Kaojiu I hardly knew thee since I first stopped by in 2023 and seems only fitting to stop by once…read moremore 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!

I ordered Chinese-style seaweed salad, fried tofu w secret sauce, mini BBQ abalone (5 pcs), and…read morelamb 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

Really exciting place focused on Northwest Chinese cuisine…read more The signature dish, the hand-pulled beef noodle soup, had a fairly light, but subtle, flavor. The noodles themselves I wish were chewier (got the 'flat' but probably should have gone for 'extra wide'), and perhaps it'd been nice to have some different textures inside the soup (e.g. something crunchy). The scallions in the soup were also too wide, and needed to be sliced more thinly. The beef pancake was quite decent, though the edges didn't have enough beef and the middles had too much beef. The beef was tender, though I might have liked it more flaky. The sauce inside the pancake was somewhat unevenly applied, and a bit too sweet. I wonder if a dipping sauce (maybe a vinegar?) would have helped. The blueberry with mashed yams was fascinating. It was listed under appetizers, and wondered why the dish came out last. But the dish was a bit sweet (naturally!) and so it actually worked as a light modest dessert! The wait staff was spot on after all in putting out the dish last. The stir-fried cabbage dish was beautiful! It was appropriately crunch, yet using good wok hey. The salt level was a bit high, but the spice level was good. Their spice ratings were a bit timid to what I encounter in Szechuan restaurants (the 'regular' level seemed to be more 'mild-regular'). The stir-fried cumin potato was delicious; nicely flavored, nicely charred. Some bits were a bit oily but the cook on the potato was really neat. Will revisit!!!

Overall great experience for the two times I visited! First time was during their soft open so…read moreunderstand they were still working out for a new restaurant back in December 2024 and most recently in October. The hand pulled beef noodles are a must try! You can customize your noodle thickness. First time I went I tried the wide noodles and the second time I went all in for the extra wide noodles available with the regular spice level. I added on the tea egg and they brought it on the side for you to add into the broth. We tried the lamb skewers and those were flavorful to whet the appetite for share in group of 5. We capped off the meal with their jelly vanilla ice cream dessert too which was the perfect way to wash the delicious spices from the noodle soup earlier. I would definitely come again as each time the noodles, soup and the beef were equally tasty.

This restaurant was a nice change up to traditional sushi, restaurants…read more They have the usual sushi and Chinese options, and a good selection of sakes on offer. The beer and wine selection was quite good.

Food was very fresh! Makes sense cause we saw them making dumplings from scratch. Very nice decor…read moreand service relative to standard Chinese places. Would def come back.

The food here is excellent!! Everything we got was very yummy…read more We ordered: - twice cooked pork (has more oil but very tasty) - fish with chili (comes with lots of vermicelli at the bottom) - garlic pea shoots - beef appetizer - cumin lamb Would want to go back and try more! The service is great too.

Guest spot for Sichuan cuisine…read more The place is pretty open despite being small. It feels cozy but also not crowded. Seems there is often a wait but the vestibule to wait within is only enough for maybe 4 people. I suggest going when the weather is nice so can wait outside if you need. Food is really good. The menu is huge. There are so many choices. I'm admittedly not an expert on the cuisine but it seemed pretty authentic and chatting with some of the other patrons, they seemed to agree it was a taste of home. Street parking. Maybe a wait. The food is good.

This might be my new go to spot for AYCE hotpot during lunch hours…read more My two reasons are, their mala broth is amazing and is actually spicy. Second reason is, the quality of their meat selection is excellent. Literally tastes so fresh and clean. I love that it's thinly sliced, too. Maybe I have a third reason too lol their dumplings, their dumplings (chives or cabbage), are so tasty. It comes out steaming hot in a whole order. Please try! We came here Monday for lunch. The waitress that was there and served us, she is amazing. Super friendly and helpful. We opted for the VIP selection because why not. For $40 a person, it's still not bad for the quality of food you get. I highly recommend it. Just check out my shortrib picture, you'll drool! The only reason I gave this review 4 out of 5 is because, there were not much seafood selection.

My favorite hot pot spot that has ruined me to everywhere else!…read more If you love that mala numbing spice you HAVE to try La Mei! They do AYCE From 11-4pm every day which is SO worth it for like $32! You can choose your broth (and you can do split broths)-- we always do the vegetable oil and the mushroom broth which are both sooo yummy (if they ask you how spicy say mild!! I can handle lots of spice and trust me you don't need more). Then you can order meats, veg, tofu, seafood, mushrooms, and noodles. Definitely get the hand pulled noodles! They "pull" the noodles right in front of you which is so fun. They also have a really nice sauce bar with tons of dipping options and also a few fruits and snacks. Overall, you must try this place! So delicious and affordable, make it your regular like I have

This place transported me to a whole other location! I didn't feel like I was in Massachusetts…read moreanymore. The decor inside and the quality of their food here takes you away! From the very attentive and supportive staff to the intricate details that they have throughout the restaurant , it is truly transformative experience. As for the food, if you're in the mood of something spicy, especially that Sichuan type of heat, then the beef soup is the one for you! I personally would recommend the green pepper pork because it was absolutely delicious! I could not stop eating it and it was just perfect in every which way! Looking forward to coming here again to try many other delicious foods and will probably bring a couple of more friends because their group seating is absolutely stunning!

5 for food 2 for service…read more We love the NYC version of this restaurant, and were excited to visit the Boston spot for mouth numbing dishes. Starting with an iPad menu, our ordering experience with our waiter was subpar. We ended up with extra things ordered that weren't part of our initial order. In good news the food was absolutely delicious. Everything was fire and the waiter poured 5 glasses of water for 3 of us. So we could cool down without needing to flag him down. With the only non-Asian waiter in the restaurant, he struggled with basic elements of service. Inattentive. Requests went unmet (lemons for water). We sat for more than 15 mins after asking to box up leftovers and to close our check. This was all a little embarrassing, as we brought my boyfriend's father. After singing praises of the NYC spot, this was a disappointment.

I've been to KungFu Kitchen two times now and it's been consistently great. I've ordered the Pork…read moreXiao Long Bao, Pork and Shrimp Wonton Soup, Scallion Pancake with Sliced Beef, Shanghai Pan-Fried Pork Buns, and Cucumber Salad - all were amazing and would order again. The pork and shrimp wonton soup was brought a perfect balance to the flavorful meal and it's broth was super yummy. The cucumber salad was seasoned perfectly and was a nice balance to the otherwise heavy meal. My favorite is probably the pork xiao long bao, but honestly, you can't go wrong with anything you order. Service was great. Both times we were a party of two and were seated quickly, if not immediately. Food came out very fast. Will 100% be returning.

Xiao long bao a little over steamed and MSG heavy, but nice thin wrapper and flavor. Best I've had…read morein Boston so far. Knife cut noodles also pretty tasty with good soup but too salty for me. Sheng jian bao was a bit of a letdown, not as crisp as I'd like. But still not bad, with a good ratio of bun to meat. The space is nice and open, and going with a toddler is easy due to clean high chair and bathroom changing table.

Definitely make a reservation, this place was very lively when we got there for our 6pm saturday…read morereservation. The seating is mostly tables and there were also a few people at the bar who seemed to be waiting for tables. We got the following: peruvian sunkiss, tahini colada, bossa nova, pal viper, bocadillo sour. The peruvian sunkiss was so refreshing. The Tahini colada was non-alcoholic and my friend really enjoyed it. Didn't get to taste the other drinks but everyone at our table enjoyed them! We unfortunately were only there for drinks but I would love to try their food next time because all the dishes looked and smelled so good.

My daughter's friend recommended this restaurant to her. We got a reservation for a party of 6…read moretonight. Our server was attentive and replenished our water for the table as soon as they were empty without our even asking. Food 5/5: every dish we ordered represented Sichuan flavors well, especially the spiciness of it! Our favorites were the eggplant with spicy garlic sauce, with the chengdu dry hot chicken and the string beans. The braised beef with Napa cabbage and mapo tofu were also delicious. Ambience 3/5: super loud. It wasn't even the music, it was that people's conversations were bouncing off the walls in a small space such that it was not possible to hear the other people in my group except who I was sitting next to. I saw several dates there and hopefully they could hear each other ok. Drinks: 2/5 overpriced and disappointing. My Negroni was ok but my husband's Manhattan tasted watery like it had been shaken instead of stirred and the melon highball tastes medicine-y. Overall a good experience because we were hungry and the food was amazing. We made up for not hearing each other well by taking an evening stroll and talking as we walked.