Houston Chinese Food

Lucky Dragon Restaurant I

Restaurant

Ever been wondering where to find cheap business lunches for under $5? Here is the solution: I have lived in Houston for more than 10 years and had never known anything about Houston's Chinatown area. But recently, my friend told me about this website called www.chinatownconnection.com, which has all of the restaurants around SW Bellaire Boulevard, and I happen to work 10 minutes away from there, so I thought I should give it a shot.

One day, I decided to walk to this place called Lucky Dragon; surprisingly, their food is actually very delicious, and the whole place looked very clean as well. I think that for $5, this was one of the best lunches I have ever had.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Lucky Dragon Restaurant I
9266 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, Texas 77036
713-270-8717

Tea Cafe

Restaurant

Tea Café is on the left corner of Diho plaza, and that is the only downside of this store. Outside of the store, Tea Café has couple contemporary metal tables and chairs set up, and they are placed under the shade for those who enjoy hanging out with a friend outside. Inside the store, you would not believe how much effort the manager has put into decorating this place. Tea Café has the uniform golden-oak table and chair, classical-style teapot displayed on the wall, and almond-color curtain with the red lantern hanging on the side. The environment is very nice and friendly. Tea Café also has over 40 different kinds of tea, juice, and cream shakes, such as jasmine green tea and black tea. I like to hang out here with my friend, and this is a good place to spend the weekend afternoon. You can find more info about this store here: http://www.chinatownconnection.com/teacafe1.htm.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Tea Cafe
9354 Bellaire Boulevard Houston, Texas 77036
(713) 988-0415

Pine Forest Garden Vegetarian Restaurant

Restaurant

Pine Forest Garden Vegetarian Restaurant is one of the most impressive places I have ever been. It is not like the conventional vegetarian restaurant. Pine Forest is very clean and the food is awesome. In order to enhance the taste of the dishes, some vegetarian restaurants tend to use a little too much oil when they cook. But with Pine Forest Garden, the cooking oil is used in a very moderate amount, yet the dishes are still tasteful. Also, believe it or not, the veggie kung pao chicken tastes just like the real kung pao chicken. Also, tofu in the Szechuan style is a must-try. This spicy tofu dish tastes especially delicious when mixed with rice. The lunch buffet is also a great deal. For $5.50, you can have a very healthy alternative lunch without sacrificing taste. You can find more info about this restaurant at www.chinatownconnection.com.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Pine Forest Garden Vegetarian Restaurant
9108 Bellaire Boulevard Houston, Texas 77036
(713) 772-2888

Tapioca House

Restaurant

I love bubble tea, and out of so many place I travel to, I find that Houston has most different type of bubble tea that you can choose from. Located on the southwest section of Belliare Drive, Houston's Chinatown has at least five different tea stores you can go, and each different one has its own specialty drink. At Tapioca House, they have big tapioca pearls, small tapioca pearls, grass jelly, egg pudding, etc. It's a hot summer if you happen to be in Houston, and this is a good place to spend the hot afternoon. You can find more info about Houston's Chinese food info on www.chinatownconnection.com/tapiocahouse.htm.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Tapioca House
9104 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, Texas
713-272-6468

China Gourmet

Restaurant

I have been going to China Gourmet (SI-FU-Lai) for almost 5 years. From the famous local snacks to the authentic full-course meal, Si-Fu-Lai offers different variety of Taiwanese food. My favorite dish is the sizzling black-pepper steak. This unique style of cooking steak was originally invented in Taiwan’s famous night market. For $5.75, you can have a plate of medium-rare steak (about 8 to 10 ounces) with the black-pepper sauce poured on top. This plate also come with noodles or rice, one sunny-side-up egg, and baby corn or other vegetable. Si-Fu-Lai also provides sizzling fried chicken steak and pork chops, and they taste just as good. I also recommend the seafood toaster. This is a very famous southern Taiwanese-style chowder. The original name is "mini-coffin" in Chinese, but now they had to rename it so the customers would not be scared by the name. This creamy seafood chowder contains a lot of seafood and vegetables, and the soup is contained inside a fried toast box when ordered. Also, one fried toast lid will be placed on top to close the fried toast box. The seafood toaster smells good and tastes great with any dish you order. I recommend both dishes, because the prices are very fair and you can have either in less than 5 minutes after the order is placed. You can also find more info about this restaurant on http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinagourmet1.htm.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

China Gourmet
9600 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, Texas 77036
(713) 995-8919

House of Bowls

Restaurant

House of Bowls provides a mix of Eastern and Western styles of food. It has the traditional Chinese food, such as various types of fried rice, congee (porridge), noodles, and vermicelli. House of Bowls also has good sandwich, hamburger, steak, and Southwestern Asian food. You may wonder why that you want to eat hamburger here, but here is the catch. Their fish burger and pork chop burger is less greasy than the ordinary burger. The size is about the average hamburger, but the taste is unique. I also like the shrimp and egg chow fun (rice noodle). This is a large plate of flat rice noodle mixed with cornstarch and egg drop. Plenty of shrimps and good of egg drop soup make this plate irresistibly delicious. More info can be found about this store at www.chinatownconnection.com.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

House of Bowls
6650 Corporate Drive Houston, Texas 77036
(713) 776-2287

Sichuan Cuisine

Restaurant

For those who love hot and spicy delicacies, Sichuan is a great place to go. Sichuan provides a variety of authentic Sichuan (a province in China meaning "four rivers") style food, from snacks and appetizers to full-course meals. I highly recommend the House Special Crispy Chicken, as the quantity is great and the spicy taste combined with the crispy chicken only makes you ask for more. I have always heard about the famous "steam corn bun" (Wo-Wo-Tou), but have never really had the chance to taste it until I had them in Sichuan. These steam corn buns may look like the regular buns at first glance, but when you actually eat them, it gives you a totally different experience than regular buns. Dragon Wontons are also something special. These wontons have more stuffing and tender wrappings and are dipped in the red spicy oil. It is a good snack and appetizer to start your meal. For more information about this restaurant, www.chinatownconnection.com provides the full menu.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Sichuan Cuisine
9114 Bellaire Boulevard Houston, Texas 77036
(713) 771-6868

Hong Kong Food Street

Restaurant

Hong Kong Food Street is one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to, and this is not a place you should go if you looking for a decent Chinese meal. First, the price here is not even cheap; for a regular meal, it will cost you about 20 bucks per person. I don’t really mean to complain about the price, but the quantity of food in each dish is even less than the average French dish. Therefore, it actually makes this place rather expensive. Second, all the waitresses are not very friendly; when it takes you more than 5 minutes to decide what to order, they will give you this look as if you owe them money. I mean, the way they treat you is not even friendly. So I had to rush and order something, and later they did not even refill the water. Overall, it was just not a pleasant experience, and I feel like I was being treated unfairly. Third, in comparison to other restaurants in the Chinatown area, Hong Kong Food Street is not even tasty, and I feel like I am eating the Americanized Chinese food in there. Anyway, this is a place I would not visit again.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 18, 2005

Hong Kong Food Street
9750 Bellaire Blvd. Houston, Texas
(713) 981-9888

Thai Cottage

Restaurant

Thai Cottage is a very attractive restaurant. The atmosphere there is very cozy and relaxing. When you eat there, it almost feels like eating family dinner at home. Thai Cottage has a lot of healthy, tasty vegetarian dishes, and their ginger chicken, veggie crispy rolls, and shrimp spring rolls are also very delicious. Also, do not forget to order the coconut milk drink and famous Thai tea. Thai Cottage’s drink sizes are big in the area, and they taste great. These drinks are especially great on a hot summer’s day. I strongly recommend this place, and I hope that you will find Thai Cottage’s dishes as attractive as I do. You can find more info about Thai food in Houston at www.chinatownconnection.com.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on August 29, 2005

Thai Cottage
5124 Cedar Street Houston, Texas 77401
(713) 838-0707

888 Chinese Restaurant

Restaurant | "888"

I took my girlfriend to 888, and she was totally impressed by this place. At first glance, we saw the nice, decorated place. With the Old Chinese-style rickshaw, raincoat, and amazing wine display, we were totally impressed by the interior setting. The waiters were very friendly, too. At first we didn’t know what to order, so she recommended fried dumplings for appetizer, beef and shrimp noodle soup, orange beef, and shredded pork in garlic sauce. Out of these four dishes, I like the shredded pork in garlic sauce the best. The pork is very tender with the garlic sauce, and when mixed with the fried rice, it tastes even better. I did not like the orange beef as much, though, because it is a bit too salty. Anyways, I would recommend this restaurant for those who live in southeast Houston. You can also order online.

More info can be found at www.chinatownconnection.com/888chinese.htm.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on September 1, 2005

888 Chinese Restaurant
1812 FM 646 Dickinson Dickinson, Texas 77539
(281) 309-9999

Nippon Japanese Restaurant

Restaurant

Nippon is located on Montross, just a little past the 59 bridge if coming from Hermann Park. Nippon offers quality Japanese food at a fair price range, and the regular lunch options are about $7. Most of the lunch dishes come with miso soup and Japanese-style salad. Their katsu-don (fried pork rice) is one of the best lunch deals. Katsu-don comes in a traditional Japanese lunch box, which contains one large piece of fried pork chop and rice. On top of the pork chop, delicious sweetened soy bean sauce is poured on top of the rice and pork chop. This meal also comes with one bowl of miso soup and one dish of Japanese salad. The salad is a great appetizer. With the Japanese-style dressing (which tastes a bit like the regular range dressing, but sweeter), it has became my one of my longtime favorites. Overall, I find Nippon to be a great place to visit and eat at. You can find more info about this restaurant at www.chinatownconnection.com.

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by physaliss@yahoo.com on September 6, 2005

Nippon Japanese Restaurant
4464 Montrose Blvd. # W Houston, Texas 77006
(713) 523-3939

IgoUgo

Houston

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Lucky Dragon Restaurant I

Tea Cafe

Pine Forest Garden Vegetarian Restaurant

Tapioca House

China Gourmet

House of Bowls

Sichuan Cuisine

Hong Kong Food Street

Thai Cottage

888 Chinese Restaurant

Nippon Japanese Restaurant

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