Despite how often I find myself around here, I'd be lying if I had paid much attention to L H…read moreRestaurant in the past. In part, it's because I had no idea the old Five Happiness restaurant that used to call this place home had even closed, but, really, I just tend to forget about every restaurant on this block (save for Brothers Korean BBQ). That is, until we heard that they sell Chinese BBQ roast pork and roast duck here, which we're always on the lookout for!
Compared to some of the other nearby Chinese restaurants, L H feels a bit bigger in size, but, outside of that, not much about it feels all that indistinguishable or notable. As for the menu, we knew we were going to be trying their Chinese BBQ, but it was nice to see that they have over 140+ dishes to choose from, even despite how it didn't seem like there was a specific signature offering or specialty. Still, with so many options available, it was nice to see just about every Chinese staple dish was accounted for and that there seemed to be something for everyone.
-- THREE BBQ ITEM PLATE with Roast Pork, Roast Duck, and Char Siu
The dish we came here for, but it was a mixed bag. The biggest issue for me was how everything was cool/room temp, but at least the Roast Pork wasn't bad - a touch underseasoned, but crispy-ish. The Roast Duck was also decent (albeit lean), but the Char Siu was a bit dry.
-- BEEF STEW & WONTON NOODLE SOUP with Egg Noodles
While the portion size was generous, nothing about this stood out. On the plus side, the wontons were fairly plump and the noodles had a nice bite to them. However, the broth wasn't very rich and several chunks of the beef stew were chewy/tough.
-- TOMATO BEEF JI MIEN
This didn't do much for me, but, to be fair, I'm not a big fan of the dish in general. Although it came with a generous amount of tomatoes on top, all of the sauce and everything didn't leave much crispiness to the noodles.
-- BEEF WITH SCRAMBLED EGG OVER RICE
I didn't have a ton of this one, but it might have been the best dish we had. Sadly, some of the rice felt a little firm, but the eggs were cooked exactly how I prefer for this dish and the slices of beef were actually surprisingly tender.
Much like the food, the service here was fine, but it seems they may not be as generous as they used to be. While the workers were friendly enough, my relative, who comes here often and is the one who put this place on our radar, mentioned they no longer give free soup with their lunch plates and that the portions looked slightly smaller than he remembered. I personally can't say if that's actually the case or not, so take it for what it's worth, but I also don't have any reason to doubt him either.
All in all, even though nothing about L H Restaurant, or their food, amazed us, I can't say anything specific failed us either. Rather, our visit just felt really lackluster and generic. If anything, the most notable thing about this place is how curiously early they close, even on weekends (closes at 7pm). Given all of that, I can't say we have much of a reason to come back, especially in an area like the Richmond where we really don't have to go far to find the same or better.
TWO AND A HALF STARS rounded down.