888 Chinese Restaurant

Reviews 5

OW

Owais Durrani

My favorite Chinese spot in Houston. Truly a hidden gem located well outside of the Bellaire Chinatown area that my friends sometimes refuse to travel outside of for Asian food. Easily my favorite Sichuan place in Houston and the standard by which I judge all other Sichuan restaurants by--most, unfortunately, cant compare. Service: Ive personally never had any issues with the service even after probably 10+ visits. I generally try to come at less popular times to avoid the traffic on 610, so Ive never had an issue with having to wait for a table or anything of the sort. I see lots of families here ordering standard Americanized Chinese fare, and while Im sure its very good, the Chinese menu, which Ive had to ask specifically for at times, is where its at. Not speaking or reading Chinese myself, Ive sometimes found that the English descriptions of the dishes are lacking. Luckily, the food is almost universally good, as almost all of the dishes Ive ordered here have been outstanding. Food: Go family style and also ask for the Chinese menu. The Double Cooked Pork, a Sichuan staple, is quite possibly the best Ive ever had. Theres a nice balance of spiciness and tenderness without being overly salty or fatty. Given that I always end up with more vegetables left over, I would think that the ratio of meat to vegetables could slightly be improved, but this could just as likely be a testament to how fantastic the meat is. Another one of my go-to orders is listed on the menu as Thai Cilantro Beef. A mix of shredded beef, leeks, onions, cilantro, and peppers, its an unexpectedly spicy yet fresh (lots of vegetables) dish that compliments the aforementioned Double Cooked Pork quite nicely. Also of note is the Water Spinach/Morning Glory dish that is a great compliment to the spiciness of many of the other dishes. Ive also ordered and been impressed with the Cuttlefish and Black Fungus dish as well as some sort of Fish in a Clay Pot dish. The I thought the Mapo Tofu was decent but not spectacular. Pros: Large portions, reasonable prices, fast service, very fresh and spicy Cons: Menu descriptions are sorely lacking, Americanized menu might not be the most indicative of their best food Dishes to try: Double Cooked Pork, Thai Cilantro Beef

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J.

J. Moore

When 888 first opened their doors a few years ago and sent their menus to the surrounding neighborhoods via mail, I was interested in how the food would be because it looked pretty good. Well Ive been a loyal customers of theirs for a few years now and am so happy I took chance on them. While the outside as well as the inside of the restaurant isnt inviting to say the least, dont let that stop you from going in (although their other locations they have opened up over the years are better looking). The staff are very warm and the most part, attentive. Depending on the time of day, waiting to be seated isnt a problem (lunch and dinner hours are). What I love about this place is that you can tell the food here is authentic (though I have yet to try their menu thats in Mandarin) and fresh. I try to be adventurous and try everything, but once you find a few favorites, its hard to resist to try something else. The dishes I usually order are the Jumbo Shrimp with Garlic Sauce (spicy), Chicken and Mango with Garlic Sauce, and the Triple Delight (Shrimp and Scallops with Veggies and Garlic Sauce), all are so fragrant, bold, and delicious. 888 surely doesnt lack on proportions at all, and their shrimp and scallops arent scrawny by any means, so you get bang for your buck. Each entree comes with either steamed white rice or fried/shrimp fried rice. What I love about their rice is that its perfectly cooked, never gummy or stuck together, each grain to itself. If you do order the shrimp fried rice, youll be pleasantly surprised that the shrimp is of a nice size compared to many other Chinese places. Feeling adventurous? Go for the menu thats written in Chinese. This menu is sort of a secret for those in the know. Youll find dishes that stray from the menu thats tamed for Americans comfort zone and will be handsomely rewarded with new dishes that youll want to order again and again. If you order your meal to go (especially for lunch), your food comes in a very nice container, that Ive admittedly saved and washed to use when I take my lunch to work because its durable. Ive noticed that they have gone up on everything by $1, but its understandable due to the economy. I hardly mind it, because their food is so fresh and delicious.

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MI

Michael Yang

I went yesterday with my mainland Chinese family who were visiting. We ordered 5 dishes in all, and 2 were quite unpleasant while 2 were good and 1 was decent. The service was good though. Details on the food I had: We ordered spicy seafood soup, bok choy, a fatty pork dish, a whole fish, and spicy fried chicken with bones. When called for the food used the sichuan peppercorns to give that authentic numbing burn. Spicy seafood soup was very very salty. We asked the waiter and he said they make it that way because most people eat it was rice. Bok choy was good. I got the nonspicy version. Fatty pork - decent. Whole fish - The fish was bathed in an incredibly salty sauce. The fish itself was decent, but normally the sauce is not so saltly and you can eat the fish meat with sauce. Spicy fried chicken - This was not what I expected and it was good. Not breaded chicken, yet extremely crispy, spicy, and not too salty. Some pieces had small bones though, so dont feed to small kids and take caution. Overall the food was too salty for my taste. If I am ever craving spicy Sichuan, I would go to Mala Sichuan Bistro on Bellaire Blvd next to Jusgo any day of the week. I would give it 2/5 dislike but had a good service experience so 3/5 its okay is my rating.

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DA

david miller

the most absurd staff, worst possible customer report! ordered online and we got confirmation that our order would take an hour. hour later still no food, I called and they told me there was no order. after arguing with what ever "awesome" guy was on the other side that I did place a order, I hung up out of frustration. we then ordered pizza. another hour later the Chinese food is at our door, I was beyond pissed at this point. I demanded to speak to a manager they continue to tell me they get prank orders online and they didnt confirm the order (they didnt call me to confirm, thats not my fault). to find out that this isnt even my order its my neighbors. I manager a restaurant in midtown so I understand mistakes and mess ups but the way i way treated and the way they spoke to me and how they never resolved this problem, instead they just said well too bad. THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN MY RESTAURANT!!!!! HOW DARE THEY! I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN AND I MAKE SURE NONE OF MY FRIENDS OR NEIGHBORS ORDER FROM THEM AS WELL ABSOLUTELY OUT RAGED

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HE

Herby Beam

As a chef, when I try a new Chinese restaurant, I always order three things: wonton soup, spring rolls and General Tsos chicken. Disaster. All of it. The soup had been watered down, the spring rolls were frozen and mushy inside and the chicken had no spice despite the fact it was bathed in red chilli pepper. It had no ginger and they violated my favorite dish with uncooked green bell pepper to try and distract me from the noticeably missing broccoli. It was real chicken at least albeit frozen. The non-Asian staff members were awesome. The Asian ones were smug and dismissive to their customers and most noticeably their staff. Their banquets are falling apart, the TVs were in weird places and quite honestly I felt like they laughed at us while they counted our money. The orange at the end was just bizarre and the one I had didnt even have a cherry on it but a red smudge. I only imagined those oranges got recycled. I will never go back there. I ran my restaurant for ten years and they embody everything I find detestable.

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