It was Manapua Madness on September 20, 2008. Six grand masters of the ancient art of manapua making faced off in a WOW Grinds Blind Taste Test. In the end only one master was left standing. His technique was "real good...hmmff" with an overall score of 8.1 while the next closest competitor scored only a 6.68. How's dat for a blow out. Click "read more" to see the results.

Click on a Judge to see their profile. Hover over each Judge's score to see their comment explaining that score and a score breakdown. A complete list of judge's comments is located below the results table. We did weighted scoring again with Taste=50%, Texture=30% and Presentation=20%.

Rank	Name	Judge 1	Judge 2	Judge 3	Judge 4	Judge 5	Judge 6	Average Score Out of 10	Normalized Score
#1	Libby Manapua Shop	8.9Taste 10...Texture 9...Presentation 6. Lots of filling, hint of anise or 5-spice, good salt, not very red. Bread good texture, bread less sweet than B by good taste and chew.	9.8 Taste 10...Texture 10...Presentation 9. Bread is soft and tender. Meat is flavorful and not so "fake looking". I liked this the best!!	7.5Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7.	7.5Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Good taste.	6.6Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 5.	8.3Taste 9...Texture 8...Presentation 7. Plenty meat. Meat tasty. Good bread texture.	8.10	100%
#2	Aiea Manapua and Snack Shop	8.7Taste 9...Texture 8...Presentation 9. Sweet chewy bread. Filling good consistency. Nice balance of flavor.	7.3Taste 9...Texture 4...Presentation 8. Great taste. Bread is slightly sweet. The meat was a little tough. Nice color to the filling. Seems like they added grisel to the filling.	6.6Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 5.	7.5Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Sticky bread but good taste. Chunky char siu, nice.	4.5Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 5. Breat is sweet and tasty. Unfortunately the meat is not.	5.5Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 5. Meat chunky. Mushy. Small.	6.68	82.5%
#3	Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory	7.0Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Smoky sweet jerky flavor like Jackson Street bbq flavor, meaty. Bread more English style flavor not crumbly texture.	5.4Taste 4...Texture 6...Presentation 8. Meat tastes weird. Filling looks like raw meat. My first thought is that this is from Chinatown...not locally made. Bread was just OK.	6.2Taste 6...Texture 6...Presentation 7.	7.8Taste 8...Texture 8...Presentation 7. Good taste, good bread. But A (7-Eleven) is still better.	5.2Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 6.	5.1Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 8. Meat weird taste. Little mushy. Big.	6.12	75.5%
#4	Char Hung Sut	5.7Taste 6...Texture 3...Presentation 9. Boring meat, but not too complex. Too chewy, top layer too thick.	8.0Taste 8...Texture 8...Presentation 8. Bread is unspectacular but meat is very flavorful. Could use a little more color to the filling.	5.1Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 3.	5.8Taste 6...Texture 6...Presentation 5. Alright.	3.8Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Uneventful, non-memorable.	7.2Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 8. Big.	5.93	73.3%
#5	7-Eleven Convenience Store (Wildcard/Control)	5.6Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 8. Bland bread and filling.	6.0Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 10. Nothing spectacular. Attractive manapua with the "spinning star" design. Meat has a nice red color to it but disappointed in the taste, bland.	3.8Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Non-traditional look and taste.	9.0Taste 9...Texture 9...Presentation 9. Good texture, not much bread. Good taste not dry. Bread light and fluffy.	5.3Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Unusual and different.	4.2Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 6. Bread spongy. Fancy bread.	5.65	69.8%
#6	Island Manapua Factory	3.4Taste 3...Texture 3...Presentation 5. Doughy and salty meat. Too red.	4.0Taste 4...Texture 6...Presentation 1. Bread is dry. Filling looks unappetizing. The color was a little too bright for my taste (neon red).	5.1Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 3. Meat too red.	7.7Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 8. Good taste.	3.7Taste 3...Texture 4...Presentation 5. Too red. Crumbly and falling apart.	4.7Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 6. Bread no mo too much taste. Bread a little tough. Too much red #5.	4.77	58.8%

Judge's Comments

#1 Libby Manapua Shop

Judge 1 - Taste 10...Texture 9...Presentation 6. Lots of filling, hint of anise or 5-spice, good salt, not very red. Bread good texture, bread less sweet than B by good taste and chew.

Judge 2 - Taste 10...Texture 10...Presentation 9. Bread is soft and tender. Meat is flavorful and not so "fake looking". I liked this the best!!

Judge 3 - Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7.

Judge 4 - Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Good taste.

Judge 5 - Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 5.

Judge 6 - Taste 9...Texture 8...Presentation 7. Plenty meat. Meat tasty. Good bread texture.

Judge 1 - Taste 9...Texture 8...Presentation 9. Sweet chewy bread. Filling good consistency. Nice balance of flavor.

Judge 2 - Taste 9...Texture 4...Presentation 8. Great taste. Bread is slightly sweet. The meat was a little tough. Nice color to the filling. Seems like they added grisel to the filling.

Judge 3 - Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 5.

Judge 4 - Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Sticky bread but good taste. Chunky char siu, nice.

Judge 5 - Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 5. Breat is sweet and tasty. Unfortunately the meat is not.

Judge 6 - Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 5. Meat chunky. Mushy. Small.

Judge 1 - Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 7. Smoky sweet jerky flavor like Jackson Street bbq flavor, meaty. Bread more English style flavor not crumbly texture.

Judge 2 - Taste 4...Texture 6...Presentation 8. Meat tastes weird. Filling looks like raw meat. My first thought is that this is from Chinatown...not locally made. Bread was just OK.

Judge 3 - Taste 6...Texture 6...Presentation 7.

Judge 4 - Taste 8...Texture 8...Presentation 7. Good taste, good bread. But A (7-Eleven) is still better.

Judge 5 - Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 6.

Judge 6 - Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 8. Meat weird taste. Little mushy. Big.

Judge 1 - Taste 6...Texture 3...Presentation 9. Boring meat, but not too complex. Too chewy, top layer too thick.

Judge 2 - Taste 8...Texture 8...Presentation 8. Bread is unspectacular but meat is very flavorful. Could use a little more color to the filling.

Judge 3 - Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 3.

Judge 4 - Taste 6...Texture 6...Presentation 5. Alright.

Judge 5 - Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Uneventful, non-memorable.

Judge 6 - Taste 7...Texture 7...Presentation 8. Big.

#5 7-Eleven Convenience Store (Wildcard/Control)

Judge 1 - Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 8. Bland bread and filling.

Judge 2 - Taste 5...Texture 5...Presentation 10. Nothing spectacular. Attractive manapua with the "spinning star" design. Meat has a nice red color to it but disappointed in the taste, bland.

Judge 3 - Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Non-traditional look and taste.

Judge 4 - Taste 9...Texture 9...Presentation 9. Good texture, not much bread. Good taste not dry. Bread light and fluffy.

Judge 5 - Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 4. Unusual and different.

Judge 6 - Taste 3...Texture 5...Presentation 6. Bread spongy. Fancy bread.

#6 Island Manapua Factory

Judge 1 - Taste 3...Texture 3...Presentation 5. Doughy and salty meat. Too red.

Judge 2 - Taste 4...Texture 6...Presentation 1. Bread is dry. Filling looks unappetizing. The color was a little too bright for my taste (neon red).

Judge 3 - Taste 6...Texture 5...Presentation 3. Meat too red.

Judge 4 - Taste 8...Texture 7...Presentation 8. Good taste.

Judge 5 - Taste 3...Texture 4...Presentation 5. Too red. Crumbly and falling apart.

Judge 6 - Taste 4...Texture 5...Presentation 6. Bread no mo too much taste. Bread a little tough. Too much red #5.

Comments

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Island Manapua overrated Nate (69.26.32.xxx) 2008-10-08 23:36:59 Island Manapua is way overrated. I never knew what was so special about their food. Even with the new owners, things aren't better. Char Hung Sut was always my go to place for breakfast, but then I worked downtown. So it's my reference point. Good to know that other people can do better. Now, the trick is to find someone who can make it as good at home. Reply

ilikegrind (206.127.252.xxx) 2008-10-09 06:39:58 I didn't know Island Manapua had new owners. I was surprised that Char Hung Sut lost to Chun Wah Kam b/c they are pretty darn ono. And I never had homemade manapua, sound ono. If we did a manapua challenge round 2 would you put your homemade manapua up against Libby, Aiea Manapua, and Chun Wah Kam? That would be a battle royale! Reply

Joe (76.88.141.xxx) 2008-10-10 10:05:35 Thanks for the interesting read. If you guys ever have a round 2 try add Patti's Chinese Kitchen. I think their filling is just char siu chopped up so it's mostly meat and not too much of that cubes of fat that I hate biting into. Reply

Golden Coin manapua at Costco kamenrida 2008-10-10 10:06:28 Hey Joe I know what you mean. I've bought the Golden Coin baked manapua from Costco. It comes refrigerated so all I use to do is store them in the freezer and microwave them for a snack. But the last few times I've had it there was an ounce of "meat" in them and a few cubes of fat. I thought it might of been a bad batch but it's happened once too many times. Stay away! Anyone try the steamed manapua? Reply

Honolulu Advertiser Best Manapua ilikegrind 2008-10-10 16:43:36 The Advertiser just published their best restaurant guide today and had a section for best manapua. They didn't even mention Libby or Aiea Manapua. How's dat?! They named Char Hung Sut the best and also mentioned Chun Wah Kam, but no Libby or Aiea. They could've at least mentioned Libby or Aiea as the top places. I no trust that guide too much. Reply

Yum Yum Tammi (64.132.14.xxx) 2008-11-04 05:31:30 Libby's IS good but I didn't know they were the best. Thanks! Tammi http:// 3littlebirdz.com Reply

Yum Yum ilikegrind 2008-11-05 15:23:45 Tammi. I didn't know how good Libby was either until I tasted it side by side with the others. Libby puts extra effort into their filling...get special spices and stuff inside I think. Would be cool to find out their filling recipe. Probably top secret. Reply

Need a redo HIeats (66.91.63.xxx) 2008-11-28 04:23:56 with Royal Kitchen in the mix! Interesting to see IMF at the bottom...it confirms my feelings that it has gone downhill. Thanks for all your hard work. Reply

ilikegrind 2008-11-28 09:28:39 Thanks HIeats for the interesting comment on IMF. That's too bad that IMF went downhill. I used to eat there all the time way back when and it was so ono. A redo w/ Royal Kitchen is a must do. We didn't include them this time b/c they don't make steamed manapua. We'll be doing a baked mananpua challenge for sure. I predict RK will win. Reply

IMF stateworker (70.95.101.xxx) 2009-06-11 02:35:38 Used to hit Island Manapua in the late 80s/early 90s when I was at UH. It was awesome back then. Sad to see it's gone downhill. It wasn't that red back then, and the taste was good. Reply

Patti's? Robert (207.138.253.xxx) 2010-08-26 01:45:43 I haven't lived in Hawaii for years, but my reference was Patti's Chinese Kitchen at Ala Moana. I loved their manapua. Now that Patti's is gone, which is the best place closest to that "original" taste? Reply

this makes me miss Hawaii even more Tim who misses the island (65.200.157.xxx) 2010-11-30 04:53:30 been gone for 3 years, this article just reaffirms that I'm coming back as soon as I can afford it Reply

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