On Dong: Best Black Bean Noodles in Town

We recently had a visit by friends from the Windward side who introduced us to one of their favorite family secrets – the On Dong restaurant on S. King St. in Honolulu’s 96814 district. This is the place their family of four likes to eat whenever they make a trip to town.  A modest hole in the wall that will have you looking for excuses to visit the neighborhood so you can justify another bowl of their Ja Jiang Myun aka black bean noodles.

They feature Northern Chinese cuisine by way of Korea so you get a delicious blend of cultures on the table.  Complimentary hot tea is accompanied on the table by Kim Chee, onions, and pickled radish probably meant as palate cleansers for the meal; however, with my kids they were eaten as appetizers while waiting on the entrees.

The star of the show here is the Ja Jiang Myun a Korean influenced version of the traditional Chinese Zha Ziang Mian noodle dish.  If you venture a look around you’ll notice that there is at least one bowl of this inky delight on every table as if it’s a mandatory order.  It’s served in two bowls; one filled with springy yellow noodles so long they come with scissors so you can cut them down to slurpable size. The second, a copious bowl of luxurious inky black sauce swimming with pork, cabbage, and onions. This silky smooth mixture is poured over and mixed into the noodles perfectly balancing the saltiness and richness of the sauce.  The result is truly addictive and an absolute winner for noodle lovers, and yes, my kids loved them too!

On Dong Chinese Restaurant in Honolulu. HonoluluVibes.com/ Ronen Zilberman

This dish was reminiscent of the warm comfort foods of home and I was caught off-guard by how much it reminded me of the traditional spaghetti I grew up with.  This made more sense when I later learned that, according to Chinese legend, when Marco Polo first brought the dish back to Italy from China it became the basis for Italian bolognese.

Now, one cannot only order one dish at a Chinese restaurant so I must rave about the second dish we ordered in addition to the Ja Jian Myun – the Hot Braised Chicken…. aka #78.  It’s one of the pricier items on the dinner menu at $17.95 a plate but when I reminisce on the taste, I just don’t care.  This spicy dish is composed of crispy chicken chunks barely wet with a light sauce featuring  sauteed garlic, green onion, and dried red peppers (watch out for those!) I could have eaten the entire plate myself (partially because the serving was on the small side) but in addition to the noodles I was satisfied to share both.

There’s a great deal more on the menu to try at On Dong, but for now, I’ll be happy eating another hundred black bean noodle bowls before I’ve had enough to venture on towards discovering the other hidden gems they feature. Try them for yourself at:

On Dong Chinese Restaurant
1499 S. King St. 
Honolulu, HI, 96814

Open Fridays – Wednesdays from 11am – 9pm 
(closed on Thursdays, go figure…)

by Erica McMillan