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Daniel Wong's Kitchen
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
10 reviews for Daniel Wong's Kitchen
This is great fusion Chinese. Doesn't hit the spot if you're craving authentic.
The dishes here are creative and well-balanced, with high quality meats and fresh vegetables. And the cookies are delicious!
I want to like this place. For a long time, Mr. Wong has been a Houston legend as part of some of Houston's initial and impactful Chinese restaurants. However, truth be told, time has passed Mr. Wong by. His food now seems tired and familiar and even his innovations such as turkey and stuffing or road kill pork seem cliche.
And it is, in the end, not very good.
The restaurant itself even looks like an old lady's badly decorated tea room.
I thought about taking my 86 year old father there, because he remembers Chef Wong from a long time ago. As we pulled into the parking lot, he balked at getting out, saying he "does not eat at Chinese restaurants that are next door to veteranian clinics." While I blanche at that idea, I think this old guy still knows a thing or two.
WIth so much great Chinese food in Houston, why stop here? Even a taste of nostalgia will be overpowered by the taste of mediocrity.
If you didn't know it was there, you'd miss it - nestled behind two gigantic shrubberies that even obscure its sign, Daniel Wong's has been making chinese food in Bellaire for pretty much forever. The menu is extensive, and if you don't find something you like between the road kill pork and the sparkling chicken, they'll whip up anything you request that's not on the menu. Vegans and vegetarians especially will love Daniel Wong's, as they'll take extra special care to make your food animal-free.
As for the food itself, it's pretty decent. The steamed dumplings are moist and flavorful. The seafood gumbo is a surprisingly out-of-place menu item, but it works. Other dishes are fairly typical American-style Chinese preparations and tend to be heavily sauced. They do have more creativity with dishes than many other restaurants, but in the end it's still not my favorite style of cooking, being heavy and the portions being huge.
Have you ever had a meal that you intended to review but forgot about? Was that meal just yesterday? If so, we have something in common.
We finished our quarterly training early and so I was able to break away for an extended lunch. Seeing that Daniel Wong's Kitchen has been around for decades and that it only had 5 reviews, I thought this would a perfect chance to check them out.
Arriving around 130 PM, the small freestanding building near Bissonnet next to Episcopal High School was largely deserted with only my solo table, a table of 3 businessmen, and one other table of two. Not promising for continued survival in this hard economic environment especially when there are plenty of prospective customers within a 5-mile radius.
Ordered a lunch special, House Special Chicken ($5.50), which came with either fried or steamed rice and a crispy egg roll. The dish was marked as "spicy" so I was looking forward to some zing. A large oblong plate arrived with a large mound of food on it; the fried rice on the left-hand side was a little dry but easily remedied with some of the House Special Chicken brown sauce. The copious chicken was a little dry also but mixed with broccoli and some carrot coins. Where were the Chinese staples of baby corn, water chestnuts, snow peas, and implied spice of the menu asterisk? Overall, boring.
The décor was more interesting with a few eclectic pieces adorning the walls of an otherwise standard American Chinese place. A food-themed collage captured my interest but also disturbed me since how often do you see Orson Welles, Jack Nicholson from "The Shining", and Hannibal Lecter mixed into an art piece at a restaurant?
Service was polite but slightly distant. The lone waitress (Mrs. Wong?) was not particularly excited about each new table, moving in a robotic manner. Maybe, she needs a vacation. Or, a different line of work. Or, a different menu. Something to ignite passion.
I'd like to love this place - but, its snapshot wasn't particularly compelling for a return visit. Maybe a second trip will prove that two Wongs will make it right. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.)
Daniel Wong's it TOTALLY BALLER. I swear to god this is not only the best chinese food in Houston, it's also the best quality... no bullshit breading to fluff up bad quality meats or sugared up sauces. This place is totally amazing.
Another hole in the wall, the first thing you'll notice is the mini garden out in front of the restaurant. Parking can sometimes be difficult, but usually isnt a problem.
I heard a story that Daniel Wong used to be a pro chef at some of the best restaurants in the country and this is his attempt to settle down and create his own name. When you eat the food you'll believe this.
My favorite dish is the "road kill pork"... and for that matter it's worth to note all the names are little jokes like "herman park duck", etc. Road kill pork is pork slices in garlic sauce, and might be the best pork ever.
Lastly, it's worth noting that Daniel Wong will make whatever Chinese dish you want as you give him 24 hrs notice. This is pretty amazing considering this is a family run restaurant.
This food was so bad that I remember how bad it was from two years ago. I thought this restaurant was a neighborhood icon. Dude was I wrong, I mean it was soooooo bad I think that I will never forget that taste of no taste. That meal will stay in my mind for years to come. Ive eaten MRE packets with more sophistication.
Daniel Wong's Kitchen isn't all that much to look at from the outside. Located in a free standing building on Bissonett near Avenue B just inside the loop, it isn't very memorable inside either, save for some original artwork created by local Houstonians.
The ordinariness of the restaurant ends with its décor, for this is no ordinary Chinese restaurant.
Let's take the appetizers for starters, excuse the pun. Forget that it boasts the best spring rolls and crab puffs I've ever had. How about road kill pork? Interestingly named menu item.
Wong's wordplay continues with entrée items such as Good Morning To You and Drunk Chicken.
Have you ever seen gumbo, lamb, turkey or crawfish on a Chinese bill of fare? Neither have I, until now.
Vegetarians will love Wong's attention to several vegan dishes. I particularly liked shredded tofu with vegetables, a slightly hot and spicy dish of juliened fresh veggies and bean curd.
I also liked Railroad Style Beef, which according to the menu's description, is inspired by Chinese immigrants who built our nation's railroads. Like Railroad Style Beef, many of the items come complete with a story behind them.
My favorite, so far, is salt and pepper shrimp, succulent in a light sauce.
Daniel Wong's is a nice little intimate place with good service and scrumptious food. One of my faves inside the loop.
Daniel Wong has been cooking around Houston for decades, and he understands how Houstonians like their Chinese food.
This is not your typical neighborhood Chinese spot. Daniel's recipes are fresh and bold, with ingredients and technique you won't find elsewhere.
Must Try: Road Kill Pork. Hermann Park Duck. And the Gumbo. (Yes, gumbo at a Chinese restaurant. Maybe the best in Houston.)
If you've not been here, you're missing one of Houston's treasures.
ok, so I regretfully haven't been in a while. I usually go with my whole family and sit around the circular table. The food is outstanding! Daniel is usually in theback cooking :) We normally get the walnut shrimp, roadkill chicken, and the rice with dried fruit and nut (among other dishes). This stuff tastes homemade without the extra sodium or nasty msg like most chinese "fried food" places do. If you want a fabulous chinese meal, this is the place to go! Also, they candy their own nuts and you can purchase them in jars! yummmy!
Have only been here once, but I was not that impressed. First, it was dead. We were the only customers in the place, the waitresses were standing around looking very bored, and they did not rise to the occasion of actually having a customer. Menu is somewhat Americanized Chinese. It did not really work for me, but then I tend to be a harsh critic of fusion cuisine. Agree that it was nice to see more of the ingredients and less of the grease/msg/salt that you see at so many Chinese places.
