Spices 39 — Restaurant in Houston

Nut allergy warning: Some dishes do have nuts but the ones I ordered came out fine with a notice to the waitress.

We arrived the night before the storm (Sunday night) and it was pretty empty. What a shame, because the atmosphere here is so nice! Downstairs is a cozy bar and upstairs feels like you just walked into a dojo. I guess the storm made people stay inside.

Order-To-Food: 13 Minutes for the soup and soup dumplings; 18-22 minutes for entrees.

For 4 people, we ordered:

Jasmine Tea (5/5): I'm not sure if this is charged per person or per kettle. I think it's per person. I originally got one myself and asked for some extra cups to share the kettle, but we got more kettles and eventually got charged for four teas.

Chili Crispy Chicken (2/5) - Kind of more like funnel cake chicken. Some bites don't have any chicken at all, actually. The crispiness is there but it's also a little sweet, strangely. Maybe because of the rice cracker. It wasn't that spicy or flavorful, just the normal numbingness.

Pork Belly Mound (4.5/5): Needs to be slightly more caramelized to be perfect, but it was deliciously tender and the small pork bites and vegetables complimented it in a delicious bao nicely.

Pork Soup Bao (3.5/5): Two served broken. Nice that they provide tongs and the house sauce is some kind of soy sauce vinegar reduction. Pretty solid, but pricey.

Sauteed String Beans (5/5): Perfect. Great with everything, or just rice.

Hot Tango Fish Fillet (4.5/5): Lovely that it comes with vegetables and also goes great with rice.

Jade Crab Soup (4/5): Needs to be served with pepper, or lime; but otherwise hits all the right parts of a crab wedding soup.

Overall, a really solid Szechuan cuisine that we really enjoyed for the vegetable twist addition on...

Atmosphere was awesome, LOVED the look of the restaurant. We had a top floor seat by the window on a rainy day. Loved it. However, beyond that, most everything else fell flat.

The service was impersonal and the waitress never came around to ask if we needed refills or anything so I could never even ask if they had chili oil or soy sauce for the dumplings we ordered due to their sauce being nasty to me.

Obviously I’m in the minority considering the reviews of the restaurant, (the whole reason we stopped here), but I did NOT like the food.

We ordered the New Orleans chicken wings (comes with 3) and I thought the flavor was just not swallowable. Not enjoyable. Just no. And could’ve been crispier.

We also ordered the pork dumplings steamed. The inside was like mush and not hot temperature wise. A lukewarm mush, not ideal. The sauce to dip it in was soooo strong and not in a good way, maybe apple cider vinegar is what I tasted? I’ve never tasted a dipping sauce so strong and unpleasant.

We had the scallion pancakes; flavor was good until the aftertaste. Maybe I am sensitive to their oil??? I cannot for the life of me understand. I wish I enjoyed the meal.

The one thing that saved the day was the green beans (mild). I love green beans. They came...

ABSOLUTELY WOW is really all I can say! Like from the food, the quality of the meats/veggies, the perfect level of seasoning, beautiful packaging and a warm smile from the moment I walked in today — this will certainly be my new go-to place!

The portions are just right, I have enough for a hardy dinner tonight and a full lunch tomorrow. And let’s talk about the quality! The chicken in my Orange Chicken dish was a top quality of white meat, the crust was crispy and the sauce tasted authentic and fresh. As a person who cooks often and very well, all of the little things like it not being soggy and the meat being quality were obviously considered. The green beans were seasoned to perfection and the rice came in cute little red and gold tins with a cute garnish on top of the rice — something I haven’t see other Chinese spots do.

I felt so welcomed (I sometimes worry about this as a POC) and the hostess answered my questions and brought me a water to wait for my to-go meal without my even asking. The place was also so lavish and cute on the inside I almost started to eat my to-go meal there. I love when restaurants go above and beyond as they did. This is the place to...