Houston Chinatown Journal: My Journeys to Chinatown Houston

The Weekend of December 3, 2005

Today marks the beginning of my journeys to Houston Chinatown Journal. Going to Chinatown on the weekends has become a ritual for me. Living in far west Houston makes it difficult to go on the weekdays especially since I have to work. The drive only takes about 25-30 minutes which is not too bad. I usually take Memorial Dr. to Beltway 8, head south and exit at Bellaire Blvd. Taking a left on Bellaire leads to Houston's Chinatown; however, taking a right will take you to Hong Kong City Mall and Vietnamese stores. I headed left for Chinatown and I see all the constructions on both sides of Bellaire Blvd. I asked myself what is going on here. Is Chinatown Houston really booming? The answer is yes, it is booming like crazy. Sources tell me that there is going to be a big facelift for Houston's Chinatown. To me, this sounds great. We do have one of the largest Asian populations in the U.S. behind California and New York.

Back to my journey, I decided it was time to grab something to eat since it was around noon. For those who are not familiar with dining in Chinatown on the weekends, it does get semi-crowded especially at the more popular restaurants. I decided to go to Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle Chinese Restaurant . They are known for their famous Taiwanese dishes and red and yellow interior. They are also a chain restaurant with locations in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Dallas. I went inside to find the place very clean and not crowded at all. I ordered a beef noodle soup and an order of fried crispy chicken. I found the beef noodle soup to be quite good but the fried crispy chicken was not up to par. The price is decent. After eating, I decided I wanted a bubble tea. Next to Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle Chinese Restaurant is Tea Cafe. They have my favorite almond milk tea. I love to go there because the size of the bubble tea is much larger than other stores. On a side note, someone needs to open up a bubble tea store in West Houston.

After eating and drinking so much, I started feeling sleepy. Too bad there is no place there to take a quick nap. Like every weekend, I had to buy groceries. I decided to go to Welcome Food Center , which is the most popular Chinese supermarket in Houston Chinatown . Diho and Dynasty supermarkets don’t draw as much crowd as Welcome Food Center. Buying Chinese vegetables is a snap. They also sell a lot of my favorite Chinese snacks like tofu bean curd and pineapple cakes. They also sell cool beverages like apple sida, soybean, green tea with passion fruit, and others. What makes the whole experience so neat for me is the amount of products you find only in Taiwan or China can be found here.

After grocery shopping, I really begin to feel tired so I called it a day. The drive back home was filled with yawns and sleepy eyes. I can’t wait to go back next week and begin the journey again.

About the Author:

Asian Waldo is a fictious real person. He graduated from UT Austin in 2001 with a Masters in Accounting. He loves to travel and eat. Hobbies include basketball, football, fishing, rock climbing, and anything outdoor related.