ChoLon Bistro

Everything was amazing! You have to try the soup dumplings! It’s an orgasm in your mouth. No joke. Omg delicious!

OMG. Where do I begin? I LOVED this restaurant!
Without a doubt, one of the most creative and well executed menus I’ve seen in awhile. We were visiting from out of town and some local friends brought us here. It was perfect for a party of 4, because all the dishes were perfect sharing portions.
Loved my Spring Fever cocktail. They have some creative drinks to choose from.
On to the food.
For starters, the Sweet Onion and gruyère soup dumplings. I’m so glad we got two orders (4 pieces in each) because even 2 for myself wasn’t enough. They are TO DIE FOR! Simply sublime. Let them cool, though! They are hot! This was my favorite dish by far, but everything else was equally as good. I debated going back the next night and getting an order to go. I am still thinking about those things!
Next, tuna crudo with avocado, rhubarb, herb emulsion. SO delicious! My husband who is not a fan of sashimi or raw anything loved this.
Colorado wagyu beef skewers with Hong Kong steak sauce were awesome. My husband’s favorite. So tender and flavorful and the sauce was kicking. The meat quality here is amazing.
My second favorite dish were the pork belly buns. I’m usually not a fan of fatty meats and pork belly, but these were incredible. The meat was so tender and had the perfect amount of char, and the buns were like little clouds. Best I’ve ever had. Amazing!!!
Lobster crepes were also SO amazing. WOW! I recommend these, as well.
Diver scallops came with a lovely presentation, perfect browning on top and some roasted cauliflower and veggies. Delish.
The wagyu entrée was thinly sliced accompanied by square potato grit cakes, which were incredible and decadent. The wagyu was perfectly tender and cooked to perfection at medium rare. This was another favorite of mine. Mind blowing.
From the wok, we had a crab rice dish which had some kick to it. It was very good, but wasn’t my favorite.
Our friends were celebrating their anniversary and the server brought out a lovely coconut and chili mango ice cream dish that was decorated in chocolate.
This place isn’t cheap, especially when you order a bunch of dishes, which you should. Great for a date night, special occasion or with friends. Great vibe and service, too, and right in the heart of downtown. If you are in Denver, this is a must try!

ya know, pretty good! Little overpriced a little but consider the area. The food was really good. The onion soup things were just ok. Sounds sort of fun, but really kind of average. The pork bun were good, but not the best I’ve had. So, like really good, but like not CRAZY awesome. I think that it was a great experience but not one that I would want to repeat…
when I left: I wasn’t like «I can’t wait to come back!» I was like, that was a good experience… but eh.
Don’t get me wrong they get 4 stars for concept, effort, presentation and creativity…
The floor manager wasn’t really friendly… but atmosphere was Great and trendy, and matched the fusion thing.
so 4 stars. Do it once and decide.

Nice restaurant, great service, great location. The food would probably be described as Asian fusion consisting of a bunch of regionally different Asian dishes, most with some sort of flare or twist. The menu is small and easy to navigate. The food was good, a little over priced, but considering the location and service it was fine. I found the food to be delicious, but there was something missing. It didn’t quite have the wow factor of a high end restaurant. I’d definitely recommend going here, maybe it was my own personal experience that was off. My wife and I had a really fun time here, and they even made room for our 6 month old baby to join us.

As a Los Angeles native used to a certain standard for Asian food, I was apprehensive of this type of mixed fusion restaurant. Cholon exceeded my expectations.
We got there at around 10PM. This place is popular so we did wait maybe 15 min max. While waiting, we perused the menu. Whoa, those prices are a little higher than I’d like.
We were lured in by the idea of the french onion soup dumplings, which was a novelty to us. They were delicious. We also ordered the wagyu beef skewers, pork belly buns, and lobster crêpe. Everything was divided into 4 bite-​sized portions. That was all good and well for our party of four but the math might get a little messy for larger, odd-​numbered groups.
The beef skewers were alright. To be honest, they looked like burnt little turds to me but they tasted fine. I thought the sauce was too strong but the meat was quality. Rather, I liked the sauce for the pork belly buns. SOOO GOOD! They were perfection and my favorite item on the menu. I could eat just pork belly buns for the entire meal and leave completely satisfied. The bun was soft and tender, a perfect complement for the pork belly. Even the fat was good!
Last of all, we received the lobster crepes. Being a fusion place, we weren’t sure if they were going to be French crepes or Vietnamese banh xeo (we were too hungry to read the reviews fully…). Yes, they were Vietnamese banh xeo, just like the ones made at home but with a twist. They were crispy, just like I like them, with lobster, mushroom, and other goodies inside. They were also delicious but once again, the pork belly buns were amazing!
I’m giving 4 stars for a number of reasons. I don’t feel like this is a «bang for your buck». Large prices for bite-​sized portions. I didn’t like the atmosphere, which was too dark in my opinion. Mostly what bothered me was the service. They gave us lukewarm water. I asked for iced water and didn’t get it. They took my cup and perhaps forgot. Water is probably the most simple request you can make in a restaurant. I had to ask again to get my water. In addition to that, I had the hardest time flagging down a waiter. I was at the end in front of the bar. I tried multiple times but the waiter was not in that area or maybe just didn’t see me. It possibly took longer to find a server to pay my bill than it took to consume my food. It should be noted, however, that the server was perfectly nice and helpful once I could get ahold of him.

Here for a conference and thought we’d give it a try. everything here was delicious. With two people we ordered like 3 appetizers and two plates. Good amount of food and we wanted to get dessert but was too full for dessert.

Great Asian fusion in the heart of Denver. The chef takes an interesting twist to all of the dishes (e.g. sauces have infusion of Mediterranean flavors, and dish preparation has an Asian flair).
We came to ChoLon on a Friday night and it was bustling with people. Great energy, relaxed ambience and a very professional and attentive waitstaff.
As an extra treat, we got one of the few seats «up front» to watch the whole kitchen in action from prep, execution to expediting to tables. If you’re a Top Chef nerd like we are, the kitchen theater is a great addition to the night!

Just had an amazing experience at Cholon Asian fusion bistro. Sat at chef’s counter and watched the intensity of a busy kitchen. Executive chef on the other side of the kitchen checks every dish going out to make sure it’s perfect! Executive chef is an amazing guy and perfectionist. Loved talking to him and the sous chefs. They were all so nice and paid attention to all details.
Service was top notch! Waiter Chad was attentive and cared a lot to make sure every single dish was perfect. Really good service and unique food. My absolute favorite was the French onion soup buns. like Xiao long bao… but way better. Even better than Din Tai Fung (famous soup bun place in Asia and LA). My wife loved the lobster crepes and pork belly buns.
Keep up the great work Cholon chefs and staff !! Thanks for a fantastic experience !!

I was never a real fan of Asian fusion until now. My friend and I decided to try this new place and the soup dumpings. It was our first time, so we followed the suggestions of our waitress who said that 4 dishes would be perfect for us two. We started off with the French onion soup dumplings, which were amazing and full of flavor. We then had the pork buns, which had such tender pork and melted in mouth. Then, we had the lobster crepes, which were delicious. Finally, the tandoori lamb. Ahh! That has to be the best lamb I’ve ever had in my entire life! Grilled to perfection and very tender meat. I would definitely come back again. We paid a pretty penny, but it was worth it for the great quality of food.

Since I’ve been away from home, I was having some mad Asian food cravings.
I decided to give ChoLon a shot.
Please keep in mind that ChoLon is a true Asian Fusion restaurant. If you’re expecting authentic, this is NOT the place for you.
I had the following:
Pork Belly Buns, Sesame-​Honey Glaze, Pickles — I love the fact that the buns were steamed and put aside in a bamboo basket covered; it kept the buns warm and soft. The pork belly was cooked perfectly (super tender). The only thing that bothered me about this dish is that the sesame honey glaze was already salted, yet rock salt is additionally added on top of the pork belly before serving; which is too salty for my palate. I highly suggest including a side of green onion stems to add in the buns (similar to peking duck).
Soup Dumplings, Sweet Onion, Gruyère — I really like french onion soup and dumplings, so this combination was creative and different. This dish is pretty heavy, like french onion soup. CAUTION: this dish is STEAMING HOT!!! I suggest asking for a soup spoon to catch the soup inside the dumpling.
Diver Scallops, Cauliflower, Sriracha Crunch, Calamansi Emulsion — The scallops were okay, I wasn’t a big fan of the crumbly sriracha. I personally like my scallops drenched in broth or with a dollop of sauce on the side. Especially if the scallops were slightly over cooked, it can make the dish dry and unpleasant.
Pineapple, Yuzu, Mango Chile, Hibiscus Sorbet — I tried a tiny bit of each sorbet for taste then ate its entirety in the following order (yuzu, pineapple, mango/​chile, and hibiscus). My favorites were the Yuzu and hibiscus. The mango/​chile had a really good kick to it and the pineapple reminded me of the dole whip soft serve at Disneyland.
The overall experience was surprisingly good at ChoLon. The service was wonderful and Marc was very attentive. You can definitely see Chef Lon’s creative and innovative visions through his food.

I have been dying DYING to try Cholon out for some time now and luckily one of my girlfriend decides to have her birthday celebration here. First off, Cholon’s staff are very accommodating and attentive to our party. Our waiter throughly explained the concept of Cholon’s menu as well as each dish that was brought out. Yes, we did learned noodles here are made fresh daily.
The menu here is not extensive; however, it did offer various tapas and family-​style dishes from varying Asian countries. We ended up ordering pork belly buns, soup dumplings, the diver scallops, the tandoori lamb chops, the Colorado wagyu beef, and the Malaysian noodles. We had a party of six and I must say I was pretty full by the end of it. As for the food, my favorite of the night was the lamb chops, perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned. However, I was quite disappointed in the soup dumplings and the wagyu beef.
I love soup dumplings, but Cholon’s dumplings had an Asian fusion flare that included French onion soup; which is not my fav. Also, we weren’t given a traditional soup spoon to eat it from. Because of it I think I might have burnt my tongue a little from the soup. The description of the Colorado wagyu beef sounded delicious and would have be more delicious if it weren’t overcooked.
Overall, the drinks and the food here is pretty good. However, prices here are definitely a lot steeper than its sister restaurant, Cho77.

ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro in Downtown Denver is an eclectic mix of Asian dishes, intermingled with other cuisines from around the world.
The Colorado Wagyu Beef ($ 34) was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The morels added some earthiness, while the asparagus brought a slight bitterness to the party. The green curry bernaise sounds good in theory, but it didn’t provide much heat.
The Pork Belly Buns ($ 15) is a play on the traditional Peking duck. The pork belly was well cooked, with a nice char and most of the fat rendered. The sauce was way too sweet for my liking, and the buns a little too «ready».
The Brussels Sprouts ($ 12) take this dish in a Thai direction. The addition of ground pork and kaffir lime, just really didn’t come together.
The Kaya Toast ($ 9) is kind of akin to Asian French toast. The coconut jam is typically sandwiched between the bread, but this interpretation had bruleed type bread with a do it yourself coconut jam spread. A fairly good rendition of the dish.
The Pandan Upside-​Down Cake ($ 9) is a take on the classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake with the infusion of the Asian ingredient of pandan, which some compare to Asian «vanilla». For me, pandan doesn’t really have a flavor that I can discern. The smoked coconut sherbert helped to offset the sweetness of the cake. Opinions on this dish were lukewarm at best.
The Spiced Doughnuts ($ 9) are a take on café su da, or Vietnamese iced coffee, which is super strong French roast coffee mix with sweetened condensed milk over ice. The doughnuts were well cooked, the ice cream strong with the condensed milk sweet enough to induce a diabetic reaction. This was the winning dessert dish.
I was mostly impressed with ChoLon, but I do think their menu is a little too big and ambitious as some of the combinations just don’t seem to pair well together.

Our hotel concierge recommended this place, wow, one of the best Asian Fusion restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. Very unique combinations, we had a hard time choosing what to eat which was a good problem. I wanted one of everything. Their menu changes almost quarterly.
We came for lunch but dinner looks like a better menu although we were not disappointed with our lunch. We ordered a few shared plates as they call their appetizers. The Wagyu Beef Skewers, with Hong Kong Steak Sauce was the bomb, flavors like crazy, sauce has a good kick to it. The onion soup dumplings were out of this world. Very fun and interesting experience to pop that dumpling in and it burst soup into your mouth.
Next was the Cha Ca La Fish Taco with Hanoi Style Slaw, incredible dish full of flavor. I would order it again in a heart beat. The wife ordered the special which was a chicken meatball rice noodle dish with a sweet peanut sauce, also incredible. Great service, great food, I will be back for sure!!!

My partner and I went here for our first time for Valentine’s Day 2016. We were rather impressed! We are vegans and there are no vegan options on the menu, but to our astonishment they had the ingredients to veganize our orders! We ordered the
Salmon Crudo, Avocado, Wasabi Crunch, Soy Infusion for a starter Small Bites. From the Wok we had Stir-​fried Malaysian Noodles, Seafood, Egg, Bean Sprouts — minus the egg. Finally for the Share Plate we ordered the Seared Salmon [tofu], Sweet & Sour Sauce, Crispy Eggplant, Thai Basil. Very yummy and great service. Tip: I recommend, for a party of two, that you order something from the Small Plate and/​or Small Bites, From the Wok and a Share Plate. Plate portions are small. Pricey but we’ll return!

I love Asian fusion, especially when they do it right, like this place. They had more than just your typical Asian fusion dumplings and tacos, and had a bunch of inventive, unique dishes and flavors, especially when it came to appetizers.
This place is probably best with a party of 2 or 4 so that you can share everything, and a lot of the appetizers come portioned in 4 pieces. Between my boyfriend and myself, we got three appetizers, one entrée, and one side of brussel sprouts and it was more than enough food. If I were to come back here, I would probably do the 3 appetizers and one entrée, or I would do 4 – 5 appetizers. But regardless, share everything so that you can experience all of the different dishes.
My favorite dishes were definitely the Pork Belly Buns, Kaya Toast with Coconut Jam & Egg Cloud, and the Soup Dumplings, so make sure you don’t miss these — they were our favorites!
They will bring out a complimentary (and rather large) rice cracker with black sesame seeds, that is almost like a shrimp chip consistency. It’s delicious, a generous portion, and comes with a delicious spicy, tomato-​chili sauce.
Here’s a rundown of the dishes:
Pork Belly Buns ($ 15): Comes with 4 buns and 4 pieces of pork belly. The pork belly was glazed with a sesame honey, had some pickled vegetables and was the perfect proportion of meat and fat. the meat was seasoned & glazed perfectly — not too sweet, not too salty, and just perfect. I could have probably eaten all 4 (and more) myself.
Soup Dumplings ($ 11): Comes with 4 dumplings, filled with french onion soup — gruyère cheese and caramelized onions. Pop the whole thing in your mouth in one bite and all the flavors explode in your mouth. Delicious. I’ve had something similar at Stanton Social in NYC, and always want more.
Kaya Toast, Coconut Jam & Egg Cloud ($ 9): Little one-​or-​two bite size rectangles of toast, with a sweet (but not too sweet) jam on top, and with a savory egg custard that is light, foamy, and slightly on the watery side. It’s not really like a custard, but the perfect thing to dip the toast into. Totally unique and I’ve never had anything like this, anywhere else.
Glazed Shortrib, Coconut Grits, Tamarind Rendang, Cipollini ($ 33) — This had good flavor and the meat was tender and cooked well, but I don’t think it was anything out-​of-​this-​world, especially for $ 33. I would eat this again, but I would definitely go for more appetizers.
Brussels Sprouts, Ground Pork, Kaffir Lime ($ 12) — I normally love brussel sprouts, but less is more. This was a bit over-​sauced and too salty for my taste. I would pass.
All in all, if you like Asian fusion foods and like to share dishes, this is the place for you. I’d come back here and stick to sharing a bunch of appetizers. Great for a date, a group of friends, and it was fairly easy to get a reservation day-​of, on OpenTable for a party of 2. Hopefully I’ll be back here again on another visit to Denver, and/​or I look forward to trying their sister restaurant as well.

Fantastic! I highly recommend the soup dumplings and potstickers. The potstickers were cooked perfectly to give a very satisfying crunch on the outside while the jicama provided a delightful surprise crunch on the inside. I can’t remember having a potsticker that tasted better that these. I also enjoyed the autumn green salad. The vanilla dressing and five spiced nuts very quite delicious. The Brussel sprouts had an interesting blend of Thai-​like yet a hint somewhat Moroccan flavor.
Staff was very friendly and helpful.

Very delicious Asian fusion restaurant. I really enjoyed my meal there. I had the pork buns which were amazing (and we actually considered ordering a second round!) and the soup dumplings for appetizers. The soup dumplings don’t have a traditional Asian filling inside of them, but rather a Gruyère cheese which was a surprising flavor but really very good. For entrees, we had the fish tacos (amazing) and the lobster crepes (we thought they were alright, the crepes themselves are heavily fried but offset nicely but the lettuce wraps and pickled veggies). The entrees themselves were more appetizer-​sized to be honest, so we are glad to have gotten the appetizers beforehand. The service is good here. However, it is on the pricey side!

Call ahead or use open table. It’s a trendy place downtown Denver. They have valet for $ 8
Fairly loud at dinner but retro music in background. Kitchen is open and bustling. I personally enjoy watching and having a chef table.
We had a party of 5. They served this awesome rice sesame crisp (looks like a chihuly) very tasty spicy tomato dip. Just to whet your palate.
We ordered 3 courses of three:
Pork belly better than most Peking duck buns I have had.
Dumpling a gimmicky but must try French onion soup
Kaya toast: weird description if you haven’t had it before but think French toast pieces you can dip in creamy sweet custard.
Short rib with coconut grits
Scallop with a spicy popcorn and roasted cauliflower
Malaysian noodles. Seafood and very flavorful.
Most things had a spicy kick but not overpowering or super hot.
Coconut brownie with coconut ice cream
Pandan waffle refreshing with blood orange sorbet and pretzel strudel
Spice chai doughnut with coffee ice cream
No one could pick a favorite. Everything was 5 stars.
Service was good. People were all attentive. Overall a wonderful dinner over the holiday with family.

Ok Cholon and Cho77 is like the chicken and the egg story to me.
Cholon came first. Cho77 followed suit. It’s tough to be compared and be called better when u were born second. This time Cholon to me came second in taste, service and ambience.
So. Why? It is just is. Cho77 is Innovative. With very tasty dishes and excellent presentation.
Cholon. For the lack of words didn’t impress me and almost bored me. I wanted to be surprised. I wanted it to beat Cho77. It came up short. Very short.
We ordered the Citrus Beet Salad, Bison Burger, Pork Belly and the Wagyu Beef. The best of the bunch was the Pork Belly Buns. The pork was so tender. Placed inside the buns it was the best combo with the warm buns complementing the salty/​sweet pork belly. I say kudos to the chef! The rest? Forgettable.
The service was great. Overall I am a fan of the younger sibling Cho77.

Make a reservation it’s worth every bite and dollar. Lets start with our order.
Salmon Crudo, Avocado, Wasabi Crunch, Soy Infusion: 5 stars
Soup Dumplings, Sweet Onion, Gruyère: 5 stars
Duck Breast, Cipollini Onions, Baby Turnips, Penang Style Squash Purée: 5 stars
Unfortunately for me I got suckered into the ‘UPSELL’ on the wine paying 35 $ for a crappy glass of wine. Didn’t take off a star because it was my fault, don’t let it be yours. However I was slightly annoyed that my server could not keep up with my need for hot water refills. I asked politely several times to please keep the water coming but he at one point just stopped looking at my empty cup. A proper restaurant would have given me a nice little carafe of hot water to sip on without the need to keep requesting water.
Chef Lon was nice to come to our table and get our coats. He said he cries when he reads these Unilocal reviews. I promised to write a nice one. I hope you don’t cry over the loss of one star. If you do, the waiter was tall and blonde. Feel free to give him a slap on the wrist Mr. Symensma.