Ding Ding

Lunch was surprisingly a pleasant experience.
We walked in and was told to pick any table. We were on a mission to spend $ 30 at least because that was the Groupon deal. Looking at the prices — the mission was going to be challenging because you get so much food for such a steal!
Hainanese Chicken Lunch Set — the lunch specials come with a variety of complimentary drinks to choose from: HK style milk tea, coffee, coffee milk tea, and a bunch of teas. Opted for the coffee milk tea which was very watered down and had a heavy tea ratio. Didn’t tasted that great but, hey — free! The dish had even ratio of dark to white meat which was nice and came with the ginger scallion and some spicy sweet fish sauce. The white meat tasted a little off but was overall okay.
Egg & Beef over Rice Noodles — don’t let the color fool you! The dish may look super pale but it is packed with the wok-​smokey flavor! Huge and affordable, can definitely last 3 meals.
Chicken Nuggets — tasted just like Taiwanese crack nuggets you get at boba places. Dark meat, which is always the best.
Crispy Chicken Wings w/​Salt & Pepper — juicy and very flavorful! The seasoning tasted similar to 5 spice.
We also got Curry Fish Balls on the house. The host came to our table to tell us the Hainanese lunch set comes with soup, but he tasted the soup and thought it wasn’t suitable for customers so this was on the house! It tasted similar to Japanese curry sauce on top of fish balls — nothing super special but very nice of them, especially from an Asian restaurant! Going to a Canto place, I honestly expected no service. He wasn’t the only nice one — all the waiters that dropped by we’re super approachable and helpful, something I’m definitely not used to.
I may come again to continue to experience exceptionally amazing service from an Asian mom&pop restaurant in Bellaire!

One of the most legit Hong Kong style eatery in Houston.
Milk tea to phenomenal, and probably the best in C-​town.
Menu has been expanded extensively since grand opening, and I was surprise the selections they have comparing with other Hong Kong style café/​restaurant.

Definitely one of the best restaurants in Chinatown. Been going here since it opened. Even though the menu is difficult to keep up with at times as they are always tweaking it and adding new things, you can be sure that most of the dishes are up to par if you’re looking for a true authentic Hong Kong taste, not the westernized versions. Things I’d highly recommend are the wonton noodle (actual in house hand made wontons), Cornish hen (when available), egg waffles, and authentic hong Kong style milk tea. Also, one of the few places in Chinatown that is open for breakfast.

Im a huge fan bc i love the variety n all the specials they have throughout the day.
Food is dependably, consistently satisfying. Exceptionally hardworking n nice employees. I tend to overtip these guys bc theyre pleasant, patient, and all over the place trying their very best.
Food wise – nothing is exceptional except the stuffed french toast. I get the peanut butter with condense milk. But all these items are «home» «casual» foods, hard to mess up or make outstanding. (Congee, simple soups, fried rice, simple sandwhiches).
Their Hng Kông milk tea is delicious. U can still taste the tea. Winner.

Good food, good service, and place looks clean enough. It’s the only place I know in the vaccination area that have egg waffle cakes like the ones in Chinatown NYC. I had a groupon and used it to order take outs. I got the beef with big rice noodles, wonton noodle soups, and fried rice. Everything tasted good and had good portions too. I will definitely come back here again.

Hong Kong style breakfast that is affordable for everyone. Nice setup. Knowledgeable staff. They have hotpot for the cold season and their menu is expanding.

Great food! Very realistic to Hong Kong. I could eat their spicy crispy tofu everyday! Order that when you go!

Ding ding ding! Love the name so I couldn’t help it. Ding Ding is one of three restaurants in Houston serving cuisine from Hong Kong and it opened relatively recently. The restaurant is located in a shopping center so parking isn’t an issue. Like the vast majority of restaurants in Chinatown, cleanliness isn’t a priority but that’s not why you go to Chinatown. You go for the authentic food.
Our dishes were a hit or a miss depending on the dish. The honey wings appetizer was too sweet for my tastes. On the other hand, the Hong Kong sweet and sour pork was a hit. Unlike how you usually find the dish served in Chinese restaurants, the meat here was marinated in sweet and sour sauce and served with pineapple and various veggies. I’ve seen this done at Thai restaurants as well. The sauce they used wasn’t your typical sweet and sour sauce and the meet was cooked perfectly. The black pepper steak with flat rice noodles was also a hit. Going with the theme, the shredded pork with crispy noodles was a miss. The pork was covered in a congealed jello which ruined the dish for me.
Some other Unilocalers have complained about the service but we had a great experience! The two waiters we interacted with were nothing but friendly and accommodating.

I love the French toast and chicken nuggets here! I always order it. I also liked the sandwich (the one with all the meats) it was a lot of food lol. I have been meaning to try the entrees but I usually come around breakfast time and I can’t not get the French toast and nuggets. Their egg and toast are also yummy. I always want to eat here on a weekend morning but it’s definitely a carbo load type of place

I came here with 3 other people on a Friday night so my friend can use her Groupon deal. It was actually pretty crowded. The restaurant has a shortage of staffs. I think there was only one waiter and one chef (who acted as a waiter too). By the way, the restaurant has a sign posted on their door that they’re hiring. We should have been prepared for a long wait.
I was in the mood for some hot pot so we went for the «combination». The combination consisted of tripe, shrimp, chicken, beef, fish ball, beef ball, imitation crab, and fish. The hot pot came with soft tofu, cabbage, clear thin vermicelli, and lettuce too. The broth was a bit bland compared to other hot pots I have tried. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but not GREAT. I’ve expected more from it since we’ve waited for about an hour. They need to make more broth in advance to keep the customers from waiting. (⁵⁄₁₀)
We also ordered PINEAPPLE chicken + shrimp fried rice. When the fried rice came out… there was no PINEAPPLE. It also took like 45 minutes to make the dish. The rice looked very colorful and vibrant. The flavor was average. I didn’t complain to them, because I know they don’t have enough employees. Plus, I did not want to wait for another 30 minutes or so for them to remake it. (⁵⁄₁₀)
There are some small snacks that I might consider coming back to try. I also want to try the milk tea that everyone keeps on writing about. I will give it another star if the service is faster. Unilocalers… if you need a job then go work there so I can get my food faster!!! LOL

The 1^st time we visited, the food was so good. The lamb casserole and the curry beef brisket casserole was delicious.
We made the wrong decision to stray away from meats and got stir fried vegetables and shrimp casserole. The soggy, overcooked vegetables were inedible. I’m not a picky eater, and I had to force feed myself instead of wasting the whole plate of veggie. I don’t understand how they would serve the mess of disgusting greens.
The shrimp was ok, the sweet sauce was not compatible the protein.
Now we know to not stray from their meat dishes.

My wife saw a Groupon available for this eatery and we decided to give it a go since we had never tried Hong Kong style foods before. So for lunch, our party of three ordered Portuguese baked pork chop over egg fried rice, Cart flat rice noodle soup with fried egg, bean sprouts, and fried tofu, honey sesame chicken wings, and rice rolls in mixed sauce. Free drinks came with our lunch specials. We all had cold milk teas. The best bite was the honey sesame chicken wings, it was sweet and crunchy. The next best taste was the rice rolls with mix sauce. The rest of the dishes were ok. The baked pork chop had this sauce that tasted like weak curry and egg. I had never tasted anything like it. It was different but ok tasting. The noodle soup was on the bland side, we had to add chili oil to wake up our taste buds. The rice rolls had a type of peanut butter sauce. you wouldn’t think this combination would work, but it did. The milk tea was excellent. The regular price of each lunch special with free drink is between $ 8 and $ 10. The price point was acceptable. This type of foods are different from the Asian foods we usually enjoy. At this point, we not sure we like it enough to go back for another try.

I had heard some pretty bad things about Ding Ding when they first opened. They had an area to pay up at the front, slow service, and a «self-​serve» aspect to it. Their food was just mediocre and a lot of my friends didn’t want to come back. I decided to give it a try after I heard that they changed their restaurant style into more of a service-​based café and really enjoyed my experience.
Coming back from a Hong Kong trip recently, I was craving an authentic breakfast. This is definitely a place to check out for a traditional Hong Kong style café besides the other places such as (House of Bowls, or Hong Kong Café). A huge plus is that I really like their location. They’re located in the older Chinatown plaza so there’s always plenty of parking. So far I’ve tried the breakfast combo of salted pork and preserved egg congee with a side of «haw-​fun» (wide-​flat-​rice noodles) with a sweet sauce, and a HK style hot milk tea.
The serving of congee is quite large for one person for breakfast, but I guess everything is bigger in Texas! The addition of haw-​fun and tea will definitely make you even more full. The HK style milk tea is a good change from the traditional American coffee. HK style tea is strong, sweet, and creamy… a great way to enjoy your caffeine with a different flavor. Yum! The congee was more on the «soupy» side which means they probably added more water than rice, but it was filled with shreds of yummy salted pork and chunks of preserved egg. I wish the large flat rice noodles had some dried shrimp or sesame seeds added to it like they serve in Hong Kong, but they were not bad being served plain and simple with a sweet sauce. I would definitely like to come back to try some more breakfast combos or even their lunch menu.

Slow service… i had to seat myself, ask for a menu, and wave them over whenever i needed to order and pay. The food was average, nothing memorable.

Ordered the baked pork chop with fried rice and stir fried flat noodle with beef for take out. The baked pork chop rice is good (the cheese is a little sharp though). The flat noodle needs a little more seasoning and «wok hey» but the beef is nice and tender. Will definitely come back and try their other dishes.

I have been looking forward to another HK style café to open up in Houston. There are so many days that we long for Hong Kong and the plethora of cafes that serve up all of your HK cravings, e.g., HK style milk tea, macaroni/​spam/​egg in soup, wonton mein, fried chicken wings, and the yummy egg waffles. Now we don’t have to go too far.
The look and feel does remind me of HK cafes that we frequented, but more so the ones we can also find in LA (Maxim’s-which unfortunately closed, Garden Café, etc.). There isn’t much seating, so I would avoid going on weekends if you can help it. They have a great selection of lunch specials and tea time specials. I ordered the lunch special –Portuguese chicken on rice (on limited diet recently) and my friend ordered the BBQ pork on rice. Their food was pretty decent, and plated quite nicely. The curry sauce for the chicken was excellent and the chicken was hot, tender, and good portions. The char siu was pretty fatty though, evidenced by the chewed and spit out fats on his plate (he’s not one to waste food). The HK milk tea was alright, although it could be stronger (heard Hong Kong café has the best in Houston). Not bad though, considering it was free with the lunch specials.
You know it’s good food the moment you leave, yet you’re itching to come back. Will come here again to try more of their menu. Maybe tomorrow…

A new Hong Kong — styled café addition to Houston China town. I have been there for about 10 times now. It has the most authentic“茶餐廳” feel, more so than Hong Kong Café and House of Bowls.
I order the butter-​filled pineapple bun EVERY TIME I go.
I like that the morning menu (before 11am) offers congee, rice rolls, and ham/​sausage noodles.
The quality of the milk tea has not been consistent. I would say the milk tea was satisfying 70% of the time.
The pricing is fair, similar to Hong Kong café and house of bowls. For a breakfast meal, it’s about $ 8. Lunch meals are about $ 10. If you order individual items, they tend to be more pricey. (Butter-​filled pineapple bun is $ 2.75)
Inside is spacious and clean. Never a wait time. One weird thing is that, although they bring you the food, you have to get your own silverware and napkins I never got the logic behind that.
Parking, however, is horrible if you go after noon on weekends. I would have to park at the neighbor center (where all the Chinese clinics are)
Overall, I am happy with this restaurant and I will keep going there to fill my Hong Kong craves!

I ordered the chicken curry and the Hong Kong milk tea and they were both pretty terrible. The curry was super oily and the chicken was overcooked. Wished I would have liked this place more since the workers there are really nice. Unfortunately, I don’t see this place staying open for long.

I am a huge fan of bringing Hong Kong to Houston so was ready to love the concept from the beginning. I didn’t know I was visiting on opening day or that one of my group members going knew one of the employee/​owner or whatever he is. You would think that on opening day they would run a special or announce it in a big way. NOPE! That’s fine. You would also think that the employees or cashier would be able to make a few suggestions on what is good to eat, or at least try to up sell something. NOPE! Her exact response when asked «What do you recommend» was «I don’t know, I don’t eat here. I don’t know if anything is good here.» At first I smiled thinking she was joking, then I laughed really hard and rolled my eyes. (So glad she doesn’t work for me.)
OK we are here for the food so here is my review.
Food:
We ordered pretty much half o the menu for the group so food was meh. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice, but I have had better. Do recall Ding Ding is competing with Hong Kong Café, Hong Kong Food Market, and House of Bowls so yeah, I have had better. Flavor was OK but definitely uses MSG.
Décor:
Slightly above bare minimum. It could be a really nice high school/​college hang out spot though.
Final note of oddness and why I wouldn’t be returning. Although the food is acceptable and I found the cashier kind of humorous in a OMG where is your customer service common sense kind of way. I would not be returning because I caught one of the owners picking his nose right before serving food to another table. EWWW gross right? But it’s better than finding a pubic hair in your food after you already started eating! (from a neighboring establishment that I will never return to)

Hong Kong style food…
Self serve, they give you a menu, you order at counter, then they bring it out to you…
Napkin, utensils and to go boxes on shelf…
Simple setting… good munching place when you’re on a budget…
Great price for a lot of tasty food…
My hubby loves it, the foods takes him back when he was young eating this style food… I very much enjoyed it too…