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    Sambal Chef

    4.1 (87 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:30 pm

    Order Sambal Chef Takeout or Delivery

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    SAMBAL CHEF ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Sambal Chef

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    Reviews With Photos - Sambal Chef

    Linh T.

    I recently tried Sambal Chef after hearing so many good things about them. The store is a bit hidden, but it was not hard to find. I stopped by for a late lunch on a Saturday after lunch hours, so it was not busy at all. The store is small but clean. The workers were nice, and it did not take long for the food to come out. We got the 1/2 Haianese chicken and the roti canai with beef rendang. The chicken was super tender and nicely flavored, but it had mostly bones and very little meats. The roti canai and the beef rendang were very tasty.

    beef rendang
    Ann L.

    This place was a bit tucked away, next to the Dun Huang plaza. Plenty of parking. We came here for dinner and it didn't disappoint. Plenty of tables with a homey vibe. We were seated right away. Their menu was pretty extensive with plenty of options to choose from. We ordered some of their Malaysian specialties to share as a group: - Hainanese chicken - Roti canai - Water spinach with sambal sauce - Mee goreng - Beef rendang - Beef satay Everything we tried was delish. My favorite was the beef rendang. Beef was very tender and packed with flavors. Hainanese chicken was also cooked to perfection. We wanted to see the difference between their mee goreng versus the instant noodle. It was more like a stir fried noodle. This was plenty of food to share among 4 people. We didn't have to wait too long for the food to come out. Service was friendly. This was a good spot to grab a family-style meal.

    Diana J.

    Good service. Plenty of tables. Great food served quick. Everything was packed with flavor so much so that the buttered soft shell crabs I could only taste the crab and not the sauce. Sadly they're closing end of this month but will be relocating! New location is TBD but they said they're looking at Katy or Pearland. So yay, they will be back!

    Rendang beef
    Alex N.

    I wanted to try another spot for Hainanese chicken with my girlfriend and found this place. It was pretty quiet for a Saturday afternoon. The staff looked bored just waiting around. We shared a roti with beef rendang and the Hainanese chicken. The sauce that came with the beef was delightful and reminded me of Vietnamese style curry. Roti was nice and crispy and great for dipping into that sauce. The chicken was the main course and was good but not extraordinary. The texture was very much like an average chicken anywhere. The appeal of this kind of chicken for me is usually the tenderness with a slight bite to it. The flavors went well with the traditional ginger oil and hot sauce paired with it. The portion looked big at first, but there were a lot of bones taking up space. Overall, I enjoyed the experience.

    A2. Roti Canai with Curry Chicken (2 Pieces)
    Amita K.

    Awesome food!! Must visit if you like Malaysian and Singaporean food. Service was great. We ordered roti canai , pineapple fried rice, chicken, curry, laksa, Ikan bakar ( fried flounder) . Everything was excellent and delicious. The chicken, curry laksa could have done with a little less oil to maintain the original coconut curry flavor but everything else was just perfect. Not spicy but flavorful. Ambience is what you would expect of restaurant in a strip mall. We enjoyed the food and we will be back again to try other dishes on the menu!

    NS1. Curry Laksa (Chicken)
    Judy C.

    Honestly everything was delicious! Ordered a good amount of food for a group of 5 and got: - Curry Laksa (With yellow noodle and chicken. Broth was super flavorful) - Salted Egg Shrimp (shrimps were HUGE and crispy) - Ikan Bakar (Whole flounder thats fried and crispy/nicely seasoned) - Salted Egg Fried Chicken Wings (same seasoning as the shrimp and tender/crispy) - Roti with curry sauces - Malaysia Style Sizzling Tofu (this was really yummy and flavorful as well) - Salt Pepper Spare Ribs (not too salty and tender) - Water spinach - Singapore Chilli Crab (tasted like the taiwanese egg and tomato dish sauce. Crab was pretty meaty) Staff were attentive and nice. Parking - within the plaza as denny's Restroom - kinda clean

    B1. Beef Rendang
    Jennifer N.

    The restaurant is in the building next to Denny's and can be easily ignored since it isn't in the main Chinatown plaza. Sambal chef needs more recognition for delicious authentic Malaysian food. Ordered their house fried rice, salted yolk fried chicken, salted yolk calamari and beef rendang. I didn't get the chance to take any photos of the other dishes since I was hungry.

    Chili crab
    Brandon D.

    One of my good friend's invited me to their birthday dinner at Sambal Chef in bellaire! They are a Malaysian restaurant that used to be located in pearland before moving to the Chinatown area. It's nice that their location is not in the main area because parking was so easy. We started off with the chicken and beef satay. I really liked the chicken skewer but the beef one was not as tender and juicy. The roti canai was flaky and I really enjoyed the darker red curry sauce. Idk what the yellow sauce was but the flavor was very light on that one. Garlic water spinach was a necessity to get my daily fiber in. I thought the sizzling tofu was just ok but it prob would've been better if the sauce wasn't on the side. The chili crab was sweet and spicy, and also messy and saucy. I'd say it's pretty good but I'm not sure if it's worth the value. They used to have a bogo deal for it back then. I recommend adding the sauce to the rice for a little kick and flavor. The char koay teow was solid but I really liked how pandan leaf have you done sambal sauce, it really is a game changer

    Samantha W.

    A good place to eat when I don't feel like making a drive out to Phat Eatery (prices definitely cheaper with great portion sizes). The restaurant is not that big inside but it's not small. We also came in large party and on a Friday night and there was no wait so take that for what it is. Ordered Hainan chicken, roti, beef rendang, a noodle dish, amongst others. I would literally come back just for the roti canal, it is so good. The meat for the beef rendang was pretty tender but I think the flavor is better at Phat Eatery. Overall, good service and a good place to get Malaysian food. Will come back to try more things!

    A3. Roti Canai with Beef Rendang (2 Pieces)
    Chris H.

    Best Malaysian food in town!! Prices are reasonable and much cheaper than phat eatery! Highly recommend the roti canai and chili prawns! Can't go wrong with any of their stir fried noodle dishes! Great service and plenty of parking!

    Soo L.

    Came for lunch in the middle of the week. Lunch menu special: Order three dishes, receive the fourth free! It also came with complimentary seaweed soup. We two ordered four dishes to use the special offer: Char Koay Teow, Hainanese Chicken, Black Pepper Fish Filet, Curry Chicken Laksa. I made the mistake of saying we didn't like it too spicy. I think they toned it down too much. Still, we'll be back to try other dishes!

    A3. Roti Canai with Beef Rendang (2 Pieces)
    A L.

    Roti is delicious - slightly crispy on the outside. Soft inside. Beef rendang served with the roti was meh - ok flavor, but overcooked meat. Hainan chicken also was so so. Decent portion of meat and veggies, but lacking in flavor. Stir fried vegetables are good - tender.

    Kacy M.

    My group ordered the Hainanese Chicken, Snow Pea Leaf, Salted Egg Golden Calamari, Salted Egg Fried Chicken, Malaysia Style Sizzling Tofu, Char Koay Teow, Hokkien Mee, and Seafood Noodles. The menu prices range from $5.95-$27.95. We did have a Malaysian born friend in the group who has dined here before so he knew what to get and got a couple things that he hasn't tried on his last visit. The workers were very kind and were speaking Cantonese which I loved (Malaysia is a melting pot so you don't know who you're gonna get). Standout dishes were the calamari (crunchy and addicting, could've ate half the dish myself), snow pea leaves (cooked perfectly with no fuss), and Hainanese chicken (presented beautifully and was fragrant). I wouldn't get any of the noodles next time (too saucy/salty). Can't wait to come back!

    8 Pieces Wonton Soup

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    Ask the Community - Sambal Chef

    Do they take reservations?

    Yes

    View All 2 Questions

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    Northern Pasta 北方面食

    4.3
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    Best noodles and dumplings I ever had. Traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings for sure. Love itread more

    Their advertisement pictures on the store front's glass got me drooling so I wanted to check it out…read morewith my boyfriend, also I'm a huge fan of northern chinese food because it's my mom's hometown. The got nice wall art too, depicting the popular dishes from the north so I had my expectation and hopes up. Service is ordinary, she speaks little English but can get by ordering, we order first at the counter the sit anywhere. Braised egg is 2 for $3.50, salty but expected since it's marinated. Came out steaming hot, and yolk was not overly cooked and dry, not bad. Starting with the Chinese hamburger I felt sad and know not to expect too much from the other dishes we ordered. First the meat look different than what others have posted before, and it was kinda dry and too salty to eat. There was no other spice, only the meat juice flavor. The bun they use was stale to eat. Traditional way of making this should be the flaky oily pancake, or at least make the buns softer to eat. The mutton stew was clear and very heartwarming to drink on a cold day. But the portion is super small for the price. The glass noodles were gone in literally two bites. I had none to share with my boyfriend. This dish come with the burger bun too that you can soak them in the soup so I guess this is the extra carb make up for the less noodles. Oil splash noodle is their specialty? It was good but didn't wowed me. Noodles are chewy and well cooked, came with lots of bean sprouts. The sauce is flavorful and actually not too oily which I enjoyed more. You can add the beef for an extra charge, it's the regular braised beef, was just ok. I find it funny that their all food arts on the wall look nothing like the actual way they serve it.

    Photos
    Inside (chairs put up at 3pm, but can bring them back down if needed)
    Inside (chairs put up at 3pm, but can bring them back down if needed)
    Beef noodle soup
    Beef noodle soup
    Lamb soup.

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    Lamb soup.
    Hu's Cooking

    Hu's Cooking

    4.5
    (1.1k reviews)
    8.4 mi
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    Look no further for authenticity, flavor, and complexity in Chinese cooking near the med center!…read more Though we opted for more "simple" dishes during this experience, you can judge a place by if they can do their simple dishes well. The mapo tofu is one of the best we've had outside of Bellaire with spicy, savory, numbing, and warmth that you expect from a good mapo tofu. Crispy popcorn chicken is a classic that's spicy, lightly fried, and crisp. It has an authenticity that other places around can't replicate and makes you keep craving more. The portions are also appropriate for their price. Service is incredibly quick, and you can order as you go and receive your dish within 10-15 minutes, regardless of how busy they are. As for the ambiance, it's loud, it's hectic, and it's simple... maybe a stretch, but makes me feel like I'm eating at a mom and pop shop in the heart of China. This place is definitely a go to if I'm convincing a friend of Houston's great food scene! Rating: 4.5/5

    I've been a happy patron of Hu's Cooking ever since they opened the year before the pandemic, but…read morebecause of their instant success and local renown from their excellent eats, speedy service, busy-but-not-crowded vibes (see: their 1000+ Yelp reviews) I've never felt the need to drop a review of my own - until just this week. On my most recent visit we ordered mapo tofu with pork intestines off the specials menu - a hybrid of two of my favorite Sichuan-style dishes. The blend of bouncy, savory morsels amidst tender, saucy tofu was at once revolutionary and so obvious; why hadn't I yet seen this at any other restaurant? And sure, innards may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's important for you to know that none of my past orders from the 50+ item menu have ever failed me, whether enjoyed in the restaurant or at home. Maybe you'd prefer the aromatic, classic, perfectly balanced three-cup chicken? Or the sweet-skinned duck, glazed so delicately that specks of sugar crystal threaten to jump off onto the plate as you pick up a juicy slice with your chopsticks? And if you're vegetarian, might you consider the punchy garlic eggplant or the wok-kissed string beans? I could go on. Do yourself a favor and come see for yourself, though I'd recommend parallel parking on the neighborhood streets behind the restaurant rather than the rocky parking lot, to save you some trouble. Bring friends and chow down family style - you'll need help covering as much of the menu as you can, but you'll definitely have to come back to try everything.

    Photos
    Spicy chicken, clear noodles with red pepper sauce, and stir fried green beans
    Spicy chicken, clear noodles with red pepper sauce, and stir fried green beans
    Open til 11:00pm on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat
    Open til 11:00pm on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat
    Hu's Cooking

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    Xing’s Kitchen

    Xing’s Kitchen

    4.3
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    I love Xing's Kitchen. Whenever I find myself in Sugar Land, it's my go to for Chinese, mainly…read morebecause I love the Shanxi oil noodle which is the best I've had. I swear it's just one really long hand made noodle, so it's a bit hard to share, but it's a must-get. We also tried the Claypot noodle and it was good as well but a bit of an acquired taste. The restaurant is located inside Jusgo grocery store. The seating is quite limited so I wouldn't recommend it for large parties. And it's pretty mom and pop, so if that's your jam, go for it. Chairs are mismatched, drinking water is somewhat self-service in small cafeteria-style plastic cups, and tables are small. Like I said - mom and pop, and that's not a bad thing. It's just not exactly a place where you would have a nice business meeting. Service was ok - nothing to note. You pay at the cashier which is like 2 feet from where you ate. Yes, it's a small space. Overall - I love this place and will keep coming back.

    The restaurant is quaint and you basically seat yourself. The waitress brings you water and…read moreutensils. The Shanxi oil noodle is still the best in town with perfectly chewy noodles with the most well balanced sauce. I decided to try the claypot noodle with crisp pork which arrived piping hot with excellent flavor and the same hand pulled thick noodles. The soup was very well seasoned and paired well with the noodles, but I'm not certain that I would get it again since their other dishes are so spectacular.

    Photos
    Interior / ig: @joyyeats
    Interior / ig: @joyyeats
    Henan lamb stewed noodle / ig: @joyyeats
    Henan lamb stewed noodle / ig: @joyyeats
    Outside

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    Outside

    Sambal Chef - malaysian - Updated July 2026

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