Helen's Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Columbus

First time ordering and it was definitely not a mistake. The place is out of the way from the main road, but once you've found it, it would have been worth the effort.

We ordered a few different items to get a better idea of quality across the board. The Honey Walnut Chicken, Beef Stew, Beef Phad Thai, and 2 orders of the Soup Dumplings.

Pricing is a bit high, but that is to be expected in today's economy. The heights are not outrageous, but they would be reasonable for their day to day operations. If a small price bump should keep you from ordering, knowing what's going on in the world, just make some eggs or something at home. Go complain elsewhere.

The pandemic did not give us the opportunity to try it fresh and hot in the restaurant setting, so we settled for carry-out. When I picked up the food, it was nicely packaged and traveled well. Food was still hot by the time it made it home.

The food was well done. It really had that mom and pops feel to it. The Beef Stew was rather hearty. Really basic and consists of chunks of potatoes, green beans, and tender beef. It was perfect for today's rainy and dreary day, and accompanied the white rice perfectly. The Phad Thai was really nice. The noodles had a good flavor to them and with a squeeze of the lime, and gave it that extra element needed. The Honey Walnut Chicken was really nice! The usual sugar rush to keep the American appetite raging, but with a nice balance. The sauce was what was to be expected, but not overly sweet. The candied walnuts, sweet. The pineapple, perfect. The small addition of the pineapple, although sweet, had a slight tartness to give the dish the balance it needed. The Soup Dumplings, some comment on its size, but we thought they were perfectly fine. Not looking for basketballs.. bite-sized portions are perfect for this dish, as you should eat it all ONE bite, ONE, listen people! The sauce accompanied with it gives it the extra saltiness you would prefer, as the contents are a bit more subtle of a flavor, but good. Remember, these are dumplings filled with soup, I don't know if they would look fuller at the restaurant or the science going on with the heat and enclosed space during travel may have withered it down a bit. Point is, food was good.

Now that I've given you enough to digest. I would hope that you give this place, and any restaurant, a fair try before giving them a review. We are all navigating through these strange times and have a duty to continue to help...

Get ready for something different! This isn't just the new and improved Helen. This is ALL new with Grand Opening in mid March 17. (so basically, this is the 2nd actual review since new owner)

This is authentic regional cooking you probably haven't tasted. ' Spoiler: Helen isn't Helen. You can't say her name, so call her Helen. And you won't recognize many of the dishes, so try something new. We were treated to the seasoned peanuts with dry fried anchovy appetizer. Simple and terrific. Just a little added fishy crunch to perfectly toasted FRESH peanuts. Handmade vegetable potstickers were good, not great, not sure what veg's were in there, and the dipping sauce was darker and saltier than you might get elsewhere. But our entrees were NOT as salty as usual Chinese fare...and both were quite remarkable. Cilantro Pork was Covered with Chinese cilantro stems and leaves. Pretty spicy with lots of dry chiles thrown in. I would order it again. Cumin Beef was likewise inundated with toasted cumin seeds. Powerful and plenty. I would recommend it, but probably try something new next time.

The menu lacks many of your old standards, yes: No Wor Su Gai or wonton soup, but Plenty of different style ribs, beef and pork dishes and some lamb entrees. Soups you've never heard of, and some Korean stuff you have heard of. I might not take the kids...unless they go for General Tso... I hope this place makes it. I'm sure they'll change up the menu as they establish themselves. Get there while they're still a bit naive and authentic. Atmosphere is pretty smart and comfortable. Full bar, good place for an adventurous date.

-as Yoda would say: "to Helen...

I don't always do this but I am going to do it today. I took a chance on a restaurant I was passing and had passed many times. I checked the reviews which were almost all glowing but my experience was exactly the opposite. First off the wait was insane, the lady working the counter I thought was nice until she had me help bag my own carry out order and then told me I was doing it incorrectly. She then proceeded to chase me down as I was leaving because she said I forgot to pay but I had paid she was just so disorganized and it took so long to get my food that she had forgotten. The guy that came in after me got his food at the same time I did he had come in to order because they forgot about him on hold on the phone. Now for the food. I got a variety of items because when I go to a place for the first time I like to really see if I am going to return. The general tso's chicken extra spicy - was bland I did not know that was possible but it is. The house fried rice was ok except for the frozen peas and carrots. The egg roll and crab Rangoon both likely made in house and both without flavor. Lastly the hot and sour soup, It is a key to knowing if the restaurant is any good and it also had literally no flavor - it was neither hot nor sour. The problem may be that Helen was not cooking she was in the dining room peeping chives I think. I wish I had had the experience that others had but it may just be that their expectations were low. The food gets a 2 because it was hot and the rice was edible. I will not...