Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant

I've been blogging about the dining scene in Kaimuki quite a bit lately as I've been venturing a little further from home for dinner.  I have lots of friends that live out that way, and dinners with them have been infrequent at best.  Tonight was the first time that I ate at Happy Days for dinner.  The one other time that I was here, was several months ago for a brunch full of good conversation and average dim sum.

Happy Days is on the corner, right next door to Maguro-Ya, and is owned by the same person that owns Good Luck Chinese Restaurant.  Inside, it wasn't too crowded in the general dining area, but there were 3 large parties going on in the semi-private areas off to the side.

I had the taste for noodles tonight, so I ordered the crispy gau gee (pillow-shaped deep-fried won ton) with cake noodles (US$6.95).

It's been a while since I've eaten cake noodles, and to tell you the truth, I really haven't noticed them at too many Chinese restaurants outside of Hawaii.  The noodles are cut into small "square" pieces, then fried.  The noodles are served with a thick gravy and are topped with pieces of chicken, assorted vegetables and four pieces of crispy gau gee. 

The cake noodles used here are a little different from the ones that I am used to eating, but they were nice and crunchy.  I asked for less gravy, but there was still a lot of gravy on the plate. 

(Close up of the noodles.)

Oh well, I guess they think less gravy, is less than the normal amount which usually fills the plate to the rim!  There was a nice variety of vegetables in this dish such as Shanghai bok choy, straw mushrooms, carrots and choy sum.  And the gau gee was very nicely deep-fried, surprisingly not too oily and they were very meaty.  Maybe next time, I'll ask for the gravy to be served on the side.  I like it when the noodles stay crunchy until the last bite.

Dinner for the friend I met was the beef brisket on rice (US$6.95).

I didn't have this, but I was told it was quite good.  There were a few pieces of beef tendons here and I could smell the wonderful aroma of star anise rising from the plate.  It actually smelled very good.

I enjoyed the food and the company, and I'm almost certain that I'd come back again if I were in the neighborhood.  And though the food was average, or a little better, this is definitely not a restaurant that I would drive out of my way to visit.

Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant
3553 Waialae Avenue
Telephone:  808.738.8866

Comments

[MrsT]

No inconvenience at all.. Reid.. :-) I await your post.. ;)

[Embla]

Huh. Is it unusual to have the beef brisket served on rice? Wouldn't you be ordering rice separately anyway?

[rae]

I LOVE and MISS cake noodles so much!!! I hope it was delish for you! We used to do take out from Happy when we lived on Kilauea about 7 years ago. It used to satisfy Chinese food cravings, but can't recall anything being remarkably good. can't wait for your write up!

[MrsT]

Interesting noodles.. Reid.. ;)
I too would have preferred my beef brisket with noodles.. ;) But that's just me.. ;)

[Clinton]

Reid,

Hawaii is the only place I know which serves gau gee mein. Here in LA, the choice is either pan fried, or Hong Kong style which is deep fried thin egg noodles with the gravy poured over similar to your gau gee mein. In either case, they both are good in my opinion. I also prefer my beef brisket stew (gnau nam) over noodles too rather than on rice. My favorite when ordering lunch in LA Chinatown is the beef stew won ton noodles...oh, that sounds good right now!

PS. I've always wanted to try out Happy Days in Kaimuki but never had the opportunity. I've heard good reviews from some of my friends but most of them go next door to Duk Kee for better dining.

[Min]

Beef brisket on rice looks good!!I had that many yrs bk..i MUST HAVE IT again!The most appropriate veggie in the dish should be "Kailan".

You got the new Mrs Lee cookbook from S'pore?How are her books?

Oh and I saw some guy the other day wearing the silver mini Ipod..very sleek and stylish.You can consider that colour or green.You are male right??*confused*

[stacey]

hi! this place looks pretty good, i might try it sometime. i'd like to see one for jimbo's on king street :)

thanks~

[anthony]

Ralph! Potsy!

Sorry I had to say that.

[Reid]

Hi MrsT,

I've actually never had beef brisket with noodles. In fact, most of the places here serve it with rice. Intersting.

Hi embla,

Thanks for visiting my blog!

It might seem strange that the beef brisket is served on rice, but that was how the dish was listed on the menu. I wasn't going to order rice because I actually had the noodles.

Hi Rae,

The cake noodles here were a good enough for me, but next time, I think I would ask for the gravy on the side. I don't like the noodles to be soaking it up.

Hi Clinton,

I didn't know that about gau gee mein. Thanks for the information. Seems as though we have lots of "unique" ways of eating food here. Next time I'll have to convince my friend to have the beef brisket on noodles since all of you recommend it. =)

I actually almost went to Duk Kee, but me friend suggested Happy Days. Duk Kee actually makes really good steamed fish.

Hi Min,

Long time no hear! Yes, the beef brisket on rice did look delish. Unfortunately, it was not served with any vegetables at all. =(

The Mrs Lee's cookbooks are great. I haven't made anything from them yet, but I'm going to soon.

I'm glad you're enjoying your new IPOD. I actually have one in gold. It's sad that they don't make it in that color any longer. (and yes, I'm a he) =)

Hi stacey,

Thanks for visiting me. Happy Days serves decent Chinese food so you should give it a try. A review on Jimbo is forthcoming. Watch for it in a couple of weeks. Hope to hear from you again.

Hi Anthony,

Har, har!

[Julia]

Hi Reid, your gau gee noodles look scrummy. It's kinda similar to the crispy noodles we have here. I think ours is the Hong Kong style type that Clinton described. I also prefer my crispy noodles with less gravy so that they still have some bite towards the end of the meal. :)

[fish fish]

Happy Days :) Nice name. Hmm... this is my first time encounter with the word 'cake noodles'.

[Reid]

Hi Julia,

I asked a Singaporean friend about cake noodles and he mentioned that it's quite different from crispy noodles. I'm sure you'd like them if you had them. Like you, I like my noodles to have lots of crunch. Normally, I ask for the gravy on the side.

Hi fish fish,

The name is nice, isn't it? It seems so pleasant. From what I understand, cake noodles seem to be served only in Hawaii. Maybe one of my readers can tell me if they've had it in other parts of the US/world.

[Drew]

I've eaten at Happy Days quite often, it's not only a spacious and beautiful restaurant, but the food is definitely better than average, and I would say one of the best on the island. I know quite a few people who eat here on a regular basis and go out of their way to make it here. From the cake noodle to dim sum, this is a fine restaurant, no wonder it is busy year 'round.

[Reid]

Hi Drew,

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for the comments.

I guess many of us here are partial to our favorite Chinese restaurants. What I mean is that my grandfather loves Hee Hing and Yen King, and those are two places that I would rather not eat at. There are a few good dishes at Happy Days, but I wouldn't drive from Makiki (where I live) to Kaimuki just to eat Chinese food here. Happy Days has a sister restaurant called Good Luck Chinese Restaurant which in my opinion has slightly better food.

There have been times when I've been at Happy Days and there hasn't been a single person in the room and at other times, I've had to wait 10 minutes for a table, but I think it's like that everywhere.

Thanks again for stopping by!

[Mrs.H]

I recently ordered a pan of soft wonton min noodles from this restaurant for my daughter's birthday party. The noodles tasted fine until I bit down on something crunchy and bitter, it was a beetle. This order had another bug in it that I found and some little white larvae looking things. This is the third time i've gone there and this hasn't happened to my knowledge before, but I will never go there again. What a way to ruin a party.