A new dim sum eatery recently opened in Kapolei.
Gyu-Masu Steak & Seafood — located within Embassy Suites Kapolei — recently changed its concept and re-branded its restaurant. The former steak and seafood eatery was centered on serving wagyu sourced from Toriyama Farm in Japan at affordable prices.
The restaurant served a la carte dishes and also featured an all-you-can-eat concept, but business owner Victor Jian took some time to re-evaluate how things were going.
“Nowadays, there’s so many all-you-can-eat places; it’s a little saturated,” he says. “Back in the day, you had places like Todai; a few years later, they all disappeared. I don’t want to be one of them, so I was like, ‘Maybe I should switch.’”
A few months ago, Jian ran into his longtime friend, who used to own Chinatown eatery Legend Seafood Restaurant. That conversation was further confirmation to Jian to change things up at his restaurant.
“He said he sold it, but still has his central kitchen,” Jian says. “He works in a central kitchen in town, so he produces everything and I purchase from him. We have a good partnership, in terms of doing this. His stuff is really good.
“I used to work in a Chinese restaurant before, but it’s very hard to open a dim sum restaurant,” Jian adds. “It’s a lot of work.”
The restaurant officially opened as re-branded West Emperor Dim Sum Restaurant on Dec. 12. The current menu features many dim sum staples, including steamed har gow ($7.50), pork hash with shrimp ($6.25), soup dumplings with pork ($6.25), Hong Kong-style pork bao ($7.65), chicken feet ($7.75) and sticky rice in lotus leaf ($8.50).
So far, Jian says the egg custard tarts, Hong Kong-style pork bao and sticky rice in lotus leaf have been popular.
“At a lot of dim sum restaurants, they pre-bake it (the egg tarts), but we don’t bake it until people order them,” he says.
Jian still incorporates wagyu on the menu. Customers can enjoy dishes like steamed wagyu in black bean sauce ($19.50), wagyu fried rice ($23.50), wagyu chow funn ($24.75), wagyu chow mein ($24.75) and wagyu meatballs ($19.50).
“I look forward to getting people to try something different,” Jian says. “I want people to try the wagyu chow funn, chow mein and wagyu fried rice. The flavor is very different because we’re using wagyu tallow and A5 wagyu to cook with; it makes a huge difference."
Customers can take advantage of four-hour validated parking at Embassy Suites Kapolei when dining at the restaurant. The eatery will be open during limited hours on the upcoming holidays; Jian encourages customers to make reservations and stay updated by following the business’s social media account.
Even though his dim sum restaurant just opened, Jian is full of plans for 2026.
“I want to do a variety of stuff incorporating wagyu,” he says. “Right now, my friend and I are working on making a wagyu-filled manapua. I’m working with him in terms of using farm-to-table wagyu — ‘How do we introduce this to the Chinese cuisine? How do we do that, elevate it, and make it even better?’ I want to do something new, something that no one has ever done before.”
Jian says a dim sum express grab-and-go concept is in the works, so customers can anticipate that in the coming months.
CONTACT
West Emperor Dim Sum Restaurant
Embassy Suites Kapolei
725 Manawai St., Kapolei
Instagram: @westemperorkapolei
Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; closed Mondays
Free parking at Embassy Suites Kapolei with restaurant validation
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
