Green Papaya

I’ve dined here for at least five years. The immigrant owners are nice and I haven’t had any bad service issues here. They already know our order since we have the same thing every time. That makes me feel like I’m a VIP. We have spring rolls, the large phở meat on the outside and two iced-​coffees. Their iced coffee with extra condensed milk is so good on a hot Hawaii day. I won’t think about what it does to my blood sugar. I’ve dined at many Vietnamese restaurants in Hawaii and on the Mainland. The only other place that makes Vietnamese ice coffee that tastes as good is the Phở To Chau on River Street in Chinatown, but unlike Phở To Chau you don’t have to stand in line to get a table.
The phở, spring rolls and iced coffee are the best items on the menu. Their other dishes can be a hit or miss.
The menu has vegan and vegetarian options. Parking isn’t so great, but we usually park either at Ala Moana or just across the restaurant at Wal-​Mart. We shop at both places afterwards, so it’s ok or I rationalize it that way.

If they have 0 star, I would choose no star for this place. The food is terribly terrible. We ordered chicken and shrimp fired rice but it doesnt taste like fried rice. They just mix white rice with tomato sauce, and add cold-​slided chicken and little shrimp. No flavor at all! It is a shame that they call these are Vietnamese foods. Vietnamese foods don’t taste this bad. If you want authentic Vietnamese foods, please go somewhere else.

This place has been around forever moving to different locations within the same block. Being around so long, it has to be a fantastic place making so much money allowing it to stay on prime expensive real estate… Well… Finally eating here… I can say it is just an average run of the mill Vietnamese phở restaurant. I had the highlighted King PHO, which was simply… Phở… Average and boring.
I hate knocking places that are small and try hard, but a cute little restaurant with friendly staff doesn’t make the food great. Kinda of a let down, but good if you need a phở fix quick after the freak watching of Walmart wears you out!

Phone ordered look fun noodles with tofu and vegetables. The woman on the phone said «no fat noodle, only small noodle» giving me the impression that they were going to use chow fun noodles instead… Ok no problem.
When I picked up my meal, I didn’t bother to open the container to check if everything was ok (that’s MY bad)… When I got to my office, I pulled away the tofu and vegetables, and revealed no look fun noodles, no chow fun… instead it was the THIN phở noodles… Dry, stuck together and tasteless. Only the first layer had sauce on it, so I tried to stir it up hoping that I could get sauce on the rest of the noodles. However, the noodles were so dry that they just stuck together… I literally only ate the first layer of noodles. The veggies and tofu were cooked perfectly… I definitely enjoyed that.

I’ve been coming here for years so I decided to get a pic and review them here! Whenever I come here I get the spicy lemon grass chicken with jasmine brown rice, it also comes with a small side of salad and Vietnamese fish sauce dressing. The chicken is so flavorful and it’s not too spicy and what makes it better is the chicken is juicy, not dry. Their jasmine brown rice is cooked just right and the portions are good for the price. I’ve also tried their phở, spring rolls, and summer rolls which is all really good. I also had their thai iced tea and loved it. The owners are really nice too. I like how it’s lowkey and conveniently located across Ala Moana and Walgreens. If you like Vietnamese and/​or healthy food this place is a must try.

One of my go-​to resturants! The staff knows me already! I love their phở! Ive tried their combination and oxtail phở! It’s comfort food to me! If I could afford it I would go there once a week!

Green Papaya is a beautiful resturant and has wonderful service. The food however left a lot to be desired. Both the phở and the spring rolls had very little taste.
One plus, if you are looking for vegetarian options, they did seem to have a good selection.

As a phở lover I simply have to check out as many Vietnamese restaurants as possible to see what’s out there. Green Papaya definitely is a good place to visit. I like the simple, yet clean and friendly ambiance that this place offers.
On my last visit, I was the first to arrive out of my group of three. The employees were very patient with my friends who came in a bit later. They encouraged me to sit right away as I waited.
Two of us ordered phở and one ordered the Thai Spicy Tofu soup with phở noodles. The food was so well made and my friend even mentioned that her spicy soup is now her favorite. She was craving it the next day. I have to try!
Altogether our table was occupied for over two hours, there were no complaints or rushing and the meal was very enjoyable. Service was attentive and fast. Cups of water were refilled and dessert was offered. We declined as we lately have been having an addiction to Dole Whip soft serve available next door at Walgreens.
Restrooms are located on the Makaloa Street side of the building along with their parking. Access is achieved through walking through the kitchen. A key is needed which Green Papaya provides. Street parking is also available as long as it’s not during Tow Away Zone hours.

Clean place. Good service. Lots of vegetarian /​vegan options!
My favorite is the spicy thai tofu soup! You can get it with phở noodles.

Best phở, ginger chicken, & eggplant with beef in town. We usually sit on the first table to the right, so we see all the tourists looking inside trying to decide if they should chance it. Do it, will be the best food choice you make all day.

Green papaya is our go to lunch out place for work! First the location is awesome it’s literally a minute walk from where I work. I feel like they know me pretty well! Haha, service is great! It gets pretty busy at lunch, but you get accommodated quickly. Food comes out quickly too! Perfect for my 1 hour lunch… I’ve tried there phở and dried noodles… I’m a fan of there fried noodles with egg rolls and spicy pork! Yummmm! Thanks green papaya! You guys rock!

Okayyy, maybe more like a 2.5 or something, if anyone even cares about specifics.
I like the food here. I really do. As a semi-​vegetarian part time health nut, I like anything delicious and good for you! They have a good selection of meat dishes, noodles, and soups and, most importantly, vegetarian phở. Prices are fair and flavor is always delicious.
Service, however, needs some help.
My boyfriend loves Bún bò Hue. It’s basically all he ever eats when we go to a vietnamese restaurant. Not to mention it’s really fun to say. Bún bò Hue. Bún. Bò. Hue. Anyway, today being no different, he ordered Bún bò Hue from the lady to which she repeated «one Bún bò Hue» and I ordered my dish which she repeated back to me.
Cool.
But when our food came out, my boyfriend noticed that his soup was different from usual and when he asked her about it she told us, «this is combo 5»
«Oh, I ordered Bún bò Hue»
«No, you said combo 5»
«Um…no, I ordered Bún bò Hue»
«You ordered combo 5″
„…no, I got Bún bò Hue“
This continued back and forth for a good minute until my boyfriend said „That’s okay, I’ll just eat this,“ which is when she decided that she would stop arguing with us and take it back to „fix“ it.
Just a couple of minutes later they brought out the exact same thing with just a little bit of a redder soup added to make it LOOK like it could be Bún bò Hue» But my bf being the soup nut that he is could tell that it was completely different.
Okay, maybe my bf could have pronounced it wrong (despite her repeating it back to us) and okay, maybe Bún bò Hu does sound kind of maybe a little bit like combo 5, but that doesn’t mean that you have to argue with us on what WE ordered and tell us that that’s what we wanted. You ain’t us. You don’t know us. You don’t know my boyfriends love for Bún bò Hue *Snap snap*.
I’m just really disappointed in how the situation was handled because I do like the food there. I guess I shouldn’t let one bad situation deter me from ever coming here again, but it does make me feel skeptical of how they treat and how much they value their customers. Maybe next time will be better? Will we even go back? How many times did I type Bún bò Hue? Who knows, who knows.

#BEST GREEN PAPAYA SALAD. order with Tofu! Yummy as tofu is seasoned and fried!
It is totally Alkaline and heals as well as helps you lose weight!

It’s not bad, just not as Vietnamese as I would expect coming from a person who is Vietnamese & eats at ones restaurant. Just feel like I could’ve made better at home. I’m a chef & this is basic non authentic culture cooking truthfully. But servers were nice though. Even though they forgot my shoyu I requested for 2 times.

My friends and I came here for dinner one night after a moderately strenuous evening practice and research visits to Sam’s Club and Walmart across the street. We somehow wandered down the way looking into the various shops attached to the bldg and were starved by the time we decided to find something to eat :/​Lol
After a lot of indecisive hemming and hawing hehe about which of the various restaurants along Keeaumoku Street to try, we walked across the street and came here.
The food taste and quality overall are pretty good but for the prices per dish and for what is supposed to be a noodles kind of place, it would be good if they could increase their noodle portions was our opinion :(
Here’s what we ordered and what we thought:
1) Shrimp and spring rolls on a bed of noodles with lightly sweet vinegary sauce —
I really didn’t know what to try. I wanted phở, shrimp, and spring rolls but didn’t want to order a separate dish of spring rolls. Honestly wasn’t too thrilled about going without phở soup broth until I finally tried this dish and was completely pleased with my choice :)
The medium-​sized shrimp were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of soft meat shrimp crunch; the fried-​to-​golden-​brown-​goodness crunchy spring rolls were cut into cute bite-​sized pieces which made it all fun to eat; crushed peanuts on top is always a welcome bit of heaven. Pour the lightly sweet vinegary sauce all over this dish and you’ve got one flavorful, refreshing, light yet filling meal.
*Thoroughly* enjoyed :) The only thing I’d say is there should have been more noodles = –1 = 4 stars
2) Tofu stir fry on a bed of noodles —
My friend wanted their Chinese-​style noodles dish (see the light brown noodles peeking out from under the carrots at center?) and was a bit surprised what this one turned out to be. The plate was huge and there were a lot of veggies and good amount of tofu but she thought there would be more noodles. Also, the combination of ingredients flavored by an ok tasting gravy sitting on top of the small bed of noodles was somehow a little more than strange tasting. Rather than a green onions garnish, perhaps fresh bean sprouts would have worked better.
Don’t think she’ll think to order this again :(
Lack of noodles = –1 & strange combination and taste = –1 = 3 stars
3) Super amazingly-​spicy hot phở!
My other friend wanted some soup and she wanted it *spicy*. Boy, did she get spicy! She said the taste was pretty good but could only take sips and very small bites at a time bc of how super duper spicy it turned out to be. It was so hot that she took almost the entire bowl home!
She’d order this again! Pretty good soup taste but needed more noodles (what’s phở without the noodles, right?!?) = –1 = 4 stars
4) Sweet potato tapioca dessert —
After dinner, one of my friends ordered the sweet potato tapioca dessert. She enjoyed this unexpectedly warm dessert that was happily littered with crushed peanuts on top :) The potato was soft and lightly and pleasantly delicious. Like my shirmp-​spring rolls dish, the ingredients within this dish made for a very nice tasting and enjoyable finish for her dinner.
Good serving & delicious! = 5 stars
DINING EXPERIENCE:
Table spacing —
The place is a little larger than small. There are a lot of tables and chairs very close to each other.
Décor —
It’s definitely not new here but the air conditioning is really nice and cool :)
Service —
You come to these small places to find good tastes with good deals. It’s not meant to be a five star kind of restaurant with wait help watching over every part of your meal. Of course water service here is a given but does not have to be perfect. We were served water regularly and almost never needed to ask.
Kitchen/​Restrooms —
Restrooms are located upstairs. You’ll need a key from the cashier desk. Go thru the kitchen outside and on the right take the stairs up to the 2^nd floor. Walk half way along the walkway women’s then men’s restrooms are on the left. The restroom may or may not have run out of soap so be sure to ask for soap and sink back at the restaurant kitchen :/​
On my way to/​from the restroom, I needed to go thru the kitchen. I really didn’t get to check it out all that much but I remember thinking the kitchen was not so spic and span and could have been a bit cleaner. The driveway and bldg where the restroom is located seemed really dirty and could use a good cleaning.
Parking —
Usually this place is out of the way for me mostly bc parking is not an easy feat. I’m not even sure where I’d park except along the street.
Overall —
Food = a bit more than 3 not quite 4 stars; Lack of a cleaner experience on my way to their restrooms and in their restroom = –0.5 = 3 stars.
Not sure I’d like to make a trek back to this place since I can dine at the Green Papaya on Dillingham where parking is more readily available in the bldg parking structure and the phở soup and spring rolls are really good there :)

This was a horrible experience. Now I understand why the ratings for this place have gone waaaaay down. I walked in to order takeout. When I ordered my food, one of the cooks was standing in the front obviously because they were really slow… no customers now… Everything always makes sense in hindsight. I ordered a combination phở; no tendon and no meatballs. The woman who took my order repeated it back to me and told the cook standing in the front next to her waiting. I waited a few minutes and then my order came.
It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered meatballs floating in the broth and rare steak on the noodles; no tripe and no brisket. Ugh! I then proceed to call and complain. I end up having to talk to two different women who eventually ask the cook and then the cook has the audacity to lie! Once you mess up with me and takeout, there’s pretty much no way of fixing it. What bugs me the most about this whole thing is that there were NO OTHER CUSTOMERS and they still messed up my order!
This place is definitely not what I remember when they first opened and apparently I’m not the only one who’s noticed.

My wife loves the chicken phở here.
I like almost everything here. I got Bun cha gio Thit nuong today. We also shared summer rolls

Vegan friendly without question…
Food that is amazing and reasonably priced. I like the décor :) I will return multiple times!!!

Ever since Green Papaya’s 2^nd location opened on Keeaumoku Street, getting my bitter melon and oxtail phở fix is so much easier than the drive to North King Street. This location is so convenient and surrounded by lots of shops where I can eat, then shop and come back for seconds lol. The restaurant specializes in vegetarian dishes but GP is not strictly vegetarian but also serves other non-​vegetarian dishes. And they are delicious!
Ordering 2 plate lunches would be gluttony so I opted to get my shrimp & bitter melon stir fried in black bean sauce. Yum yum yum… the shrimp was decent size while the bitter melon, thickly julienned absorbed the wonderful Chinese black bean sauce. Sweet onions cooked with the bitter melon really round out the whole dish nicely. Just can’t stop eating this dish when paired with hot white rice. While I was eating the bitter melon with shrimp, I kept thinking I really want to order my other favorite oxtail phở but I controlled myself… hehehe. When I’m hungry for their awesome oxtail phở, I will be back for sure.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in my food. The kalbi or short ribs were marinated in something that didn’t really taste delicious to my palette. But I did order the avocado shake — which sounds weird, but is actually really delicious. I finished fb whole glass, completely recommend it.
My friend ordered the tofu vegetable fried rice and I thought it was unique, with it’s broccoli, tomatoes, and cucumber. Never would’ve thought of adding those — especially in the sizes they were cut up in the dish. But still it was delicious in taste and I would completely order it over the one I had.
For parking, I wasn’t sure where to park beyond street parking. And when my friend and I didn’t find any, we headed to Walmart to park.
I don’t always recommend parking at Walmart — sometimes they threaten to tow your car. But it helped that we needed to go there after dinner and walked through Walmart to where we wanted to go. :)