Bamboo House

Thumbing through the recent Dining Out section of my Sunday newspaper, I ran into a tiny ad for a Chinese restaurant called Bamboo House.  Having never heard of this place before, I decided on going there for dinner.  I called a couple of friends and off we went.

Once there, we found the place packed.  We waited a few minutes for a table to open up before going inside.  As we were being seated, a woman introduced herself as the owner and asked how we heard about the place because we didn't look familiar.  Seems as though this restaurant has only been open for about 6 months and most of the patrons are her friends.

After placing our order, the owner of the shop brought us a dish at no charge.  Now how often does this happen?  We were told that this dish was called parchment chicken.  (On the menu, the price is US$4.95).

Wrapped in the aluminum foil "parcel" was a nice sized piece of boneless chicken meat.  The chicken was tender and juicy.  Tasted a bit of wine (we were told it was saké) and ginger.  Yummy!

To start, we ordered the seafood with fish mau soup (US$4.95).

This soup was full of fish maw and pieces of shrimp.  The soup was smooth and silky and had such a wonderfully light flavor.  The fish maw was cooked perfectly and retained all of its wonderful texture.

Next to arrive was the kung bao beef  (US$5.95).

There was a lot of tender beef in this dish, as well as lots of bell pepper, peanuts, carrots and bamboo shoots.  Normally, kung bao beef should be hot and spicy.  Sadly, this dish lacked the chillies and any hint of spiciness.  As you can tell by the photo, this dish was quite oily.  Perhaps the next time, I'll ask for less oil and more chillies to be used in the preparation of this dish.

Following the kung bao beef was the mayonaisse prawns with honey walnuts (US$6.95).

There were quite a few prawns (shrimps) on the plate, though they were a bit on the small side.  The prawns were nicely deep-fried and crunchy.  Coated with just the right amount of mayonaisse this was perfect.  Topped with honey-glazed walnuts made this one of the better dishes of the night. 

The final dish to arrive was the braised tofu with assorted seafood and meat (US$5.95).

The tofu is served with lots of vegetables, choi sum, carrots, celery and mushrooms, as well as with shrimp, squid and boneless chicken.  The sauce is light and not at all over powering.  This dish was perhaps my favorite.  Very subtle flavors made this dish delicious without being too bland.

We certainly ate quite a bit and even though there were a few small misses here and there, for the most part it was delicious and well worth the money.  This will probably become one of the Chinese restaurants that I come back to time and again.

Bamboo House
740 Kapahulu Avenue
Telephone:  808.732.2229

Comments

[umami]

I really like the look and idea of the shrimps combined with walnuts. Wish I was there.

[Jonny]

Mmm, looks tasty..! I guess it must be new since I never I saw it on Kapahulu myself.

[husky9]

hi reid....i like the prawns...never had that before...does it taste like honey prawns?

[Reid]

Hi Umami,

Nice to see you again. Actually, many Chinese restaurants serve prawns with mayonaisse and honey walnuts. It's actually quite good. This one was actually very good because there was just enough mayonaisse to give it some sweetness.

Hi Jonny,

Thanks for stopping by the blog. This is actually a new place. According to the owner, she's been open for only 6 months. The prices here are excellent and the food is good. Nothing on the menu was more than US$5.95! A bargain if you ask me, especially since you get so much food. You should check it out if you have a chance.

Hi husky9,

How nice of you to drop by again! =)

I'm not sure what honey prawns taste like, but these are actually deep-fried and crunchy. This dish gets its sweetness from the mayonaisse and the honey walnuts. I love the combination of texture and flavor. Must be one of my favorites! =)

[Min]

we have a restaurant with the same name here..wonder if they're affliated or something:)

[Reid]

Hi Min,

Thanks for stopping by again! I'm not so sure they are affiliated, but anything's possible right? I hear that you're going back to S'pore...is it true? If so, maybe we can get together when I visit, which should be next February, if I'm lucky!

[gracie]

mmmmm mayonaisse prawns/shrimp with honey walnuts are my favorite. im always looking for new places to try them at. the forum in the chinese cultural plaza has great shrimp. next time im visiting friends in kaimuki, i'll definitely stop by! oh, i still need to get that peanut butter chex mix recipe to you...

[stef]

that foil wrapped chicken reminds me of my brother's favorite dish in singapore - zi bao kai - or paper wrapped chicken :) they typically wrap it in parchment and not foil...but yum! :)

[Reid]

Hi Gracie,

The shrimp with honey walnuts and mayonaisse seems to be quite a popular dish here in Hawaii. In fact, I can't think of any Chinese restaurants that I've been to that doesn't serve this. Sadly, Forum at Chinese Cultural Plaza is gone and in it's place is Good Luck Chinese Restaurant. I've had the honey walnut shrimp there and it's actually very good, but a little more expensive (US$8.95). Thanks for remembering about the recipe for the peanut butter party mix! =)

Hi Stef,

Nice to see you! I thought it was quite odd that she said it was parchment chicken as normally it is cooked in parchment paper! LOL! In any case, this was really delicious and probably something that I would order from the dinner menu.

[Min]

Reid,

I am going back to S'pore and will be holding the chinese customary wedding(i've done the legal part but not the chinese traditions..so that has to be settled).Hubby and I are also getting our own place.Busy months ahead i forsee:)

Febuary is a fantastic time to visit Singapore.I think it coincides with our Chinese New Year.Yeah let's arrange something together..perhaps umami and renee would like to join us?

[FatMan Seoul]

Wow ... all the dishes look delish. Only thing missing from the beef "tung po" is dried schezuan chilies. Yummy all the same.

[Reid]

Hi Min,

Good luck to you...and congratulations! I'm sure the festivities will be nice. When my plans have been firmed up, I'll be sure to get in touch!

Hi FatMan,

Catching up on your blog reading I see. =) Yes, sadly the chillies were missing from the dish. I told the owner and she will remember to make this spicier for me the next time.

[Greg]

A friend and I ate here a few days ago. The green beans were fresh-picked and everything was delicious! Bamboo House is a delight and the service is fantastic.

I am back on the mainland now, but hope this cafe is still around when I return!