Sam Choy's Breakfast Lunch, Honolulu

From bad to worse. Its dirty. The food is just ok. They have valet parking in Iwilei...the ugliest part of Honolulu. That is something like putting a toll booth on a goat path. Had the breakfast buffet for $20 a head. Coffee and tea included, right? No sir...$3.50 for coffee or tea, but they don't mention that up front. Rip off all the way around.

So terrible i am shocked. after going to sam's first restaurant many years ago in kapahulu, we loved the quality of the food, and would visit the BL&C once in a while when we were near downtown at night. Last night, was the worst dining experience i've encountered in many years. we were seated right away by the hostess, but our table was wobbly, and the chair cushoins were slashed ... something you would find in a very old diner. the hostess even noted the wobbly table but sat us there anyway. I had to ask for another table, and we were accomodated in what we thought was a much better spot. after a nice hour of waiting for our food with a sparse waiter coming by. i started to play with blobs of caramel and water drops from my plastic red fountain soda cup; the kind you find in any generic diner. This cup fascinated me as it had nice hole in the bottom, oozed caramel soda and water droplets all over the table. our nice little table became a bit nerve racking, as the constant bumping of people who walked by, even the waiters bumped our chairs from behind. you know, when you go to a movie and the person behind....nevermind. after a good hour wait our food server brings over our food, which was cold to room temperature short ribs and steak. that means our food was sitting, waiting for a long while. the biggest gripe i have about restaurants is that my food should be either hot if a steak or other hot entree or cold if it is supposed to be cold. my wifes rare steak with mashed potatoes was well done and cold and came with brown rice, which made us wonder if she got someone elses order or someones afterthought. my short ribs were room temperature cold. after a reheat and another steak for the wife, we noted that the taste of the food was just not there, we could have spent some good money (and cheaper) at the local supermarket, and seasoned her steak better. my short ribs was overpowered by a thick gravy that seemed to be an all around generic beef stew, hamburger steak variety. nothing special, salty and overpowering. for $29 a plate. i was not impressed, not happy, and definately not coming back. and this is our last visit ever to any restaurant labeled sam choys.

Terrible service and undercooked food at Sam Choy's BL&Crab! We were seated by the hostess and did not see a waiter or anyone else for 30 minutes. I had to find a manager to get a waiter to get us drinks. I ordered the special. After another 30 minutes, the waiter returned and said that they were out of the special. I ordered a different entree--a stuffed pork chop. The pork chop was served dangerously undercooked. The waiter removed my plate and did not come back to offer me anything else for 10 minutes. Then they offered to cook another one, but since it had taken over an hour to get our food the first time and everyone else at the table was already done eating, I passed and said that I would just eat side dishes. I then waited another 10 minutes for a plate with mashed potatoes to appear. The manager offered me a free dessert and then served us the wrong dessert. When the check came, we had been charged for the dessert that was supposed to be free. Long story short, this was a terrible experience. I would not recommend Sam Choy's to anyone.

Sam Choy's BL&C was a disappointment. Adequate food, but not a good value for the money. I ordered the crab saimin, which was merely OK. I guess people must go here for the entertainment, because none of the food we ordered was very good. Maybe the Diamond Head restaurant is better, but I probably won't be trying it anytime soon.

I was disappointed on the second trip. The first was good, except the waiter forgot our bread on an empty table next to us. And they have loco moco on the menu... But the second; (We were seated at a table without lighting - the flood lights burnt out. I ordered corn chowder and got clam. The veggies on my plate were cold. I bbq ribs which were tasty, but they arrived without wash nappies and a plate for the bones. Actually, they need to serve a half order. 4 stars for the food, but 2 for service.

Bad experience. We (the ex, his son, and I) sat by an aquarium that had nothing in it but a ROACH! Yeah, we noticed it right when our meal came to our table. It grossed us out. But the food looked good and yeah it was tasty. We took it mostly to go.

very causal. good place for family and friends

This is the most overrated restaurant I have ever been to. It's not that good, and the service is positively awful, if you get any service at all. The only parking choice is valet, yet the parking lot is right outside the door and isn't that big- it's kind of ridiculous to wait for someone to bring your car to you as you stand next to it. The food is average at best. I will never go back. Try Roy's instead.