Sichuan Province

Bismillah Cafe: Let's Chaat

Bismillah Cafe specializes in spicy fusion-Pakistani food, going as hot as you dare to go.

Surprise Package at LA Crawfish

American, Cajun, Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai all flow together in one jumble of LA Crawfish-brand cuisine.

Sociology and Sichuan Peppercorns at Mala Sichuan Bistro

Dining out with children is an exercise in situational awareness. Each experience is unique, with different variables leading to different possible outcomes, DEFCON-like in their escalating threat levels. Keen observation, forward planning and prior experience are critical in determining the proper ... More >>

Top 10 Restaurants in Chinatown

"You're going to do a top 10 Chinatown list, aren't you?" a reader implored last week on Twitter. Of course -- Chinatown is my favorite neighborhood for dining and exploration in the entire city. For every old favorite you visit, you're guaranteed to find at least two new restaurants to fall in love ... More >>

Philly Poutine

A first look at the new Pappa Geno's in Bellaire.

Top 10 Restaurants in the Galleria

Long the bastion of boring chain restaurants and overly expensive hotspots, the Galleria has seen a resurgence in the past few years when it comes to food. Chef-owned-and-driven restaurants are upping the ante along Post Oak Boulevard while places like E-Tao and White Oak Kitchen Drinks are showin ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 6, Ma Po Tofu at Mala Sichuan

This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we're counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston's cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least o ... More >>

Where Are We Eating?

"The original chef of this restaurant is back and the food is amazing!" wrote the photographer who took this photo of chili fried fish at a popular Sichuan restaurant right in the busy heart of Chinatown. Don't let all those bright red peppers scare you off, though. The photographer claims: "It's re ... More >>

Mala Sichuan's Big Sister Disappoints in Dallas

Visiting family in Dallas this weekend, I found myself with a little down time to explore a city I very nearly grew up in but know very little about. I spent my summers as a kid split into three very different settings: Houston, Dallas and a cattle ranch in Henderson, and only eating out in one of t ... More >>

Nabi-Hood Hangout

This Montrose spot is serving up beautifully constructed modern Asian cuisine, at small prices.

First Look at Nabi

What's not to like about Nabi? I asked myself as I looked around the empty dining room on a Thursday night before the holidays. The answer is simple: There's a lot to like about Nabi, the new restaurant that replaced sushi stalwart Tomo on the Lower Westheimer curve. But the neighbors might not real ... More >>

Sichuan Bucket List

You'll want to try everything on the menu at this new Bellaire favorite.

Prosper at 5 AM: The Stories Behind the Dishes at Mala Sichuan Bistro

Photos by Troy Fields​Prosper at 5 AM. Top Notch Pot of the Outlaws. Four Joy Lion Head. Couple's Lung Slices. Ants on the Tree. Mala Sichuan Bistro -- the subject of this week's cafe review -- has some of the most creatively named dishes in Chinatown on its menu, most of them under the H ... More >>

First Look at E Tao

Star of the show: sticky rice-and-pork-stuffed chicken wings.​"You should try the stuffed chicken wings," said our young waitress at E Tao as my friend Dr. Ricky and I considered which items to order from the restaurant's broad menu for dinner on Sunday night. "All the Chinese people" -- she ... More >>

Bring the Stink

Readers can't wait to try Yummy Stinky

Yummy Stinky

The fermented tofu at this Taiwanese spot is not for the faint of heart.

Chef Chat, Part 3: Renato De Pirro of Ristorante Cavour

Photo by Matthew DresdenSicilian smoked swordfish and eggplant involtini. Note the Sichuan peppercorn "sea foam" on top.​After our energetic and wide-ranging discussion (covered in Chef Chat, Parts One and Two), Chef De Pirro brought out a few of Ristorante Cavour's representative dishes, each ... More >>

Nigerian Brunch at Peppersoup Cafe

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttPlantains and scrambled eggs, with plenty of tomatoes.​Michelle Ukegbu isn't messing around when it comes to the food at her one-month-old restaurant, Peppersoup Cafe. Her mother opened Houston's first African restaurant, Safari Restaurant, literally right around th ... More >>

Food Fight: Spicy Peanuts

​The peanut occupies a strange and remarkable place in our national consciousness. It's not a true nut (it's a legume, like lentils and peas), but might as well be for purposes of food allergies and supermarket inventory. It's not American, but might as well be for purposes of popular culture, ... More >>

On the Menu: Three Cup Chicken at China Gourmet

​The Taiwanese restaurant China Gourmet is legendary for its stinky tofu. Perhaps "legendary" is too strong a word, as many non-Chinese people have probably never heard of (let alone tasted) stinky tofu, and many Chinese people can't stand it themselves. And being famous for stinky tofu is lik ... More >>

Ma Po's Bean Curd at Classic Kitchen

​ It's no secret that the Taiwanese restaurant Classic Kitchen is a wonderful place for a Chinese-style breakfast, with a wide variety of buns, dumplings, pancakes, and snacky items, many of which, in China, are only available from street vendors and storefront takeaways. (Note that the breakf ... More >>

Spinning Sichuan

Grab your friends and order it up at at this revamped Chinatown favorite.

Wine of the Week: Now & Zen Wasabi White (2007)

Photo by pberry​Bargain buys are to me what crack is to...someone addicted to crack. So when I find a decent looking wine that's not raspberry flavored or bright blue in color for under $5 sitting in a lonely shopping cart in the middle of Foodarama, I will buy it. All in the name of blogging, ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #22 The Roast Beef Poor Boy at Mama's Cajun Cuisine

​Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #31 The Sampler Plate at Café Lili

​Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in ... More >>

Rabbit, Cow & Pig

​Here's an appetizer plate for you: from left to right, Sichuan rabbit, sliced beef and tendons, and spicy smoked pork jowls. I selected these three cold meat dishes from the appetizer buffet at Spicy Sichuan Restaurant in the 9888 Bellaire Shopping Center. The rabbit was in tiny pieces on the ... More >>

Scintillating Sichuan

You can tell it's really Sichuan at Sarah Place by the hot pot bullfrog and the flaming hot pepper chicken.

Second Life

A Chinese factory reborn as condo heaven in 24 City.

Chinese Chili

Thanks to Indians and Pakistanis, spicy Chinese Halal cooking is famous all over the world.

This Week's No Reservations

In this week's episode of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain traveled to Melbourne, Australia. Despite Crocodile Dundee stereotypes of Australia, Melbourne is actually a thriving cultural capital with ethnically diverse cuisines - "like San Francisco, but without the fog." Surprisingly, it was Bourda ... More >>

Mongolian Hot Pot

Photos by Jay FrancisIt's so refreshing to find a place that isn't afraid to keep the heat in their Mongolian hot pot, spicy version. Here are two excellent places where you can test your tolerance. I had Mongolian hot pot with a group of Houston Chowhounds at the wonderful Sichuan Cuisine (9114 B ... More >>

$7 at New Hunan Restaurant in Missouri City

Where: New Hunan, 2345 FM 1092 (Murphy Road), Missouri City, 281-499-3061 What $7 gets you: An assortment of mainstream Chinese dishes with more than half offered in the spicy hot Szechuan style. We had one dish that stepped over into the under-$13 range, but it wasn't any better than the lunch sp ... More >>

Teen Houston Rapper Headed for Beijing

Bamboo Garden

Tater Tots® (NOT)

Fu Fu Cafe

A spartan Chinese cafe on Bellaire is the city's hottest new dumpling destination

Some Like It Hot

And they could be in for mild disappointment at Nidda Thai

Bird with a Buzz

Get your chicken spiked with Szechuan peppercorns and do some tongue tripping

Psychedelic Peppercorns

Try a spice at Sichuan Cuisine that's been banned in the States since 1968

Pacific Rim Shot

Best Noodles

Lucky Pot

Feeling Lucky?

Score big at the Lucky Pot noodle shop

Hotter than Halal

Islamic fusion restaurants are all the rage because of their organic meat -- and whole chiles

Six Flags over China

Qin Dynasty puts a Disney spin on Chinese cuisine

Ooh Lai Lai!

Easy on the pocketbook, this dumpling house is even easier on the palate

The Perils of Glitz

Masraff's succeeds when it's subtle and thoughtful-which isn't often

Hong Kong Calling

The Imperial Palace serves Houston's classiest dim sum -- and then some

Paris, Texas

Montparnasse, er, Montrose Boulevard gets a civilized new hangout

Chopsticks at the Ready

The modest Chinese Cafe knows how to produce a feast worth losing your poise over

New Year's Restoration

How salvation beats dazzle, and other mysteries of the restaurant trade