If you are at Ala Moana Center and want a big, salty, takeout-friendly dinner, here is the short version: go to Yummy Korean BBQ in the Makai Food Court, order the kalbi plate, choose four vegetable sides, and carry it home. That is what we do. When we bought ours in May 2025 it cost $25.95, and the kalbi was sticking out of the box.
We have bought from this counter more than once, and we have never eaten there. The food court is busy and loud, and our room has a sofa and a refrigerator full of beer. Below: where it is, the hours, how the menu works, what we ordered, and what we would do differently on a first visit.
The facts
| Where | Makai Food Court, Ala Moana Center, 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu |
| Hours | Monday–Saturday 10:30 am – 8:00 pm; Sunday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm |
| Phone | 808-946-9188 |
| Prices | Not posted on the official site; our kalbi plate was $25.95 in May 2025 |
| Style | Food court counter; takeout boxes |
The hours and phone number are from Yummy’s own locations page, checked November 6, 2026. Ala Moana Center’s hours are a different thing, so use the restaurant’s page if you are cutting it close on a Sunday. The same page lists three other Oahu branches (Pearlridge, Moanalua Shopping Center, and the Navy Exchange at Pearl Harbor), but from Waikiki without a car, Ala Moana is the one that makes sense.
The company has been at this a long time. Its menu page says the first Yummy opened in Honolulu in 1986, and the awards list includes two from the Ala Moana Food Court itself: “Highest Total Gross Sales Per Square Feet” in 1987 and “Highest Percentage Sales Increase” in 2008. Two awards from the same food court, 21 years apart, tell you this is not a new tenant.
How the menu works
The board looks long, but there are really four ways to order. This is from the official menu:
| Order type | What comes with it | Some of the mains |
|---|---|---|
| Lunch & dinner plates | Choice of 4 vegetables, 2 scoops of rice | Kal bi, BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, meat jun, BBQ pork, BBQ pork chop, chicken katsu, fish jun |
| Combinations | Choice of 4 vegetables, 2 scoops of rice | Kalbi & BBQ chicken, BBQ beef & chicken, Yummy Special, meat jun & BBQ chicken, meat jun & fish jun, meat jun & fried man doo |
| Mini plates | Choice of 2 vegetables, 1 scoop of rice | Kal bi, BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, meat jun, spicy BBQ pork, fried man doo, and four more |
| Noodles and soup | — | Yook gae jang, tofu soup, seaweed soup, man doo soup, bi bim kook soo, and two more |
There is also a short special menu (a fried shrimp combo, a vegetable plate, and a few others) that comes with the same four vegetables and two scoops. One exception worth knowing: the bibimbap sits in the plate section but is marked as not following the four-vegetables, two-scoops rule.
A quick glossary if the names are new: kalbi is marinated, bone-in beef short rib. Meat jun is thin beef dipped in egg and pan-fried, a Hawaii-Korean plate lunch staple. Fish jun is the same idea with fish. Man doo are Korean dumplings.
The “vegetables” are the banchan-style sides, and picking them is half the fun. When we were there, the case held more than ten to choose from: kimchi, bean sprout namul, stir-fried cabbage, seaweed, and greens among them. The official menu says the vegetables vary by location and availability, so expect the lineup to move around.
What we ordered (May 2025)
First visit: the kalbi & BBQ chicken combination, $25.95. We wanted to compare the two meats in one box. Our four sides were a stir-fried green, bean sprout namul, stir-fried cabbage, and seaweed, which is roughly where our picks land every time. The chicken is coated in a sweet-salty glaze, and the kalbi is fatty and juicy, with the best bites right next to the bone.
Second visit: the kalbi plate, also $25.95. Back to the main event. Four large pieces of kalbi, soaked through with marinade and sticking out of the box. If you only order one thing here, this is it. The combination was good; the kalbi plate is the reason we come back.
The seasoning across the board is strong. Meat, sides, all of it. That is the point for us: it makes the rice disappear and it stands up to a drink. If you have read our Me BBQ write-up, Yummy is the bolder of the two. On a day our stomachs want something gentler, Me BBQ in Waikiki; on a day we want a plate that holds its own next to a beer, Yummy.
Those two prices are what we paid in May 2025, not current menu prices. The official site does not publish prices, so treat $25.95 as a past data point. We have not bought a mini plate and do not know what it costs now.
Our takeout plan
We know food is best the minute it comes off the grill. We still take it back to the suite every time, because sitting down calmly beats eating fast in a crowded food court.
Here is how it goes. Into the microwave for a short reheat, and the kalbi starts to release its fat and smell like a grill again. Then beer, or a glass of red wine, at the sofa with the windows open. The strong marinade does not get lost next to wine, and the kimchi and namul turn into snacks for the next beer. The vegetable sides do real work on a long stay, too: after a run of burgers, garlic shrimp and fried chicken, getting four vegetable sides in one box makes the whole thing feel lighter than a meat-only plate.
What we would tell a first-timer:
- Order the kalbi plate if you want the signature. Pick a combination only if you really want two meats.
- Mind the closing time. The counter opens at 10:30 am and closes at 8 pm, the same time as the mall, except on Sundays, when it closes at 7 pm, an hour before the mall does. On days we go to Ala Moana, this food court is usually where we pick up the evening’s food, so we are long gone before closing.
- Choose the sides with the drink in mind. Kimchi and namul are beer food; the stir-fried greens are for balance.
- Mini plate for one light eater. Two sides and one scoop of rice. We have not tried it, so we cannot say how much smaller the meat portion is.
Getting there without a car
We get to Ala Moana on the Waikiki Trolley Pink Line, which the operator now also calls the Ala Moana Line. Its route page says it runs about every 15 minutes, and lists a one-day Pink Line ticket at $6.00 (checked November 6, 2026). The main Ala Moana stop is at the Nordstrom Wing, Level 1, per the same page. For a dinner-errand trip, the ride out and the ride back fit on the same one-day ticket.
Before you go
- Hours are from Yummy’s locations page as of November 6, 2026. Holidays and mall events can change them, so check the official page or call 808-946-9188 the day you go.
- The $25.95 prices are what we paid in May 2025. They may well be higher now, and the official site does not list prices.
- Sides change with availability, per the official menu.
- Trolley pricing and frequency are from the operator’s page as of November 6, 2026 and can change.
Pick the kalbi plate, pick four sides, head back to the room. That is the whole plan.
We also publish a Japanese-language version of this guide on our Japanese site.
