definitely one of the better dimsums i've been to. a little on the pricy side for 5 ppl. they're…read moreknown for their lava buns which were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. the inside was rich runny and creamy with that hint of sweet and salty egg yolk flavor that paired really well with the soft crispy exterior sweet pineapple bao. a must get every time you go here. we got so many dishes: pork and shrimp sui mai, har gao, bbq pork buns, bbq pork cheung fun, chicken feet, ham sui gok, turnip cake, sesame balls, lava buns, taro buns, taro pork puff, mango and coconut pigs i really enjoyed the turnip cake it was well seasoned with the smoky crispy grilled exterior that makes it really tasty. the sui mai and har gao are solid go-tos, but i'm not the biggest fan when sui mai has mushroom. bbq pork cheung fun was on the thinner side of the rice paper sheets and stuck together, but the sweet salty mix from the bbq pork and soy sauce with the slight bounciness from the cheung fun made it really enjoyable to eat. chicken feet not the best i feel like it lacked a strong salty black bean flavor they usually have, but it was soft and gelatinous. ham sui gok was okay the mochi was sweet and the salty meat paired really well with it but a little too soggy and could see the oil shining outside it. taro pork puff really good it's savory which could surprise people. the mango and coconut pigs are just the perfect sweetness and good mango/coconut flavor. love the bouncy texture as well.

Went for dim sum in the middle of the week, not busy at all! That's a very generous parking lot,…read morebut it gets busy on the weekends. Very well done interior, great for weekend gatherings of small and large groups. Very fast, and attentive service . We got a table immediately and Chrysanthemum Tea was out very soon after we ordered. We got an assortment of dim sum items. Standard but well done! The black fungus salad was refreshing, shiu mai and har gow were well portioned and came out fresh. Chicken feet with spiced appropriately warm and the sauce was the perfect consistency. The fresh mango pudding was adorable and in the shape of little bunnies, a great palate cleanser. Standout dish: my personal favorite is the salted egg yolk lava custard bun, specifically the flaky dough kind. I have been looking all over Houston for one compared to Los Angeles and this is the first place I found that I've done it correctly and they are GIANT. Kudos! For two people, the bill came to be ~$60. It's not cheap, but for an occasional splurge at the quality, worth it.

Not a bad spot for dim sum!…read more We came on a Saturday for lunch and it was pretty busy, but we were seated within 10-15 min. Unfortunately they no longer have the carts, so for dim sum you just order dish by dish. The food itself was not bad! The squid inktruffle har gow, truffle shumai and shu mai quail eggs were definitely interesting and good and nothing something that we've seen before on a dim sum menu. We also tried the crispy fried egg noodles with beef and vegetable but it felt like there was maybe a bit too much salt/msg. The staff was also very friendly and accommodating!

There's a lot of choices for Dim sum in Houston, and we had heard good things about Ocean Palace…read more Happy that we weren't disappointed and we were impressed by the friendly service and great food. Even when it was busy on Father's Day morning, the staff did a good job of managing the crowd. Inside is a very grandiose and expansive dining room that was busy but not overly loud or uncomfortable. Immediately, the famous dim sum carts are coming your way with a fresh assortment of classics. My personal favorites were the fried taro ball and the shumai which were great, along with the duck. Overall, we were mostly satisfied with everything, and we noticed that staff were very accommodating to large groups and others. Every server we encountered at the carts was very kind and we left very satisfied.

Heard this place had the best xiaolongbao in downtown and they definitely did not disappoint…read more I had my reservations coming in when I saw that we were the only Asian customers in the restaurant, but at least the staff were all Chinese. We got some Chinese dishes (dancing beef, eggplant) that were surprisingly authentic - slightly on the salty side but cooked very well. I highly recommend!

Soup dumplings are delicious, spicy popcorn chicken, and red oil dumplings are so good! I also…read morerecently tried their general Tso's chicken and it was really good. Always good service, calm and very nice environment. Always clean interior. Parking lot available in front of restaurant and family friendly. No outdoor seatings. What I order : General Tso Spicy popcorn chicken Red oil dumplings Chicken Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings)

The food and service were good and it was quite busy. They had many options available on the dim…read moresum menu. We got a few items and the congee soup stood out. Would come back.

Hard to find this place. GPS was not helpful. If it wasn't for the sign along with others to point…read moretoward an alley of an outer mall, we almost turned around. Parked in a large lot that shares with others in this large strip mall. Look for the central location between 2 long strip malls attached. Walk inside though dark and looks like nothing is there... you keep going till it shows on your right. Not very large restaurant, old, shabby, a dive but the service and food was very good. Expected prices to be much lower since it was not the elegant restaurant you would bring a date, but it was still fairly reasonable. Restrooms were clean but ancient Prob go elsewhere if I were in town again, too much competition in this area.

I've eaten a lot of spicy dry chicken cube in my time, and Trendy Dumpling's is the one all the…read moreothers should be measured against. Same goes for the pork bao: fluffy, porky perfection. The combo fried rice is also excellent. I order mine without shrimp, but that's a me problem, not a them problem. Shrimp fans, carry on. Staff are friendly and service is fast. Fair warning for first-timers: like most places of this kind, dishes come out as they're ready, not in any grand ceremonial order. So if you need your courses to arrive in a particular sequence, order in waves rather than all at once. The literal only downside: soft drinks come in cans, so no refills, and spicy dry chicken cube demands refills. Easily one of my top 3 restaurants in Houston, and hands down my favorite Asian restaurant anywhere in the USA. I'm going to go research how to get an IV filled with the spicy chicken. You should just go to Trendy Dumping.

For a dumpling place, dumpling selection was somewhat limited…read more Spicy dumplings were really good. Beijing duck was excellent. Crispy bottom bao seem mass produced. Cucumbers were very crunchy. Seasoned with mostly just salt. Server thought it would be cool to bring politics into our dinner. He behaved very inappropriately.

This hidden gem is located inside Justgo supermarket. We've walked past by for years, until a…read morefamily friend recommended this spot to us. We came in on a Thursday morning. There were a few customers eating before us, however one by one all the tables inside were taken and it got busy. A very good sign. We ordered ha cao, xiu mai, chicken feet, turnip cake, glutinous rice dumpling, steamed rice noodle, tripe, and Chinese broccoli. The food was phenomenal! Everything was cooked to perfection. The service may be slow due to limited staff (mom and pop shop) so give them some grace. We also learned the hard way that the hot tea is self-serve. But this is now our new favorite dimsum place and can't wait to come back. So glad that we don't have to drive all the way to Bellaire to get dimsum.

Tiny dimsum spot inside Jusgo. They have a very small dimsum menu but is the best dimsum for the…read moreitems they do have in Houston. Esp the beef chow fun. The only service is them bringing you the food. No water is provided but you can buy bottled water. It's also super hot sitting in there.

Hong Kong style food is like a Chinese style food but with American influence…read more Not like Chinese fast food type. You will see alot of spaghetti options. So don't feel weird about it. It's normal and delicious together. We tried the tomato beef. Which is kind of an acquired taste. It was good. Not too strong, but a bit on the lighter side. It's a must have with rice. Don't choose the spaghetti. The duck was fatty but lots of flavor! Pork was tasty and a must with rice as well. Lots of good flavors swirling about. Will definitely be back for their breakfast toast.

We wanted to try this spot as it had Cha Chan tang food that would be similar to what was offered…read morein Hong Kong. Their tastiest item was their roast duck. It was one of the juiciest ducks I've had in awhile. They also have delicious egg tarts with a melt in your mouth cookie shell. Other items that were pretty good were their stir fried beef noodles and baked pork chop with rice. Some items that weren't great were their curry fish ball noodle soup and satay beef with rice, which were bland. The coffee and milk tea that I ordered tasted only of tea. We also tried their HK style French toast, which was ok but nothing to write home about. Overall, I would come back here for their roast duck and egg tarts. Next time, I'd like to try out their egg dishes and sandwiches.

4.5 stars Our friends brought us some Shanghai Restaurant…read morefor dinner and we had salt and pepper ribs, house special tofu, beef cubes with mushroom and asparagus, and sautéed on choy. Per our friend, their salt and pepper ribs are the best they've had in Houston, and I would agree. It was crispy, flavorful, and the meat was tender. Yum! Definitely the highlight of the meal. The beef cubes with asparagus and mushrooms was good too. Beef was nice and tender and flavor was good. The house special tofu was a surprise box as it literally had everything in it! There was beef slices, chicken chunks , squid, shrimp, charsu, bamboo in addition to deep fried pieces of tofu. I enjoyed the dish, but maybe because there were too many things in it I would probably try something else next time, before you're not sure which protein you're going to get each time. Sautéed on choy was good as well. I can't comment on the service or ambience since we didn't dine in. However, overall enjoyed the place and would love to return to try other dishes (as well as reorder the salt and pepper ribs.

Hadn't been back in a long while, but we came here to celebrate the Lunar New Year. This…read morerestaurant is another OG in Houston. They have been around for as long as I can remember. Don't be fooled by its English name, you will not be eating Shanghainese food here: this is a traditional Cantonese restaurant. In typical Chinese American fashion, we had the "adult" table and of course we sat at the "kids" table. We ordered the classics as pictured. The food is always tasty and consistent. Service is friendly and the even though this spot is no frills, it is a familiar place with a very family-centered atmosphere. You can not go wrong with old reliable. If you are ever craving authentic, traditional Cantonese cooking without the large, dim sum hybrid model, I definitely recommend this place. Perfect for lunch with coworkers, by yourself, and great for larger dinners with the whole family.

I'm a big lover of buffets, and being Vietnamese, a Vietnamese buffet definitely has my heart…read more There's just something about Kim Son that keeps me coming back. I love being able to get all of my favorite Vietnamese comfort foods in one place--from bánh xèo, bánh cuốn, chicken curry, bún riêu, bánh bột chiên, noodles and dumplings to chè and pandan sticky rice. There's always something I'm craving, and I love being able to have a little bit of everything. The food is consistently good, the selection has so many of my favorites, and it's the kind of place that feels comforting every time I go. Kim Son will always be a place I recommend!

I felt like I was in Disneyland Vietnam when my cousins took me to Kim Son last year! I was like,…read more"How is this place even real?" and had to pinch myself a few times just for good measure. I don't even know where to start with my review because there's so many layers to the magic that we experienced in this establishment. I guess I can address the purpose of my family's visit, which was to celebrate my beloved grandpa's birthday. We were all in town for my cousin's medical school graduation, so we figured we might as well get together for another major milestone while we were at it. What better way to celebrate old age than to increase our cholesterol levels with seafood and more seafood, right? But I digress! The moment we walked in through the doors of Kim Son, we were amazed by their abundance of selection. I couldn't believe how many different stations there were for dim sum, mango sticky rice, fresh pho/bun rieu/bun bo hue/etc., banh cuon, and so much more. My personal favorite highlight of the afternoon was the fact that you could get sua dau nanh on tap. Where else do they do that at other than in Houston, TX? If you find out, please message me because I'll book my flight TODAY. Consider my bags packed! My cousin mentioned that on the weekends, they also have crawfish at the buffet as well. Thank goodness we were there on weekday for lunch because my family probably would've ate them damn near into bankruptcy if a seafood boil were present. We already make Crawfish Cafe™ the first and last place we visit every time we touch down in Houston, so imagine having access to bottomless crawfish at Kim Son as well? Let's not even entertain such a thought. I also personally feel that their entrance prices are more than fair, but I also live in a state with a higher cost of living, so locals -- please feel free to call me out if the prices are actually insane, LOL. Just know that if the food is heat, I'll pay whatever the asking prices are and that's my cross to bear. I usually don't even eat Vietnamese food that much and almost never go to buffets just based on the sanitation aspect alone. All things considered, however, I really enjoyed the diverse selection of dishes available at this joint and they also kept it squeaky clean around the clock. No complaints from me other than the fact that they need to open a location closer to my hometown in Orange County so I can bring my folks here more often.

Fast and delicious. Simple and tasty, at a reasonable price.We got there at11:15 a.m. and we're…read moreserved minutes after that. We will go back!

5 Stars - Authentic Szechuan that absolutely nails the classics…read more During our short trip to Houston, as a custom, we were determined to find real Szechuan food, and luckily we found Hu's Kitchen. The location is a bit unassuming, and parking is definitely tough (the spaces are very shallow), but the second we walked through the doors and smelled the Szechuan peppercorns, I knew we were in exactly the right place. I generally judge a Szechuan restaurant by their 夫妻肺片 (Fuqi Feipian)--which they cleverly name "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on the menu. They completely nailed it. The beef, tripe, and tendon were incredibly cohesive together, yet you could tell each component was prepared and marinated in a slightly different way to perfectly highlight its specific texture. The chili oil was right on the spot. We went through a massive bowl of rice just eating this dish alone. Honestly, if I weren't feeding a family of four, I could have just ordered that and been perfectly happy. While the Fuqi Feipian proves their skill with dry dishes, the 水煮魚片 (Fish in Szechuan Hot Chili Oil) proves their skill with wet ones. It's another must-order. The execution was flawless--we didn't just finish the tender fish chunks, we ate every last piece of cabbage soaked in that incredible chili broth. For my two daughters who can't handle the heat, we ordered the fried rice, garlic pork ribs with onion, and the 紅燒獅子頭 (Giant Meatball with Cabbage). The giant meatball was spectacular. The kids completely devoured it on their own, but I managed to steal a bite, and it instantly brought back childhood memories of exactly how this dish is supposed to taste. We also had the Dan Dan Noodles, which were great and rounded out the meal perfectly. I loved all of the dishes we tried. Should we ever find ourselves in Houston again, we will absolutely be revisiting this hidden gem.