tried eating at Honolulu Café will be in for a pleasant surprise. The all-day dining destination offering fairly affordable food items — despite its name — is anything but an American diner, but is in fact a Cantonese restaurant.
But those who are familiar with it, thanks to their frequent trips abroad, especially in Hong Kong, are most likely aware that its three branches in the Philippines serve one of the best egg tarts alongside other dishes such as Deep-Fried Prawns with Thousand Island Sauce, Sweet and Sour Pork, Deep-Fried Chicken with Pineapple and Jinjiang Plum Sauce, Roasted Pork Belly, and Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Beef, among other Cantonese delights.
Established in the early 1940s by Yeung Jin Hei in Hong Kong, the restaurant got its name from his pioneering efforts in brewing the then unnamed café’s signature coffee using Hawaiian-style roast. Before long, Yeung decided to name his place Honolulu Café and, over the decades, it grew in number as well as offerings, branching out in many districts of Hong Kong and other countries, including the Philippines.
It opened its first branch in Manila at SM Aura Premier in January 2019 and, in less than three months, opened its second outlet at Robinsons Place Manila. If it were not for the pandemic, it probably would have opened more branches. The day we paid a visit at its third and newest branch at Greenbelt 5, the restaurant was already teeming with diners, and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet.
A line of people, most likely a mix of shoppers and office workers wanting to beat the rush-hour traffic, leading to its takeaway station was also starting to form. Their pasalubong of choice? Honolulu’s egg tarts, which come in boxes of six.
But there’s more to Honolulu Café beyond the egg tarts and good coffee. Chef Jerry Koh, the restaurant chain’s executive chef in Manila, describes Honolulu’s offerings as “classic Hong Kong food” heavily influenced by Cantonese culinary traditions, but presented in such a way that they would appeal to today’s diners, regardless of where in the world that particular branch is located.
“We pride ourselves of tasty and authentic Cantonese-style dishes that are high-end in terms of quality, but priced affordably,” said the Malaysian chef.
And this thrust is resonating well with Filipino foodies, who can’t seem to get enough of Honolulu Café’s roasted items. Chef Jerry credits both his restaurant’s manner of roasting as well as the ingredients and seasonings that go into each dish for this warm reception.
Authenticity extends to its fishball dish lavished with a rich curry sauce. The restaurant’s pork barbecue bun dubbed as Ball of Barbecue and noodle offerings, including the Stir-Fried Rice Noodles, are also winning a growing number of Filipino hearts and tummies.
If you ask the typical Filipino diner, a meal won’t be complete without dessert. Honolulu Café offers a long list of sweet endings, including its best-selling Mango Sago and French Toast. The latter, especially, goes well with the restaurant’s brewed coffee, the prized item, which started it all for the café nearly 80 years ago.
