Xin Chao - Houston

Not sure what to think.. want to give 3.5 stars. I 've been here twice. The food is tasty no doubt, but a bit expensive for what it is.. We eat Asian food a lot, and I 'm not sure the food is as elevated above the plethora of other Asian/fusion options in the city as it 's hyped out to be by the press. Yes, do come and support the chef and eat local, but I would not travel across town. If you 're in the area and looking for an Asian option then yes it 's a good pick. Ambiance and interior is pretty casual so you 're really coming for the food. Service was alright, would have liked to have been told what they were out of before we tried to order.

Came for brunch and left very happy!! everything about my meal was so good. i didn't expect the restaurant to be small, but the vibe is cozy and i'm happy there's a parking lot. to start, i had the pandan colada, egg rolls and oysters. the drink was very refreshing, the egg rolls were crispy and oysters were cooked very well. for mains, we had the caramelized salmon, sizzling steak and pork vermicelli bowl. my favorite was definitely the salmon. the steak was good, but just okay. the star of the show was definitely the apple pie. you HAVE to get it. the espresso martini was also good. i've never had one with condensed milk and it was yummy! i was blown away with how delicious the apple pie was, though. the flavors worked so well together and it was crispy and warm and soooo good. i'm drooling just thinking about it. the staff was also super nice and attentive and answered all our questions about the owner and menu. i will definitely be back for the apple pie and to try more of the menu!

Service was excellent. Food was delicious and creative. The portions were generous except for the mixed vegetables. That was the only dish that was disappointing. The chicken skewers were very tender and full of flavor. It was so good that we had to order another portion. Beef cheek dumplings was another dish that burst in flavor and extremely delicious.

What an experience! We 're talking about bathing in the ambiance! The atmosphere was so warm and inviting. Our server was able to direct us through the menu offering a number of delicious choices of appetizers as well as the main entree. This was one of the most unforgettable dining experiences. Xin Chao is deserving of more than five stars.Let 's talk about shareables. Yes!!! Everything is shareable. That 's what we did. Smoked Duck Salad will have you drooling. The succulent pieces of duck on a bed of arugula with fish sauce vinaigrette was amazing. No greasy duck here! Now, the Pork Belly Boa gave us the WOW! The bun was delicate and yet crispy. Believe me when I say, order an extra one because you might not want to SHARE!!! We hit the jackpot on the Not Our Ma 's Eggrolls. So far, we have already made the Executive Decision to return to Xin Chao! We are like two kids in a candy store! Can we get another one pleaseeeeeee? Have you ever eaten something hot and it 's so delicious that you don 't care about going to the emergency room from the burns? Me either but I was ready to risk it all for the eggrolls my friends! Our appetizers were just that good and we haven 't made it to the main course.Our server suggested the smaller order of Nguyen-er Nguyen-er Chicken Dinner! And we are so glad he did. By this time, we 're all googly eyed over the wonderful experiences so far that we knew the chicken was going to be even better. The crispiness of the chicken gave you crunch that hit so right on every level of crispiness, fresh out the oil without the greasy feeling and taste while being piping hot! (I 'm dreaming of a piece of chicken right now! Don 't be thrown off by the Sidewinder Fries. Trust and believe, whatever restaurant or fastfood place you thought had the best fries, sorry CHARLIE!!!By now, my stomach is full and satisfied but we were not going to leave this place without sharing some Rubbish Apple Pie a la Mode. There 's NOTHING! NOTHING rubbish about this apple pie. Go in Xin Chao and order the apple pie and tell me what you think about fish sauce caramel ! Yep! I said what I said!!! Thank me later!

So long I haven't given 2 stars for a restaurant, but here we go.I have gone to so many restaurants and I am very disappointed with this one.Yesterday we went to celebrate my husband's birthday. The food was horribly salty. We took the duck salad and the cucumber salad. The duck was missing in the plate. We expected as a Asian/ Vietnamese that the duck was cut as a chashu and not minced. For the cucumber salad the spiciness and texture was ok, but both dishes were way salty.After that, we got rice. It was horrible made. My husband and my mother in law are Chinese. We eat and breathe rice everyday. The rice looked as leftover of the previous day. My mother in law complained about it to the waiter and we got a new one that was freshly made. So you can tell the difference right away.We also ordered the fish and it was a bit dry. I thought it was going to be salty as well, but fortunately, it had the right flavor. The sauces with it where good, just the containers were super dirty.About the service, the waiter was ok. We told him we were coming for a birthday party and he was nice enough to attend us, but not doing anything special. The problem was I was expecting that he delivered a better quality of food, paying attention for those details (rice) before serving, but no. Even the cup for tea was dirty.In the restaurant,there is a waitress that she was trying to explain the dish when she brought. Her explanation was so fast that I actually couldn't understand what she was telling. Also, the way she rolled her eyes to me when I was paying attention on the description of the dish makes me feel that she underestimated us. Looks like she doesn't like to work as a waitress or maybe since we don't look rich enough, she doesn't care how to attend customers correctly. It's a shame for a restaurant holded by a MasterChef. We didn't order dessert, because there is not much to take and the bill looked pretty expensive.About the place I can say that looks nice, but it is super cold. There is no way to make it warmer?. We sat down near the door and we were freezing.Overall, I am disappointed about the restaurant and I don't think I would recommend it or come back again.