Gigi’s Asian Bistro & Dumpling Bar

Bleh, what a waste of time and money. Apparently it’s had its comeuppance.
Loud, dark, slow, with EXPENSIVE, mediocre food. You get HOW many dumplings for HOW much?! (No wonder it had a continual Groupon…) The service was poor three times — very slow, and it was hard to get basic needs met, like water refills or the check or anything of that sort.
I tortured myself with three visits before I finally got pissed off enough to stop coming.
On the plus side, I never got sick from eating here.

Sadly — I just read this place is closed due to the rent price of being in the Galleria. I wish I had known this was coming, I would have loved to have one last lechi martnini. ~sigh~ another good one bites the dust…

Went for a celebration dinner last week. The front end was a bit chaotic, and my reservation didn’t seem to matter, but we were seated quickly. Our server appeared to be new, but capable. The cocktails were a mixed bag. I had a cranberry hard tea drink that tasted like vodka, cranberry juice, and water. However, the martinis and orchid drinks we had were delicious.
The chicken satay appetizer was wonderful. The chicken was juicy, and the peanut sauce was spicy and delicious.
We had the spice-​crusted salmon and the clay pot chicken dish, and both were amazing. The salmon was tender, perfectly cooked and served on a bed of vegetables. The clay pot had a low-​heat curry sauce with chunks of chicken and Chinese string beans.
We forgave the service interruption because as we were arriving a woman was being strapped to a gurney by two EMT’s (she had apparently slipped and fallen outside).
The back room of the restaurant is beautiful, very romantic. And the center area has mini rooms with their own tables that can be closed off with curtains. The bar area was empty (partially because of the emergency crew earlier).
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a romantic night out, a celebration, or even just a quiet place to get away from the mall that surrounds it.

This is the absolutely the worst service I have ever received… I haven’t Unilocaled in a while and this is the worst possible way to return to return to Unilocal.I am currently at the restaurant as I type to celebrate my sister earning her master’s degree today. We have a large party with 20+ people of well educated young professionals. The so called manager criticized us for being late, made serval snide remakes to multiple people in our party… For what??? This is my first time coming to the restaurant and it will be my last… People like this arrogant manager will ruin this place for the owners and investors…
Here is some wise business advice FIRE YOUR RACIST MANAGER!!! I have never been more offended in my life.

Really good restaurant in an excellent location right next to Del Frisco’s in the Galleria. Went for the Sunday Dim Sum with her majesty and had excellent food in a nice atmosphere with good service. The only reason I am giving it 4 rather than 5 stars is the variety of foods offered at their Dim Sum is not quite as large as some of the ones I have been to in Chinatown (they had about 15 items on their menu), but the quality of what they did have was excellent.
As an added bonus, with the way the restaurant is setup, the eating area is tucked well away from the mall entrance and you would have no idea that you were in one of the busiest shopping centers in Houston. Great respite for anyone needing a break during the busy holiday shopping season.
Highly recommended and we will definitely be back.

Shocked by the negative reviews. My hubby and I enjoyed the nice dark dining room and the respite from the shopping crowds. Overhead cherry blossoms were very pretty and service was quick.
The dim sum Sunday brunch of all-​you-​can-​eat was only $ 18/​person, including dumplings, potstickers, shrimp roll, bacon wrapped shrimp, spare ribs, and great won tons. The waiter was very attentive, clearing empty plates and bringing more when requested.
Lychee martini was also delicious!

I like convenience — unfortunately, this restaraunt did not match the location pinned on my map. It took me to Prohibition where I asked the valet for Gigi’s and he had no clue what I was talking about. I parked in the garage and after about 15 mins, I found Gigi’s in the mall.
I must have chosen the wrong day because they were «hosting a party in the bar and back patio for up to 500 ppl,» so we were sat in the near empty dining room. Even fewer than the number of customers dining in the dining room was the number of servers. The service was very slow.
Looking at the menu, I figured it must be family style (which it is) because the prices were very high ~$ 20 for sides that are usually $ 5-​$ 9 in most Asian restaurants. We ordered mussels and Tom Yum soup — both were delicious, but it was not portions for a large family. The two of us ate it just fine. The food plus a bottle of wine was nearly $ 100. In my opinion, not worth it.

This review is for dinner only, and it’s not really a 4, but it’s slightly closer to a 4 than a 3. As many times as I’ve truly enjoyed lunch here, dinner was somewhat of a letdown, primarily because the noise level is exponentially higher at night. Not only are there boisterous tables of 4 – 6 people, but the technopop jazz’ volume seems to be turned up considerably.
As to the food, we really had no complaints. My wife chose a very tasty Thai coconut chicken soup which was really enough to split, and I started with the chicken & ginger dumplings, a true taste delight served with a garlic soy dipping sauce. My wife chose for her main the Shanghai seared ribeye steak, and says it’s one of the best steaks she’s had in town (I’d estimate it was at least 12 – 14 oz). I picked the green curry chicken, a huge serving with all sorts of goodies in it, including green beans, eggplant, bamboo shoots, basil and chili. It was too much food, but I don’t like leftovers, so I forced myself to finish.
Service was spotty. Our waiter came to the table to take our drink orders, and because I hadn’t found the wine list, «I’ll be back in a few minutes.» About 5 – 6 minutes later he reappeared, and asked impatiently if we were ready yet. We were prepared to order our wine AND our dinner, but he whirled away as soon as he took our drink orders, only to reappear another 5 – 6 minutes later with the wine. He started to turn away, but at this point I stopped him and told him we were ready to order our meals. From then on, the food was delivered primarily by bussers, and the service was much better. Possibly he had too many tables, but he wasn’t very courteous. Gigi Huang, on the other hand, stopped by our table twice, and was her usual delightful self.

Hubby and I went to celebrate our anniversary after finding a groupon…
The restaurant was beautiful and the service impeccable… but the menu was sooooo pricey. And technically it’s «Chinese food?» Even with the $ 40 groupon, our bill was almost $ 100– for 2 drinks and 2 entrees.
Not worth it.

The best and possibly most pricey Asian Fusion food in Houston. I would only go for dinner there if someone else is paying, but their shaking beef, fired red snapper and drunken noodles are pretty good. I originally was going to give a five star, but remembered the 36 dollar a pop shaking beef, changing it to four:)
Seeing a lot of negative recent reviews, I do want to add, the last time I’ve been there was two years ago. I do still crave for their food every now and then.

I really doubt who have given those 5 stars, written by their managers?
It’s more reasonable that people had bad experience would go back and give a bad review more than the other way.
I went to gigi’s because my friend wanted to try something «new».
Anyway, really BAD experience.
1. the waitress knew nothing about their menu, I bet she did not try any of their food yet;
2. food was just bad, dry and greasy. The fish tasted and smelled like burned coal.
3. the manager was so nervous when we told to him. He did not even pay attention to what we said then told us there was nothing wrong with their cooking method.
4. The final food price was much higher than the menu, I really didn’t want to pay, but it was my friend’s birthday. We just wanted leave asap. BTW they charged 20% tips without asking (for two people).
5. They did not want you to do separate checks, because they said the credit card company changes them? really? funny? LOL!!!
I can type more, but I just want to warn people NOT to go into it. Don’t want to waste my time.
Galleria GIGI’s? HELLS NO!!!

My trip was incredibly unfortunate.
I bought a groupon before looking at reviews because I LOVE dumplings as much as I love trying new restaurants. I really hoped this place would be nice. I treated a married couple to dinner and, on top of the $ 40 value of the certificate, we spent an extra $ 25 on calamari, shu mai, potstickers and pork dumplings. None of them were very good. The calamari was overcooked, rubbery rings. Go to RA and get flaky juicy strips of calamari for several dollars less. The rest was just mediocre.
The ONLY reason this place gets an extra star is because the Hunan style green beans are godly. The flavor profile was amazing.
Dear waiter, when I ask for a sample of the garlic soy dipping sauce, do not try to tell me that chili ponzu is the same thing. It’s not. Do not try to say that you can’t bring it because its drizzled over the dumplings. It’s called dipping sauce for a reason.
After spending the $ 25, the three of us went to Fung’s and had their steamed dim sum menu. Twice the food, amazing quality, half the price.

Let me start off by saying that it’s only the restaurant portion that I’m reviewing.
I came here for a friend’s birthday, and had high hopes for Gigi’s since it’s a relatively high-​class yet casual place.
Appetizers were $ 8 – 15. We ordered spring rolls (6 servings) and chicken lettuce wraps (4 servings). Both were pretty good, but not as satisfying as $ 15 dollar appetizers ought to be.
For my entrée, I had Return of the Phoenix. Sesame chicken disguised under a glamorous persona. It was merely acceptable. Okay but not okay enough to be good. I will also point out that the sodium overload caused me to get up twice at 4 o’clock in the morning to get water for my desperately parched body.
All in all, my experience at Gigi’s was not torture, but it wasn’t pleasant either. The thing that gets me the most is the unjustifiable price. Food was way overpriced and doesn’t deliver in quality.
Bottom line: Fancy, hateful cousin of PF Chang’s. Take Chang’s food, multiply price by 2 and divide quality in half.
*Also, their floors are ridiculously slippery and grease. I had to slide carefully and almost fell over about 4 times. While we were dining, a tall lady wearing a maxi dress took a dive in front of us and stayed on the floor for about 10 seconds before getting back up. She could have sued.

Thought I’d try this place since I’ve heard about it. Wow, what can I not say about this place???
1. Way over priced
2. Food does not stand out as the greatest for the price they list.
POT STICKERS $ 9 dollars for 4 pieces of chicken dumplings
SPICE CRUSTED SALMON $ 26 dollars for 4 pieces of Salmon
RETURN OF THE PHOENIX $ 24 dollars for crispy sesame chicken.
I don’t know weather to say that this worth while or not.

I felt better after my colonoscopy than I did after leaving this restaurant. It’s not that the food was bad but how arrogant one must be to charge the prices this place does.
It started with dim sum for $ 10. I was expecting, well, more than 4. We followed this with a tiny crab fried rice for $ 16 or so. Excuse me chef but where’s the crab? Then, we ordered the sweet and sour scallops. I’m thinking that for $ 29 we should get quite the bounty. Nope. Six. Six scallops. And a small bowl of steamed white rice.
If you like getting ripped off, visit Gigi’s. For a vastly superior meal at ¹⁄₃ the price for 3x more, head to Chinatown. Some might think I’m cheap. That’s not so. I’ll pay big money for a great meal but this was an expensive meal for decent food of ting proportions. If you go here you might like the taste of the food but your wallet will hate you. P.T. Barnum was right about suckers and tonight that sucker was me! Never again.

We popped in to sit at the bar and kill some time in the Galleria this past Sunday, so this is mostly a cocktails at the bar review.
Lychee martin is really good. IF you like sweet fruity martinis that mask all their booze. Also had a white spirit cocktail which was essentially a margarita with a different liquor. Prices were a little steep. ($ 12-​$ 14 cocktails) but it didn’t hurt too bad since we were just sitting for a quick drink.
They actually have an immense collection of single barrel scotches, if that’s your kind of drink. Among some of the more rare choices I eyed a Glenfiddich 50 year old which is a few hundred dollars a glass. Very surprising for an asian bistro but I was happy. Scotch heads, go here!
Also, we ordered the fried calamari. I was expecting bland and rubber and was pleasantly surprised with crispy and lightly breaded. The dish was accompanied with peanut sauce, and a ranch like sauce as well as limes.
I’ve had their dumplings before at tasting events and have to say they’re amazing but still havent found myself sitting at their tables. Some day, restaurant review to come.
Good quiet bar in the midst of a bustling mall. A great respite between credit card swiping madness in December. Dont be fooled, this isn’t the bar you see when walking by inside the mall. This bar is all the way past the entire restaurant at the outer front door. Great hiding spot while perhaps others in your party go check out the shops.

Wow. I am going to say the food was pretty good, but unfortunately it was over shadowed by the bad, nah, terrible service. It was so bad my wife and I were to a point where we were laughing about it. First we were seated and sat there for about 15 minutes before someone came over. He took our order. A few minutes later a guy rushes over and asks if we are ready order; we told him that we already had. He gave a confused look and asked if we were sure. We nodded yes. He left. My app came out, less the sauce I had ordered with it. I asked the server and he said he would go get it. He came back five minutes later and asked if there was anything else we needed. I told him I still need the sauce and my wife needed her app. They both came out in about a minute. Once we got the Heavenly Beef and Mussels, they were great. The mussels were in a heavier sauce than it seemed they would be from the menu, but still terrific. The sauce on the mussels was so good we wanted to hold onto it for our rice. This did not compute to our server. While we told him this, he asked 6 times if we were done with it. Entrees came out and were good. My wife had the beef salad, as far as salads go it was pretty good. I got the tamarind chicken, very passable. Time for the check. The hot tea we ordered at the beginning of the meal that never came, but was still on the check. We asked him to take it off; he said he would and left to run our card. He returned. Same total. I brought this up and he gave me a blank stare, responding he had already closed the check. Rudely he says just take it out of my tip, I guess assuming he would get one. I still gave a tip becuase my friend who have been servers in past tell me that by not giving a tip somehow you screw everyone who works there, but whatever.
The food was great, but I don’t know if the trouble was worth it?

When searching for romantic restaurants, this came up high on the list in Unilocal.It was right, it has good romantic vibe, but also casual enough for a group of friends. The service was great and friendly.
Several people said not so great things about Gigi’s, and many of them mock it because it’s not authentic. Well, I don’t think Gigi’s is even trying to be authentic, so why complain that it’s not? It’s fusion, and as fusion, it does a pretty good job of being what I expected.
I started with a raspberry hard iced tea, and the hubby had a glass of malbec. My drink tasted weak, but by the light buzz I had by the end of the meal (yeah, I’m a lightweight) I can tell the kick was well hidden. The hubby had the chicken potstickers as his appetizer. He liked them, but said that he just generally likes postickers. I enjoyed the crab fried rice for my entrée. The pieces of crab were fairly small, so it was more like there was a little crab in every bite than big chunks. The hubby had the poor mans noodles. The beef was ground, not strips like he expected, but he liked it.

I regret not reading any Unilocal reviews. Came here after shopping at the Galleria and decided to get something to eat. Upon entering into the restaurant, I was memorize on the cherry blossoms ascending from the ceiling. Gave me ideas on how to decorate my home. LOL… anyways, the décor is very nice, customer service was friendly but the food was just okay. Didn’t see what the hype was all about this place. Maybe its supposedly be «HOT» at dim sum but other than that… its just ok.

What a beautiful main dining room! Cherry blossoms above you make the room feel so special. I was so excited to try this place after having seen a photo of it on my Unilocal for iPhone app!
Location: IN Galleria 2. I stumbled upon it today while walking to Kona Grill and decided to try it out. You can enter the restaurant and bar from either inside the mall (very small entrance) or from outside in the corner near Del Frisco’s. There are bars on either end of restaurant. In the middle is a square room with a beautiful cherry blossom ceiling and a long hall with 6 top tables.
So, we were seated right away. Saturday at 2pm and it was about 75% empty. Our service was SLOW. It took a long time to get our drinks ordered and by that time, we were ready to order. My menu had a big chunk of food squished on it. It had previously been shoddily taped into the cover and had since come untaped.
The Food:
–Chicken Pot Stickers ($ 9) = ugh! They were SO over seasoned with herbs that they were nasty. I’ve had many many pot stickers in my past and these were some of the worst.
— Return of the Phoenix (sesame chicken) ($ 19) = very good, sweet, crunchy, just the right flavors. recommended!
— Hong Kong Fried Rice ($ 14) = we got it without the nuts (why would someone put nuts in fried rice??). The rice was very good. The sausage and chicken in the rice was very good. Our waiter referred to the sausage as Chinese and Japanese all in the same description. I think he should get his cuisines straight.
You can DEFINITELY get the same level or better food in Chinatown or is several other restaurants that have easier parking and are cheaper. There was no special service or anything to set this place apart from other, on the contrary our food took an extremely long time for a mostly empty restaurant.
The Galleria has better options for lunch and dinner. You are paying for the Galleria location. I thought the main courses were good, but frustrating to wait for them to make their appearance.
Nothing special here… keep moving.