Pepper Twins

9/9/2018

• Ordered Online with Yelp

This food is always fresh and fantastic. I especially love the dry fried green beans, and the Mongolian beef. Tons of flavor and always crisp veggies.

It is a go-to any day of the week. Great take-out too!

9/16/2018

The service here is always excellent! Great wait staff & they really take the time to connect & help you out.
I split the Kung Pao Chicken, pork dumplings, and Dan Dan noodles & it was too much food for two people! (Which is great)
I will definitely get the chicken dish & dumplings again  But the Dan Dan noodles were a little too cold for my taste.
Can't wait to come back here & explore more of  their menu.

8/25/2018

• 1 check-in

I have never had pepper twins but always saw it around with all of their different shops! This on on Fairview near baby barnabys was so great. The staff and the cleanliness and the speed of service were all amazing. On top of that their food was kick butt also! We order vegetable fried rice with pineapple. The pineapple was a very delicious twist on a common dish. We also split a salty pepper shrimp. The dish served with a side of white rice had a copious amount of veggies and the most delectable crispy fried tempura shrimp. The pepper was just the right amount as well. Makes sense with their name.

We already can't wait to come back!

10/4/2018

Exceeded my expectations! The food was flavorful, not too salty and the portion sizes were large.  We ordered the beef and broccoli and a chicken dish which were enough for 2-3 ppl.  The chicken was good quality chicken and the beef was cooked to perfection.   Also, the food wasn't too oily which was a big plus. Can't wait to go back!

9/29/2018

The MUST eat Chinese restaurant in Houston!! I knew one friend who lives a few hours away from Houston; when she went to Houston, she ate pepper twins every meal for a few days, literally.
This is also my personal favorite restaurant in Houston - it has a few special dishes hard to get in other places, such as the corn, Japanese tofu, etc.

• 

  Spicy fish fillet

  Spicy fish fillet
• 

  红烧蹄膀 pork

  红烧蹄膀 pork
• 

  药膳鸡汤, fantastic chicken soup

  药膳鸡汤, fantastic chicken soup
• See all photos from Zhiyuan L. for Pepper Twins

9/23/2018 Updated review

• 1 check-in

One of my favorite places in town. They start you off with these spiced fried wontons. They're slightly sweet and insanely addictive. I also always get the dan dan noodles and the mapo tofu. The mapo tofu on top of white rice is delicious. I've also gotten the beef and broccoli and it's incredibly. There's something about the sauce that's different than other Chinese restaurants and the beef is so tender. It's really good. I'm also a big fan of their pork dumplings and love that it comes with the crispy bottom. The hot diving fish is also a favorite. The fish is never dry and the sauce is perfect paired with rice. Great place!

7/2/2018

• 1 check-in

I've never had Sichuan-style food before because I've always thought it was too spicy for my tastes. I like to keep my tastebuds in tact, what can I say? However, a good foodie friend of my boyfriends really had a love for this place. Before I knew it, we found ourselves in this quant, causal restaurant where we were immediately seated by our waitress; who was extremely nice and had a smile on throughout her service with us.
The table comes with on the house friend wonton chips that had a subtle sweet and spicy red dusting. As we snacked on those, we ended up ordering the chicken noodles, spicy fried chicken cubes and beef, mapo tofu, and the pork dumplings. Each dish was great, with just enough spice to dance along your tastebuds. The portions were family style with your own pot of white rice served alongside. I'd definitely come back for the great service and flavorful food!

7/6/2018

• 1 check-in

I've been to several Pepper Twins now and they each have slightly different menu items but this is my favorite location so far. Flavorful spicy dishes without over spicing it (Kirby location). Ordered the dan dan appetizer, cumin lamb, fish swimming in pickles, and hot pot. Perfectly tender meats and fish. Hot pot had various items- bamboo shoots, lotus root, wood ear mushroom, just to name a few. Order the dan dan noodles and pickled fish if you can't handle spicy food. Not too greasy/oily- good for sichuan style dishes.

• 

  Dan dan Dan Dan Noodles

  Dan dan Dan Dan Noodles
• 

  Hot pot

  Hot pot
• 

  Fish Swimming in Pickles

  Fish Swimming in Pickles

3/4/2018

• 1 check-in

First, I'd like to say that if you coming to eat on a Friday night, it may be best to take an Uber. They have like 4-5 spots in the front, then another 4 on the side, and street parking. But we circled the nearby blocks and street parking was not happening.  Since we we're ordering to go, I stayed in the car with the flashers on,  while my husband went inside, in case the car needed to be moved.  My husband texted me and said the place was packed, with barely any took to stand!

However, regarding the food, it had good flavor. We ordered the green beans, dan dan noodles, you, and the little crispy chickens with that red chilli. The green beans were delicious! The tofu had so much more flat than I anticipated! The little chickens were bursting with flavor too, but I was hoping they were going to be crispy. This could have been affected by being in a closed container during the drive home. However, I was not a dan dan noodles, the flavor was good, but I didn't like that they were cold.

All in all, no wonder people are talking about this restaurant! Their food is quite delicious! However, I would have to say that they are in close comparison to Mala (Bellaire location).  While I think I would recommend Pepper Twins, I'd say that if you don't mind the drive, Mala is a better option.

• 

  Dan Dan noodles.... Are they supposed to be cold cold?

  Dan Dan noodles.... Are they supposed to be cold cold?
• 

  Green beans....yuuuum!

  Green beans....yuuuum!
• 

  The little "crispy" chickens...

  The little "crispy" chickens...
• See all photos from Thea H. for Pepper Twins

1/20/2018

• 1 check-in

I would come back just for the service. That's how incredibly friendly and quick the staff were. Great personalities, and they were all very nice and caring!

In terms of food, I can't lie, I was just a little disappointed. BUT, i still liked the food a lot. It's just that my whole family is from Sichuan and I had heard great things about Pepper Twins so I expected more I guess. It's definitely not bad, it's actually quite good! Just not as spicy (mala) and not as authentic as I'd expected.

My faves were the hot sauce and boiled fish and twice cooked pork. I also had the sweet and sour short ribs, which were actually the biggest disappointment. It tasted more westernized than I'd hoped.

Over all, I would say come for the service and food, just don't expect it to be super authentic tasting, but it's definitely not bad!

6/14/2018 Updated review

I highly recommend this place, not only for its authentic taste of food, but also for health benefits.
For anyone who knows me, I have a non-chinese stomach, meaning that I have pretty bad reactions every time I eat Chinese food, even if I tell the restaurant upfront to reduce salt, oil and spicy level, which is ridiculous since I am a Chinese.
But this time I was actually fine after having the delicious "fish swimming in pickle" and its in-house special sweet drink, "Yin Er" soup.

The soup has a rather thick paste like porridge because there are lots of good nutrition stuff in it, such as dates, wolf berries, lily seeds, etc, also, they keep it cold, which makes it more desirable for a hot summer day.

11/5/2017

Pepper Twins is amazing! Nothing but delicious and authentic Szechuan food here! My husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how delectable everything was! We ordered:

1. Dan Dan Noodles ($7)
2. Pepper Twins Chicken ($15)
3. Mongolian Beef ($14)
4. Twice Cooked Berkshire Pork Belly ($13)

Everything was absolutely fantastic and so tender! My favorite was the Mongolian Beef! We requested all our dishes to be mild, but even then we thought everything was pretty damn spicy! If you can't even handle a hint of spiciness, I would tread lightly or maybe even steer clear of this restaurant! I especially would be cautious if you are ordering their Pepper Twins Chicken. They have these crazy Sichuan peppercorns that create a tingly buzz or numbness in the mouth. You don't want to mess with these dishes!

Service was great. Their parking lot in front of their restaurant is REALLY small, so be prepared to look for any available street parking. Overall, LOVE PEPPER TWINS and already looking forward to our next visit.

• 

  Dan Dan Noodles ($7)

  Dan Dan Noodles ($7)
• 

  Mongolian Beef ($14)

  Mongolian Beef ($14)
• 

  Pepper Twins Chicken ($15)

  Pepper Twins Chicken ($15)
• See all photos from Debra T. for Pepper Twins

12/31/2017

Highlights:
- Friendly staff
- Incredible Szechuan food
- Small parking lot

This was one of the few times I was blown away by a recommendation. Craving some hot food on a cold day, we came here and only ordered a few dishes based on some other reviews (and ended up with the cumin lamb and water cooked/hot pepper sauce fish). This was everything I wish my most recent visit to Asia cafe (in Austin) was.

The lamb had just the occasional tinge of crisp that was full of flavor. Some of the gamey flavor is cooked away and masked by the cumin, so for those of you who don't like lamb as much it's still pretty great.

The fish did have more szechuan peppercorns than expected and you have to navigate a bit more carefully, but overall the amount of food you get in each dish is great for the price.

Highly recommend and would absolutely return next time I'm in town.

• 

  Half eaten lamb with cumin

  Half eaten lamb with cumin
• 

  Hot sauce boiled fish

  Hot sauce boiled fish

10/6/2018

Pepper Twins is one of my favorite restaurants, and this location is the best. They are very hospitable, the food is great as always, and THE BEST.

3/19/2018

• 1 check-in

An interesting bit about Pepper Twins is that they claim their meat and produce to be organic (mostly), which is pretty bold for an authentic Chinese restaurant. Expect higher prices for that AND it being in Montrose, obviously.

I gotta say, though, you can tell there is a difference with their food. Their "ma" and "la" has a bit more finesse to it than other Sichuan places in Houston (as in, your mouth won't feel completely num or burning from the peppers). The ambiance is also pretty nice, but I came for lunch - lots of light and pretty quiet.

Of all the Sichuan places in Houston, I think Pepper Twins does it better than most. Parking at this particular location can be a bit of a challenge, so it might be worth checking out another location to try it - I assume quality would be more or less the same!

7/28/2018

We stopped in on a recommendation from my daughter, and we were so glad we did!  Pepper Twins has the most amazing food!  We tried the chicken noodle special, the fried beef cubes, and the dry fried green beans.  The chicken noodles had the most delicious sauce which didn't seem too spicy at first, but gave a nice tingly feeling to our tastebuds due to the Szechuan peppers.  The steak cubes were tender and spicy and cooked  with peanuts,  celery, and a few other vegetables...yum!  Finally, the green beans were cooked with garlic and delicious spices.  The service was fantastic, and all of our food was perfectly seasoned.  If you haven't tried this place, do it now.

• 

  Finally, what was left of our dry fried green beans

  Finally, what was left of our dry fried green beans
• 

  Leftover chicken noodles...so good!

  Leftover chicken noodles...so good!
• 

  We were so excited to try the beef cubes, I forgot to take a picture first. Here are our leftovers

  We were so excited to try the beef cubes, I forgot to take a picture first. Here are our leftovers

8/23/2018

I came back to Pepper Twins again because I heard they serve Organic chicken which is a huge plus for me because I really try to eat organic foods as much as possible. I tried the Pepper Twins chicken because it's their specialty and I was really pleased. You can tell the chicken is high-quality and fresh and the peppercorns in the dish are very fragrant. Helen is very friendly and loves to answer questions about the dishes I had a great experience.

9/14/2018

This place has some great Chinese food. It is fresh and made to order. The spicy shrimp , orange chicken , and fried green beans are a must try. Not too mention the staff was very friendly.

• 

  The spicy shrimp with the fried green beans in the background.

  The spicy shrimp with the fried green beans in the background.
• 

  Orange chicken delight!!!

  Orange chicken delight!!!

1/1/2018

After enjoying it so much last time, despite mediocre service we came back to do it again. This time the food just wasn't as good. I had the orange beef and it was pretty dried out. While the service was better, the food was not as good. For the price I expect better. After this last experience my feeling was that I might as well go eat in Chinatown and pay 20-30% less.

• 

  Really nice bathrooms

  Really nice bathrooms

5/21/2017

• 1 check-in

Whoa, a good Sichuan restaurant outside of Chinatown?  I'm happy Pepper Twins exists because it means I don't have to drive outside of the 610 loop to fix my cravings for delicious Chinese food and hot mala spice.

Me and a couple friends showed up for a late lunch on Sunday.  Like many Chinese restaurants, the food here is served family style - you're meant to order a couple big plates and share with the table.  Between the three of us, we ordered three main entrees plus a side dish, which was just the right amount of food to fill all of us up without having any leftovers.

The food came out impressively fast - within 5 minutes of placing our orders, everything had already been delivered to our table!  My thoughts on the dishes we ate:

Spicy Fried Cubic Chicken - loved this.  The chicken was lightly fried with a peppery coating and the onions and garlic added some lovely aromatic flavors to the dish.  If you look at my picture, it comes with a TON of hot peppers, although it wasn't really that spicy (which could be a pro or a con, depending on how much of a hothead you are)

Twice Cooked Pork - my personal favorite.  The pork was quite tender and flavorful, and the sauce was great for ladling onto your rice.  My only complaint is that similar to the cubic chicken, it wasn't really that spicy (and when I go to a Sichuan restaurant, I want my tongue to be numb from all the mala spice!)

Mapo Tofu - a classic.  Out of all the dishes we ordered, this was really the only one that I felt was packing any sort of heat.  The sauce was rich and flavorful, one of the better Mapo tofus I've had in Houston.

Dandan Noodles - sadly, the only dish we didn't really like.  I absolutely love dandan noodles, so I was disappointed that Pepper Twins' version had rubbery noodles, no spice, and minimal flavor.  Would skip this in the future.

OVERALL: 4/5.  Tasty and authentic Sichuan cuisine inside the loop.  Mala Sichuan Bistro still reigns supreme in my mind as the best Sichuan in Houston, but Pepper Twins is also a lot closer to my place than driving all the way to Chinatown.

• 

  Fried chicken cubes - nicely fried, big portion size. For the amount of peppers, surprisingly not super spicy.

  Fried chicken cubes - nicely fried, big portion size. For the amount of peppers, surprisingly not super spicy.
• 

  Mapo tofu - really good flavor and nice amount of mala spice.

  Mapo tofu - really good flavor and nice amount of mala spice.
• 

  Dandan noodles - ehhh. There are better ones in Chinatown. Rubbery and not much flavor.

  Dandan noodles - ehhh. There are better ones in Chinatown. Rubbery and not much flavor.
• See all photos from Eric C. for Pepper Twins