Vegan
American
Take-out
Vietnamese

A family-owned restaurant that serves a variety of dishes from pasta, burgers and sandwiches to Vietnamese entrees and noodle soups, rice dishes with mock meats. Opened fall-2010. Reported fully vegan August 2021. Open Mon-Tue 10:30am-2:30pm, Mon-Sun 5:00pm-9:00pm, Thu-Sun 10:30am-2:30pm. Hours may vary; call ahead.


Venue map for Simple Joy
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134 Reviews

First Review by beve_luna

junkfoodvegan

Points +169

Vegan
22 Apr 2025

Good but not amazing

We had a bahn mi and pad Thai and spring rolls. Bahn mi was good but not at all spicy like I’m used to, pad Thai was okay but could not taste any tamarind, kind of bland, spring rolls and their pistachio cake was good. Probably try some other dishes.

Pros: All vegan, Good value

Cons: Food was a little bland

villain

Points +9061

Vegan
26 Mar 2025

Cool menu

Plenty of great options on the menu, and the service is friendly. There are so many more things I want to try, everything was good

Jadediana

Points +2804

Vegan
21 Mar 2025

Large Variety Homestyle Cooking

We appreciate the large variety of food and rotating desserts. Haven’t had an issue with parking (yet). A lot of the entrees are reasonably priced, but still searching for my favorite dish. The vegan grilled chicken (3/5), sweet and sour spare ribs (3/5), beef chow fun (4/5). It seems that you can’t go wrong with any meal and the portion sizes are solid.

glacialclip

Points +66

Vegan
03 Mar 2025

Good vegan spot with variety of options

The broth in the soondobu was delicious. Chow fun was filling, although I thought that the taste of the beef was a bit off

Super friendly service

Updated from previous review on 2025-03-03

HeartStrong

Points +138

Vegan
17 Feb 2025

Family friendly

Came here with my family, including six kids ages between six and 18. They all loved it! Our six-year-old really loved the tofu soup and broccoli appetizer. Our eight year old had marinara pasta which she said was the best ever. The lemongrass tofu was awesome. Great service definitely will come back again when we are in Hawaii! 

Pros: Variety, Moderately healthy, Family friendly

Cons: Salty

Mathcore

Points +32

Vegan
19 Jan 2025

My to go place when i visit Oahu

The title say it all. Their food is the bomb 💣 just go and enjoy

elinorcita

Points +46

Vegan
19 Jan 2025

Literally eat here weekly

Simple Joy is my #1 vegan spot on the island. The clay pot is my husband’s favorite dish but it can make you sweat on a warm day! Every appetizer is work trying—even my kids like them all. The Asian dishes are excellent, we have never ordered any of the western dishes because my kids love all the noodles and rice options here. My personal favorite is the lemongrass tofu — it comes with cold kimchi and holy heck you gotta try this: one bite lemongrass tofu and then stuff some kimchi in your mouth, taste it all together. It’s amazing!!

Updated from previous review on 2025-01-19

Pros: Taste, Price, Variety

Smmay1313

Points +72

Vegan
18 Jan 2025

Friendly family run and tasty

We came here on recommendation of Happy Cow and boy are we glad we did! Be sure to order the banana leaf salad and the pumpkin soup. The soy protein they use is amazing. And the staff is friendly and helpful. A wonderful place to eat

Pros: Food, Staff, Banana leaf salad

GoHerOwnWay

Points +2005

Vegan
12 Jan 2025

Amazing Asian food!! 🍱

Such a great restaurant 🔥 so many different options and awesome flavours.

We got the tofu stew, the teriyaki kebabs and the lemon grass Hawaiiana. It was so delicious and flavourful I was really impressed.

Only downsides were that the teriyaki kebab didn’t taste like teriyaki but it was still really tasty. The tofu stew was a lot sweeter than I expected but again still delicious. And it’s a little expensive but still would go back for more.

Awesome places. Please stay open 🌟 #Veganuary

vegetaristan

Points +80

Vegan
17 Dec 2024

Nice food and drinks!

Loved the wonton soup! Mapo tofu was a bit spicy but nice! Delicious sugar cane drink.

Updated from previous review on 2024-12-17

CarlosR

Points +16

Vegan
08 Oct 2024

Options

I understand the other reviews. The menu has a lot of options. But that was a good thing. A friend joined me who isn't vegan, and with a huge selection, it made it easier to explore more delicacies. The food was delicious, and the portions weren't small sizes.

RasaFournier

Points +117

Vegan
19 Aug 2024

So many delicious options

This is often our go to lunch spot because it has so many different dishes available, from Asian to Italian. They have vegan ice tea, and their banana flower salad is absolutely a must on my list. I often crave it and I've been known to order 2 at once just to get my fill. Their fake fish is some of the best on the island. Their tempura is so good, especially the chunks of mushroom. Their bean curd rolls are unusual and delicious, except that they're rarely available because apparently it's a specialized dish that takes a long time to make, so I'm not sure if they run out quickly or they just don't make it most days.
Unfortunately, they keep raising their prices a bit too steeply.

Updated from previous review on 2018-11-12

Pros: Extensive menu, Can accommodate large parties

Cons: Expensive

RasmusHansen

Points +153

Vegetarian
15 Aug 2024

Joyfully recommendation

Great food. Large menu that I would love to try more of.
Despite the host struggling with English, communication went just fine with finger pointing and smiles. And I even got pointers lessons in how the food traditionally is enjoyed.

Pros: Menu, Service

YoshiYoshi

Points +85

Vegan
17 May 2024

Best in our Hawaii Trip

The place was simply decorated but was clean and cool. We ordered Pho, pad Thai and Thai tea. All excellent. We'll definitely come back if we get a chance.

Pros: Great food, Reasonable Cost for Hawaii

KaceyMorgan

Points +68

Vegan
30 Apr 2024

Incredible Service, Would Try Again

If we are here long enough, I would go back. Is it the best Asian food I’ve ever had, no. but the staff was incredibly attentive, and the food was good overall. Pad Thai does not taste like pad Thai, but it was good.

Kate9791

Points +1473

Vegan
29 Apr 2024

One of my favorites!

I swoon for the Banana Flower Salad.
(The rest of the food is phenomenal too.)

Small, understated restaurant, but it’s never been busy when I’m in. Always always been an excellent lunch here!

Pros: Lots of GF, Dedicated parking lot

Cons: Closed once - I call first now.

KeithTharp

Points +978

Vegan
28 Apr 2024

One of my favorite spots on Oahu!

Simple Joy Vegetarian in Honolulu is a gem! It might just be the best vegan food on Oahu, and it's easily one of my favorite vegan restaurants. The Banana Flower salad is a fantastic starter, and I personally love #42 The Spring Roll Noodle and #24 Joy Noodle Soup, though honestly, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is not only delicious but also beautifully presented. Thank you, Simple Joy, for being such a delightful vegan restaurant!

tardigrade

Points +32

Vegan
29 Mar 2024

Very nice

Tons of options. Everyone in the family found something and they all loved their food. Nice portions, too!

Pros: Lots of options, Friendly

marieroberts

Points +1548

Vegan
13 Feb 2024

It was pretty good

We had Asian salad, summer rolls, curry noodle and pho soup- everything was fresh and delicious.

Pros: All vegan

Cons: Strong bleach smell inside restaurant

Jessica_Marie

Points +416

Vegan
03 Feb 2024

Huge menu

If you're looking for a menu that will have something for everyone (Curry? French fries? Avocado smoothie? Spaghetti with red sauce?) - this is the place. If you're wanting atmosphere or someone a bit more upscale, not so much. I had the Pad Thai and it was boring and greasy. The fresh rolls were good.

Updated from previous review on 2024-02-03

Pros: Lots of options

mecarly1

Points +203

Vegan
03 Feb 2024

Reminds me of Loving Hut

Menu reminds me of Loving Hut. Plus they have pasta and sandwiches, though I am not sure how they are. However, the food I did try was great. Very extensive menu.

Misanthropia

Points +2827

Vegan
07 Jan 2024

Tasty vegan food and plenty options

Mostly Asian inspired options, but also some Western/European dishes such as pasta. I had the Seafood pasta, the similarity to actual seafood was a bit creepy but the taste was good. Also the staff is very friendly and forthcoming, he mixed up a part of our order and gave us a dish for free. Definitely one of the best options in Honolulu for vegans

TwoRabbits

Points +320

Vegan
10 Dec 2023

Tasty Asian options

As an appetizer we got the fried summer rolls - which I would skip next time as portion was small. We got the lemongrass noodle soup and veggie fried rice. We enjoyed both the entrees as they were a nice size and the flavor was there.

The menu was very large like close to 100 different items. Can be hard to choose with a menu that large especially since you’re only going to order a dish or two!

Pros: Helpful staff

Cons: Large menu

spiderho!!

Points +47

Vegan
26 Sep 2023

Yummmmm!

Perfect vegan food. The chow fun was great!!

Pros: Sauce was good for chow fun.

Breides

Points +66

Vegan
06 Sep 2023

Grrat choice!

The food was delicious for a reasonable price!

Catdogtor🐾

Points +496

Vegan
23 Aug 2023

Seriously adorable💙

Super quaint little hole-in-the-wall spot. Menu is extensive and has plenty of variety to please everyone. I had the “Kung Pow Wow,” which was good, and the potstickers which were even better. Definitely worth the stop😄

Updated from previous review on 2023-08-23

InadvertentlyVegan

Points +1021

Vegan
19 Aug 2023

What a great little family restaurant

This a a simple place, with simple decor but family run, we were had a good time, the old lady serving worked her [censored] off as it was surprisingly busy with just her doing front of house, it think her daughter was in the kitchen.

It’s called vegetarian but everything is vegan just think they can’t be bothered to change the name.

Huge menu, so much to choose from

Trying to remember what we had
Pot stickers, Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, Lemongrass Tofu, Pad Thai (maybe) we had noodles but not sure it was Pad Thai and Mixed veggies. A few things come with rice so we didn’t need extra

I think we had a Bannana Blossom Salad with lions mane mushrooms maybe, it was great, highly recommend it.

Updated from previous review on 2023-08-19

Pros: Easy street parking, Lovely people, Huge menu of choice

Cons: Slightly seedy part of town but maybe not




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