If you are in the mood for Chinese food, you have quite a number of tasty options you could go for. You could go with dim sum, a Cantonese style of cuisine made of dumplings and snack cakes. Or you can also go for soup dumplings: delicious steamed buns filled with flavorful broth. You could keep it simple and classic with fried rice, a mix of rice, vegetables, eggs, and the protein of your choice stir-fried in oil. Again you can, of course, always go with the more Americanized options like sesame chicken or General Tso’s, which are relatively cheap and pretty easy to find.
The amazing part is that Houston is a cosmopolitan city that is rich in diverse eating options. So, if you are visiting Houston and you want to go to an authentic restaurant that makes the best Chinese foods, there are a couple of options you could choose from. To help you get the best food, we have compiled a list of places you can try for some of the best Chinese food in Houston.
1. Mala Sichuan Bistro
An excellent choice for spice lovers, Mala Sichuan Bistro, was founded by a husband-and-wife duo who wanted to bring genuine Sichuan cooking to the Houston Chinese food scene. The menu includes water-boiled fish, cumin beef, konjac jelly, tea-smoked duck, and pot-roasted tilapia. It also features a lot of bamboo shoots and spicy peppers.
The amazing bit is that Mala Sichuan Bistro now has four separate locations all over Houston. Still, most people agree that the original Chinatown location, which was nominated for a James Beard award, is the best. As a side note: this restaurant does a great job of labeling allergens, including gluten, which makes it perfect for the Chinese food lover who has to avoid soy sauce.
Location: 9348 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036
2. Fu Fu Café
Fu Fu Café is a small, no-frills Chinese restaurant that stays open late. So if you’re craving soup dumplings at 1 a.m., Fu Fu is the place for you! The food is affordable and filling. Standouts include the pork pan-fried dumplings, the scallion pancakes, and sizzling black beans with mixed seafood. Because it’s located in the heart of Houston’s Asiantown in Bellaire, you can always walk a few doors down to hit up a boba tea shop or get some shaved ice.
Location: 9889 Bellaire Blvd Ste 105, Houston, TX 77063
3. Hu’s Cooking
HU’S cooking is another amazing place you can visit if you are exploring Houston. This place is closer to the Medical Center and promises numb-mouthed goodness that only comes with Sichuan cuisine. Look out for the shabu lamb, the map tofu, the cumin lamb, and the Taiwanese beef noodle soup.
HU’S cooking mixes Sichuan and Taiwanese dishes and bills itself as fusion. If you dont like spicy food, it’s good to let your server know; since most of these dishes run pretty hot. The restaurant is popular, so expect it to be busy (and the parking is tricky to navigate).
Location: 2502 W Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030
4. Mein Restaurant
If you want a place that offers the most delicious chines food with a modern and trendy touch, you could try the Mein restaurant. The restaurant’s ethos is serving “everyday food,” representing what the average Cantonese immigrant might consider standard fare.
The menu is pretty large, but some standouts are the crispy duck leg, the cold hand-pulled chicken, the char siu pork, and the fresh house-made noodles. You can also enjoy wine, beer, coffee, and various desserts, such as gelato, lava toast, and sugar egg puffs, a type of Chinese donut.
Besides, you could make reservations with Mein restaurant by picking a date, exact time and size of the part you intend to hold. Again you can even order your food from their online platforms, and all kinds of credit cards are accepted.
Location: 9630 Clarewood Dr. Ste A-131, Houston, TX 77036
5. Spicy Girl
Spicy Girl is a trendier and more laid-back place to get Chinese food in Houston. It’s a Sichuan-style restaurant with dumplings in hot chile oil as a menu highlight and other standouts such as Mapo Tofu and curried noodles.
The Beijing duck trio is a customer favorite. It’s sliced and served with Gua bao buns. The thigh and leg meat are stir-fried. For the final course, the bones are used to make duck soup. The popcorn chicken dish is another favorite, although you must be wary of the Sichuan peppercorns and spice level.
Location: 917 Winburn St Unit B, Houston, TX 77002
6. One Dragon Restaurant
Another amazing choice you can go for is the One Dragon Restaurant. This is a family-owned Shanghai cuisine restaurant currently run by a husband and wife. This place is well known for offering high-quality food and great customer care. The restaurant’s main mission is to share Chinese culture with the Houston people.
Dumplings are the main draw here, especially crispy-bottomed dumplings and soup dumplings. The braised pork belly and onion pancakes are very tasty. This restaurant is very traditional, so I look forward to a red-bean dish for dessert. If you don’t like waiting, try to avoid peak hours.
Location: 9310 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036
7. Ginger & Fork
Ginger & Fork is a Chinese restaurant owned by Mary Li and has been in business for a couple of years. It is a neat, comfy lounge with some modern touches. The main vision of the restaurant is to offer high-quality food, gracious service, and hospitality.
The menu is mostly made up of Cantonese dishes. This place is perfect for the Chinese food lover on a plant-based diet that offers several tasty vegans and vegetarian menu options, including fried mushroom fries, fried cauliflower, and herbivore fried rice. The menu also includes an extensive cocktail, wine, and spirits list. Other standouts are the bone brittle flounder appetizer (a whole flounder served over its battered bones), the curry coated noodles, and the steel pot beef, which is tender beef stewed with mushrooms.
The Griger and Fork restaurant is usually opened Tuesdays to Saturday from11 am to 10 pm and is usually closed on Mondays and Sundays.
Location: 4705 Inker St, Houston, TX 77007
8. Tan Tan Restaurant
Tan-Tan is a restaurant that Mr. and Mrs. H Chiu founded in early 1986. The main target of this restaurant is to provide quality Chinese food and share a part of the Chinese culture with the Houston community.
For 35 years, Tan Tan Restaurant’s menu has featured a mouthwatering blend of Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine as part of the local restaurant scene. It includes Chinese staples like hot and sour soup, chow mein, bo luc lac shaking beef rice plates, and Vietnamese hot pot. The food can range from traditional comfort food like congee (rice porridge) and noodles to lobster and Peking duck platters.
Besides having the best Chinese foods in town, Tan Tan restaurant offers high-quality take-out services. Again this place has a food rating of 4, service of 3.5, value for money at 4 and atmosphere of 3.5.
Location: 6816 Ranchester Dr, Houston, TX 77036
9. Golden Dumpling House
Golden Dumpling House is an excellent choice for affordable dumplings by the plateful. It is as straightforward as it gets, and its customer service is remarkable. The amazing bit is that they offer a wide variety of dumplings, and you can order them boiled, steamed, or fried.
You can also order their noodles and some appetizers, but the focus is definitely on the dumplings. The dumplings are plump and full of filling, the dough is handmade in-house, and the prices are low. You can even buy frozen dumplings in bulk to take home and make later. Everything is made to order, so be prepared to wait. The pork dumplings are a standout, especially with leeks.
Amazingly the place has ample parking for its clients and a friendly environment to hold business meetings and family gatherings. Again their food rating is 4.5, and service is 3.5 and value for money is 4.5.
Location: 9896 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036
10. Qin’s Noodle Kitchen
Qins Noodle Kitchen is another great place commonly known as Happy ValleyFinally. This casual Dun Huang Plaza is a cool spot that usually boasts its deep roster of Taiwanese and Chinese dishes. The amazing thing is that this place proves a great dining environment perfect for family and business meeting dining.
The Noodle Kitchen is a no-frills, casual eatery that remains one of Houston’s best places to eat Chinese food. The food is mostly served family-style. Favorites include the house’s special noodle soup with scallops and shrimp, Dan Dan noodles, beef pancake, and noodles in bean sauce, or Zha Jiang Mian. The prices are very affordable, partly because the restaurant is mostly self-serve. If you dine in, you’ll get a free egg drop or sweet and sour soup.
Location: 9889 Bellaire Blvd Ste 306, Houston, TX 77036
11. Ambassador Chinese Restaurant
Another perfect place you could go to get the best chinese food is the Ambassador Chinese Restaurant. This place has been in operation for over forty years and is well known for offering delicious foods. Again the place is also well known for serving large portions and having the most friendly staff. On that note, you also require to know that the restaurant remains open all week, but it s usually closed on Sundays
The Ambassador Chinese restaurant offers a couple of items on their menu: Eggplant, steamed or panfried pork, special salad, Ambassador fried chicken wing and egg rolls, egg drop soup, Chinese vegetable soup, and mango beef.
Location: 4326 Richmond Ave Houston
12. Peking Cuisine Chinese Restaurant
Peking Cuisine is another perfect place you could visit if you visit Houston. Peking duck is one of the most ordered meals in this Chinese restaurant. Mostly this place specializes in northern Chinese and Sichuan. The amazing bit is that their food is fairly priced, and you can get a meal that goes for $30 only. Additionally, the Peking Chinese restaurant offers a fine dining environment making it perfect for business meetings and family gatherings.
Apart from offering some of the best Peking Ducks, this place is known for having the best Tso’s chicken, Sauteed lamb, braised pork, stewed pork intestine, spicy bean curd, shredded pork, stir-fried greed beans and Fu Qi Fei Pin.
Location: 8332 Southwest Fwy. Houston, TX 77074.
13. China Garden restaurant
If you love Chinese dishes, the China garden restaurant is an ideal place to visit in Houston. This place originally began as a Chinese product import store which was then transformed into a favorite dining spot serving some of the best Chinese dishes. The best thing about this place is that the food is fairly priced, and the customer service is high quality.
The restaurant is located next to the Toyota Center. It offers different Chinese dishes, including sweet ans sour pork, green pepper steak, fried hot chicken, roasted pork with vegetables, Roast Pork Egg Foo Yung, and fried chicken wings.
Location: 1602 Leeland St, Houston, TX 77003
14. Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty is a Chinese restaurant based in Houston that has been serving delicious Chinese food for over 20 years. The place specializes in delivering high-quality sushi and Chinese and Japanese fusion. The best part is, unlike most other restaurants that remain closed on Sundays and Mondays, this one remains open from 11 am to 9 pm daily. Again, they offer event catering services, private party hosting and even free delivery in their service area.
Other dishes that this restaurant offers include soup, egg rolls, sesame chicken, Mongolian beef, entree and rice, and several noodle dishes.
Location: 5115 Buffalo Speedway, Houston, TX 77005.
15. The Rice Box
The rice Box is another amazing place well-known for delivering high-quality Chinese food. The place started as a food truck for Chinese food lovers and eventually transformed into a take-out restaurant. This place has an amazing appearance that will upgrade your dining experience when you walk in. In addition, the Chinese / American take-out restaurant provides personalized customer service that ensures each customer is satisfied.
Some of the great Chinese food offered here include Chow Fun, General Tsao’s Chicken, pepper steak, vegetable dumplings, egg grill, and orange chicken.
Location: 300 W 20th St, Houston, TX 77008.
Image credit: Alex Hu on Unsplash
