The Bellaire Boulevard corridor: Chinese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Korean food

Start with the geography, because the name misleads. The corridor in this guide is not in Bellaire. Bellaire Boulevard is one long street, and the part that passes Evelyn's Park, at 4400 Bellaire Blvd. in the city, keeps going west into Houston. Some miles out, in the 9000 to 11000 blocks, it becomes a long run of Chinese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Korean restaurants. Every address below is a Houston address, with a 77036 or 77072 ZIP code, and by the coordinates in our places file the restaurants sit almost due west of City Hall.

The site's food coverage includes this corridor, and the place names are easy to confuse. HERE Bellaire's three-mile ring stops well short of it, and this guide is the exception. Plan it as an outing, not an errand.

Chinese and dim sum

Dim Sum King, at 9160 Bellaire Blvd. #B, is the closest restaurant in this guide, about five miles out. Its website lists dim sum in special, small, medium and large categories, plus rice noodles, fried rice and drinks, and says it is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Golden Dim Sum, at 10600 Bellaire Blvd., is farther west and listed as a dim sum restaurant, and its listing shows 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. We could not read its website, so we have no menu to describe.

Mala Sichuan Bistro, at 9348 Bellaire Blvd., serves Sichuan food, according to its website, which explains mala as a pairing of chili heat and the numbing quality of Sichuan peppercorns. Its listing shows 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Triple Pepper 川三椒 重庆江湖菜, at 9398 Bellaire Blvd., is on the same stretch. Its website calls its food authentic Sichuan with adjustable spice levels and names kung pao chicken, mapo tofu, boiled beef, cumin lamb and dry pot bullfrog among its dishes. The site posts 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Taiwanese

Tainan Bistro, at 9306 Bellaire Blvd., is listed as a Taiwanese restaurant, and its listing shows it open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays. San Dong Noodle House, at 9938 Bellaire Blvd., is also listed as Taiwanese, and its listing shows the same Monday closure, then 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. the rest of the week. Neither website gave us a menu, so the category is what we can cite.

Vietnamese

Migo Saigon Food Street, at 9393 Bellaire Blvd., Suite H, calls its signature dish Mì Gõ, which its website describes as a symphony of textures and tastes that defines Saigon street food. The site also mentions Vietnamese noodles and pho. Its listing shows it closed on Mondays, with a break between lunch and dinner from Tuesday through Friday.

The restaurants in this guide are in Houston, five to seven miles west of Bellaire City Hall, on the same boulevard.

Viet Alley Restaurant, at 11210 Bellaire Blvd. #133, is the farthest in this guide, a little over seven miles out. Its website highlights bo ne banh mi, hu tieu noodle and com ga rice, and also lists canh bun, crispy chicken and rice, and crawfish. It posts 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, which is an early start.

Korean

Honey Pig Korean BBQ Houston, at 9140 Bellaire Blvd. B, is listed as a Korean restaurant, and its listing shows 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days and until 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Dookki, at 9750 Bellaire Blvd., serves tteokbokki rice cakes, ramen, fish cakes and fried items, according to its website, and lets customers cook their own hot pot at the table. Its listing shows 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Tofu Village, at 9889 Bellaire Blvd., Suite 303, is listed as a Korean restaurant, and its listing shows 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

A short map of the menus

If these cuisines are new to you, a few words help. Dim sum is a meal of small dishes, usually shared, and Dim Sum King sorts its dim sum by size, which makes ordering easier. Sichuan cooking is built on chili heat and the tingling numbness of Sichuan peppercorns, which is what mala means. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup and banh mi is a sandwich on a baguette, and both appear in the Vietnamese listings. Korean barbecue and hot pot are cooked at the table, which is why the Korean restaurants here are the ones to choose for a group. Taiwanese restaurants, like Tainan Bistro and San Dong Noodle House, are the ones to ask about noodles.

Getting there

Most of these restaurants are a single drive west on Bellaire Boulevard, and you can park once and try more than one. The restaurants in this guide are in Houston, five to seven miles west of Bellaire City Hall, on the same boulevard. Several addresses, including 9889 and 9393 Bellaire Blvd., hold more than one restaurant in our listings, so if the first place has a wait, another is often a few doors away.

Weekday lunch is usually easier than weekend dinner in a busy restaurant district, and the posted hours suggest when to come. Dim Sum King closes at 8 p.m., and Tainan Bistro at 8:30. The Korean restaurants run late on Friday and Saturday.

Before you go

- The corridor is in Houston, not Bellaire, so use the full street address in your maps app, not the word Bellaire. - Tainan Bistro, San Dong Noodle House and Migo Saigon Food Street are closed on Mondays, according to their listings. - Dim Sum King closes at 8 p.m. every day, according to its website, which is earlier than most of the rest. - Migo Saigon Food Street closes between lunch and dinner from Tuesday through Friday, according to its listing. - Golden Dim Sum, Tainan Bistro, San Dong Noodle House, Honey Pig Korean BBQ Houston and Tofu Village have no website menu in our sources, so look up a current menu before you commit.

Sources

- Dim Sum King: https://dimsumkingtx.com - Mala Sichuan Bistro: https://malasichuan.com - Triple Pepper: https://triplepeppertx.com - Migo Saigon Food Street: https://migosaigonfoodstreet.com - Viet Alley Restaurant: https://vietalleyhouston.com - Dookki: https://dookkius.com - City of Bellaire, Park Information (Evelyn's Park, 4400 Bellaire Boulevard): https://www.bellairetx.gov/737/Park-Information - HERE Bellaire places file, cluster listings, addresses and hours (Golden Dim Sum, Tainan Bistro, San Dong Noodle House, Honey Pig Korean BBQ Houston, Tofu Village and hours for restaurants above)

En español

El corredor de Bellaire Boulevard no está en la ciudad de Bellaire. Es la misma avenida, pero en Houston, a unas cinco a siete millas al oeste del ayuntamiento de Bellaire, con muchos restaurantes chinos, vietnamitas, taiwaneses y coreanos. Dim Sum King, en 9160 Bellaire Blvd., ofrece dim sum; Mala Sichuan Bistro y Triple Pepper, en los números 9348 y 9398, sirven comida de Sichuan; Tainan Bistro y San Dong Noodle House son taiwaneses; Migo Saigon Food Street y Viet Alley son vietnamitas; y Honey Pig, Dookki y Tofu Village son coreanos. Todas las direcciones son de Houston, con códigos postales 77036 y 77072. Es un viaje en coche, no un paseo. Varios cierran los lunes, así que confirme los horarios antes de ir.