Kaojiu I hardly knew thee since I first stopped by in 2023 and seems only fitting to stop by once more before they officially close down in June :(. Each of the times I remembered were tasty. The ambiance when you arrive is dramatic Chinese music in the background which makes it somewhat difficult to converse with your group. Most recently we arrived with a group of 8 for our 7:30 pm reservation without any issues. All the other tables were full but we noticed the restaurant cleared out after an hour of us being there past the peak hours. They gave us 2 containers of the standalone spicy powder so people could add on as they wanted and the less spice tolerant in our group weren't saddled with the consequences. I tried the following dishes: Lamb & Beef Kebabs - 3 sticks per order I preferred the beef texture and taste over the lamb. BBQ Lamb Ribs - they said this was the only dish that came default spicy but I didn't think it was that spicy. the smoking in the raised wooden container gave it additional flavor. I preferred lamb ribs over the kebabs. Torched Beef - one of the favorites for our table the sauce with it was also super tasty. Big Squid - challenging to cut but they give a lot of pieces and generous portion with a special sauce. Grandma's juicy pork buns - on the small side, topped with black sesame and sauce you can add on the side. it was juicy as advertised. Cucumber salad - refreshing and included peanuts for texture and flavor. Fried tofu - not too memorable but the fried texture was tasty. Bok choy - I enjoyed the sauce spread across this veggie dish. Shiitake & King Oyster Mushroom - these are 2 separate orders but I can't remember which was the skewer and which was on a regular plate. Both were overall tasty. Cauliflower - Another solid veggie option but nothing too memorable if you want to focus mainly on protein. BBQ Bread slice - one of the inauthentic cuisines and it's like French toast Kaoijiu dragon yogurt- I was expecting more dragon fruit flavor so that was a bit disappointing but it still tasted good overall. I am not sure it's worth the $10 dessert price. Overall solid food options and we didn't have any leftovers so it ended up being ~$40-60 per person depending if people also ordered drink/dessert. Worth checking out if you haven't had a chance to before they are gone forever! read more

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I ordered Chinese-style seaweed salad, fried tofu w secret sauce, mini BBQ abalone (5 pcs), and lamb kebabs (3 pcs) - TASTE: 5/5 - wow, truly excellent and hard to pick a favorite dish! Tasty seaweed salad, satisfying abalone w bright green onion, and savory lamb skewers TEXTURE: 5/5 - on point w a light, cold salad that's perfect for warmer weather, perfectly fried tofu, and tender grilled meat PRICE: 4/5 - subtotal came to $55 SERVING SIZE: 4/5 - appreciate that plates are on the smaller side, so you can sample more SERVICE: 5/5 - walked in at 12:30pm on a Saturday and only one other party was seated. My waitress was friendly and helped me decide between my options. Food came out 5-20min after ordering ATMOSPHERE: 5/5 - more on the upscale side for a Chinese BBQ restaurant w Chinese music playing, traditional wooden furniture, and art pieces / decor on display. Sad to hear that the owners are moving back to China and that this spot is closing, super glad I stopped in beforehand! PARKING: 4/5 - plenty of metered street spots available at the time on Harvard St read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Drink menu - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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We made a reservation for 3 people here for Saturday evening at 6 PM. Definitely recommend making a reservation as they got busy very quickly. Some street parking nearby with parking meters. The menus were a cool design - the drink menus being a scroll and you could open up the food menu to display everything. Little dark inside and somewhat moderately loud music but not overly loud where you can't talk. My cousin and I ordered some cocktails - she added rum to a cocktail - Fascinate Lychee and I ordered the Pineapple Passion monthly drink. The Pineapple Passion was okay but the Lychee drink was very good with the rum. My husband ordered an herbal tea which was very good but bitter if you're not quite used to Chinese tea. The menu provided on the table differed slightly than the scanned menu QR Code. We ordered a variety of food and 2 bowls of rice ($3/bowl but plenty of rice). Small BBQ Lamb Ribs - very good and tender, pretty spicy from the seasoning and some chili paste I believe. Don't let these sit because it becomes a little less tender over time. BBQ Mini Abalone - one of my favorites and definitely recommend. Teriyaki Big Squid - also one of my favorites - cooked beautifully, absolutely delicious. Handmade Mini Pork Buns - Good number of small buns and dipping sauce with some juices inside - pretty good. BBQ Eel - definitely one of the top dishes we ordered. The seasoning and how it was cooked was very good, especially with some rice. Absolutely recommend this. Pork Sausage - one on a stick but this was also very good. Incredibly tender inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Beef with Yuzu Sauce - This was good but not a favorite - wish it was just a little more tender but medium slices to try and eat in one bite. BBQ Whole Scallop - covered with slices of mushroom I believe and then one scallop under it all - great flavor but not sure if it was worth the price (MP). Overall, good service, delicious food and a great time! read more

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We stopped by for lunch so it might not be the most accurate impression of the place since it's a place catered more for small eats and drinks. The decor is beautiful and the drink menu is a scroll. I imagine the ambiance is nicer at night for dates and more intimate. The drinks are fairly priced, around $14 for cocktails. However, the food is very overpriced. The skewers feel not worth the price. The lamb ribs are probably the best valued. read more

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Solidly four stars I guess. The service was a little bit slow, and while some dishes were amazing standouts, others were just a little bit on the pathetic side. I think the potato wrapped shrimp bites were amazing, as was the fried mantou. The lamb chops were also extremely well seasoned. And I was very impressed with the quality of the two noodle dishes that we ordered: the jelly noodle as well as the cold noodle. The drinks that we ordered were all mocktails, and I was pleased. They all kind of tasted like Sprite, though, with different mixers within them. The grilled mushroom dishes are completely skippable. The fried dumplings also looked nothing like prior versions of them on yelp. Instead, they looked like they came frozen and had a bit of a sad pan fry. Please skip that. I thought the grass jelly taro dessert was delicious: a better, higher quality version of anything that you would get at Meet Fresh. However, the grilled marshmallows, while available, were somehow not available for us: you're supposed to call ahead and order those (really? It didn't say that on the menu and instead it felt like the server was just trying to turn our table for the next party because prep time for the dish is on the longer side). Now that I'm reflecting on the rest of the meal, the lamb skewers were also pretty meh. I guess I'm weighing the notion that this is one of the most beautiful restaurants I've been to...the decor is extraordinary...and some of the food was really good vs. the subpar service: we asked for extra spicy on the noodles and they came pretty normal + our whole meal nobody refilled our water without our asking + the dumplings really were laughable. It's also on the expensive side, get ready to spend $50 per person or more. read more

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I'm a huge fan when it comes to unique decor so when I entered this restaurant, I totally love it especially the drinks menu scroll . The food we tried were yummy except for one dish (stir fry cold wheat jelly), which to our opinion is a bit salty. The drink we ordered was pretty delicious (we had the Mongolian milk tea, added only 1 sugar serving to it. The menu mentioned you can add up to 6 sugar serving but that's too much. One sugar serving just hit the spot for us.. not too sweet, just right. They have the option for this drink to be savory/salty. We may try that option next time). The server was very friendly, attentive to what we need. read more

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Kao Jiu is a hidden gem! I loved all of the decor and that everything down to the dishes and menus pulled together the china theme and moody ambiance. Came for the lunch special and was not disappointed, a great option for those who like to try a little of everything! For $20 you can get an appetizer, meat, and one other small dish from a select menu. Between two people we got the bok choy, scallion pancakes, mushroom skewers, fish cake skewers, beef skewers, fried rice and stir fry noodles. Everything was well done! I was not a huge fan of the beef, and my personal favorites were the bok choy and fish cake skewers. It was more than enough food! Service was sweet as well :) read more

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My partner and I stopped by on a Wednesday evening after having already eaten something small at Maruichi down the street. We were curious about this place and wanted to try some of their skewers. Walking into the restaurant, I was not expecting such ornate decor. I couldn't help but laugh at the menus, which are printed on scrolls. We decided to get giant BBQ oysters ($25 each), the chicken gizzards ($6), lamb kebabs ($10), and the milky sliced bread ($4). The chicken gizzards arrived first. Compared to gizzards that I have gotten at other restaurants, the gizzards here weren't trimmed as cleanly. They also did not taste the most fresh, although I liked the seasoning that was used on them. I would highly recommend the lamb kebabs if you like fattier meat-- the cut of lamb that they used had a lot of fat on it, which crisped up at the surface but then melted when I bit into it. The seasoning on the lamb kebabs was different from what they used for the gizzards but also tasty. The one downside was that the lamb had a gamey taste to it. Out of all the protein we ordered, the oysters tasted the freshest. They had a lot of garlic flavor and also some pieces of sliced chili that were spicy. The milky sliced bread was spread with honey butter before being toasted on the grill. It was fun to eat it off of a skewer, but at the end of the day it was just a piece of toast. read more

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I've been to Kao Jiu both for lunch and dinner. I think the lunch deal is amazing and they have a ton of variety! For dinner, everything was solid... except the lamb. It was a bit dry and gamey (don't know if it was intentional, but in the end, the flavors did work out okay.) The squid was cooked perfectly and had a great sauce. The cucumber salad was standard. The drinks were simple, but good. I wasn't WOWed but we had a good meal. I wish the portion sizes were bigger, but I guess it left me with room for icecream at Far Out across the street. read more

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Had an awesome late night dinner here and really glad to have different Chinese options pop up. For starters, the atmosphere is amazing. The menu is on scrolls and the decor is giving wooden Asian rustic. My party got close to 60% of the menu and for the most part, the food was pretty great. Standouts include the chicken karrage, potato shrimp, fried dumplings, lychee mocktail, and egg fried rice. Must order dishes and easily my favorites of the night. Good but not great dishes include the scallion pancakes, bbq bread, chicken wings, and cold wheat jelly salad. The scallion pancakes were a little too thick, the bbq bread was stale but flavor was still there, wings were average, and the wheat jelly salad was too much salad and not enough noodles. What I was really disappointed in was a majority of their grilled dishes. The shrimp for example was dry and overcooked. Same with the lamb ribs and beef kebabs. So I would avoid those dishes. read more

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Extremely disappointing dining experience! Given the misleading "bought" reviews, the dining experience deserves clear feedback so others know what to expect. I visited Kao Jiu hoping for authentic, flavorful dishes, and instead found food that was tasteless and lacking in quality. The dishes arrived tasting bland and unfinished. One dish was simply low-grade sausage with seasoning sprinkled on top. There was no real cooking or preparation involved. Their "popular" tofu dish was also tasteless, with no depth or seasoning, and seemed like store bought fried tofu that was assembled quickly, rather than thoughtfully prepared. The dumplings were especially concerning. They tasted and looked off, were dry, looked unappetizing, and lacked freshness. They were inedible. The restaurant was empty on a weekend despite being on a major street, which reflects the experience. For a place that has been open for two years, the unusually low number of online reviews is surprising and also clearly does not reflect the quality offered. I would not recommend dining here. Effort was made in the decor, but that's about it. read more

The food here and the ambience are amazing! The service was also really nice and quick, our experience went very smoothly! I loved how the menus looked, and because this is our first time, we wanted to try a little bit of everything, so we got the cold noodles, lamb skewers, chicken wings, scallion pancakes, enoki mushrooms, bokchoy, and the lamb stuffed bun. I have to give the lamb stuffed bun (rou jia mou) a highlight because the bread was so good - perfectly soft yet crispy on the outside, and the lamb was so tender inside. Another favorite was the cold noodles - I loved the sauce and the noodles were the perfect thickness. The cooked vegetables were all seasoned with the same spices, so it was pretty average, but I would get the cold salads next time. I really wanted to try the dragon ice cream but they were sold out :( read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Kao Jiu is a very beautifully designed Chinese restaurant. The interior is decorated very traditionally, with dark, lacquered wood, red lanterns, and Chinese art all around. Their menus come in the form of scrolls, which I thought was very cute and creative. I came here for the lunch special though, that's available Mon-Fri 12-4pm. The place was empty - only us in the restaurant, so service was quite fast. The lunch special came in a square wooden box with an appetizer, a choice for protein, a choice of veggies and a staple food. I came with a friend, so I was able to try 2 of everything. :) And despite initially thinking it wouldn't be filling, it actually was. The chicken kebab was the fan favorite. It was soft and moist, and had amazing seasoning. The beef kebab was a lil hard to chew with all the fat. The potato chips were my second favorite, as they were thinly sliced, very crisp and nicely seasoned. The fried tofu, oyster mushrooms, and the egg fried rice were all pretty good as well. The only thing that was slightly lacking was the lamb burger, as it did not have much meat inside and lacked a bit of flavor. read more

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Thank you Yelp for guiding me here! What a great find! I wanted to find a restaurant with ample seating, parking, and not fast casual. This restaurant appears to hit all the marks! Its interior is beautiful, the menu is interesting, and the food was great! There is paid metered parking in front of the restaurant. The maximum parking is 3 hours. They have an extensive cocktail and wine list. The signature dish is the lamb hot pot, which is great. They can refill your broth, which is nice. Service was great. They do have an 18% automatic service charge added to parties of 5+. I came during off-peak hours, so the restaurant wasn't busy. The indoor air quality was great, since it wasn't crowded. Looking forward to visiting again when I'm back in the neighborhood! read more

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This place was excellent! Every dish had an extra pop of flavor that made them stand out, in addition to a baseline smoky flavor. The dishes were shareable and overall price point was not bad for this quality! The decor and ambience were on point and service was lovely. This place hits all the marks and is worth returning - if only street parking were easier to find! read more

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Nice ambiance and large seating area! Usually theres no wait for seating if you making a reservation. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The skewers here are very good! Very well seasoned and very tender! The fried rice was also really good! The herbal jelly and yogurt desserts are also really good! I've been back a few times since their opening, and I always leave super full! read more

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This would be my second time dining, the experience this time was just as good as the first time. We got the pot (S) for two people, and it was enough for us since we also ordered other food as well. I would recommend the chicken gizzard, the skewers (we got like 4 orders of it and each order has 3 skewers). The beef one is my favorite but they have other animals too. The service is fast and the staff is attentive. The vibes here are nice. The place isn't too brightly lit or dim, you can still see everything. The bar looks great, and the bathroom is clean as well read more

We came on a Saturday noon. Ambiance was good and the service was awesome. Will come back!

Went here for lunch on a weekend and we were the only table other than one larger table celebrating some sort of event. We ordered the vegetable noodle soup, the lamb haggis noodle soup, and a side order of BBQ lamb skewers (not pictured because they came quite late). The lamb haggis soup ($16, only available for lunch) was quite good and surprisingly more filling than we thought it would be. The lamb soup had some different innards in it, and the bone broth was extremely well developed and tasty. The vegetable noodle soup ($14, only available for lunch) had a sesame veggie broth and came with cabbage and bok choy. Like the lamb one, it also had a lot of noodles and would have been pretty filling on its own. I drank all of the broth! The lamb skewers (3 for $9) were also very good, but they came about 20 minutes after the soups arrived and were a pretty small portion. By that time, I had almost finished my soup, so it felt a little strange to get them so late in the meal, especially since there was only 1 other party at the restaurant. The rest of our table also ordered different BBQ skewer dishes and they came sporadically throughout the meal, so the timing felt a bit off in general for those dishes. As for the actual hotpot, the lamb hotpot was priced at $48 for a small and $78 for a large. I can't imagine spending that much for hotpot, having been to all you can eat places for less, but if the broth is anything like the soup, I'm sure it's quite good. All in all, the taste was pretty good, but I'd only come back for the noodle soup for lunch. While the BBQ skewers were quite tasty, they weren't quite worth the price in my opinion. read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Lamb noodle soup - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Cool decor- your menu is a scroll and yummy food. I just had skewers but they were good lamb, juicy tender, and spicy. Chicken wings, crispy and savory. Beef aorta which was savory and mild. Also has the milk bread which was savory and sweet. The waitress was working the restaurant on her own, but was friendly and attentive. Will come about for main courses. read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

The food here is so so.. not worth the price. The dishes are over seasoning and the service are slow. The cocktails aren't that great. read more

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Good for your asian BBQ cravings fix. Relaxing atmosphere, friendly service. We tried squid, lamb ribs, mushroom salad ,grilled hamachi kama and edamame. I would say that food tasted very good,but I wasn't big fan of them putting some spice that is very similar to 5 Chinese spice on almost everything we ordered ( edamame,ribs,squid) almost ruining authentic flavor of the dishes..I'm a big fan of spices and new flavors, but please- put it either on the side or come out with some other type of spice for each dish individually. Fungus mushroom salad was my favorite- crunchy,spicy,vinegary..Yumm!! We also tried their watermelon mocktalls which were quite refreshing and hydrating. I want to come back to try more food already read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Mushroom salad and lamb ribs - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

10/10 Northwest Chinese food! The Service is super! English and Chinese are both welcome. The service is very patient. Inside the restaurant, is extremely traditional. Especially the food and the drink menu. read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Asparagus schoberioides Salad and food menu - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Yum! I had never been to a Chinese skewer place before, and clearly I have been missing out! I love the ambiance of this place - very modern and moody. The drinks were alright, but definitely not worth the price. The food was generally good! There were a few items which I thought were overpriced ($8 for a slice of bread on a stick??) but it was yummy. The eggplant was my favorite! read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - The spread - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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A nice upscale Chinese restaurant located in Coolidge Corner right across from Union Square Donuts. The decor is nice and the menus for food and drinks are on scrolls located on the tables. I came here for dinner on a weeknight with my family and ordered a bunch of different food to try out. We tried a bunch of appetizers to skewers and desserts. I enjoyed the rice cakes that were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with a dash of spices. They used the same spice on all of their skewers and other food, so by the end of the meal everything was starting to taste pretty similar. The cucumber and fungus salads were refreshing and had lots of different textures. The service was good all of the food came out when it was ready and we had our drinks and waters refilled. The yuzu drink was like a tart lemonade and refreshing while the lychee drink was a bit fizzier which I enjoyed a bit more. I enjoyed the oyster/king mushrooms the most out of the mushroom platter. To end off the meal we ordered the purple yam ice cream and dessert soup. The ice cream was very hard and took a while to soften up. Overall, a nice place for dinner and good for small or larger groups. read more

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Ambiance was really nice! stir fried ramen dish was really small, but taste was ok! squid was good, not too chewy. lamb skewers were great! passionfruit drink was really great. fried rice portion was small but very tasty! read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - big squid, stir fried ramen, orig fried rice w shrimp, lamb skewers, passionfruit drink - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

We were planning to go to a sushi restaurant but noticed that there's this new restaurant on Harvard St. near Tatte and Genki Ya, dug our heels in the ground for an immediate stop and started to check out their menu. While we were flipping through the menu outside the restaurant, one of the individuals working there saw us and asked us if we had any questions. We thought this was something new in the area and sushi can be saved for another time, we crossed the threshold. Walk inside and meet the bar to the left side with back-lit staggered shelves of various liquors, spirits and carrying vessels to the main dining area at the right where the entire wall is adorned with murals of Ancient China figures above traditional-style looking wooden bench seats. Swivel your gaze to the left and there are cubby holes pocketing various pottery and sculptures. Sifting through its fairly expansive menu, it visibly captures you with the heavy incorporation of lamb in their dishes. I love lamb and the gaminess but we opted for other dishes. It was a chillier day and when presented with their freshly squeezed and boiled soybean milk, which I haven't had since I was young. It was complemented with a twin stick of fried dough. Letting the soybean milk warming our bodies felt very nice and adding the fried dough into the milk was something new to me since typically I'm accustomed to dipping these in congee - but it worked fairly well since it soaked up some of the milk, which we sipped throughout our meal. First chewable meal was the mixed conch with white fungus salad in a bowl with a steel hollow cutout of the moon and an outline of clouds. The textures was crunchy, tender and snappy. Very delicious! The skewers came - chicken gizzard, beef, big squid, beef throat and small abalone. Each had their own distinctive seasoning and flavoring which not too many restaurants exhibit since it's typically one type. The standouts: when biting into the beef throat (the restaurant made a misnomer with beef aorta), there was an unexpected snap and crunch that worked so well, more akin to a weird hybrid of a thicker and meatier white fungus and beef tripe (that's the only way I can explain it) and when your teeth slid through the abalone, it was unbelievably tender with a nice amount of chew to gather up the juices and flavors and this is a rarity being offered in a menu as a skewer. Then came the Xinjiang Sautéed Spicy Chicken with handmade wide noodle. Within the dish was potatoes, onions, red and green bell peppers, chopped chicken, noodles and a fair amount of Sichuan peppers. Although the meat came with bones, it was flavorful with the coating of the sauce. The handmade wide flat noodle was 2 inches wide and for a time I thought it was one long noodle and the softness of it against your molars was simply hair-raising. The wait staff was very nice, helpful and professional. Our dining experience at this restaurant (whose cuisine leaned towards Northern and Western China and even into Mongolia) was during its soft opening and we gave them our feedback. Throughout our time there, the soundtrack was mostly throat-singing, which was oddly and actually soothing. Coming back here for the lamb! read more

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such a cute place, great ambience, service was amazing. I would definitely be revisiting this place. My favorite dish was the cold noodles and the fried tofu. overall everything was pretty good. a must try in my book. don't forget to save room for the purple yam ice cream read more

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Wonderful and creative Norfhern Chinese cusine. Very tasty well seasoned chicken, lamb or beef skewers and kebobs. Excellent, tasty Asian mushroom medlies as well as other well prepared vegetarian dishes. Service very attentive and friendly. All in all five stars- among the best restaurants in Brookline and top tier of Boston area Chinese restaurants. read more

The ribs were dry, we didn't like it at all. Skewers were flavourful, tofu and stirfried pancake also good, although the stir fried pancake and califlower were little greasy but tasty. read more

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Kao Jiu looks to be an upcoming popping spot. We went on a Friday with a reservation for a group of 6. I would say that everything we ordered tasted fantastic. Most of the kebabs/BBQ come in threes. The most disappointing thing was the Purple Yam ice cream, we could feel the crystallization but could also taste the high quality of the ice cream. I would say that this place would be great for dates as the drinks are on point and probably the best value at the restaurant. For larger groups we felt that we didn't order enough for the table and this was most likely only getting skewers. Definitely would try the other dishes available next time. read more

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Delicious food. Beautiful ambience. Great customer service. Tasty drinks. I highly recommend trying the lamb hotpot. read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Lamb hotpot - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Beautiful venue specializing in Northern Chinese cuisine. Try the Liang Pi (cold wheat jelly salad) and the hot pots. Drinks are great too read more

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Yesterday was my first time dining here and I just hated that I didn't find out about this restaurant sooner!!! All the stuff members are so nice and extremely patient when I wasn't sure about what to eat. I love the skewers!! The drinks here are also divine!!! read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Lychee Martini and Lion Dance - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Just had one of the best grilled lambs and the passion ginger drink was as super good! I am gonna go back for sure because it had great decorations, friendly staff, and excellent music! You definitely should try this place! read more

Kao Jiu Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

I was very disappointed at the food quality. The service wasn't the best and I expected better.

I just came here with my family and I honestly had a disappointing time. Food looked amazing in photos but was completely disappointed. The interior wasn't bad the the tables I was seated on was a bit sticky. The customer service was the worst tho. Server was completely rude to me and ignored me when I called them over multiple times. read more

Food looks great in photos, but the reality didn't match. Portion size was smaller than expected, and the flavor was just average. Disappointed overall. read more

Legitimate northern Chinese BBQ and great ambiance. All BBQ dishes we got were char-grilled. They have some special items on the menu that I've never seen outside certain areas of Inner Mongolia. read more

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This restaurant is amazing. From the ambiance to food and service, feels elevated and spot on! Everything we tried was delicious. Can't wait to come back. read more

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