Happy eating at Honolulu’s Happy Day

Photo courtesy of Jeff Widener (Honolulu Advertiser)

Dimsum has to be spot on if you’re going to have it, and while Honolulu may boast dozens of dimsum restaurants, only a handful are actually legitimately good weekend Chinese fare.

I grew up on homecooked Chinese food, so I know good cuisine when I see it, and Happy Day has been my Chinese restaurant of choice this past year — even surpassing the popular Little Village in downtown and Legends in the Chinese Cultural Center.

What makes Happy Day such a great Chinese restaurant is its seafoood.  Whatever salty topping they add to their crab and lobster dishes is wholy heavenly, as are their sizzling platters and taro baskets.

Happy Day has both the typically popular Chinese-American dishes like beef and broccoli and the more Chinese fare like Peking duck.  You really can’t go wrong with any of their dishes, and you absolutely have to go “family style” and share all the dishes ordered at your table.

Before you leave, check out the restaurant’s lucky dragon fish in the tanks by the cash register, and order dimsum or gau to go for good measure.

(808) 738-8666
3553 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

Photo courtesy of Jeff Widener (AP Photo)