Chinese in Miami

3 Chefs at Brickell

48 SW 12th St. Brickell

305-377-8338

Chinese, Vietnamese, Menu

3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant

275 NE 18th St., #1117 Downtown/Overtown

305-373-2688

Chinese, Vietnamese, Best Of, Menu

Downtown Miami's growth has led to a diversity of food options. One of the newest spots is 3 Chefs, which serves both Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. It's not just for take out and delivery, though both options are available. There are tables and booths and two TVs on the wall, which are enough to entertain when you're not being hypnotized by the chow. There's really nothing much more healing than a delicious pho. 3 Chefs has twelve options for this hearty Vietnamese soup, including Pho Chin Bo Vien with brisket and meatballs in a beef broth (all $9.95). Also, they serve bun, which is a spring roll, cold vermicelli, and a salad all in one. There are beef, pork, and chicken buns available, and Bun Chay, with tofu and lemongrass ($9.95). The Chinese menu is extensive, and includes 3 Chefs specialties like Sesame Chicken ($11.95) and Fried Fish ($14.95), served with either white or brown rice. There's a diet menu for the weight conscious, which includes Bean Curd with Vegetables ($9.95 or 29.95 for 6 plus, if you want to share). Lunch and dinner specials offer financial relief. Lunch specials are served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and dinner is after 3 p.m. They both include pork or chicken fried rice and dinner includes an egg roll. Pork Egg Foo Young ($4.95 for lunch and $8.50 for dinner) and spicy Cashew Chicken ($7.45 for lunch and $10.45 for dinner) are on these menus. Happy hour is from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., and it's buy two of beer or wine and get one free.

1 article

Bamboo Garden

1232 NE 163rd St. Aventura/North Miami Beach

305-945-1722

Chinese, Restaurants, Recommended, Menu

Be sure to ask for the small "Chinese" menu — it yields authentic goodies such as kung pao frogs' legs. Steamed salmon fillet and Maine lobster — plus dishes such as stir-fried rice noodles stocked with seafood such as shrimp, scallops, squid, and lobster — are big enough for four to share, as is the terrific hot-and-sour soup.

2 articles

Bamboo Garden

13195 Biscayne Blvd. North Miami

305-899-9902

Asian, Chinese, Best Of, Menu

Make sure to ask for the small "Chinese" menu -- it yields authentic goodies like kung pao frog's legs. Steamed whole flounders and Maine lobsters -- not to mention dishes like stir-fried rice noodles with seafood, stocked with shrimp, scallops, squid, and lobster -- are big enough for four to share, as is the terrific hot-and-sour soup.

4 articles

Blackbrick

3451 NE First Ave., Unit 103 Midtown/Wynwood/Design District

305-573-8886

Chinese, Dim Sum, Critics' Pick, Slideshow

Blackbrick in midtown serves the Chinese food you've been waiting for. There are classics such as salt-and-pepper shrimp, Sichuan vegetables with hot oil fried rice, and steamed red snapper with soy, ginger, and scallions. The dessert menu is also extensive, with ice cream from Calle Ocho's Azucar and an assortment of cakes. Stop by the 60-seat restaurant and sit at the kitchen bar. From there, you can inhale the smoky scent of toasted Sichuan peppers and watch chefs stir-fry mustard greens in red-hot woks.

30 articles

Canton Chinese Restaurant

2614 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Ste. 200 Coral Gables/S. Miami

305-448-3736

Chinese, Best Of, Readers' Choice

You can usually base the quality of Chinese take-out on egg rolls, and Canton makes them massive and good. Pick up food at this South Miami standout or sit in the dining room with a free pot of tea. Located in a nondescript strip mall, it's open late, and the chefs prepare tasty food at amazing speed. Aside from a woman who takes phone orders, service is excellent. Fried rice has lots of pork chunks, ribs are meaty, and the special won ton soup - with bits of lobster, chicken, pork, and lots of veggies - is indeed special. Go for combo meals such as honey chicken, shrimp with lobster sauce, and almond duck, which all are well prepared, ample, and come with a large egg roll (and spare ribs if you're lucky). The best part: With the exception of the whole Maine lobster, all combination platters cost less than $12. There's also sushi here, so if you're not in the mood for delicious greasiness, take a hint from Ol' Dirty Bastard and keep it raw; the "seven seas" and "3 village" rolls are tasty.

3 articles

Canton Chinese Restaurant

6661 S. Dixie Highway Coral Gables/S. Miami

305-666-5511

Chinese, Best Of, Menu

You can usually base the quality of Chinese take-out on egg rolls, and Canton makes them massive and good. Pick up food at this South Miami standout or sit in the dining room with a free pot of tea. Located in a nondescript strip mall, it's open late, and the chefs prepare tasty food at amazing speed. Aside from a woman who takes phone orders, service is excellent. Fried rice has lots of pork chunks, ribs are meaty, and the special won ton soup - with bits of lobster, chicken, pork, and lots of veggies - is indeed special. Go for combo meals such as honey chicken, shrimp with lobster sauce, and almond duck, which all are well prepared, ample, and come with a large egg roll (and spare ribs if you're lucky). The best part: With the exception of the whole Maine lobster, all combination platters cost less than $12. There's also sushi here, so if you're not in the mood for delicious greasiness, take a hint from Ol' Dirty Bastard and keep it raw; the "seven seas" and "3 village" rolls are tasty.

3 articles

Canton Palace

7980 SW Eighth St. Westchester/West Miami

305-264-9444

Chinese, Recommended, Best Of

A neighborhood Chinese restaurant that caters to a mostly Asian clientele, Canton Palace has one of the best dim sums around. There are, of course, Americanized Chinese dishes available, so you can still find honey garlic chicken and beef with broccoli on a printed menu. It would be a shame to visit Canton Palace and not take advantage of the extensive dim sum menu, however. Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings are a customer favorite, each order arriving with four pieces. The restaurant is always clean. If you're with a group, make use of one of the large round tables with a lazy Susan at its center — she'll make it easier to pass the containers of dim sum.

3 articles

Chang's Chinese Restaurant

1311 SW 107th Ave. Tamiami

305-221-8104

Chinese, Menu

2 articles

Chef Chen Chinese Restaurant

11302 Quail Roost Dr. Cutler Bay/Palmetto Bay

305-234-8877

Chinese, Restaurants, Best Of, Menu

Miami's not exactly a bastion of quality Chinese cuisine, but it is possible to sniff out fresh, inexpensive Asian eats if you know where to look. Chef Chen's two Palmetto Bay locales are known for crab rangoon, fried rice and egg foo young - along with all the other Chinese takeout stand-bys. Just your basic walk-up strip mall counter, the decor is nothing to look at, but it's the food you're after at a place like this. Eaters can sit down or carry out, and prices range from $8 to $15 for most entrees. So stop bemoaning Miami's lack of Panda Express and patronize Chef Chen for your Chinese fix instead.

1 article

Chef Chen Chinese Restaurant

11755 SW 88th St., Palmetto Bay East Kendall/Pinecrest

305-274-6799

Chinese, Restaurants, Best Of, Menu

Miami's not exactly a bastion of quality Chinese cuisine, but it is possible to sniff out fresh, inexpensive Asian eats if you know where to look. Chef Chen's two Palmetto Bay locations are known for crab rangoon, fried rice and egg foo young - along with all the other Chinese takeout stand-bys. Just your basic walk-up strip mall counter, the decor is nothing to look at, but it's the food you're after at a place like this. Eaters can sit down or carry out, and prices range from $8 to $15 for most entrees. So stop bemoaning Miami's lack of Panda Express outposts and patronize Chef Chen for your quick Chinese fix instead.

1 article

Chef Ho

16850 Collins Ave., #106A, Sunny Isles Beach North Dade

305-974-0338

Chinese, Dim Sum

Chef Philip Ho in Sunny Isles Beach shines with some of the best dim sum and Chinese fare in the city. Ho is no stranger to Asian fare with flair: He worked as the dim sum chef at the Setai for several years before opening this place of his own. The dim sum selections are on the menu during the week but get rolled through the dining room on carts during weekends. That's the way to go -- what you see is what you get. You can hardly go wrong with any selection, because the cuisine is uniformly impressive. Some of the hits: congee, a rice porridge that isn't offered often locally; chive and shrimp dumplings; steamed green-tea duck dumplings; scallop and black truffle dumplings (!); rice crêpes wrapped around various fillings; taro cakes; shumai; and barbecued spare ribs. The non-dim sum portion of the menu knocks it out of the park as well, from thin hand-pulled noodles coated and threaded with chopped shiitake mushrooms to a lean loin of honey-sweetened barbecued pork to amazing house-made tofu and eggplant in black-bean-chili sauce -- alone worth the drive. Don't miss the egg custard tart with black truffles or the steamed egg custard lava bun for dessert. What else can we say? Go to Ho!

10 articles

Ch'i

701 S. Miami Ave. #339A Brickell

305-257-8726

Chinese, Latin, Fusion

Located in Brickell City Centre, Ch'i fuses several immersive concepts into one. The 12,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor space boasts three full-service bars, two DJ booths, multiple lounge and dining areas, and a menu of Chino-Latino cuisine inspired by the Chinese cafés that once dotted the streets of Latin America (and later New York City and Miami). The experience begins with the Garden, a verdant open-air terrace with cozy cabanas and plenty of seating, and the adjacent Asian-themed market, Mercado, offering dim sum and other casual bites.

Chifa Chinese Restaurant

12590 N. Kendall Dr., Kendall South Dade

305-271-3823

Chinese, South American, Recommended, Menu

Peruvian-Cantonese is exotica anywhere, and especially in this strip-mall setting. But the accommodating Chifa puts it all together. Asparagus (made of egg-drop, chicken, and asparagus) and fuchifu (egg-drop, chicken liver, and vegetables) soups are rich ways to begin. Lots of deep-fried appetizers, too -- pigeon, shrimp roll with almonds, and crab claws. Get duck prepared a dozen different ways, including Peking, taipa (a golden-brown sauce), or sweet-and-sour. Inka Kola and Peruvian beers to wash it all down. Lunch and dinner.

3 articles

China Gourmet

14601 S. Dixie Highway Cutler Bay/Palmetto Bay

305-232-1818

Chinese

1 article

China Steak House

4260 W. 12th Ave. Hialeah

305-556-5778

Chinese, Best Of, Menu

Although you won't find lou mei — a dish made from animals' internal organs and entrails — at China Steak House, the eatery could hold its own in the Guangdong Province of Southern China. But the restaurant is located just a few blocks east of the NW 122nd Street exit off the Palmetto Expressway, tucked between a Rent-A-Center and Solid Bodies Gym. There's plenty of parking here and a comfortable bench where you can wait and eyeball the diners at this clean-as-can-be joint. Try one of the 18 house specials on the menu. Our favorites are the Cantonese-style roast duck and the China Steak, a broiled prime sirloin with mixed Chinese vegetables and a secret house sauce. These entrées are a bargain. The joint also looks out for the anti-meat crowd, serving up a phenomenal Szechuan-style bean curd and a mouthwatering ma po tofu. On weekdays, choose from a list of 20 lunch specials. Each dish includes pork fried rice and a cup of egg drop soup. The same entrées are available as combination dinners. Prices vary, but all are affordable.Read more.

1 article

Chinese Guy Chi-town Restaurant

113 SW 107th Ave. Westchester/West Miami

786-763-2008

Chinese, Szechuan, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow

When searching for a traditional Chinese restaurant, Western diners often take the presence of Chinese customers as a good sign. West Miami-Dade's Chinese Guy is beloved by the countless Chinese students who attend the University of Miami and Florida International University. The eatery's owners are Tianjin natives Kun Bao and Yanan Cai. When Bao arrived in Miami in 2010, he and his Chinese classmates quickly noticed no place served the food they grew up on. A few years later, that problem seems a distant memory. Northern Chinese dishes such as slender shreds of braised pig ears doused in ripping-hot chili oil come flying out of the kitchen. The delights never seem to end: Corn or pumpkin cubes are fried in rich, salty duck egg batter; sticky pig trotters are braised in sweet soy; and a heap of meaty rib tips comes perched atop sticky rice. This Chinese Guy will leave you begging for more.

6 articles

The Chinese Restaurant

12963 SW 112th St. West Kendall

305-387-1113

Chinese, Restaurants, Best Of

There's no "bamboo," "lotus," "moon," or "panda" necessary in the name of this beloved Kendall institution. This take-out restaurant, nestled in the Crossings shopping center, serves up is simple American Chinese carry-out classics that come hot and plentiful. Years of doing it right have earned this spot a small, suburban cult following. Try the honey chicken, egg roll, and spare ribs combination dinner that comes with pork-fried rice and your choice of won ton or egg drop soup. Or sample one of their wallet-friendly lunch specials that range from tender shrimp in a creamy lobster sauce to moo goo gai pan. An abundance of lo mein, foo yung, chop suey, and vegetarian dishes is also available. But be forewarned: Like the Seinfeld episode that shares this eatery's name, it's difficult to pop in for a quick bite before a movie; placing an order in person can be a timely ordeal. So don't wait — order your chow now.Read more.

2 articles

Chong's Chinese Restaurant

1164 W. Flagler St. Downtown/Overtown

305-545-6625

Chinese, Menu

Chong's Chinese Restaurant is another in a long line of small, mediocre Chinese restaurants in Little Havana. Service is not that great, but the food is cheap. Locals who rely on dining options within walking distance are the most frequent customers -- think of Chong's as a kind of Last Chance Saloon, serving local vehicularly challenged residents, stranded motorists, and unwitting tourists. In case you fall into any of these three categories, the menu consists of average Chinese options such as honey chicken ($7.75), beef chop suey ($8.85), special fried rice ($4.35 to $6.65), and barbecued spare ribs ($7.65). Chong's also offers lunch specials ($3.85 to $7.95) Monday through Friday until 4 p.m. that include sweet and sour chicken, chicken and pork lo mein, and shrimp with broccoli. One thing that sets this restaurant apart from other Chinese restaurants located in west or north Miami-Dade is its offering of several Cuban entrées. Ironically, customers usually fare better with those options, which include a bistec de palomilla ($8.10) that comes with French fries and a salad, and masas de puerco ($8.25) served with white rice and fried sweet plantains.

Chopsticks House

20553 Old Cutler Rd. Cutler Bay/Palmetto Bay

305-254-0080

Chinese, Thai, Best Of

Thai owners satisfy a double demand with expertly prepared Thai and Chinese fare. Spring rolls are fresh and greaseless, stuffed with shredded vegetables. Larb tofu is marinated bean curd, chopped and tossed in the deep fryer. Black bean and red curry rival each other for best sauce; pad thai is the house specialty. Lunch and dinner.

2 articles

Christine Lee's Restaurant

17082 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach North Dade

305-947-1717

Chinese, Continental, Menu

2 articles

Confucio Express Chinese Gourmet Cuisine

1810 SW Third Ave. Downtown/Overtown

305-860-7747

Chinese, Recommended, Best Of

Tiny Confucio Express amounts to a counter with a few tables on a deck overlooking a Farm Stores drive-thru. But this Chinese spot packs big flavor and is a wise choice for take-out and delivery. Try the salt-and-pepper-style seafood plate, enlivened with jalapeño, carrot, and shallots. The fish and shrimp are perfectly cooked with a crisp, caramelized coating so light you'll question if there's even batter. About a dozen of the well-seasoned crustaceans sit on a pillow of shredded iceberg lettuce, offering a cool contrast to the medium heat of the green chilies. The dish, like most at Confucio, is amply portioned.

1 article

CY Chinese Restaurant

1242 NE 163rd St. Aventura/North Miami Beach

305-947-3838

Chinese, Asian, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow

The minute you step into this Sichuan-style North Miami Beach hideaway, your senses fall prey to the overwhelming perfume of rendered beef fat and chili oil. Take, for example, the hot pot, in which beef fat is the central ingredient; the rich, savory aroma is the yardstick by which most Chinese folks judge the quality of hot pot. A simple chicken broth, made by simmering carcasses with ginger and garlic for three hours, is poured on top just before the dish is sent out to the dining room. Bring a big group so you can order as many of the accouterments as possible. Also be sure to pace yourself: One of the most joyous moments of hot pot comes at the very end when the broth and spices have reduced, along with everything that's been cooked in them, into a rich, flavorful brew that makes the final few bites truly special.

4 articles

Da Tang Zhen Wei Fang Restaurant

801 Brickell Bay Dr. Brickell

786-747-4686

Chinese, Slideshow

The difference between Da Tang Unique and the typical Chinese place of the 1950s variety becomes clear in a single bite of the Alaskan red sea cucumber meat hidden beneath a mountain of crunchy snow pea pods. The dish is wok-fried in a Malaysian belacan sauce built on a salted, fermented shrimp paste thinned with sweet soy. It offers the same nostril-stinging pungency as a hunk of good Roquefort, but this is something very different. Da Tang is one of a handful of Chinese restaurants spread across town swapping out honey chicken for fare that's more indicative of real Chinese cuisine. These few are able to see beyond the horizon of General Tso's empire.Read our full review.

7 articles

Dragon 1 Chinese Restaurant

10162 W. Flagler St. Westchester/West Miami

305-221-9741

Chinese, Szechuan, Slideshow

At Dragon 1 Chinese Restaurant, it's important not to be fooled by the crumpled menu or the mismatched lavender and green banquettes. The mess of notebooks, crumbs, and takeout boxes piled behind the register should be only a distraction. Owner Alan Zhang is cooking some of Miami’s most intense, flavorful Chinese food. Though he was born in Tianjin, near the Chinese capital of Beijing, Zhang's menu focuses on the fiery fare of Sichuan province. There’s the canoe-size dish of braised beef piled high with as many dried chilies as thin slices of meat. It begins with a steamed pile of napa cabbage that's transferred to the bowl with a bit of its cooking liquid. The chilies are fried in Zhang's fire-engine-red oil with a handful of peppercorns, sesame seeds, and the thin slabs of fatty meat. Together they create an intensely spicy sauce with just a bit of fragrance thanks to the ad hoc vegetable stock. The heat is aggressive and addictive.Read our full review.

5 articles

Dragon Restaurant

5902 W. 16th St. Hialeah

305-557-0500

Chinese, Restaurants, Best Of

Although Dragon's owners are from Canton, the food is overwhelmingly Chinese-American, which means it isn't any more genuinely Chinese than Italian-American food is genuinely Italian; both are cuisines of adaptation. But nonauthentic isn't a synonym for bad. Both of these immigrant-invented genres can be very tasty when prepared well, as Dragon's dishes are. Especially good here is pork - huge succulent ribs, juicy barbeque pork, or any dish containing either of the above (like pork-packed house-special fried rice, which also features generous amounts of shrimp, tofu chunks, scallions, and fresh bean sprouts). Peking duck is not the crisp-skinned, nearly fat-free, labor-intensive real thing, but it's darn good regular Cantonese roast duck. The crunch in the chop suey here comes from snow peas and bok choy, not the usual overload of American celery. And sauces are, uniformly, only lightly cornstarch-thickened rather than the mucilagelike mess typifying bad Chinese-American food. Best: Your order will fill your car with the essence of Chinese take-out in a way that authentic Chinese food somehow never does.

2 articles

Duck 'N Sum

3015 Grand Ave. Coconut Grove

786-740-2113

Chinese, Cantonese, Asian Fusion, Best Of

1 article

Dumpling King

237 NE 167th St. Aventura/North Miami Beach

305-654-4008

Chinese, Best Of, Menu

4 articles

Dynasty Buffet

1656 NE Miami Gardens Dr. Aventura/North Miami Beach

305-919-7705

Asian, Chinese, Best Of, Menu

Buffets can be questionable. After all, who knows how long the kung pao chicken's been exposed to the unwashed masses coughing, spitting and smearing their way through self-service? But luckily, Dynasty Buffet achieves its aim of hot, fresh and thoroughly edible Asian eats, with none of the ick factor. You can stuff yourself at this North Miami Beach spot with coconut shrimp, egg drop soup, tofu and vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, dumplings and sushi, all for a weekday lunchtime price of $7.55 (dinnertime $10.55). That's less than you'd pay for a a four course meal at McDonald's - and who knows where that crap's been.

1 article

EM's Restaurant

2152 NW 27th Ave. Central Dade

305-634-3009

Chinese, Latin American, Menu

Emerald Coast Chinese Gourmet Buffet

16850 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach North Dade

305-787-1530

Barbecue, Chinese, Seafood, Recommended, Menu

No, we're not talking glam dining here. But there is something for everyone and plenty of it. That's why you'll often find a line of patrons waiting for a table during peak hours. Waiting for chilled snow-crab legs, shrimp, and mussels. Eel, salmon, and California sushi rolls. Barbecued ribs, sweet-and-sour chicken, egg rolls, dumplings, stir-fried veggies. Prime rib, black-pepper steak, General Tso's chicken. A salad bar, six different soups. Eight flavors of hard-packed ice cream, Black Forest cake, miniature coconut tarts, chocolate-dipped fruit. An exhausting array of more than 100 items spread over seven serving stations. Unfettered access to the buffet will run you $7.50 to $11 (on weekends) for lunch and $14 to $17 for dinner. You can also order food à la carte for special dietary requirements. Lunch hours are 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; noon to 2:30 p.m. on weekends.

2 articles

Gold Marquess Fine Chinese Cuisine

8525 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines

954-367-7730

Chinese, Dim Sum, Best Of

The pigs are sweet inside this opulent Chinese spot adorned with pictures of gilded dragons and glistening lacquer paintings of intricate zodiac symbols. These are no normal pigs. A bite into one reveals not flesh, but fluffy steamed dough wrapped around a warm, slightly sweet egg custard. It’s an ideal dessert after assaulting your body’s water content with swollen soup dumplings filled with crab and pork. Of course you can’t stop there. There are pork ribs in a fragrant fermented black bean sauce, then come the pasty taro fritters, with the puréed tuber encased in a crackly web of a crust. By the time the sweet pig buns arrived, you'll have had more than your fill. But how could you resist the adorable pink snouts and curly tails so precisely affixed to the sweet treat? All that’s left to do is keep your eyes open for the drive home. Then, and only then, can you collapse into a dream world filled with sweet pigs marching by.

2 articles

Gourmet Gourmet

4249 W. Flagler St. Doral

305-443-8664

Chinese, Recommended, Best Of

Unless you fancy eating at a two-seater Formica counter facing a wall six inches away from your mouth, this tiny place is strictly take-out. But some of this humble hideaway's dishes are amazingly ambitious, even authentic. Double-yellow gourmet chow mein, for instance, is not the usual Chinese-American overcooked, overthickened glop topped with factory-produced dry noodles but genuine Cantonese-style: pan-fried fresh noodles with a tasty topping of stir-fried beef, chicken, shrimp, and many assorted vegetables. (Ask the friendly chefs to pack the noodles and topping in separate cartons, to avoid soggy saturation of the noodles on your way home.) Tangy-sweet eggplant in black Chinese vinaigrette and spicy Szechuan-sauced "fish laid on greens" also are winners.

2 articles

Chinese in Miami

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