Loving Hut

Love the people, Love the food (I’m not a vegan Yet :)
The staff was happy and humming while cutting and preparing our food. They also did not hesitate to make a special dish for us. We were on a special diet per doctors order and the dish was delicious.

Never ever again. Not all Loving Hut’s are the same. The one on King Street is much better so go to that one if you want vegan overpriced food.
I’ve tried this Pensacola location several times and every time I do, I wonder how they stay in business. If you go in person, the wait can be up to 1hr even if you are the only one there.
I called in my order at 11:30 to a pleasant English speaking female:
Me: «Can I place an order to go?»
Her: «ohh. That’s going to take a long time.»
Me: «But I just want rice noodles and soup, that’s it».
Her: «ok. Maybe an hour wait. It will be $ 10 since only noodles.»
Me: WTF «okay I’ll come by in an hour then.»
I get there and there’s an elderly couple who don’t speak a word of English behind the counter. Again. No sign of the lady who answered the phone. I have to point and do charades to get my food. The guy types out on a calculator $ 10.99. I tell him it’s $ 10. He pretends not to understand what I’m saying. So I give him $ 15 and he can’t figure out how much change to give me. Then I ask for a spoon. I have to do charades to get a spoon. When I get back to my desk, the broth and noodles are not very good. This place must be a front for another type of business because I can’t believe this place can stay open with the lack of service and blah tasting food.

Not as good as the other location on King Street. Also, I ate here once and there was a big in my food. Still, with the lack of vegetarian options on the island, this place is a welcome addition for non-​meateaters in the area.

Why isn’t there more people dining here? maybe nobody knows it’s here or about vegan food, not sure? If this place was in LA or San Diego it would be so popular. The food was delicious and affordable! Quite a selection, salads to burgers and lots of asian dishes. I ordered eggplant tofu and it was amazing! Super clean tasting and fresh. The owners/​staff was very nice and friendly. Will be back again. Metered parking on the street. Wish there was a bathroom. I’m waiting in line in McDonald’s to use their restroom.

I actually love eating at this place but the price for the amount of food not great. The eggplant tofu portion was a mini size for $ 11.95. The portions used to be bigger.

On our last night of our trip we decided to stop by and get some food. We are sooo glad we did!
All of the staff were extremely polite and welcoming. The food was incredible! We got the Terrific burger and the Crispy Chikn Burger, Spinich Quesdilla, and the Banana Lumpia. Food arrived quickly and was absolutely delicious! I wish I was staying longer in Honolulu so we could eat more of their food!
If I could give more than 5 stars, I would. The best vegan food on the island!!!

I thought it was just random situation and I came in a wrong time. I was craving something chocolate and knew that place had some brownies and choco cakes. The lady greeted me and I started asking what they have and the description of cakes that were displayed. She didn’t say a word and just gave menu, pointed at brownie and said something in chinese. I decided just to get brownie and leave other cakes for next time. The brownie was good, very moist and chewy inside, not over sweet.
I wish they had English speaking employees because communication was non existent. I had a hard time just to get brownie, but i imagine it would be very confusing to order dish. Brownie 5 stars, customer service 1. I’m afraid I won’t come back until I see new employees taking orders.

First tried a Loving Hut in San Diego.
Was excited to find out they are actually a chain and that there were locations in HI.
On my way home the other evening, I finally decided to pop in to this location to pick up dinner for us. It’s a very unassuming store front and pretty quaint inside. There’s no AC, so it’s a little stuffy. But not bad. I browed the menu. It’s a small menu compared to other locations. Apparently, although a chain, the individual franchises have control over what’s on their menu. I settled on the fresh spring rolls and the katsu. The intention was for us to split the appetizer and meal.
I feel that the portion was sufficient, although it seemed a tad small. $ 21 for one appetizer and one entrée.
The quality of the food was excellent. The curry had good flavor, the katsu was done well. The spring rolls with peanut sauce were delicious too. I don’t really have any complaints about the quality of the food that we ordered.
I was stoked to see this location also offers vegetable manapua. That’s hard to find and I can’t wait to try it.
This location is seemingly not too busy. It’s not really off the beaten path, but it doesn’t stand out. The man and woman behind the counter, I assume are the owners, were very pleasant. The English is almost non-​existent, which is okay. I still was able to order everything, they got it and I was able to fully complete the transaction without issue. I think this one will be my go-​to location. This Loving Hut needs some lovin’ too!

Deeeeeelicious. Yes it’s a mom and pop who own it and yes they don’t speak English. You can look at the menue and point to what you want. I had the fried chicken sandwich and they might make their soy products there. It’s not gardenia. The fries are the bees knees lol

I used to frequent here with my friends way back in 2011 and early 2012 when I used to be extremely active. We turned vegetarian for a short amount of time after watching Food Inc. because we saw grueling videos of animal slaughtering and we kept thinking about the cute little pigs and chicken… so my friends and I found this little gem in Pensacola after searching for vegetarian places to eat. We even made a promise to be vegans but that only lasted for two weeks when my friend ate kalbi and I ate chicken… lol
Also, 2011 I believe, was the first year they opened. Vicky, the owner, was the only one running the establishment. As I stated above, I used to frequent here with my friends and to be honest, her cooking was more delicious back then. Personally, I believe it was because her business began to bloom and there were more demands and so she needed more employees. They dont cook as well as her though. Vicky offers great customer service, she’s super nice and has offered my friends and I free items to try. I also saw her give a plate of chowfun to a homeless guy in front of the store.
unfortunately shes not always around because she has another location somewhere in downtown (I gotta talk to her again). Her other employees are nice too, but its not the same with Vicky.
Alright, this location is located at the corner of Pensacola and Young St, right next to Kaiser Honolulu Clinic. Its a small eatery so it could get crowded. lunch time might get busy too.
Food tips
Price range– Bring more than $ 15.
Appetizers are $ 7 and up. Entrees are $ 11 and up.
Payment method–
They prefer you to use cash but if you don’t, they can still ring you up via debit/​credit cards. The reason why they do so is because theres a fee for businesses when people slide their card (thats why some small businesses say you have to purchase $ 5 or more if you’re going to pay with a card).
Portions
This place is not for a very big eater. Portions are mediocre, but the content of the food actually makes you feel full (they always serve brown rice with vegetables as sides).Loving hut offers you just enough portions to feel satisfied but not extremely bloated.
Personal Recommendations:
Loving Lemon Grass Tofu, which is fried tofu cubes sauteed in sweet and sour sauce mixed with lemon zest and lemon shavings in it.
Elightened Eggplant Tofu: Eggplant and Tofu sauteed in hoisin and sweet and sour thai sauce. This can be a bit mild in flavor
Lol on the side note: the names of the food just totally gets me
Parking
You can find metered parking along Pensacola or save your time (and coins) parking in the Walgreens stalls across the street. Mind you that Pensacola is a one way street. If you plan to park in walgreens stay on your left lane and if you want to look for metered parking, stay on the right lane. Don’t worry about parking in Walgreens, you wont get towed there.
Negatives:
–the wait can be long.
–their best sellers are the items with the tofu so they may run out of it very quickly.
–their pitchers contain very little ice cubes (they dont have an ice machine so they use regular ice cube tray) and the water isn’t as cold as it should be. My friend joked about it being vegan too since it wasn’t cold lol
–theres a tv that features the «grandmaster» that replays which could get a bit annoying
Other tips
–They only serve brown rice
–All their stuff is vegan!
–they have fresh blended drinks! TRY the GREEN DRINK WITH THE KALE (I forgot what it was called).

«napkin… not from tree»
… the proprietor kindly informed me as she set my place and poured me some water. At least I think that’s what she said. No one spoke english well.
I’d like to rate them higher than 3 stars because they were very cheerful, and one dish I had was really good… but other stuff was just sloppy, and inconsistent which brings them down to 3 stars.
I had the «Contentment Crêpe» $ 9.95… «crispy crêpe made with rice flour, tapioca starch, coconut milk, turmeric, bean sprouts, mushroom, tofu. Served with lettuce, cucumber, and home made vinaigrette.» This crêpe was DELICIOUS. Mouth wateringly delicious. 5 stars.
I also liked that they were playing a Neal Barnard video about vegetarianism… (he’s very cool.
) which apparently came from
whose slogans are «constructive programming for a peaceful world» and «be vegan, make peace.» So, … «yay!»
BUT, the salad with the crêpe had a lot of brown lettuce in it. Not squishy, but not fresh either. The floor was dirty where I was sitting. The banner in the window and behind the counter shows a lot of dishes at great prices, but although the banner doesn’t say it, those are lunch only prices and the same dishes at dinner are several dollars more. She said the dinner is a larger portion… but I don’t really believe that my crêpe portion would have been any smaller at lunch. The pictures used on the banner are exactly the same as on the dinner menu. And the hours are erratic, I’ve tried to eat here a few time and never found them actually open before. I thought I could hear an air conditioning unit laboring away, but the interior was scorching hot and stuffy.
I was still hungry after my crêpe, so I ordered a vegetarian manapua $ 3.95 (dinner price) and shows 2 manapua, one cut open, one whole. Despite the picture shown on the banner and in the menu, you don’t get two, you only get one. It was small, tough, and basically seemed to be filled with frozen mixed vegetables. I ate it, but I wouldn’t pay more than $ 1 for it again.
Because of the language barrier, I didn’t even try to complain about any of this stuff.
I added a meager $ 2 tip onto my $ 14 check and sadly left wishing I’d spent my $ 16 elsewhere like Peace Café. That being said, the crêpe itself was really good, and the desserts looked great, I just didn’t want to spend any more money at that point after the manapua disappointment.

Updated review — I would still rate this Loving Hut 3.5 stars, not quite 4 stars. Though I prefer the King St location, I do still like this one. Feel kind of sorry for this location — does not seem as bustling as the other one. :o (The people who work there are super nice though. The recent update to the physical menu did not have flattering, enticing pictures — so just read the description and not judge based on the pictures. I think I’ve found the menu items that work for me:
Appetizers:
— nori rolls — nice and refreshing
— fresh rolls — fail-​safe option
— golden crispy rolls — really fail-​safe option
— kind katsu — good texture (never tried the real stuff) with kicking sauce
— golden nuggets — how could one not like fried/​bready stuff
— contentment pancake — vegan buddy liked this — I did not sample to see how it compares to my memories of banh xeo
Soups/​Entrees (I am not typically a fan of sandwiches and salads at restaurants):
— royal noodle soup — much better than the phở in my opinion — flavorful, spicy (can make it more so), satisfying
Dessert:
— brownie — pretty good, chocoholics would heartily approve

It took us almost one hour to get our dishes when there was no one here to even eat at this establishment. Never will I ever eat at this chain of vegetarian restaurants.
*Update:
I found out that there was 2 very old cooks working the kitchen. Old as in grandma/​grandpa old. That doesn’t excuse the poor service but at least it made sense to me.
Please hire more help!

One of the most dramatic drops in quality, service, and overall awesomeness.
Please Note:
All Loving Huts are run by different owners, and have their own menu’s! This review update is for the Pensacola Street Loving Hut ONLY. The King Street location is doing very well.
I don’t know what is going on with this location. Service is now poor and slow. Their menu has been unreliable. And they just don’t seem to care about their customers anymore.
The last time I went was a few months ago. Ordered from the very limited lunch menu, because the cook wasn’t there, so only certain items could be made. What? When our food was finally done, we look to the condiments, and there’s nothing. Usually there would be Sriracha and Braggs. We ask for both, they give us a bottle of hot sauce from the kitchen, and tell us the Braggs was stolen recently. Okay. And the owner did not want to replace it?! Embarrassing.
I don’t want to sound so harsh, but 2 – 3 negative experiences like this, and I can’t leave my 5 star review up because it is just nothing like it was. By the way, call before you go, I have no idea what their hours are now.
Turn it around Loving Hut Pensacola, and I’ll happily come back every week. You were making magic at one point.

My rating went down, as my last experience here was not good. It may be my last visit too. The food seemed a bit sloppy. I can’t get past the weird vibe of this place either. It makes me feel oooogy just being there — from the religious content on the TV to the forced smiley happiness of the server, there is just something wiggy about it.
It’s almost like the servers are brainwashed or something and their weird TV programs have some kind of subliminal programming saying «DON’T KILL ANIMALS, DON’T EAT MEAT, EAT VEGETABLES AND YOU’LL BE HAPPY, DEAD ANIMALS MAKE YOU UNHAPPY, VEGETABLES MAKE YOU HAPPY… VEGGIE — HAPPY… VEGGIE — LOVE». I feel like I’m in some kind of Scooby Doo episode being in there and feel like I have to escape before they brainwash me and take me in the back where all the «followers» are worshiping some kind of vegetable god and they are plotting to take over the world.
Ok, that might be a little over the top, but don’t get me wrong, I am all about eating healthier and I believe that avoiding meat is a good idea, however, this place seems to be doing something wrong in the way they do it.

Oh my gosh Loving Hut WHAT HAPPENED.
It’s like you were only a dream. Like Oz, a place like Narnia, a place that I imagined all in my head.
You used to be so delicious, served food that made me feel good, and I loved coming to support you.
But oh how you have turned for the worst.
They are SO INCONSISTENT NOW. And that is one of the saddest parts. They used to be so reliable. I would come and know what I would be getting.
Now I come and they aren’t open, they don’t serve me veggies, they don’t give me soy protein, they don’t have siracha or braggs, they don’t have UTENSILS, they don’t have NAPKINS, they’re always missing SOMETHING.
The wait for food will take a good 40 minutes so don’t come here on your lunch break unless you eat in 5 minutes.
They don’t have the full menu all the time. So instead of going and looking over the menu for what you want, you should just ask whoever is working what they actually DO HAVE available to make.
They are SO UNDERSTAFFED that the cashier is usually also the cook. Which is why it takes so long for anything to get done (including the tables being cleared).
The owner has such bad business skills and needs help. She needs to learn you can’t just open whenever you want, not hire anyone because you’re trying to save money, and leave items out of the dishes without your customers getting irritated and eventually losing them.
My dish today was oversauced, lacked three ingredients that it usually comes with, and my previous dishes have been inconsistent as well.
Unless I get a sign from a higher being to tell me to go back, I won’t be for a very, very long time. *cries*
P.S No more lunch specials.

Decided to pop in real quick for a bite to eat right before attending my first Art After Dark event. I looked through the menu and couldn’t decide between the Spinach Quesadilla, Kind Katsu Curry, or Longevity Chili. Asked the server, «How big is the quesadilla?» She simply answered «Legit.» I took a leap of faith based on that one word and ordered the Spinach Quesadilla for $ 8.50.
It took at least half an hour for my quesadilla to come out with less than 5 people in the restaurant. The quesadilla was very simple: loaded with fresh spinach leaves and cheese. I was decently satiated despite the lack of meat.
Decent prices for healthy,
and tasty food. I would give 5 stars if I didn’t have to wait so long for my quesadilla to come out. We shall see if things are different next time.

«Hi, my name is Tracy. And I’m a T-​Rex.» –Carnivores Anonymous, 2013
My last attempt at being a vegetarian was when I was a sophomore in high school and buckled after one week for… a char siu manapua. FAIL.
I could never turn vegetarian, much less vegan. But as I get older, my body craves more greens and less meat. Prior to the new year, I committed to a four-​month modified diet of two red meat meals maximum per week with a coworker and felt great. It was to my delight that our vegan coworker took us to Loving Hut for her 23^rd birthday. Time to kick it up a notch…
Vicky is the Chinese owner that «lovingly» creates the 40+ dishes of veggie flair alongside her male counterpart who speaks little to no English. Her effervescence is a subliminal testament to the benefits of vegan cuisine. I felt sluggish just listening to her and immediately started scanning the list of herbivorous hors d’oeuvres. Mmm… the nori wraps, hearty curry soup, and lucky chow fun caught my predatory eye. The wraps came with a zesty chili-​ponzu dipping sauce that battled the vegenaise for my palate’s undying affection. The other dishes were tasty but I could live without them.
As for the main event, I tackled the Kind Katsu Curry. My meathead brain could not overcome the soy katsu hurdle, but it was delicious enough for me to clean the plate. I was on a roll and didn’t want to leave the desserts unscathed. With abandon, I took a bite out of the Chocolate Pudding and Blessing Brownie. I think I just reached Nirvana…
After such a positive experience at Loving Hut, this T-​Rex would gladly do vegan all over again.

If I am ever forced to eat here again, I will order fries. And nothing else. See the stars up there? One of them is for the fries. The other one is there because Unilocal gives a star automatically and because at least I have a good story to tell.
Customer service was great. The five cups of coffee they made (one at a time) and did not charge me for is worth that one star. The need to make that many cups (one at a time) as one after another was ruined by curdled coconut and/​or soy milk is one of the reasons this place will only get two stars.
We ordered a salad, katsu curry, curry soup, summer rolls, french fries, and coffee.
The french fries were great, but everything else was «ok» at best.
The summer rolls were tasty enough, but were the width of my thumb.
The curry was not offensive, but was filled with frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, corn, carrots) with bits of tofu mixed in.
The katsu texture was fine, but very sweet. My lunch companion said it reminded her of maple syrup.
Salad was «deconstructed» piles of vegetables arranged on a plate. They surrounded a small bowl of what seemed to be Thousand Island dressing. Yuck!
The worst thing, though, was the coffee. Vegan restaurant = no cream for my coffee, I can live with that. I’m even willing to give coconut milk a try. I use soy milk in coffee on a regular basis. The frustration felt while watching 5 cups of coffee separate and curdle was enough to make me want to march into the nearest coffee shop and order a latte.
I would pick a coffee shop without a vegan-​cult video playing on the tv.
My dining companion had this to say–
I was present, and sadly must concur (except for the spilled water, which was a nice change from the food). There should be a black hole that can be used instead of a star. Considering that we were having lunch after 2, and therefore were insanely hungry, you’d think we could at least EAT what we ordered. Not to mention drink. A simple iced coffee proved impossible (both coconut and soy milk curdled). After two tries, I switched to hot. Also curdled. Both tries. After 4 attempts– no drinkable coffee. An $ 8.95 «salad» proved to be a small mound of bean sprouts, celery that bugs had gotten to first, pale pink tomato slices, tough carrot rounds, and – surprise! – truly delicious cucumber wedges. Served with an icky dressing. Maybe I’ve had a worse meal, but none comes to mind.

I’m not vegan, but I wanted to be adventurous!
Yeah, not happening again. my chili was so spicy, it was burning my tongue off. i couldn’t even finish it.
my friend’s burger was good, but he didnt like that it was sweet.
Most likely will not be coming back here. But the service was good!