Bamboo House

540 Waugh
713.522.3422

We eat a lot of Chinese food. Most Chinese restaurants serve what I'll call 0ld-Houston Chinese food. These places typically have moo goo gai pan and specialize in Hunan beef and Kung Pao something or other. These restaurants are much like a visit to McDonalds for me. Not bad, but not something you want to seek out.

From the looks and the name, Bamboo House hints at something new. The location though (a strip mall on Waugh) tells you it might just be another Chinese restaurant. It's not. I think of it as a more fresh and local version of P.F. Changs. The food here is consistent and tasty.

Today we had the pan-fried dumplings to start. The filling isn't the best in the world, but the crunchy outside and the warm soft inside worked wonders in my mouth. We ordered a single main course, the orange beef. This is the best orange beef I have ever tasted. Now, I'm no expert on orange beef (Rekha tells me Scott Chen's version was better), but this thing had actual slivers of orange peel. It tasted tangy and fresh rather than soggy and thick as most orange beef tastes.

The decor is modern, low-key and minimal. They need pictures on the wall. But ignore the blank beige walls and allow the food to capture your attention?