I don't think its very good, but my cousins insist its quite good so maybe it was a bad day. Everything just seemed a bit over sauced and heavy.And yes, its a cantonese restaurant, but the owners were too cheap to change up the sign.
Reviewed by:
Rocksann S. on:
2/20/2013 8:16:00 AM
Would've been a 2.5 if given the option.Okay, I would like to start off by saying that I am an absolute novice when it comes to Chinese food (I prefer Japanese), BUT I consider myself to have an excellent palate and have eaten enough to know what's good or bad. With that, I really wanted to love this place.I came here after leaving Arco next door hoping to get full on good food. The former was accomplished, I'm just no so sure it was that good.We orderedDrunken chicken, cucumber salad, wonton soup (that everyone raves about), chow mein(?) with beef, and those damn salty pork ribs that ppl say are a must (don't ask me why).Chicken was cold, boiled, and weird tasting, like my husband sprayed his cologne all over it. (Probably how it's suppose to taste-but not sure quite why).Cucumber salad was exactly that-sliced cucumbers-that's it.Wonton soup-eww. The texture of the wonton was like mush in my mouth. I actually had to spit it into a napkin. The broth had NO flavor at all. Ramen noodle broth has more flavor than that bowlof soup.Chow mein- or noodles soaked in soy sauce with 5 pieces of meat and 3 slices of onions. Ppssshhh what a waste.And those damn "to die for" pork ribs. First of all, where exactly does the rib part come from??? These bone pieces with fat and bits of meat lodged between them should not be mistaken for ribs!! The best part about this dish was the sautéed onions on top.Overall, do not go to eat.They were super friendly however and had a TV playing Rush Hour which was kind of amusing.
Reviewed by:
edgard k. on:
2/17/2013 5:36:00 AM
Same crew as Co Po Lo which closed few years back. Salt toasted spare rib, steamed pork and salted fish, fried frog legs, fish maw corn soup, chef special tofu are the must try for family style while the beef brisket or tender pig feet lo mein are what I usually get for individual style. Open pretty late and it also has private dining rooms. There's minimum charge for credit card, so plan ahead.
Reviewed by:
Kelly N. on:
1/10/2013 4:03:00 AM
Heard about the salted pork ribs and had to stop by and give it a try. We thought they were good for the most part. It's big chunks not little riblets. The snow pea leaves were good, and the salted fish fried rice...well, let's just say, they do not skimp on the salted fish! It might have been a little too much for our liking.It was pretty busy on a Saturday night...we managed to get a table in about 10 minutes but gosh, the service was super slow. We waited forever for one dish to come out.
Reviewed by:
Jennifer M. on:
1/7/2013 7:36:00 AM
Every time I come here, I wonder why I don't come more often. The food is great, authentic, and delicious each time, but I realize the environment / decor reminds me too much of the dirty Chinese family-style restaurants that I grew up eating at with my huge family dinners, with people yelling across the room, cockroaches crawling up my pants, and I think I'll stop there.This place is clean, don't get me wrong. Just the decor and environment could do some updating. but I digress..Food is Sichuan-style. Meaning lots of things on menu is covered in the spicy red oil, giving a kick to the food. It's authentic though, I'll give them that. And good place to come for a good evening or lunch with the family over some fried pork ribs.
Reviewed by:
Andrea S. on:
1/1/2013 11:57:00 AM
Salted beef short ribs were amazing. The snow pea leaves were delicious. Also recommend the beef cubes with asparagus and mushrooms. The staff were wonderfully attentive and pleasant to deal with. Will most definitely return.
Reviewed by:
Athenapex C. on:
12/28/2012 1:15:00 PM
We had snow pea leaves which were delicious and in season. We also had their stir fried black bean clams and sizzing beef on hot plate. Delicious!! We ordered seafood clay pot which was fresh with plenty in the mix. Yum!
Reviewed by:
Tammy T. on:
12/14/2012 1:53:00 PM
Satisfying is the only word to describe this awesomely authentic Chinese restaurant.I came here with the family the other night in search of a new place to add onto our frequent spot list. Shanghai definitely made the cut. We ordered the following:-Bird's nest noodles with seafood-Salted/fried pork ribs-Stir-fried clams-Stir-fried beef with pickled vegetablesAll of the dishes were good and more than enough for my entire family. The salted pork ribs were good, but not mind-blowing like everyone has been saying. I found them a little awkward and messy to eat.I actually liked the beef+pickled veggie stir fry the most because there was so much flavor in the meat. The clams were your usual Chinese-style clams, but pretty much on point and ultimately delicious. The noodles were just so-so, but my opinion on that is pretty much invalid because I'm not a fan of bird's nest style.I really enjoyed the complimentary soup, which is comprised of super soft beef, peanuts, barley, and amazing stock. That soup just really made me happy and kicked off the meal to a great start.Also, the service was great! The servers didn't particularly go out of their way to chat with us or make our meal amazing, but they were extremely efficient in the ordering and delivering process. I think the mother/wife of the restaurant took our order. She was very sweet and loudly insisted, "You want water? I can get for you!" when our drinks were being ordered. I didn't want to be bothersome, so I ended up like everyone else with hot tea, which was delightfully fragrant and strong on caffeine.(I actually stayed up until 3am that night because I was so wired.)
Reviewed by:
Christina N. on:
11/28/2012 8:32:00 AM
Fried pork ribs.ORDER THIS NOW.::: Crunchy and full of hot rich flavor in the one bite int the mcgoodness of a ribster.
Reviewed by:
David H. on:
11/15/2012 6:18:00 AM
This place is legit!! An excellent, excellent find and currently my vote for best chinese food in H-town! What's to like here you may ask? Well really, they're open late (till 1am on Sat), and they have great takes on the classics. Clay pot tofu with salted fish and chicken, salt and pepper pork spare ribs, roasted duck, and even the veggies are good here! Service is what you'd expect from a typical mom and pop shop, but the food makes it worth all the while! Feel free to ask them what is fresh for today and they will tell you straight up what to get. But man...the food. Salt and pepper spareribs are the bomb here!
Reviewed by:
Tim J. on:
3/8/2012 12:47:00 PM
First things first, this place has no Shanghai dishes. Thats right, None, ask the owner why some time, funny story.Then the entrance looks like they rented props from Kung Fu Hustle, hilarious looking little temple looking roof top by the door.Food!The specialty here is the short pork ribs. And it makes the trip all worth it if you like pork and really great ones. It take you away to a place where all it matters is getting your hands on the next piece. Yeah, we fought over the 10 pieces. A++++ Must Try!The tripe with black beans was fantastic over rice. It's not over powering like most places that serves this dish. To call it just right would be an insult, it's much much more like potent.Beef with flat noodles are a bit on the bland side. But the noodles are soft and beef tender.Yes the portions are small but cheap. How else can you try everything and let your palates go through a well deserved workout.
Reviewed by:
Milan D. on:
2/25/2012 8:16:00 PM
I've been coming here for a while and they don't fail to impress. The restaurant is family owned and operated. The mom and son team along with their other relatives (at least we think they are) live up to good quality food. the place is clean and subtle music in the background puts me to asleep. Great place to take a nap but better place to get great food.
Reviewed by:
T N. on:
1/10/2012 2:50:00 PM
After reading all the positive reviews, I was ecstatic to try out this restaurant. Unfortunately, my expectations were too high for this place.1. Yes, the salted pork ribs were great!2. Yes, the salted fried shrimps were great!However, the portions are very small compare to other Chinatown restaurants. Secondly, I was served chickens that were not cooked all the way through! I have to ask them to recook it twice...with the final time still raw pieces! We of course sent this back to the kitchen! In regarding to their lobsters, the waitress kept on forcing me to get the ginger and scallion version of it. When I told her I prefer the salted black pepper kind, she said it will be $2 dollars extra. WHATTT!!?? At Confucius, 2 lobsters are $18.99 with the option of either ginger and scallion or salt and black pepper! Ridiculous! Service was horrible and we were pretty much begging for water, napkins, etc. I did not want to give tips!This place is not all that and there are better restaurants in Chintatown to check out!!
Reviewed by:
Tammie T. on:
1/8/2012 8:50:00 PM
This restaurant is very typical in Bellaire/Chinatown. Hole in the wall, nothing too impressive, bathroom probably stinks. Service is only for bringing food to you, nothing else. But the food is what I come here for. There is a stock menu with English, but there are also specials written on dry erase boards that are only legible to Chinese readers.Normally, I come for the seafood, which is a great bang for their buck. Other times, such as this one, I come for the wonton noodle soup. I am fairly certain that this is the best wonton noodle soup in town. Yes, even though it is still nothing compared to those in Hong Kong, it's the closest it gets. The noodles have the perfect amount of elasticity, the broth remains hot throughout your meal, the veggies are nice and fresh.However, this time more than previous times, I find that I was extremely thirsty after devouring my bowl. I drank three cups of water. I'm not sure if they have increased their use of MSG in their soups or if I just haven't been used to the sodium intake lately.I also like that they give orange slices and fortune cookies at the end.
Reviewed by:
lily545145 on:
2010-12-13
Excellent Chinese food in a friendly family run place. Busy with the big round tables to accommodate extended families and big groups. If you call in advance, they have side rooms that can seat a private group of up to ~twelve. Enthusiast crowd. My wife is Asian so I was the only Caucasian in the place, a good sign for a Chinese restaurant. We ordered grilled beef with black pepper sauce, deep fried stuffed bean curd and blue crabs with spicy Thai sauce. The steak was very good, tender and flavorful. The bean curd was OK, but nothing special. Crabs were the high point of the meal. Four meaty blue crabs in a subtle mix of basil and lemon grass with sweet spicy Thai sauce. Enough pepper that you knew it was there, but not to overwhelm the mix of other flavors. Excellent dish, highly recommend it.
The one suggestion - would have been nice to have some wet towels after the crab. They did bring bunches of extra napkins without being asked, but there is only one way to eat blue crab and that is with your fingers. With the sweet and spicy sauce, you definitely need something to clean up off afterwards. A little tea on the dry napkins was OK, but a moist warm towel would have been better.
Reviewed by:
lily on:
2010-12-13
Excellent Chinese food in a friendly family run place. Busy with the big round tables to accommodate extended families and big groups. If you call in advance, they have side rooms that can seat a private group of up to ~twelve. Enthusiast crowd. My wife is Asian so I was the only Caucasian in the place, a good sign for a Chinese restaurant. We ordered grilled beef with black pepper sauce, deep fried stuffed bean curd and blue crabs with spicy Thai sauce. The steak was very good, tender and flavorful. The bean curd was OK, but nothing special. Crabs were the high point of the meal. Four meaty blue crabs in a subtle mix of basil and lemon grass with sweet spicy Thai sauce. Enough pepper that you knew it was there, but not to overwhelm the mix of other flavors. Excellent dish, highly recommend it.
The one suggestion - would have been nice to have some wet towels after the crab. They did bring bunches of extra napkins without being asked, but there is only one way to eat blue crab and that is with your fingers. With the sweet and spicy sauce, you definitely need something to clean up off afterwards. A little tea on the dry napkins was OK, but a moist warm towel would have been better.
Reviewed by:
sugarland on:
2010-12-13
A friend of mine recently went here and had black pepper lobster. I saw the photos and it looked sinfully luxuriant. So I had to go. Unfortuately, all alone, I did not feel adequate to order that and make a go of it at dinner.
I arrived late in the evening, about 9 PM. Not too many people in the restaurant, but they don't close until 10, so I had time. The waitress came over and brought me a plate and bowl and chopsticks and took my rink order. When she returned, I told her that I had a friend who had eaten there the day before and loved it. "I am an adventurous eater and want to try something more authentic.". Sizzling Black Pepper Beef and Fried Chicken with Oyster Sauce, she said. Hummmm. Wait a minute......She was insistent on the black pepper beef, but I also selected the Fish in Hot Chili Oil. Her face lit up and I knew I had made the right choice....and she also laughed a little and told me I would need a to-go box. Then she asked me if I needed a fork and I said no; "You use chopstick?? Good!", she said quite surprised. Seriously, is that such an usual thing any longer?
The black pepper beef came out - not sizzling any longer, but boiling in the sauce on the plate. Very tender beef with caramelized onions and a few scallons and a side of rice. It was very good and so meltingly soft that I can imagine this is like Chinese nursery food. Excellent, but nothing at all of a challenge.
The fish arrived about 10 minutes later in a large clay pot. I was expecting a fried or steamed fish with a scallion and ginger oil (like Fung's Kitchen), but this was a soup......lots and lots of boneless white fish filets (probably talapia) with mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginger and bean sprouts and plenty of chili. I tasted it and was really pleased with the food. It had the standard dried red chilis and the slightest hint of Szechuan chilis (which make your mouth a bit numb and make your water taste like liquid silver when you sip....a sure sign).....that were the perfect counterpoint to the soft sweetness of the fish and the earthiness of the vegetables. With a few grains of rice, this was what I considered to be a perfect evening meal.
And she was right. The food was so plentiful that I left with 2 boxes to take home. Enough not just for one additional meal, but several. All for right at $20.00.
When I left, I told her "See you soon!". She smiled and said "I am glad you like it. Tell all of your friends!"
She had no idea. But I am passing the word.
Reviewed by:
elite on:
2010-12-13
We had take out an I loved it. A bit on the salty side, but for a guy who is for the most part starved of chinese food from austin, this food was a reawakening.
We got fried rice, a crispy noodle dish with vegetables and pork, claypot shortribs with eggplant and steamed bok choy. Fresh crisp bok choy was a great palate cleanser, fried rice that actually tasted like fried rice (didn't skimp on the shrimp either), and the crispy noodle dish was good, with a deep rich flavor.
The claypot however was just great. Not quite a hotpot in textural consistency, but that same type of deep flavor that I'[ve come to love about beef hotpots. Nice plentyful chunks of meat and the eggplant was still whole, yet soft.
Great place and definitely worth another go.
Reviewed by:
jj26000 on:
2010-12-13
Swung by here for dinner finally. It's settled in a strip mall full of delicious places, Lau Sichuan, Dim Sum King, Hong Kong, etc. I've been waiting to go here for a while because I'm in a quest for the ever elusive Da Lu Mien, a Shanghai-nese noodle soup that is about as common to find as velociraptors here in the states.
Anyway, the restaurant is brightly lit, lots of tables, private rooms that you can request if you order at least $150 dollars. The servers are friendly and speak both good English, cantonese, and mandarin.
The menu is expansive and almost tiring to read because it's so long. We ended up ordering three things: clams in a spicy black bean sauce, special house tofu, and watercress (one of my personal favorites).
They started the meal out with a very umami, slow cooked pork soup. It was delicious as the bones and tendons were rendered to a soft chewy delight, something Asians like me love, but my Caucasian dining partner found unpaletteable.
The clams were pretty fresh but the sauce was spicy, black beany, and delicious. The tofu was a real delicious surprise. They were super soft tofu fried with a gentle batter with a light soy based sauce. It was like a poor man's fish but so much more delicious. A real treat. The watercress was as expected, delicious, garlicky, and without any hint of the bitterness one often sees.
Given three dishes, two of which I don't usually get or hadn't "had" before, they were all exceptional. The rice was moist and fresh and yummy. The meal was finished traditionally with fresh oranges cut Chinese style. The service was attentive, friendly, and sweet.
I say, Houston Chinatown, is probably the most scrumptious Chinatown I've encountered in America in terms of service and cleanliness. Most other Chinatowns are dirty and messy with hit-or-miss, rude service. It just makes it so much more accessible to non-Chinese or Chinese whose Chinese is not as good. Kudos to you Houston Chinatown.
AVG:(NaN)
