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Hsin Hsin Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Asian Fusion Asian Fusion [Edit]
25 Massachusetts Ave(between Beacon St & Marlborough St)
Boston, MA 02115
Neighborhood: Back Bay
(617) 536-9852
- Nearest Transit:
-
Massachusetts Ave @ Beacon St (1, CT1)
Massachusetts Ave @ Beacon St (1, CT1)
Massachusetts Ave @ Commonwealth Ave (1)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
49 reviews for Hsin Hsin Restaurant
Review Highlights
"In short their crab rangoons were fantastic."
(in 7 reviews)
"...most amazing place, but satisfied my Chinese food craving."
(in 24 reviews)
"...of restaurants on two things, dumplings and Moo Shi Chicken."
(in 3 reviews)
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49 reviews in English
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Review from Back B.
Boston, MA
1/21/2012
If you are looking for great Chinese food delivery, this is your place. I have been eating their food for maybe 15 years, and have given them maybe hundreds of dollars over the years just for their food. Yes I know gluttonous, but life is too short. Order something from the lunch & dinner combination menu and your life will be changed forever. I promise.
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Review from Cory G.
Boston, MA
1/27/2012
This place could have been good, but they just weren't trying very hard. The restaurant is clean enough and well enough decorated, but they had an old TV blasting Fox25 (really? TMZ, The Simpsons? In a restaurant?) and sat the only two parties in the restaurant right next to it. Conversation was virtually impossible.
Once we ordered -- crab rangoon to start, sweet and sour chicken, pork fried rice -- the waitress was incredulous, confirming three times that we just wanted those items, as though it wouldn't be nearly enough for two people. Sure enough, it arrived and was too much, as always. So weird.
Also, we each found little disgusting crunchy bits of chicken that shouldn't have made their way into the sweet and sour chicken -- but that's just the gamble you make with cheap chinese food. I'd be willing to forgive them this if it looked like they were trying to be a good restaurant... but it definitely doesn't look like they care at all. Won't be returning. Should have done takeout, I guess. -
Review from Craig J.
Boston, MA
1/23/2012
Agree with some other reviewers...good for a go-to Chinese place, but nothing to write home about. The lunch and dinner combos are cheap and good. Also, their Moo shi chicken is delicious, but be sure to order extra "pancakes."
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Review from Tim S.
Brookline, MA
3/19/2011
The other reviews proved helpful - this was a great, cheap but super-quick Americanized Chinese Food restaurant. This was the perfect match to our night watching March Madness.
I measure these types of restaurants on two things, dumplings and Moo Shi Chicken. Dumplings were on the smaller side, but not too doughy like some of those other fast food chinesze food joints. The portions are also huge, we got a Moo Shi Chicken and an appetizer combination platter. Always ask for extra hoisin sauce and get at least 2 extra pancakes. Well worth it.
Dinner was under $20. Fantastic.
Just remember "Be curious always! For knowledge will not acquire you; you must acquire it... in bed."
Thank you Hsin Hsin. -
Review from Chris C.
Boston, MA
10/12/2011
Ordered from here because we specifically wanted "take-out style" Chinese delivery, and Hsin Hsin didn't disappoint. Tried the pork Moo Shi and a few beef dishes, and got exactly what we were looking for. Nothing fancy-- it was greasy, salty, cheap and satisfying.
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Review from Jabe Z.
Cambridge, MA
9/12/2010
This place isn't fancy, but if you're looking for tasty, cheap Chinese food, there's nowhere better. I've come here so many times with friends, often when nobody else has been in the restaurant, and I've never been disappointed. The lunch/dinner specials are great, or if you want even larger portions you can go family style.
I recommend the scallion pancake-- it's awesome. -
Review from Tina H.
Falls Church, VA
11/25/2008
It was a nasty summer day in Boston -- middle of July, 90+ degrees, mercilessly bright, air so thick you could cut it with a knife. Perfect day to stay inside, eat ice chips, watch re-runs, and enjoy the AC. Where was I? Smack in the middle of the heat, on the streets, slowly dying as my friends dragged me to Hsin Hsin for lunch. The only thing keeping me going was the thought of cool, recycled air at the end of the journey.
But there was no cool air to be had. The AC was turned off (WHY? WHYYYY?). Meanwhile, the sweaty bodies of the dozens of loud, over-excited undergrad diners filled the stale, muggy air with the smell of hormone-packed B.O. Seconds after sitting down at our booth, I could feel moisture gathering under my legs. It was so damn hot. Hoping to avoid leaving an embarrassing wet mark on the back of my dress, I stuck a few cheap-ass, thin-ass napkins under my thighs, only to have them almost immediately dissolve and stick in unattractive clumps to the backs of my legs. Was this Hell?
At least the food was worth the trip, right? NOPE. My sweet & sour pork was dry and tasted like the meat had gone bad. The lobster soup was thick, and brown, and gloopy. The fried rice was decent, but can anyone really screw up fried rice? The best things on my plate were the crab rangoons, but in that kind of heat, fried foods sit in the stomach about as well as balls of lead. Yummy.
What's utterly baffling to me is how the BF and his buddies can continue to consistently eat here. Late night study breaks? Hsin Hsin's. Brunch line at Pour House too long? Hsin Hsin's. Craving shitty (really shitty) food? Hsin Hsin's. The only explanation for this is the late delivery hours and relatively cheap prices + huge portions. Still, who would want giant servings of rancid sludge, right?
I've known all along that the BF has poor taste in Chinese food, but this has got to stop. It's time for desperate measures -- every time he orders from Hsin Hsin's, I'm going to make him get a Manzilian. I'm pretty sure that's a fair trade off.Listed in: I've got the Asian Persuasian, Mass-ton-idge
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Review from Heather S.
Boston, MA
1/6/2009
Hsin Hsin = every dish comes with a side of sin. or something like that, since every time i've had Hsin Hsin, I've been hitting the sauce. but those sins might have happened anyway, so...
it's cheap
it's greasy
it's chinese
it's available for delivery
it's across the street
it's 4 stars -
Review from Suzanne M.
Charlestown, MA
4/24/2009
2 stars because the food is just + 4 stars for price & convenience settles me at 3.
I've eaten here more than any other place. It's a couple blocks from us, and it's consistently good enough. I love the spicy szechuan wontons with peanut sauce on top of white rice. My fiance loves the pork fried rice and General Tsao's chicken. It's pretty cheap for the area and better than the other places within the neighborhood, but I would not go out of my way nor make this a destination location.Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Ruth M.
Oakland, CA
5/21/2008
Cheap, delicious, enormous portions. What else is there in life?
Crab rangoons. That's what there is. And as a serious purveyor of crab rangoons, this place is the second best in Boston/Cambridge (Chili Duck being #1).
Go for lunch and you can get in and out for $5-6 in under an hour. The portions can easily make up your dinner, too. The people are super nice. It's cheap. It's exactly what I want in a restuarant near a college campus - cheap, generous, and benevolent. I went here so much in college the owner recognized me and always came by to chat. They're great people, and they seem to empathize with their clientele - hosed undergrads who come by in a frantic rush to get cheap food at all hours of the night and day. They basically serve delicious comfort coddled in tasty sauce. -
Review from Jasmine C.
Boston, MA
8/20/2007
I was craving for American-Chinese food last weekend and decided to order in from Hsin Hsin since it was near my friend's place. As many of you already (or should know), real Chinese food do not really exist outside of Chinatown (or maybe Quincy in the case of Boston). Most of the so-call Chinese food joints are AMERICAN CHINESE where you have the General so-and-so kind of dishes. I think most of them do not taste very well, although once in a while i do crave for that greasy huge portions of chicken tossed with vegetables.
I had the SESAME CHICKEN and it was pretty good. The chicken was tasty and not overly breaded. I can't say the same for the fried rice that came with it though. It was bland and had nothing in it. Granted it was the fried rice that came in the combination plate. Maybe it would be better if it's a special fried rice order (like HOUSE SPECIAL or something)
Was is amazing? Nope, nothing to shout about?
Did it fulfill my craving? Yes yes, and in a very short 20 minutes for delivery. Granted we were 3 blocks away.
Would I order in again. Definitely yes. I am seeing this place to be the place when i am super lazy in the winter times... -
Review from lori m.
Boston, MA
3/19/2011
minus one star for the green bug i found in my lunch not too long ago.
when i have the day off and there's no food in my apartment (which is often) sometimes i would order the luncheon special from hsin hsin. mine: steamed chicken and veggies, pork fried rice and hot and sour soup...grand total, something like $6. so cheap and not bad.
i had eaten about 1/4 of it when i discovered the stir fried insect. now, i know it happens...but i don't like it when it does. i got somewhat nauseous and then threw it all away. i could have called them to let them know or run back across the street to show them. but then i would have had to deal with the extremely miserable and unfriendly woman behind the register for a second time in one day (i've been there often enough to deserve a hello or maybe even a smile?).
i didn't see the point since i was no longer hungry anyway. -
Review from Eva P.
Boston, MA
6/22/2011
There aren't many Chinese restaurants in Back Bay, actually to my knowledge Hsin Hsin might be the only one? I have been here about 10 times between takeouts, eat in, and deliveries- it has never failed me. The food is 100% tasty. The only reason i'm giving it a 4 star and not 5 is because they charged me for the wrong dish one time, but never the less. I will always be your biggest fan!
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Review from Jonny C.
Updated - 5/20/2010
- minus one star for botching consecutive orders. The first one I let slide, but when I called on the second one, the woman flipped and told me I was wrong, I hadnt ordered what I thought i had. WTF?
Still probably the best option, but this trend is mildly disconcerting.Listed in: Boston Proper
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/5/2010
Just because a place serves food from nearly every country in the Orient doesnt make it Asian… Read more »
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Review from D K.
Boston, MA
1/28/2010
This is going to be a simple review for a simple place...
If you're looking for Americanized Chinese food delivered hot, fast, and cheap to Back Bay or surrounding areas, this is the joint you're looking for. Make sure you ask for extra duck sauce, they typically don't include enough. -
Review from Bowser P.
Redwood City, CA
5/18/2008
I still dream about this place even though the last time I had it was oh like over 3 years ago. But I bet it is still the same.
Used to get it when coming home after class. It is the BEST when you are sick because even if your nose is totally clogged, you will still taste it, and it will taste awesome. They also used to have the best crab rangoons (on a good day) if they weren't burnt. -
Review from Thomas C G.
Boston, MA
7/31/2008
Everyone has their own taste in Chinese food and this place isn't mine.
Don't get me wrong, the lunch and dinner specials are VERY reasonably priced and the waiters are very attentive (it's like they fill your water glass as means for preying on college gossip) but the tastes of everything except the Scallion Pancakes are just too saucy.
A lot of my friends are addicted to this cheap, fast place to grab a bite with usually enough to take home for later but it's too bland for my taste to get a rave. -
Review from G J J.
Boston, MA
9/13/2009
Greasy! Cheap!
Wonderful! -
Review from Alexander H.
New York, NY
3/22/2008
Hsin Hsin is awesome.
1) Delivery
2) Cheap (dinner combo with appetizer, fried rice, and an entree is 7 bucks.)
3) Delicious
This is worth at least 4 stars for its economics alone.
UPDATE: They have some crafty drivers too. One night, some of my friends and I ordered both Quan's (another Chinese place) and Hsin Hsin at the same time by coincidence. Both drivers arrived pretty much the same time, but as they double parked in front of our house, the cops rolled up with sirens on. Well, the Hsin Hsin guy wasn't going to have any of that so he actually just floors it and bolts and lets the Quan's guy get the ticket before circling back after the cops take off. Clever. -
Review from Anya S.
5/24/2009
Its cheap, greasy, convenient and readily available Americanized food with a Chinese flavor to satisfy your hunger. The portions are generous, the food quality is consistent, but nothing to brag about. Beef and broccoli is good. Ask for the sauce, its a little bit spicy and I like it.
Ive never been there, only ordered to go. The delivery takes a little longer then I would like, but the last time the delivery guy drove an Escalade, so maybe he had to make a stop to refuel. -
Review from Mariana M.
Leadville, CO
2/21/2010
If you're looking for great crappy americanized chinese food, this is in my opinion and without a doubt the best you can get in the area. Crab Rangoons = magical. Peking Dumplings = delicious. 5.75 lunch combo = best deal in Boston.
The location is great if you want to eat out, but if you want to order-in they always deliver the food really fast and piping hot. This place is my old faithful when I need some good old fashion greasy chinese. -
Review from Katy D.
Philadelphia, PA
7/28/2008
I will preface this with that fact that I don't really love Chinese food.
After a year of awful Nan Ling, I moved out of the dorms and into my very own shoebox of an apartment right around the corner from Hsin Hsin. I barely had a kitchen or space to do any cooking so I basically depended on my microwave and takeout. On the nights when I wasn't in the mood for India Samraat or Subway, Hsin Hsin it was.
Decent place, quick service, awesome cold noodles and crab rangoon. I can't really vouch for much else of their menu, but for chinese stand-bys this is the place to go.
I live further away in JP now but if I ever crave Chinese again I can honestly say that I would order from here. -
Review from Timan G.
Redwood City, CA
12/29/2009
I come here so much that all the workers have memorized my potential orders, but that's besides the point...
Hsin Hsin is one of the tastier options for Chinese food in the Boston/Cambridge area. If you're craving a quick meal, I recommend getting a combo plate ($6-8, for lunch and dinner respectively). The plate includes either white or fried rice, a veggie/meat entree and an appetizer or soup. The combinations are endless and you're bound to fine something you like.
Hsin Hsin also has a number of specialty plates which are sized to share. Crispy loin of pork ($9.25) is one of my favorites. It's sweet, crispy and fruity all at the same time. I usually get white rice because I find their fried rice pretty dry and bland.
Recently, I've been noticing that the portions have been shrinking. I usually order chicken broccoli and the ratio of chicken to broccoli used to be pretty equal. But now, I basically have to search for the chicken in the bed of broccoli. Not cool. But apart from the combo plates, the servings of meat in the specialty dishes seems to have remained pretty consistent. -
Review from Emilio A.
Boston, MA
3/4/2011
All I have to say is the food is cheap, fresh, and amazing for the price!!
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Review from Michelle L.
Boston, MA
12/16/2010
I sat here reading all the reviews in full debate over ordering. And then I did. The crab rangoon was good, but not worth raving over. I ordered the pan fried noodle dish and would probably not get it again because the noodles were not the typical soft noodles that come fried to a golden brown-- they were chow mein or something, which was disappointing. The stirfry was good though, as was the wonton soup and white rice. The best thing was that the food came fast and hot, so I can't really complain for a $10 meal. Okay fine I can.
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Review from Susan L.
Huntington Beach, CA
2/20/2008
Fast service,huge variety of Americanized-Chinese food. Cozy decor, with a television to pass time!!
The portions are great espcially for the price. The food is fresh and always hits the spot, plus when i'm too lazy to go out they deliver late into the night and a pretty far radius! I order from them all the time now
ps. it is a Americanized Chinese food, what do people expect when they try to get fancy and order the "nui roa" whatever-or-other?! -
Review from Val N.
Boston, MA
1/1/2010
I recently moved to Boston and have been searching for a new favorite chinese restaurant & I'm sorry to say that Hsin Hsin was a big disappointment.
Everything that I got was bland, even the hot & sour soup! The fried rice looked good, but didn't have enough flavor.
So far, I prefer Chef Chang off of the St. Mary's stop on the C line. -
Review from Robin A.
Boston, MA
1/21/2011
Not bad, not bad, if you are looking for a quick americanized cheap mandarin meal before hitting the bar. Service was decent, and inexpensive which is a plus. We ordered chicken cashew and stir fry of shrimp, beef, and vegetables. Found the stir fry too salty,and needed more spice. Cashew chicken was alright, tasted like anywhere else. Overall, it was decent.
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Review from Andrea G.
Boston, MA
1/11/2006
The food was good, but I found a long, black hair (obviously not mine) in my rice and they wouldn't even apologize, let alone refund my money. Needless to say, I haven't been back.
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Review from Chris W.
New York, NY
7/9/2007
Went here once to try it, didn't like it. Got dragged back here by a white friend. Again, didn't like it. The place is definitely an Americanized Chinese restaurant, and not even a good one at that. The fried rice is disgusting, and their dishes were overly greasy and I feel like all the sauces had the same thick, oily base. As greasy and prepared with as little care and attention as the Chinese food truck across the bridge at MIT. Except, the food truck is more delicious and authentic.
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Review from alex l.
Cambridge, MA
5/31/2008
if i could give 3.5 stars i would. So i have lived within minutes of this place for the past 6 yrs and my husband and i just ordered from here for the first time tonight. we have been looking for a cheap decent chinese food place at least a few notches up from nan ling. so we just got our food and looked at each other and said " why have we never ordered from this place before?" Very decent for the price...too bad we are moving at the end of june! delivery was quoted at 30 min from down the street and it took 45 minutes. my chicken with cashew nuts was lacking in cashews but hey, what can you do?
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Review from Matt B.
Back Bay, Boston, MA
6/26/2010
Typical Americanized Chinese food. Greasy, hot, and fast. The delivery is consistently fast, but don't order a can of soda from them. When I do, they have literally forgotten it 2/3 of the time. They always go back and get it, but when you're in a 4th floor walk up you're faced with the unenviable choice of going back up to wait for them only to have to make another round trip, or waiting on the stoop while smelling your food. Ridiculous they can't remember this.
50% of the time I order from here the meat is fresh, tender, and excellent. 50% of the time it's just awful in some way. Sometimes I get nothing but dark meat, somethings it's all cartilage with hardly any meat at all, and other times it's a mystery as to exactly what it is.
I have not problem recommending them though, because they are pretty cheap, and very fast.
PS - I HATE that the giant Koi in the tank by the counter is being tortured. It needs ~ 400x as much water as it has to thrive. Very uncool. -
Review from Wei W.
Lexington, MA
3/14/2008
Cheap and fast Americanized Chinese food. Huge portions, relatively clean for what I would consider greasy food, and good service. The giant carp fish tank are a nice touch if you're not sitting on the side facing the window, and free tea hits the spot (albeit not the freshest tea in the world). Hsin Hsin is considered a noodle house, so try their lo mein, chow mein, pan fried noodles, rice sticks, or some other noodle-ly dish. Their rice dishes and noodle soups aren't bad, either. Not too bad for being so far away from Chinatown.
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Review from Felix L.
Boston, MA
4/24/2007
One of the better American-Chinese restaurants around. Cheap, fast, good. For under 7 bucks, you can get a lot of food. and the orange chicken here is a lot better than at some other places!
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Review from Wesley B.
Quincy, MA
5/23/2011
It's cheap and while it's not AMAZING it still tastes great and I recommend it.
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Review from Katherine R.
Sacramento, CA
11/16/2010
It's my quest whenever moving to a new area to find a great junky Chinese food restaurant... it took me three years, but I found it in Boston in Hsin Hsin. I only wish this place was open after 11 pm, because let's face it, cravings for greasy cheap Chinese food come most often closer to 2 am, but this place is generally wonderful. Delivery is fast, food is cheap and hot, what else do you need from a Chinese place? Sesame chicken is probably the favorite of our house, it's definitely fried and saucy and delicious. The chicken and broccoli is of the "real" well-cooked un-breaded variety, which I feel less guilty about eating. The fried rice and lo mein that comes in the combo plates are both kind of boring and bland, but for $1 upgrade to your $7 combo, the lo mein did have a greater portion of fresh-looking veggies and no meat, for those vegetarian inclined folks. Overall, you have to understand the kind of food served here: amazingly trashy Americanized Chinese food, hot and at your door in 30 minutes.
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Review from Katie J.
Boston, MA
2/22/2009
Hit or miss... but when you hit it is excellent. The food is not too greasy & full of flavor. the preparation time is extremely fast.
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Review from Ryan L.
Boston, MA
9/29/2010
Overall it was great experience as long as you understand this is a casual take out type place (with ample seating actually) and not a gourmet high end restaurant. The sushi here was reasonably priced, not expensive, not cheap, couldn't complain. We ordered their special Hsin Hsin roll which was 2 types of fish in an inside out roll with fish eggs on top. It wasn't Fugaku or Oiishi level, but decent given the casual type of restaurant this is (hence the cheaper price point). What this place really excels in though is their chinese food. They do carry some authentic dishes here (singapore noodles, dan dan noodles, etc.) but my review is more on their americanized chinese food since that was what I ordered. Let me start off by saying my parents used to own a take out place as did a couple of aunts and uncles so I am an extremely hard critic when it comes to americanized chinese food since I grew up around it. I can tell you their food is superb in that style of chinese cuisine. Their house special fried rice was not oily and had a good deal of shrimp and veggies in it. As for my two favorite items at any Chinese take out place, lobster sauce and crab rangoons, Hsin Hsin does not disappoint. Lobster sauce is generally uber thicky and heavy but they managed to keep their's light and brothy. A nice contrast to the norm. And their crab rangoons, for once I found a place that does not add sugar to their cream cheese mix. Nothing pisses me off more than chinese places that add sugar to their crab rangoon mixture as it's supposed to be SAVORY, not sweet (which is what the duck sauce is for if you like a sweet crab rangoon). In short their crab rangoons were fantastic. I'll definitely make Hsin Hsin a regular lunch time place for me as it's only 20 minutes walk from my work and they got $6 lunch specials!!!
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Review from Jessica R.
Somerville, MA
7/18/2005 2 photos
Your standard cheap greasy chinese food place but tastier than most. Stop by here on your way to Satellite or if you are on newbury and want something affordable. The vegetable lomein here is pretty good.
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Review from Denis A.
Boston, MA
10/25/2009 20 Check-ins Here
Good food, but small portions of the main course with lots of rice.
