Updated today (6/7/19) 7 of us just ate here. I must say the experience was wonderful. The service was wonderful and the food was wonderful. We had the fish/crab soup, the shrimp rolls and the beef satay to start. They were all tasty. The small soup is enough for 3-5 small bowls of soup. The shrimp roll is tasty but small. Imagine 1 egg roll cut up and deep fried. That's the whole dish. The satay was tasty and tender and you get 2 pieces. For main dishes we got the Yeong Chow fried rice, the pad Thai, the jalapeño shrimp, the crispy tilapia, the firecracker chicken, the scallion beef, eggplant garlic, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Everything was delicious. Beware the jalapeño shrimp was very spicy (I know, shocking!). Lol! I can't wait to come back with a lot of people so we can try more stuff! See my pics! I'll start by saying that I enjoyed this place enough to return with our extended family. The food was good - no complaints. It was fresh and the quantities were decent (not as large as the other restaurants in Chinatown but still fine) We had the shrimp rolls and xiao long bao (soup dumpling) as appetizers. My hubby and kids ate them up and enjoyed them (I eat Keto so didn't partake.). We ordered the jalapeño shrimp, which was large and fresh. The shrimp weren't spicy so the kids ate them and the jalapeños were super spicy which I love! String beans with pork were good and the salt and pepper squid was good but not crispy. It was still good and came with salt and lemon. We also ordered the char kuey teow. It was noodles with seafood. The family liked enough but we wouldn't order them a The service was friendly when we walked in and there were plenty of people working. Unfortunately no one ever checked on us, filled our waters or brought out any steamed rice. We just got tired of waiting and ate all of our food without rice. When they brought the bill and asked how everything was I told them it was fine but we never got our rice. He said sorry and then said you don't need any to go because you ate your food and then showed me that they hadn't charged us for rice. I would have given this place 4.5 stars otherwise but if it's different the next time we come I'll definitely update my review. read more

Love love love this place! Every food item here has turned out delicious. Been here several times and they're always consistent with their food quality. Plus their decor and customer service has always been amazing! Don't forget to come here a bit early as it always get packed around 7-8pm! The parking is easy with a huge lot In front and we've never had any issues with finding parking. read more

Mein Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Our waiter was fantastic. Unfortunately, I forgot his name, but he was a younger guy with glasses and he made sure to check up on us very frequently, fill out tea, and made sure to ask clearly when we needed our dishes to be picked up. He also very respectively wandered around our table to make sure we were alright or needed anything and was very attentive to our needs. I love how this place was decorated, and everyone seemed very friendly. Unpopular opinion, but I felt like the food was pretty average. My parents enjoyed it quite a bit, but I guess I'm being a bit picky here. I felt like the salt content was a bit high, from the dishes we ordered. We ordered the Sichuan Tilapia, Eggplant Noodles, Steak Beef, a Pork Omelette dish, and a fish soup. All of the flavors were very nice, I thought that the pork omelette dish and steak beef dish had a bit too much salt content. The eggplant noodles were very good and it was a bit sweet but to the right amount. The fish soup was very good, my parents said it was a little too thick. The white rice was also pretty mushy, but I mean you're here to eat the main dishes not just the white rice, but worth mentioning still. I feel like some communication should be improved a little bit. It's nice that other waiters are around to check up on us, but it's a bit disturbing when 3 different waiters come up and try to take away a dish we said we wanted to keep because there was still food left. In addition, the table we sat at was a bit small, we had a party of 4 and very hungry stomachs, so we overflowed a bit and needed another table to rest some things on. It wasn't extremely busy during this time and there were plenty of tables around throughout the time we were there, and I felt really rushed when other waiters who weren't ours, try to come up and take all our dishes up and move our table. read more

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This place was more like a 3.5 stars. I rounded up for the modern decor and good customer service (usually, you don't expect any service at Chinatown). As far as the food goes, I can't really figure out what type of restaurant Mein is. Their menu has Hong Kong style, Northern Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, and Singaporean food. I guess this is pan-Asian cuisine? We all ordered a bunch of dishes. Here are my thoughts on each of them: - Stir fried flat rice noodles with beef: this was ok. It just didn't have enough wok hey flavor. There wasn't much beef in this dish either. - Veggie fried rice: Standard. Not bad, but not the best I've tasted. - Fried egg noodles: Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this. The sauce mixed well with the fried noodles, so that the texture was fun to eat. - Salt and pepper spare ribs: the texture was good, but the flavor tasted more like chocolate, and less like five spice. - Red oil dumplings: Flavorwise, I didn't really taste anything distinctive. It wasn't a memorable dish. I have had better at Yuan and Cooking Girl. - Won ton noodles (dry): I was most disappointed with this dish. I have eaten my share of won ton noodles in Hong Kong, and this tasted nothing like that. The wontons and soup were not flavorful. I didn't taste shrimp or pork in the wontons. The noodles did have a nice bounce to them. So, that was good. - Lava toast: Literally, they saved the best for last. We ordered 1 toast to share amongst the four of us. We all agreed that this was pretty tasty. One of my friends had to wipe the remaining sauce off our plate with her last bite of toast. I guess she liked it. Lol. The best way I can describe this dish is it's literally like American French toast with a delicious custard sauce inside. If anything, I would order this again. Overall, this is an ok spot if you're eating with people who can't decide on what type of Asian food they want to eat. Either way, definitely have that lava toast for dessert to share amongst your party. read more

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Damn, this place is good. A group from the office eats here at least once a week. Great food and service. Everything is flavorful and delicious. Just had lunch there today and already craving it for dinner! read more

This place is amazing! When you walk in it's like walking into a restaurant in nyc. The ambiance is new age and funky! We had no trouble getting a table at 6:45pm on a Friday (but when we left it was packed)! You must try the soup dumplings (they take about 20 minutes to prepare) so order those first! You will not be disappointed. My husband is not a dumpling fan but said it was the highlight of the food. Garlic eggplant is the best I've ever had at an Asian restaurant. Chiasu was also great! Fresh and flavorful. If you are in this area don't skip out on this place. You won't be disappointed!! read more

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My first time at Mein 3 weeks ago was a great experience. Service was good, and the variety of food is amazing! My favourite is the fried carrot cake dish. I went back the following week to try more dishes, recommended if you're looking for good Cantonese food. read more

I'm not sure what kind of food Mein Restaurant serves...but honestly I don't care! Delicious Asian food with twist on your classic dishes. Great service -- we came here fairly close to closing time, so the staff were really great about letting us know that the kitchen was about to close. Squid Ink Fried Rice: served with an egg yolk on top that you mix in, along with sausage + squid. Delicious!! One of the standouts of the night. 5/5 Mapo Tofu: I'm not a huge fan of Mapo Tofu (maybe had too much of it growing up...) but this was AMAZING! Something about the BOLD flavor profile really elevated the silky tofu and made this dish one of my favorites! 4.8/5 Charsiu Pork: I loved the twist of this with the dijon mustard-style sauce on the side! Good amount of pork with lots of flavor. 4.5/5 Shrimp Spring Rolls: really tasty but serving sizes were fairly small for the price. 4/5 Drunkin Noodles: comes with large shrimp, lots of flavor, and chewy noodles. Pretty standard but otherwise, a classic done well. 3.8/5 Shaking Beef: this was the only dish I was kind of disappointed with (maybe it's because I had high expectations going in). The beef was a little firm to my liking and overall the flavor profile didn't stand out as much as the other dishes of the night. 3.5/5 read more

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Came with a big group (11)... had no reservation and were seated after about 25 minutes- not a bad wait. There was some confusion about who was going to wait on us .. but once that was settled... the food started coming and we were all super happy with everything served. We shared everything family style. Surprise of the night :: The squid ink rice ... it was so tasty ... try it ! Need to go back again! read more

I went here last night with some friends. It was a really nice looking restaurant with some friends. I will say it's like an upscale Tan Tan. The food choices are extremely similar with a varied menu. The only thing that is there isn't bot chien to order. The service was great, the server was nice and attentive. The booths are seated a little low though. We ordered mapo tofu, garlic eggplant, and firecracker chicken. The mapo tofu isn't as spicy or tongue numbing as it is in szechuan restaurants but it was okay. The garlic eggplant was flavorful and savory with a nice garlicky smokey sauce. The firecracker chicken wasn't super spicy but it was quite delicious, will recommend. read more

Mein Restaurant - Firecracker chicken, mapo tofu, garlic eggplant - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

My wife and I had lunch on a weekday. This place was great. The servers (and owner) were attentive (all staff members wore a mask), the food was delicious, and the prices were just right. The food was mostly family style. We order the Sansai Egg Tofu and Water Spinach to share. The Sansai Egg Tofu was soft, silky and delicious. The Water Spinach was also good. I ordered an additional dish for myself, the HK Wonton Noodle Soup. The soup brought me back to my childhood where I would get this sometimes in NYC Chinatown. It was so good, I drank all the broth. I've noticed some other reviews mentioning they used too much MSG. I'm pretty sensitive to MSG. I cannot eat most Dim Sum with out feeling my blood pressure rise. I didn't experience this here. It could be the dishes we ordered. The food was so good, we decided to order take out for home. The XO Fish was yummy, but it was a little too spicy for my kids. The Salt and Pepper Tofu was okay (I think this is a dish you should eat there). We're definitely going to come back to this place. BTW, there are several other restaurants next door.....gotta try them out too. read more

If you going during the weekend peak hours, parking can be tough and will be a bit of wait to get seated.We went during the weekday, after lunch hours but food took a while to get to the table. Hubby ordered charsue garlic wonton noodles. It was too salty IMO. Noodles texture was great, al dente. Charsue was on the sweeter side. Didn't really taste the garlic in the noodle, soy sauce flavor over power the whole dish. I got char kuey kak (stir fry rice cake). It's a broken down rice cake (and no it's not that kinda of cake you thinking). The rice cake (banh bot chien) is salty as well. You typical would dip this in soy sauce at other place but here it's deconstruct and the sauce is already mix in while stir fry. The price is kinda steep for Cantonese food in Bellaire. Their menu is extensive. Decore is cute, modern Chinese restaurant feel. Service is eh, we have to flag down random server bc we didn't know who is serving our table. One person took our orders, another person brought our food, a different person refills our water. Would we be back? Maybe not. There's so many chinese/Cantonese restaurant in Houston to try. read more

Mein Restaurant - char kuey kak (stir fry rice cake) - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Me and two other friends were looking for a nice family style Chinese restaurant, and Mein is a perfect place to go. In Houston Chinatown, where there are Chinese restaurants literally everywhere you look, Mein is certainly worth trying out. We ordered the snow pea leaves, jajiang mian, mapo tofu, and salt and pepper ribs. I recommend trying other meat options than the salt and pepper ribs, but everything else we got was 10/10. Y'all. The portions are no joke, they give so much food. I was especially amazing at how much snow pea leaves they gave us. It is not a cheap vegetable, but they gave us SO MUCH and I fell in love. read more

Mein Restaurant - Snow pea leaves, mapo tofu, jajiang mian - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

4.5 stars edging to 5. Some of the best dishes I have had in Bellaire. We had a group stop in and eat an early supper. It is a block off the main drag, but is in a nice little shopping strip with other cool places. Restaurant is not huge but is cozy and has a nice feel. I got to sample: shrimp roll A-, fried wontons A+, braised tofu A-, red oil dumplings A, beef flat rice noodles A, shrimp fried rice B, sansai egg tofu B+, general tau chicken A, firecracker chicken A+, All dishes were above average, I wish my local Chinese takeout was half as good as this. Highly recommend and will return. read more

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This place has an eclectic modern vibe but in a casual atmosphere! I was definitely feeling the design. The food here was a hit for me and my group of friends. The service that was provided was great and all our dishes was well seasoned and of great quality. Salt and pepper squid was great but a tad bit more saltier than I expected but still delicious! The garlic eggplant was excellent as well as the Chinese sausage fried rice! The shaking chicken was a surprise as I've never heard of that item but we tried it anyways and it was the best decision. The chicken was so tender and flavorful with every bite! I highly recommend this place! read more

Mein Restaurant - Salt and pepper squid - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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$10 cake fee for 2 people, seriously?!!! Charsiu was just okay. Wonton noodle soup was lukewarm with greasy soup. I don't understand the hype. read more

Mein Restaurant - $10 cake fee for two people! Didn't even have them fridge my cake, cut the cake, add candles! Just provided light for the candles. - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Best Asian food I've had since coming to houston! We got a veggie entree and beef entree and was the perfect amount of food for two people. It's was all saucy but not too saucy and not really greasy either. The service was quick at 1:30 on a Saturday. Will be coming back. Apparently their lava toast is amazing too but we haven't gotten to try it yet. Update: we went back for dinner on saturday and it was just as quick! Also, DO NOT park in the parking lot across the street. We didn't see the signs and our car got towed. The security guard said it was towed within three minutes of us leaving it there so there is zero room for leniency/error. Other than that great experience lol. read more

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Nestled in a small shopping center away from the Bellaire strip, Mein is not to be missed! First thing to note here is that more authentic Chinese flavors are used here, yet they are catering to an American crowd in terms of decor, service, and even a bit in the food. It's a very good intro to Chinese food restaurant to take people apprehensive about real Chinese food. With that said, it's tasty enough that actual Chinese people eat here too. The clean, modern interior is unlike others in Chinatown. I actually love the artwork and feel of this place. Definitely not a hole in the wall. The menu is large, with lots of options to fill anyone's needs. Everything we ordered was tasty except I want a fan of the oil wontons. It was not as I was expecting. I really liked the juicy shrimp on the shrimp dish. I did opt for the much talked about Lava Toast. Meh. It was tasty, but it very sweet. Don't think I will order it again. Service was a bit slow and could be improved, but we still enjoyed the meal. read more

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Disappointing. Flat rice noodle dish was a little burnt . Usually Asians including myself and my grandmother loves "wok hei" is a charred aroma from cooking over flame with a wok. However, this dish was overtaken by the burnt taste and over cooked textured - The eggs, the squid, and the Chinese sausages were all over cooked.The dish didn't have any notable flavor because of it. We also ordered the char siu. Decent. My grandma complained that was also burnt. It was only the ends so it didn't bother me. When our waiter asked how the dishes were, I brought it to our waiter attention that we were dissatisfied with the dish because of the burnt flavor and over cooked pieces. He just looked confused and didn't really bring it to management attention. He assures me he brought it to the cooks' attention. Waiter did packed our food which I appreciate the extra touch. With these type of prices and so many good reviews, I would assume they would have higher standard quality in their food and service. I will stick to the tried and true ,House of Bowls, for my stir fried flat rice noodle dishes. I suggest you to do the same. read more

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Highly recommend! The charsiu, stir fry green beans, xiao long Bao, wonton soup, salt and pepper ribs plus the lava toast is a must order! read more

Mein Restaurant - Char Siu - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Very lively place, great food. Many choices to choose from. Try this place during lunch or dinner, I love their dish with the baby eggplant. The appetizers are awesome, ask the wait staff for what is popular, you can't go wrong with any of their choices. I'll definitely try it again soon. read more

I tried this place out while I was on a vegetarian diet and let me just say, the substitutions for the dishes we got were absolutely delicious. They tasted fresh and quite healthy, if I'm being honest. I recommend! read more

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Dishes are delicious Szechuan-style dishes. Wait staff is helpful with food recommendations and plate numbers when sharing. Great place for a casual lunch or dinner with family or friends read more

Really cool restaurant with a great vibe. Didn't look or feel like your typical Asian restaurant in Chinatown. Our waiter Po, was super nice and gave us mini history of the restaurant, area and his job We ordered the black bean chicken. It was good but not as flavorful as I expected though their hot sauce was the bomb!! We also ordered the drunken noodles which included a bunch of huge shrimp. Again the flavor was lacking ... but with the hot sauce it was good. The restaurant filled up quickly for a Sunday evening. Everyone's tables were packed w so many different delicious looking dishes. Definitely need to make another trip to try the other dishes read more

Mein Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Firecracker chicken, jalapeño prons for the W! Had from NY visit and we wanted him to have some of the best food available so we yelped this place and they did not disappoint. We started with appetizers of cream cheese Rangoon's that were good, nothing special. Then we moved on to our entrees and what a nice surprise. The FCC was so delicious that they had me eating up all the onion in the plate as well. My entire family was eating out of my plate. Even the NY family member couldn't stop himself. The jalapeño prons were perfectly cooked, tender and not overdone. The spice level was tolerable and we enjoyed them without having to take frequent drinks of water. We also had the duck, and we are still searching for that crispy duck skin with a moist tender center. We were also very pleased with the service. Excellent. read more

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This is a large restaurant with very tasteful and ethnic decor. The wait staff is incredibly nice. This is in Chinatown so it's difficult to stand out given so many affordable yummy choices. Everything we tried was absolutely delicious and perfectly seasoned. Such a gem! The shaking tofu and salmon appetizer particularly stood out. Will definitely return. read more

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Beautiful restaurant with delicious Cantonese food. Pretty much everything on the menu is good, you really can't go wrong. They don't take reservations for weekend evenings and they get very busy, so you will likely have to wait for a table if you come on a weekend. Servers were attentive and the food was delicious. read more

Mein Restaurant - Lotus root pork - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Great good and great ambiance!! The waiters are very friendly and are amazing!! We love their pad Thai and red oil dumplings! read more

Mein Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Looked up places to go in Chinatown in an article: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/houston/best-restaurants-in-chinatown-houston Then decided on Mein Restaurant. Very good. Friend recommended the Chicken Jalapeño. Lots of tasty chicken. Red Oil Dumplings as appetizer. A restaurant favorite. And the Drunken Noodles. Coming from New Orleans this is way better place to go for Chinese cuisine. Still awesome Hong Kong Kitchen in NOLA though. read more

Excellent authentic Chinese dishes. The crispy noodles was fantastic. Bok Choy was made just right. The staff was attentive and helpful. It's my first time here and I can't wait to come back. read more

Mein Restaurant - Dining room - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Very good foods and service. Very reasonable price. Highly recommended. Would definitely come back read more

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I took my friend Grace L. who visited me from Kansas along with Eric R., Herman A., Marcie D., Nathan C., and Janie N. Nathan C. and Janie N. recommended this place as they come often. We had a big party on a Friday night so we had a short wait, but we were able to grab drinks at the bar. I got a Sapporo and Eric R. had Lucky Buddha beer. Grace L. got the yakult yuzu non-alcoholic beverage. When we were seated, we decided to do family style and a compromise was made to try many types of proteins. Marcie D. is gluten free and ordered her own satay and curry. For the table, we got -shaking tofu: absolutely delicious! -half fried chicken: saw this was recommended by David N. so we went for it - pretty tasty! -soup dumplings: I don't eat pork but Eric R. was happy with them though he said the wrapper was too thick like other reviews indicated -beef har fun noodle: so good Nathan C. ordered a second one we did not need, and Eric R. and I took it home - leftovers were great! -clams in black bean sauce: Grace L.'s choice - I tasted it and it was good, but I probably would not order it again -wok-fired brussel sprouts and cauliflower: this was my choice and I was quite pleased with it - who does not love these? -salt and pepper squid: not as good as I anticipated, but maybe because I was so full by this point! -we also got a big bowl of rice which was refilled This is a fun place for a date or a group, and I would probably return to try other dishes on the extensive menu. read more

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We frequent Chinatown a lot and try a new restaurant each time. The wait for a busy Friday was only 15 minutes. The venue is quaint and the food is delicious. We enjoyed the Chinese mustard greens and the beef and bitter melon. Wow! What a treat. read more

Mein Restaurant - Wonton Soup - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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The food is delicious and a change from your typical Chinese menu, great attentive young group of staff that works well together for service. Nice and casual atmosphere but can be a dressy experience as well. read more

One of my favorite Chinese restaurant that has a modern yet authentic menu. The shaking beef is always a must whenever I come here with family or colleagues. It pairs really well with the string beans and ever since I was introduced to the egg tofu, I've been obsessed! Tofu lovers will need to try this one out! With the dim lighting and constant chatter from other tables, I am further immersed into whoever I'm currently with. Our waiter was really friendly and was willing to help out and cater to our needs. read more

Mein Restaurant - Shaking beef, String Bean, Sansai Egg Tofu - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Went here for the first time last night with my friends before going out to drink... Place: the location was kind of hidden. My friends had a hard time finding it. I only knew where it was because I sometimes go to Ohn. (which I had a hard time finding the first time). The interior was really cool. I love how they got brick walls on one side and painted walls on the other. Instagram worth. Service: servers were friendly and hospitable. The only weird thing to us was we felt like all the servers kept looking at us. Maybe they just want to accommodate us as soon as needed? Lol Food: they were good but not as impressive. Maybe I should go back to try some more of their dishes. Definitely want to try the squid fried rice next time read more

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Been coming here for a while now. The wife and I come here about every 2 weeks. We have tried different items every time we go and every time the food is amazing. The owner comes to the table and talks to us and as does recommendation. This place is a hidden gem a must go and try!!!!! read more

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I love that the plaza when Mein is located is not in the heart of Chinatown! Parking was easy to find and I didn't have to fight a bunch of crazy drivers to get to the restaurant. I tried the crispy fried noodles ($11.50) and HK wonton noodle soup ($7.50) on a recent visit here. Both dishes were great! No complaints here. Lots of meat and seafood in the noodle dish and I think I got 5 wontons in the soup. The wonton soup portion was smaller than I expected but it was still very filling for lunch. The restaurant is very clean (smelled like Clorox and bleach when I walked in as their first customer on a weekday morning) and the women's restroom was very tidy, too. I will definitely return! There's also lots of other cute shops nearby to get ice cream or coffee if your heart desires post-meal. read more

Mein Restaurant - HK wonton noodle soup - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I've been here a couple times and usually leave pretty satisfied but I've also never been very impressed. They have a wide range of items including Cantonese food, Chinese food, and Vietnamese food. Everything is pretty solid but similar tasting food can be found all over Bellaire for cheaper prices. A few of my go-to dishes are the walnut prawn, shrimp roll, silken tofu, and house wonton with char siu and soup on the side. However, one item I absolutely do NOT recommend are their soup dumplings (which a waiter actually recommended to us). It took almost 30-40 min to come out and we were actually completely done with the rest of our meal. The wrapper is very thick, there is barely any soup, and the filling itself just doesn't taste very good. I think their wontons actually even taste better than the soup dumplings. Overall, this is my least favorite restaurant of all the other ones (Tiger den, Ohn, night market Thai) but I'll still come here when other people want to read more

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God I love this place. Consistent and delicious food every time. I have cane here countless of times and have never left unsatisfied. Here are my go to recommendations Red oil dumplings San San egg tofu Salt and pepper squid Char xiu pork Pan fried flat noodles with beef Shrimp hor fun noodles The house fried rice read more