Hwa Yuan Asian Restaurant

It had been a long time in the making (quality. service) I am actually sorry to see this place close. They were one of the first places I ate at when moving into town. I was willing to ignore the cave-​like interior (impossible to see food!) for an Asian buffet close to my house.
Even when the service began to slide, they were a neighborhood joint. Leaving them hurt – like breaking off a friendship.
I eventually had to admit that it wasn’t just my visiting family being ultra-​picky about the new city I relocated to. Or them not liking my new job which allowed me to eat out. There was something genuinely wrong with the food safety and service issues at this restaurant. Was the dark atmosphere trying to help conceal interior flaws?
Eating here wasn’t even okay on a once in a rare occasion basis. This was a location to avoid at all costs.
Frankly, I am impressed that they managed to hold out this long. The economy has been in the dumps and the current management did not know the first thing about good resturanteering Obviously somebody was enjoying the food But then again, Austin does not really have a Chinatown either.

Closed?! Say it ain’t so! One of my favorite lunch buffet places for many years.

Decided to adventure out and try a new chinese buffet.
Some adventures cost you a week worth of feeling yucky and bloated.
We walked in, took a peek at the buffet, and I almost passed. On a Friday night, it wasn’t too busy, and NO ONE was eating the buffet and everything looked super stale. At this point, the review was at a one star. However, my hunger won out and I tried it anyway.
Surprise! I actually really quite enjoyed a lot of what I ate. The egg drop soup was decent, the lo mein was great, the chicken and broccoli was good, and I found enough there to snag a bunch of veggies and be happy. Also, it was super cheap, something like 8 bucks for a dinner buffet.
Then later, the revenge. I gained 7 lbs and felt horrible for the next few days. I’m assuming my reaction was to MSG overload, and I tend to be a little more sensitive to it than the average bear, and I’ll sacrifice occasionally for a good bowl of phở, but seriously kids — not worth it.
Leaving it at 2 stars because while the food looked like a nightmare, it was decently tasty.
I keep hearing the korean bbq is where it’s at here, but for how meh the chinese buffet was, and the 25!!! dollar per head price, I’ll pass, thanks.

OK. The food is good here. I especially like their combo fried rice. HOWEVER. EVERY STINKIN TIME I order delivery, I order the sunset special, which is SUPPOSED to come with an egg roll, soup, 2 crab puffs and your entrée. And a cookie of course. EVERY time I get an incomplete order. EVERY TIME. That should bring my stars down to 1, but I do like their food, they are relatively friendly, and quick. I just wish they’d get my order right. Don’t let the driver leave your door without checking it first.

I went here for my birthday with about 10 friends and everyone got the Korean BBQ buffet. The friendly staff sat us down with 3 burners for our table and we got right to cooking our own kalbi and pork belly and various other delicious cuts. It is traditional Korean to cook our own food at the table while socializing and drinking soju and makgeolli and being here reminded me of when I went to visit my family in Korea! I didn’t try the Chinese food because the star of Hwa Yuan is in the Korean food. My advice, go for the Korean BBQ not the Chinese food.

The waitress gave us no menus upon seating us. When we asked for them she insisted we eat from the buffet. Lost in translation we go grab some plates of food from the buffet. For $ 10 I wanted to leave as full of Korean food as possible. The first two plates myself and my fiancé got were horrid. The general tos chicken was mushy, as if it had been setting since lunch time, as did the sesame chicken. Also, the noodles from the lo-​mien were hard from being over exposed to the heating lamps. Also the hot and sour dip was super clumpy… How that happens, I’m not quite sure. The only thing that was edible was the egg drop soup and no telling when that was set out. Not a restaurant I would ever visit again, highly disappointing.

This was my third attempt to eat here. Not sure what’s going on with this place. They have been open for a while but are advertising a grand opening for Feb 1^st. I know in the past they didn’t originally have Korean food on the menu. You had to have inside connections to figure that one out. Twice I went in here, declined the Chinese buffet (which looks gross), and asked for Korean food. Each time I was met with confusion and lack of service that forced me to walk out. Today I noticed that they are proudly advertising themselves as a Korean Sushi Bar. Kewl. I went in and was seated by a Hispanic man that spoke perfect English. He asked for my drink order. I said an ice water with lemon and a Ichiban. He brought the beer and a straw, sat them on the table and left. Several minutes go by and I flag down the hostess and ask for a bottle opener and a water. Hombre comes by, opens the beer and I asked for a glass, he seemed a bit perturbed with me. He brought the glass, but still no water. Another guy (who didn’t know a lick of English) comes by to take my order. I purposely point on the menu to the pork bulgogi lunch special. He laughs! Why? He leaves. Hombre returns and I tell him this guy took my order, but, I don’t think he understood me. I told Hombre what I wanted and asked if he would confirm it with the kitchen. That was the last communication I had with Hombre. Another person walks by and I once again ask for water. This time I got a glass of water, but, no lemon. At this point I sense something is wrong. They aren’t bringing the soup that precedes the lunch. Instead they bring six traditional Korean side dishes (this is average for lunch). Immediately after that they bring out the pork bulgogi. Red light! This is the dinner portion! I couldn’t get attention so I decided to suck it up and enjoy because it smelled so damned good and it came out sizzleing like fajitas. The bulgogi was a definite five stars! Perfect amount of sweet and hot. One of the best pork bulgogis I’ve had in awhile. As for the side dishes; they were skimpy, six versus nine for the regular dinner portion. The kimchae was a little bland, the cucumber kimchae was simply cucumber sprinkled with red chili pepper. The bean sprouts were impressive, as they mixed them with a chili sauce to take out the dirt taste. So I sit and feast and really enjoy that bulgogi. I ask for the check. Sure enough they charge me for a dinner. I’ve already made up my mind to let this one fly. My check is $ 19.42. I hand them my AMEX and they charge me $ 194.72! Boom! My Irish goes to the moon. Are you uckfa kidding me! Ten minutes for them to punch their buttons on the machine. They present me with the correct check, tell me to add tip here and sign here! Oh I’ve got your GD MFng tip! I asked for a receipt to show that my card was credited. They couldn’t provide that. Not good. I called AMEX and flagged the charge as unauthorized. I love AMEX! In a wrap: Horrible service, poor to none communication, ineptness at it’s best, damned good bulgogi!

Went in this week, on a quiet Tuesday afternoon. The place was empty. There was no fresh food on the buffet, and in the 30 minutes we were there nothing was replenished. Most of it was cold, even the white rice in the rice cooker (how the heck does that happen?) So disappointing.
The owner/​waitress/​family/​friends were all over the place – kinda awkward, like we were hanging out in someone’s living room. One person was on the business phone talking loudly to someone. A friend or family member came in with food from another location, and several people sat and ate that in front of the buffet. LOL Really?
BUT…two gentlemen came and ordered from the menu. It came out sizzling hot and looked amazing!
Thumbs down for the buffet food, lack of service, and unprofessional environment. I might try it again for the Korean BBQ and fresh menu items. Maybe.

The best Korean BBQ I’ve had in Austin. I’ve been a huge fan of Korea House for years, and I’m still a loyal customer, but my dinner with friends at Hwa Yuan last night was fantastic.
We’ve heard mixed reviews about the Chinese food, so we all avoided it and went with the tableside BBQ for 4. The Korean owners are extremely friendly and Kim came to our table herself to cook our meal and checked on us several times. We really got a kick out of talking with her! Apparently she’s also done a few stints here in town teaching classes how to cook Korean food, and I gotta say — this stuff is the real deal. The homemade kimchi was delicious! And she treated us to a sweet/​savory egg soufflé that was the bomb when mixed with rice and a salty/​sesame paste that was at the table. All 4 of us left completely stuffed.
Long story short: clean restaurant and bathrooms, friendly staff, wonderful owner, and delicious Korean BBQ. Woot!

This is definitely the best place to get Korean BBQ in Austin. WIthout a doubt. My Korean friend said it’s even better than some places in Korea.
The owner is really nice and will answer any questions you have, or help you out if you’re confused how to cook or eat the meal.
I would recommend that you order the preset meals for the size of your party. It comes with a ton of meat and side dishes, as well as a very authentic soup and even more stuff… To drink I’d get a cold glass of boiled cha. You’ll definitely leave full or stuffed.
Skip on the buffet, it’s a trap.
Again… this place is absolutely amazing. Highly recommended.

5 STARTS on KOREAN food:
WoW, the owners are Korean; and therefore, their Korean dishes are the bomb. Their kimchee is homemade! I judge Korean joints by their bimbimbap, and I must say theirs is one of the most authentic traditional spreads I have seen in some time.
Other dishes and appetizers were also simply amazing. Way better than Korean House!!! I’d compare Hwa Yuan to good Korean restaurants found in Chicago, IL or Annandale, VA (DC’s Koreantown).
3.5 STARS on CHINESE food:
I’ve only had their Chinese buffet, and would say it’s okay. The price makes it all right, dinner on a weekend, all you can eat, is just under $ 9. They do offer some sushi and really good spring rolls on the buffet, but other than that, it’s just Americanized mediocre Chinese food like most other places.
3 STARS on SUSHI:
I’m not sure how much sushi they sell, nor the freshness of the fish. It’s just okay.
EAT THEIR KOREAN FOOD– IT’S AMAZING!
Note: you have to ask for their Korean menu when you go in. It’s like a hidden treasure.

Friendly wait staff, but the buffet didn’t offer a lot for a vegetarian to eat. I had a few sweet potato slices in tempura batter, and fried rice.
I’d probably try it again if someone else wanted to, but I’d try ordering off the menu. I should have Unilocaled beforehand, because no one told me there was a lunch menu, and I had incorrectly assumed that the buffet was my only choice.
My dining companions fared far better. They loved it.

For $ 7 Chinese lunch buffet, it’s okay. There’s not a lot of variety compared to the other mega Chinese buffets around town, probably about 16 Chinese dishes, 4 sushi roll types, 3 soup types, 6 Korean food types (including kimchee), 3 cake types, 1 cookie type, and 2 fruit types but for $ 7, not bad at all. I really liked their egg drop soup, so good.
The weird part is there are no windows in the restaurant, it’s kind of creepy. With a party of 5, they charged us a 15% service charge… it’s a buffet?!
I haven’t tried their Korean BBQ so maybe next time.

I feel like I brought this upon myself.
As a loyal fan of par level Chinese, this place was great. Sure I found several things in my food, like plastic bags, but sometimes we all make a little mistakes. Those mistakes were fine until now. After eating here today, I developed a severe case of what I will refer to as ‘death.’ Now ‘death’ is not as dramatic as it seems and can come in a variety of different forms. Going downtown all night and you killed a bottle of tequila before going out the door? There is a good chance you may feel like ‘death’ in the morning. Aunt Nancy cooked her homemade pigs feet and your friend is Jewish? There’s a high probability of ‘death’ tomorrow.
In my case, I ate at a restaurant I know has had a series of health code problems (they dont need to be reported, I’ve experienced them) which led to my case of ‘death.’ So now in an attempt to write my only public service announcement, Stop eating here or you may contract ‘death.’ Symptoms include but are not limited to your stomach clearly stating «fuck you» in a variety of forms, «burns twice», head aches, «the shits», and a feeling of nausea like you took a gallon challenge. I apologize for any references that are considered too gross or vulgar but Upton Sinclair didn’t exactly paint the The Jungle to be like a day at Wonka’s factory… but I guess only those who have a golden ticket know the truth.
Please take my warning as a sign to avoid this place or you as well might feel like ‘death’… and let the Communists win.

It was ok. had much better lunch buffet at Sea Dragon. It seemed as if one of the waitresses was upset if you left any food on your plate, but oh well. She didnt have to pay for it!

Avoid this place! They have really unhealthy food handling practices. I’ve got eye witness accounts that have they dropping food on the floor and picking it up NOT to dispose of it but rather put it back.
I’ve been here before for their buffet lunch since it’s reasonably close to my office. Everything looked like it was sitting around for a while — not very appetizing.
Note: it was not me that witnessed this but someone that I trust. This person has or will be filling a complaint with the health department.

We accidentally drove into the wrong mall on Research while looking for a store that we had never been to and decided we were starving when we saw the sign for Hwa Yuan. I am always intrigued by odd Asian restaurants I’ve never heard of tucked away in some nameless mall, and was amused by the competing signs advertising sushi, Chinese Buffet, Chinese food AND Korean food. Okayyyy.
So, we sit down at 3:00 on a Saturday, having not eaten lunch or breakfast. We cruise around the buffet offerings and it all looks pretty unappetizing, except for the Bulgogi, which actually looked pretty nice, but it was sitting next to some disgusting breaded Americanized Chinese slop so we asked for menus. We also asked our waitress what the chef preferred to cook, sushi, Korean or Chinese and she just looked confused. We then asked her whether the chef was Chinese or Korean and she said they had «several» chefs. ummm, really?
So, we then received a plastic coated card that was a Chinese menu that listed every horrible fried and coated in sweet sauce dish you could get at the chain Chinese take-​out that people make fun of.
We also received a fancy multi-​page pretty Korean Menu with a hard cover and parchment pages filled with traditional Korean offerings that sounded scrumptious.
Ah, ok. now we knew what direction to go. We didn’t do anything fancy. The hubby got a bibimbap and I got a dish that is basically a bibimbap with sashimi instead of beef. I like this dish and order it at any Korean restaurant I can if they have it. We also ordered a couple of sushi rolls as the special was that you get the second at half price.
There were six side dishes with the meal that were pretty good, but very mild, nothing adventurous. The BiBimBap was pretty good. It was just served in a plastic bowl, but was a good portion for about $ 8.95. My dish was also pretty good, although light on the sashimi. It also had no seaweed and just a tiny bit of roe. But for $ 12.95, it was a filling bowl of food. The weird part was that when the waitress brought it to me, she proceeded to try to tell me how to eat it and I told her I was ok and that I was familiar with the dish. She then proceeded to squirt hot sauce in my bowl and then she stuck a spoon in it and started to stir and I had to ask her to please not do that. She was trying to be helpful, but throughout the whole meal, she was treating us like we had never stepped into an Asian restaurant before. You could see the terror in her eyes when I ordered my dish. «You know it has raw fish in it?» Yes, I told her gravely, I am familiar with this. Jeez.
Anyway, what was a little different was that she brought out two different sauces for the two bowls. Normally, I just like the bibimbap sauce on mine, but it came with a runnier, less sweet sauce that wasn’t as good, so I used the bibimbap sauce, although I did it in stealth, because I was afraid our waitress would get more upset. She was already upset, from the way she was wringing her hands, but she did smile a lot. Then the chef came out, (just one!) and she smiled and pointed to a beautiful carved strawberry that she had made that was on the sushi board. We ate it. It was delicious.
So, the Korean food was definitely a 4 star experience. The sushi was a little meh — the fish was tough because we had pieces with sinews in it in our roll, which was unfortunate, so that was a 3, although the rolls were very pretty. The buffet and TV dinner Chinese food was a 2. I think if you stick to the Korean food here, you will be solidly in the 4 – 5 star range. They should totally ditch the crap that they call Chinese food.
I would very much like to try the Korean BBQ and some noodles next time.

I like Korea House, but hated driving out there. Now I found a better place even closer.
First, this is not just an Americanized-​Chinese place. They have Korean and sushi. And I don’t mean one or two Korean dish, but a full Korean menu. I was bit shaky going here b/​c I thought the Chinese, Korean, & Japanese combo was too much for a place to pull off. And I think the pictures on Unilocal doesn’t give good view of how the place is now. The owners have done a very nice job renovating the place inside. I’ll try to post up some new pics.
So far, I had their cham-​pong (spicy seafood noodle), cha-​chang mein (black bean noodle), Korean BBQ set and the Chinese buffet.
Buffet was pretty good — better than most buffet places. But it’s still a buffet and you’re not going to get the best quality in a buffet anyways, so your expectation should be set appropriately. And their black bean noodle was pretty good. The KBBQ was surprisingly good — meaning good quality of meat. You will smell mildly like KBBQ after you’re done eating, but not as bad as some other places.
But the star of the show is definitely the spicy noodle. WOW. The broth was very clean (no MSG) and flavorful. The noodles are homemade. I didn’t know this at first so thought $ 9.95 for a dish was overpriced, but the quality definitely made up for it. I’m now addicted to this noodle.
I haven’t had their delivery service so you’ll need to rely on other reviewers for that. Bur if you only hit up this place for the delivery, then you’re really missing out. If you are in the mood for some excellent Korean food, this is definitely the place.

Hwa Yuan was a cheap favorite of mine 12 or so years ago. WanFu replaced that spot for some time due to relocating to the 78 704 for a spell. Now returning, after a decade or so, it feels fairly surreal. It’s as if time has stood still; same set up; same decorations and odd office chairs used in a dining room. The hosts reaction to my walking in at 9:25pm (they close at 10:00pm) was completely priceless and made me laugh out loud. His look was a mix of instant terror, disgust and embarrassment at giving it all way so soon. I instantly read what he was thinking and asked for a to-​go order. He smiled and returned to his calm exterior of reading the Daily Bugle or whatever zine he was holding at the time.
In the last decade or so my taste buds have definitely developed and matured. The szechuan chicken was simply lacking in all departments. It tasted like a freshly heated microwave meal where none of the flavors are mixed well. Every bite of vegetable was distinct and all alone in flavor, having that springy feel when you bite down on it. The egg drop had little flavor, and it reminded me of what it is like to want to taste something while having a head cold. I could definitely have made better at home.

I mostly eat here for lunch. I order and have the food delivered. I recommend the sesame chicken. mm mmm
The only downside is that lunchtime delivery can take almost an hour. I’ll still order from here and I’ll order the same thing every time.