New Chinese Restaurant In River Oaks Brings Michelin Star Power and All-Day Dim Sum — Your First Taste Look at Maison Chinoise

There’s a new high-profile boîte for the glitterati set: Maison Chinoise. It comes from the Lombardi Family Concepts (Toulouse, Lombardi Cucina Italiana and Segreto Lounge). Poised in the well-heeled stomping ground of River Oaks Shopping Center on West Gray, Maison Chinoise’s first restaurant outside its Dallas home base features a fusion of contemporary and traditional Chinese food, with a spotlight on regional specialties.

The space, designed by NDD of Houston, seamlessly merges a 3,700-square-foot interior dining room with a 900-square-foot temperature-controlled outdoor patio, for a total of 130 seats. The aesthetic gives a subtle nod to traditional Asian elements, from cherry blossoms on the custom ceiling wallpaper to Art Deco-like fringe-shaded light fixtures and cane-back chairs (which, I might add, are quite cozy).

Helming the open-style kitchen is Chinese-born executive chef Jordan He, who was lured to Houston from his previous post at Wynn Las Vegas. He spent nearly a decade there at Wing Lei, the first Chinese-inspired restaurant in North America to earn a Michelin star. Other highlights of his career include stints at Red 8, also at the Wynn, and Hakkasan Group restaurants in Miami and Los Angeles.

The Maison Chinoise menu carries on the tradition of Chinese restaurants stateside, offering tempting dishes built on Asian roots filtered through a Western lens. For example, the appetizer Sichuan salt and pepper lamb lollipops is a trendy trio of lamb chops subtly seasoned with ginger, scallion, five spices, cumin and Sichuan salt and pepper, accompanied by a pile of bright red ground Sichuan to increase the heat if desired ($32). Soups include a take on hot and sour ($10) and wonton soup, the latter elevated with Iberico pork ($12), while the three salad selections meld Western ingredients with yuzu or plum-based dressings.

Dim Sum at Maison Chinoise

Dim sum, served here at any hour, is made in-house. Dumpling options include Xiao Long bao Kurobuta pork soup dumplings filled with chicken broth ($16) and Har Gow dumplings stuffed with king prawns and bamboo shoots, topped with black caviar and a glimmer of gold leaf ($18). For those who couldn’t possibly enjoy Chinese food without a bite into a crispy eggroll, you haven’t been forgotten. Look for the crispy Wagyu beef rolls with a Thai sweet chili sauce ($16) and the unexpected crispy pastrami eggroll with a spicy beer mustard for dipping ($15).

The house specialty, imperial Peking duck, does not disappoint. Available in half and full orders ($49/$98), the bird is dry-aged for two to three days — and the laborious process pays off in He’s kitchen, where a beautifully crisp golden-lacquered skin tops the tender breast and leg meat, each destined to be cradled in paper-thin Mandarin crepes, with matchstick-cut cucumber, scallion, honeydew melon and pickled papaya served alongside, with a dollop of sweet bean sauce.

Moving on to the meat and poultry selections, our table enjoyed the crispy orange beef elevated with Wagyu beef, fragrant aged orange peel, and cauliflower florets ($26). Additional selections included Mushu Iberico pork ($26), crispy General Tso’s chicken ($24), Kung Pao organic chicken ($24), and Mongolian Wagyu beef ($42). Most of the typically piquant Sichuan dishes on the menu were very mildly spiced. If you want a more robust, spiced dish, you should request it.

Seafood offerings include king crab with glass noodles (market price) and grilled Chilean sea bass with lotus, wild mushrooms and Asian greens ($38), as well as a dish I could devour anytime: crispy golden pecan prawns napped with honey-touched mayonnaise and candied pecans ($28).

Noodle and rice dishes range from chow mein ($16 to $26) and drunken noodles ($16 to $26) to the signature Maison Chinoise fried rice ($22) and Peking duck fried rice ($32).

Last, don’t miss the creative cocktails, shaken or stirred, with and without a splash of spirits. Highlights include the blackberry lotus made with an alluring combination of chai tea, ginger, reposado and those aforementioned blackberries, which turn the tincture a light violet hue ($15) as well as the red panda, a gin-based drink presented beneath of frothy foam made with strawberries, matcha, coconut cream and soy-free coconut aminos ($15).

It is worth noting to those who often ask, I am an early dinner as I was on the occasion of my visit here. Seated at 6ish when I left at 8 pm, the noise level was quite high in the nearly quarter-full dining room and adjoining patio areas, making conversation challenging.

Maison Chinoise is located at 1958 W. Gray. It is open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 am to 10 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 11 pm and Sundays from 11 am to 9 pm.