Chinatown Brasserie

03/20/09

Decor is spectacular, but....

by yippee

My first visit there, all went well. I was more impressed with the decor than anything else though...but it was so nice that I didn't mind the so-so food.

My 2nd visit was not so good:

We went to the lounge area first. The waiter mentioned something about Happy Hour...something about $5 drinks...he listed a few wines. I said I'd take a cabernet.

A bit later we went to our table and ordered. Out of the four items we ordered, they got three of them wrong and we had to wait for them to bring us the correct items. (It didn't seem that they got our entire order mixed up with another table. I think our waitress just totally messed up. She barely apologized for the mixup.

Then the bill came. I saw that I was charged $14 for the wine I got in the lounge, and NOT $5. When I brought it up with the waitress she said "cabernet is not a happy hour drink...I can show you menu..it's $14." My friend and I both looked at each other dumbfounded, as we both understood the other waiter as saying the cabernet was $5. I told the waitress that it didn't matter what the menu said ...that the other waiter made a mistake (and that the restaurant should correct the bill!) She asked me to describe the waiter from the lounge. She then took the bill and my credit card and walked away; naturally we assumed she was going to get the bar waiter to straighten everything out.

But no.....she returned without the other bar waiter, said nothing to us, and left us the exact same bill with the full charge made to my credit card. By that point I was tired of "complaining" (due to all the problems with our orders, and then the bill), so I just signed the bill, left a 10% tip, and decided I would never return to this restaurant.

It's such a pity, as the decor is truly first class. But with service like this, and charging the prices they do for Chinese takeout-quality food, I certainly won't be coming back!

• Pros: Decor
• Cons: None

03/17/09

DON'T BE FOOLED

by Capestrano

I think it's disgrace to charge $6 for a small lemonade and $6 for a coke. They fill your glass with half of a can (12 ounce) and ice and charge you full price for refills. You can't tell me that's right - more like under handed behavior. And don't be fooled by restaurant week because your portions and service represent the deal. Nice place but probably good for the housewives of new york.

• Pros: Nice decor
• Cons: Pricey

01/29/09

Nice Decor but Food is EH..

by gripdxd

Large restarant, nice bar, modern decor and trendy. When we arrived it was empty, but quickly filled up (make sure you make reservation). They have special cocktails which I'm sure are great, but I didn't indulge. The food was okay and I didn't think the price was worth the "tastiness" of the meal. We've had better chinese elsewhere. Service was good, but I could barely understand some of them. I would only go back again for drinks, not to eat.

• Pros: Bar, Decor & Signature Cocktails
• Cons: Food is blah..

12/18/08

big bombastic chinese food!

by evillagefoodie

Big crowded place with a big menu but everything we ordered was really tasty and the staff once we were seated was attentive and gracious... but it took over an hour from our reservation to get seated at our table!

• Pros: Good food.. large menu
• Cons: crowded.. took too long to get seated

11/19/08

Love this place!

by caylowenstein

Don't miss the Bao for dessert...they are a mystery...a delicious mystery. Wonderful dumplings, great ribs but the roast pork is even better. Perfect Peking Duck.

• Pros: variety of food, SPACE lots of SPACE
• Cons: service can be annoying

09/11/08

Loved it. Top five meals!

by mrsrussell

We sat down and we were served an amuse bouche (shrimp). Delicious!

Then we had the potstickers and dumplings. Still great.

I had the filet mignon with white asparagus. My friend had the cod.

Dessert-Orange sorbet over a lemon tart with pineapple. Absolutely in my top five of dining experiences. These other negative reviews are bizarre and unfounded.

The chef is amazing, the decor-divine. I loved it!

Go! The bill was $100. I was happy to pay. I ordered some more today as a delivery.

Others in my top 5? Grandma, CIA, Paris.

08/15/08

yummy yum dim sum

by ninglin

I went there on a tuesday night for a date. We ordered some dim sum, pao pao beef and general tso's. The food was pretty good, nothing to write home about, but better than good delivery. The service was excellent - they had us wait for five minutes when we got there only because they wanted to give us better seats than they had available, and the waiters were perfectly attentive. Though it didn't seem to be nearly authentic chinese, we enjoyed atmosphere of the restaurant and found it to be perfect for a mid-high end eating experience. It was definitely conducive to group settings and was charming enough for a couple. The dim sum was definitely the highlight of the meal, plus they surprisingly had some good beers on draft (think chimay).

Overall, if you want to get good chinese food at a nicer restaurant than a chinatown hole-in-the-wall, this will meet your expectations.

• Pros: Dim Sum, ambience
• Cons: not very memorable entrees

04/09/08

Great dim sum

by luvnyc401

I've only been here once but the food was very good and I would like to return. I came on a date- it isn't the most romantic place, its much better for family or groups, however considering it was a first date I thought it was an appropriate setting. Everything we tried was great, from the spring rolls to the dumplings to the chicken- I forget how it was prepared but I remember it being delicious. Service was very attentive as well.

A little pricey for the food only because you can get good dim sum for pretty cheap, but since this is more of an upscale place it was well worth it.

04/06/08

Yum Yum Dim Sum

by AndrewPelz

This restaurant is fantastic and fun. The dim sum menu is absolutely perfect. When it comes to the entrees, some dishes are better than others (i would stay away from the crispy chicken for example because it is somewhat bland), however, the filet mignon stirfry, and orange beef are very very good. Overall, the restaurant is beautiful, it is in a nice part of town, has a good wine list, and the food is delicious. It is definitely worth a visit.

• Pros: Dim Sum, Ambience

02/02/08

Well oiled machine

by twinbeers

XXII century Chinatown exposed! Authentic multi-regional Chinese cuisine above Houston and flourishing! Well trained stuff never lets you get bored plus tasty food and cozy decor. It was Wed. and cool but closed downstairs lounge aside the goldfish pond made me think of next visit.

• Pros: service, drinks, location