Mr. H — Restaurant in Boston

COJE’s latest venture that serves “Chinese Fusion”

Been waiting months to try this place. As expected, COJE went all out with the décor: extravagant and opulent, with a massive golden dragon and plush red carpets that instantly transport you to the grandeur of old-school Chinese banquet halls.

COJE has a roster full of fusion spots, but with Mr. H, they’re diving into Asian fusion for the first time (except for sushi at Ruka). The ingredient combinations on the menu were certainly intriguing, but the execution was a bit of a miss. While the food was good overall, the bold Chinese flavors—like fire and umami—felt watered down, likely toned down to suit the more conservative palates of the Seaport crowd. It’s fusion with potential, but the authentic spark seems to have been dimmed a bit in the process.

Take the appetizers, for instance—the Tangerine Tuna and Crab Noodles felt more like Latin fusion than Chinese. The Tangerine Tuna was essentially a tuna crudo, but the Mandarin vinaigrette was so dominant it drowned out the other ingredients. Similarly, the Crab Noodles were fresh and citrusy, with cilantro adding a nice aromatic touch, but the delicate crab flavors got lost. This left the dish feeling more like a standard veggie glass noodle salad than something that highlighted the seafood. It’s fusion, but with the balance tipped in the wrong direction.

For Chinese staples like Soup Dumplings and Fried Rice, the usual richness/grease was noticeably dialed back. Even with the addition of chicken broth in the dumplings, the flavors lacked the depth you’d expect from more authentic versions. As for the Mushroom Fried Rice, while the smokiness of the rice and the variety of mushrooms made it enjoyable, the lack of that signature oil coating on rice took away some of the comfort and satisfaction that fried rice is known for. It’s as if the dishes were stripped of their soul in an attempt to lighten them up.

Thankfully, the last two meat dishes were more enjoyable. Both the Char Siu Pork and Siu Mei Steak were high quality, and while neither dish pushed the boundaries of creativity, they felt more fitting under the “Chinese fusion” label. The real highlight, though, was the signature Chocolate Buddha dessert. Visually stunning, it was like a dessert charcuterie board—an indulgent mix of fruits, chocolates, brownie bits, and Oolong tea ice cream.

Considering the higher price point compared to other upscale Chinese spots in Boston, I’m not sure I’d return just for the food. While it’s a fun, thematic addition to Seaport’s bar scene with great service and drinks, committing to a full meal here doesn’t quite feel worth it. That said, it’s definitely worth popping in for some light desserts...

If Kowloon Palace and W Hotels Had a Baby

Walking into Mr. H is like entering a set piece from a dystopian future where the last remaining whisper of an chinese restaurant is sacrificed at the altar of Instagram. The décor is truly unique and even tasteful, but the food slams you back into reality like a soy sauce-soaked brick. If Kowloon Palace and W Hotels had a baby, this would be its problem child: raised on per diems, unburdened by substance, and doomed to inherit all the bad traits of its parents.

We began with the soup dumplings. Or rather, we encountered what might have once aspired to be soup dumplings, but were, in fact, four sad pucks of dough, deep-fried into oblivion, as though they’d spent a solid 24 hours forgotten in the back of the fridge. At $25 for four, these dumplings are the culinary equivalent of paying for a designer handbag that rips at the seams after one use. The chef’s "ingenious" decision to inject soup into the top via a conveniently punctured hole made for an experience akin to biting into a water balloon filled with tepid broth—more tragedy than triumph.

Then came the green onion pancake, washed in soy sauce and sugar. At $18, this salty-sweet monstrosity tasted like it had been conceived in a dare. It’s as if someone decided that soy sauce is the only seasoning Chinese cuisine ever needed, and did just that to make it "extra asian."

The house fried rice? A mockery of one of the most basic and beloved staples of Chinese cooking. A tiny bowl priced at over $20, it featured rice overcooked to the point of being mushy, then baptized in yet another gallon of soy sauce that comes in a bag. Fried rice is meant to be comforting, affordable, and balanced in its flavor and textures. Here, it was yesterday's soy sauce oatmeal with unidentifiable ingredients for color.

And the atmosphere? Well, let’s just say the four hosts standing at the entrance, silently fiddling with menus and tablets, did little to enhance the experience. The service, when it happened, was passable—but passable service doesn’t make up for a culinary experience that felt more like a theme park ride through a caricature of Chinese cuisine than an actual meal. Oh, and the glaring absence of actual Asians in the restaurant? Little bit of a red flag.

In short, Mr. H is Seaport’s latest overpriced tourist trap, a place that substitutes style for substance, Instagramable decor for flavor, and soy sauce for seasoning. You’d be better off paying a fraction of the price at any hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown, or overinflated prices for almost anywhere else in Seaport, but at least it won’t leave you wondering if you could have done a lot better with your...

Save your money and DO NOT COME HERE! My party and I arrived at at 9pm for our reservation at 9pm. To be told that we have to wait as they were cleaning our tables we spent over 30 minutes waiting to be seated even though we had a reservation set in place. Also having multiple people who came after us be seated before us (which made absolutely no sense)

As we got seated the security guard checked our ID before we came into the establishment. (assuming the establishment is 21+ after 8pm) We get to our table the waitress asked if we wanted to order drinks and asked us for our IDs once again(which i thought was very weird) we gave it no issue and ordered our drinks. For 18 dollars the cocktails were not worth it all of them were absolutely disgusting and disappointing.

Now the food .. they say it’s served family style so you are thinking bigger portions to share wrong. You are paying almost 30 dollars for 4 chicken fingers and 4 soup dumplings which are not good at all by the way. They serve tasteless sweet and sour sauce and with mustard mixed with wasabi which in my opinion was gross and tasteless. Then my party orders crab noodles mind you we ask about it and get some info on it, never was told once by our server Natalie that the crab noodles were cold and was such a small portion the crab noodles were gross and again it made it worse that it was extremely cold if we got a warning we would’ve never spent 38 dollars on such a kid sized portion. The spareribs were not worth 20 dollars as well they were super tiny pieces of meat and just did not taste good.

Every meal my party and I ordered was just very disappointing and we were so displeased with our serve Natalie who gave us nothing but attitude and was not helpful at all and even called the manager on us at one point and the manager came over to tell us he cannot serve us drinks anymore which way fine with us because the DRINKS WERE ABSOLUTELY GROSS🤢🤢🤢!!! Natalie barely came to check on us and when she saw that we were ready to go after we didn’t like our food she only offered to take a drink off the receipt nothing more.

The hype is not worth it there at all the pictures may look cute but their food is absolutely terrible not worth the price that they are making people pay. Save your money and go to your local Chinese food spots or support business in Chinatown they have WAYY better food and for cheaper too! Will never be coming back here and upset spending almost 150 on some disgusting food with...