This restaurant is a reliable choice for a safe and enjoyable dining experience with any guest. There is friendly service, a modern ambiance, and a consistently good menu with ample options. We particularly enjoyed the Garlic Eggplant and the Beef Broccoli Hot-Fun. The waiter kindly explained the difference between pan-fried and regular Hor-Fun, with the former being crispy and the latter soft and saucy. While the Garlic Eggplant and Beef Broccoli Hot-Fun were highlights, the Salt Pepper Ribs fell short of expectations. The lack of jalapeño or some seasoning to balance the coconut oil flavor was a noticeable absence. Similarly, the Bitter Melon with Beef lacked the umami depth often achieved with the addition of black beans in other restaurants. We were also disappointed that substitutions, such as substituting chicken for beef in a dish, were not permitted. All-in-all I would recommend Mein, and would come back. It's a solid dining experience.

I had been wanting to try Mein for quite a while after hearing so many good things, and I finally made it! While the experience had its highlights, it didn't fully live up to the glowing reviews. The restaurant's ambiance is fantastic. It's beautifully decorated with a modern yet cozy vibe that really enhances the dining experience. The food was also flavorful and clearly made with care. However, the pricing caught me off guard. It seems that most of the rave reviews were written before a significant price increase--things now cost about 30% more than they used to. Expect to spend about $15 for a vegetable dish, $17ish for chicken, and over $20 for beef. At around $50 for our three dishes (for two people with just a little left over), it's priced slightly higher than similar restaurants in the area. As for the service, it was just average--not bad, but nothing to write home about. The parking can also be a bit tricky as it's in a shared relatively small parking lot with some other places. Overall, Mein is a solid choice if you're looking for ambiance. The higher prices are worth it for the freshness and flavors.

Great family style Cantonese restaurant! Modern, spacious interior with delicious food. Lotus root bean curd sauce: 1000/5 - Lotus food is my favorite vegetable and this is probably among the top 3 lotus root dishes I've ever had. The lotus root had a soft consistency and rich flavor, and the wood ear and carrots paired perfectly. One of my friends who doesn't usually eat a lot wolfed down this entire dish. Shaking chicken: 5/5 - Delicious, juicy chicken with a good amount of black pepper. Loved the red onions as well. Beef chinese broccoli: 2/5 - A classic Cantonese dish. The beef was pretty salty -- which is how I think Cantonese cuisine goes -- but it wasn't my cup of tea. The noodles underneath the beef and veggies were a nice addition. Yeung Chow Fried Rice: 3/5 - What you'd expect from fried rice at a restaurant. Overall I really liked this place! Would definitely recommend if you're looking for a solid Cantonese restaurant in Houston.

My family and I came here as a party of 5 on a Saturday afternoon and were seated immediately. The staff was kind and our waiter was attentive. The restaurant was bustling, yet our food came out pretty fast. The decoration inside was nice and made the ambience comfortable for family gatherings. Out of all the things we had, my favorites had to be the char siu and the tofu. They were seasoned well and were addicting to eat! The soup was also good, however, I thought the fried rice could have used some more flavor. Overall, I give the following ratings: - char siu: 8.2/10 - tofu: 8/10 - flat rice noodle: 7.8/10 - cucumber salad: 7.2/10 - soup: 7/10 - fried rice: 6/10 I'd love to come back and try out their other dishes!

Mein is one of those rare establishments which meets all of my expectations, and then some. Although I have known about Mein's existence for quite some time, on the first Sunday of November, I finally decided to make the drive to Chinatown and check this place out. The restaurant is located on a street behind a major Asian shopping center off Bellaire. Being familiar with this area already, it was relatively easy to find. The signage outside Mein is subtle, so just look for the business number (A-13) and the large printed menu outside. I arrived within 30 minutes of the end of lunch table service, so opted for takeout instead. My order was simple: Lava Toast and Char Siu. Everything I tried tasted great! The Char Siu (roast pork) was served with Choy Sum (Bok Choy) and mustard, with rice on the side. The mustard tasted like it had an essence of wasabi, and this complemented the Char Siu well. The Choy Sum is steamed, and this also pairs well with the Char Siu. The Lava Toast is basically an exquisite french toast with a maple syrup-based sauce on the side. It's infused with salted egg custard. Two people could easily share this delectable dessert. Overall, I think this is an upper echelon, outstanding example of Cantonese fare in Houston. Highly recommended.

Food was so flavorful Loved everything that we tried Wait staff also very friendly and helpful Definitely will be back more

Mein is a very trendy Chinese restaurant that is all over the Houston food Reddit threads. My Chinese parents who have a high standard for Chinese food were pleased with this restaurant, so this warrants a 5-star review for the food, although we were not pleased with how ungenerous they were with the rice. These are the dishes we ordered: Braised duck: very tasty but super boney (hard to get the meat off) Garlic yu choy: pretty solid vegetables Mapo tofu: this was delicious and not too spicy, thankfully Char kuey teow: yum! This is one of my all-time favourite dishes, and this one came with seafood. Mustard green soup: I am a fan of neither mustard nor ginger, so I wasn't a fan, but the vegetables tasted okay, and the meat was very good. My family liked it. The weird part was that we asked for four bowls of rice, and they told us they could only bring three. I later realized it was because three of our dishes came with exactly one bowl of rice. They are stingy with the rice, which is not normal at a Chinese restaurant. White rice is so cheap too. These bowls of rice were quite small. I am used to getting a huge pot of unlimited white rice to share with the table. We got here on a Friday at 6pm, and the restaurant was nearly empty. Our food came out quickly, but we saw others waiting for a while when it was busier. When we left about an hour later, the restaurant was getting busy, and the very small parking lot was full. The portions were huge, so my family of four took plenty of leftovers home. This was a really satisfying meal!

Really enjoyed my time at Mein! Went on a Friday night at 7:30 and there was about a 20 minute wait. It's a nice little nook not far from Asia town on Bellaire. There are about 6 other small restaurants on that strip and the parking lot was pretty crowded but there was still parking available. I ordered the shaking tofu, which was delicious! It had garlic, mushrooms and onions and was nicely seasoned. It also had a nice crispness to it as well. They give you a ton since basically most dishes are family sized. It came with jasmine rice and my friend also got the fried mantou which was basically fried crispy dough. My partner wanted to substitute chicken for shrimp with the pad thai, but there's a $3 up-charge for that and it was already about $16, so we thought that was a bit high for that as most places just let you choose your protein. My friend started talking to the owner who was super friendly! They had a good conversation that even continued after we went into the parking lot. Good times !

Many people know about Mein Restaurant in Houston Chinatown. It serves the most authentic Cantonese cuisine and it has a nostalgic interior. No wonder Chow Down Chinatown Facebook Group admins often dine at this restaurant. I came here one night after a hard day at work. It was near closing time. The waiter reminded me that certain items were not available, like soupy dumplings 小籠湯包. Bummer, I really wanted to try them but oh well, I'll come early next time. I ordered a dish that I couldn't cook at home. They used the freshest ingredients and authentic spices to create a delicious meal. I will definitely bring my foodie friends over.

Before I say anything else, I'm shocked at how many people don't know that when a dish comes with salt, pepper, and lime on the side, you're supposed to squeeze the lime juice into the salt and pepper, then use it as a dip. So many people seem to think they're supposed to sprinkle the salt and pepper on the dish then squeeze the lime and that takes away so much from the dish! So if you get the salt and pepper squid or the salt and pepper tofu or anything else that comes with salt, pepper, and lime on the side, make the dip! It's life-changing! WOK SEARED LIVER: I thought the dish was good and I liked the sauce, but the slices were much thinner than I prefer. RED OIL DUMPLINGS: These were good, but you need to make sure to dip it in the oil because that's where a lot of the flavor is. It tastes like a Szechuan dish, but it's not overwhelming like some that I've had, and it's not too spicy. They're pretty big though and came with 6 dumplings. FIRECRACKER CHICKEN: This had a strong chili flavor, but it wasn't too spicy. It was also very tender and moist! SHAKING CHICKEN: This was crazy moist, flavorful, and tender! Wow! Tasted marinated so the flavor reached the inside of the chicken pieces and wasn't just on the outside. Highly recommend! GARLIC EGGPLANT: I absolutely hate eggplant, but I loved this! The flavor was delicious! I might've eaten more of it than the people at the table who normally like eggplant lol hands down the best eggplant I'll probably ever have! SALT & PEPPER EGG TOFU: I got this because I like their Sansai Egg Tofu and wanted to know how this was different. Also why it's double the price lol (it's because it's double the portion). It's good, like the regular sansai, but it doesn't have the sauce and you dip this one in the salt, pepper, and lime sauce. I personally prefer the sansai because I like the flavor of the sauce better. DRY BEEF HOR-FUN: I love the texture of their noodles! They're slightly chewy in the best way. This also had great flavor! Last time, it was bland, but I guess that was a fluke. PAD THAI: I was surprised that they use pho noodles instead of pad thai noodles, but it was really good! My whole table enjoyed it! I'd recommend trying it if you're interested. FISH MAW CRAB MEAT SOUP: The small was still pretty big. Individual entree sized. It had good flavor, but the fish maw was softer and less spongey than I'm used to. It definitely hit the spot though. YAKULT YUZU: I just wanted to try something new when I ordered this, but it really disappointed. The crushed ice was super annoying and made it so hard to drink. I basically had to wait for the ice to melt to drink a little. It'd be way better if they just used ice cubes. Can't understand why they don't. The actually drink was decent.