Chu’s Taiwanese Kitchen & Bar

Just like Gwyneth Paltrow’s singing career, you could have easily missed Chu’s Taiwanese Kitchen. It was at the cusp of nowheresville on Ponce and Sevilla and quietly announced itself with a muted blue 16 point font sign. Strolling in you’d notice standard dim sum décor with white linens, lazy suzans and trays bursting with condiments. Then you’d recoil in terror as the giant frescoes that adorned the walls lashed out at you. Seemingly commissioned by a madman… there’s giant hands with lit wicks instead of fingertips, fists squeezing juice out of eyeballs and an especially sinister portrait of the owner chopping fish with a bloody cleaver. It made me suspicious of the complimentary beverage they served. GHB, Rohypnal, or Halothane tea???
I asked for ice water and was met with heavy resistance from the server and my guest, an acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese medicine. She said –
«Put olive oil in the refrigerator and it turns white and waxy, the same thing happens in your body when you drink cold beverages with fatty meals. It’s the worst thing you can do for your digestion/​circulation.»
I didn’t trust the science behind that statement, but then again 1 in 7 people is Chinese and 5,000 years of Oriental Medicine can’t be wrong.
I was there for Crispy Pork Tenderloin (deboned and fried pork ribs dusted with crushed edamame) and Sticky Rice (stuffed with chicken and sausage the wrapped in lotus leaves). She was there for Soupy Dumpling (filled with pork and scallion broth) and Siu Mai (shrimp and pork bundles topped with capelin roe). Announce that you’re a vegetarian in my family’s home and that means you don’t eat red meat, Chu’s took the same stance. This place was a Vegan, Muslim or Jewish person’s nightmare because their entire vegetarian selection included either a shellfish or pork component.
I left with my stomach and wallet full thanks to a
certificate and just as I was leaving the chef/​owner Chu himself came out to greet me. He didn’t look crazy at all; he just had questionable taste in art. He was sweating and smiling and smelled like 5′ 9″ of bacon but I could tell he cared about his restaurant and his patrons. I’m sad to see this place go, especially when decent dim sum is a tough find in Miami.

The good old days at Chu’s have come to an end. The place has closed down forever. Sorry to see it go.

I love dim sum, so I couldn’t wait to try this restaurant. However, I have to say it is overpriced and not very good.

This is a great restaurant with an even better after hours bar– the environment alone makes it worth the visit. Where else would you find clans of young inebriated asian adults singing karaōke and giggling hysterically?
The décor is creep/​cool for such an odd location in Coral Gables and that’s fine with me.
I suggest you go in a group so everyone gets a taste of their varied menu.
nice soupy dumplings.
beautiful voyeur kitchen.
Maybe I didn’t order all the right Dim Sum but the avalanche of whole fried fish that was brought to the table displayed like some magnificent feat of architecture piled with shoe string potato crispy goodness made me forget. It was stunning and so much better with Chu himself presenting it. What a character! I’d definitely watch a show about him and his staff deciphering his feedback on Bravo.
Everyone seems to enjoy coming to work and will happily suggest and answer questions.
They’re a bit nutty in a very endearing way and I hope this place stays hidden enough to remain a gem but continues prospering.

Ate lunch there today. We were the only patrons in the restaurant. Note to self: HELLO, when you are the only patron in the restaurant, it’s because no one else wants to eat there!
The food took a really long time to arrive, and then it was cold! How can this be? We were the only ones in the restaurant. We sent it back, and it came back cold again. Maybe they didn’t pay their electric bill, and the wok wasn’t working? I ordered sesame balls for dessert. After 15 minutes of waiting, we gave up, paid the bill and left. Next time we crave authentic Chinese, we’ll drive up to Kings Palace on 163^rd street.

I come here all the time with friends. It has a great atmosphere and pleasent staff. The dim sum menu is the best (I recommend the soupy dumplings)!!
It’s great for lunch and dinner.

If you are lucky enough to be there with Mr. Chu himself, you are in for a real treat!
I can’t even believe that I have been going here for 2 years and have yet to write this review. I guess that’s because I rant and rave so much about it via word of mouth to those who have never heard of the place. Yes, it is a little hidden gem that is hard to spot if you don’t know to look for it but once you discover it, you will ask yourself how you lived without it for so long.
The food is always spot on, I have yet to be disappointed by any dish here. They have dim sum, for lunch and dinner, and while I am relatively new to dim sum it is in my opinion some of the best dim sum in Miami. They also have great cocktails and during some nights have good drink specials to make sure you have a delicious libation to go with your spectacular meal.
The bar is open pretty late too, so you can come revel here until 3am on a weeknight or 5am on weekends, as we did on the glorious night of the 2013 Heat victory over the Spurs.
If enough drunken debauchery is going on, you may even get to sing karaōke with the regulars. Oh yes.

I went here with a few coworkers of mine for lunch today because one of them suggested it, having been there once. We were greeted by what I would assume the owner, an older man. There were a few people eating lunch there that worked nearby. They had a lunch special menu which I didn’t look over because we were there for dim sum and other Taiwanese specialties. So we ordered shrimp har gow, shrimp noodle roll, turnip cake, garlic chive dumpling, fried stinky tofu and beef noodles.
For the most part, I think the food was just okay… Nothing special. Most of the dim sum items (especially the shrimp noodle roll) were premade, possibly bought frozen. The shrimp noodle roll especially disappointed me, just because it’s one of my favorite dim sum items and the noodle skin instantly fell apart, meaning that the skin wasn’t fresh. The soy-​based sauce wasn’t astounding either. The shrimp dumpling was nothing noteworthy. The garlic chive dumplings was good, although a bit small. The turnip cake was pretty good though and possibly the best dish I had. The stinky tofu was what I had expected. It wasn’t «smelly» at all (unlike its counterparts in Taiwan), thus it was blander than I would’ve liked. It was authentic though in terms of ingredients. It came with pickled vegetables on top of it and was covered in a soy-​based sauce too as it should. Though the flavors were muted, it was nonetheless pretty decent, especially when it’s the only place I can think of that actually serves this dish. Be noted however, it is a very Taiwanese dish and is especially an acquired taste for non-​Taiwanese/​Chinese people. Lastly, the beef noodle soup was bland with a few diced Chinese sauerkraut pieces. I wasn’t impressed by it and I suppose the best I’ll ever have of it in Miami is in my own house.
That said, the prices are wayyyy too high. I get that it’s in Coral Gables and in a relatively nice location, but I think the prices aren’t justified with the portion sizes and generally so-​so food. I’m sure their Americanized Chinese and Asian fusion dishes are delicious, but I came here to try out the authentic stuff and critiquing the food as someone who comes from that heritage.
It’s good that they have Taiwanese-​style dishes since just about nowhere else serves it (except for Shing Wang in North Miami Beach, which isn’t serving entirely Taiwanese food either). But for the price and mediocre food, I don’t think I’ll be back (unless the check’s on someone else)!

When I walked out of Chu’s I could barely walk… that’s how much I ate.
Our party was craving chinese and we saw this place and decided to walk in.
We had Dim sum (a lot of it, very wide variety), fried rice (amazing), duck and steak. Everything was excellent.
There is a big painting of Chu in the wall, where he is wearing a hat. Coincidentally (?) he happened to walk by wearing the same hat. we couldn’t help but waive at him. Few minutes later (and about 10 plates) we get a huge dessert on the house courtesy of Mr. Chu.
Awesome food, great looking place… the bill wasn’t bad either.
Consider me pleasantly surprised.
The best chinese restaurant in Miami? Maybe.

Can one lust over a restaurant?
It wasn’t a question that I’ve ever considered but after eating at Chu’s, I know that it’s possible.
Since moving to South FL I have craved and deeply desired delicious dim sum and soup dumplings. I suppose these are foods that are forgotten or not desired by the foodies of south FL. It is a first-​world woe that I have had to deal with but my problem was solved upon eating at Chu’s!
This place is FANTASTICALLY delicious. My friend and I ordered a wide variety of food and were not disappointed in the least. We ended up coming for dinner and ordered these amazing dishes: the beef noodle soup (special), taiwanese pork noodle soup, pork soup dumplings (dim sum, order of 8), stuffed peppers (dim sum, order of 3), rice ball with fried dough, pickled vegetables, and pork inside (appetizer special), pork blood patty (special). There was not a single thing I did not immensely enjoy. My taste buds were dancing a disco at the height of the disco-​era.
Prior to taking my bite of the soup dumplings, I was a bit skeptical because I’ve been excited about food in South FL many times and have been sorely disappointed more times than not. The soup dumpling was smaller than I was used to as they are ginormous up north so I stared at it skeptically before delving in. Upon taking my first bite, a wave of flavor wrapped my mouth and coated every bit of it in delicious ecstasy. I sat in my seat, closing my eyes, nodding my head just saying, «Yes, yes… oh, yes». I savored each bite and shed a small tear at the thought that this savory wave was soon to end. FINALLY! I had found delicious soup dumplings in South FL!
The next star of the table was the rice ball appetizer special. When my friend and I had seen it on the specials it sounded like such an odd mix of flavors. We’re not ones to shy away from interesting food so we ordered it. When this rice ball came, held together wrapped in plastic saran-​wrap it was such an interesting specimen of food. After my friend broke it open we saw all the ingredients inside and dove in. As much as I expected the mix of pickled veggies, fried dough, pork and rice not work together… it did. It was such a delicious surprise! All the flavors married so well and were such a delight to eat. I wish it would be a staple on the menu… but hopefully next time I come to Chu’s it will be there!
As for the other items… they were also all amazing. I don’t want to go into a detailed, racy, romance-​type novel of how much I loved each and every item. I’m afraid I might bore you all… but I loved them all. I gluttonously ate the large beef soup that I had ordered because I loved the flavor so much. It seemed wrong to let such a delicious flavor sit unappreciated. Oh, I could go into detail, but then this post might go to NSFW.
Anyhoo– please eat at Chu’s. It is amazing and delicious and if you’re looking for authentic, Taiwanese flavors then this is your stop. Eat here and enjoy! It’s amazing and worth the prices (in my opinion). I also loved how from where I sat I could see the whole kitchen. The service was also friendly and fast. I loved everything about this place! I will without a doubt be coming to this place again!

Mr. Chu’s does a great job of creating a transformative experience where you actually feel like your in a restaurant somewhere in the orient. For starters his clothes and hat rich with color, look less like a costume and more like authentic Taiwanese clothing. He also has one of those wiry mustaches that you see in old kung-​fu flicks. Behind all this is a most inviting smile, that lights up the room when a new customer walks in. You can tell all are welcome and he wants you to sit drink, eat, and be merry. Being greeted by Mr. Chu upon entering the restaurant was just the first step of a what felt like an escape back to a different place and time.
When we were there Mr. Chu was drinking with a group customers, whom I coincidentally knew, and he and his wife were also singing karaōke throughout the night. She is much better than he is; her voice is quite nice, it was interesting how much of an effect it had on our overall experience. The fact they were singing did not at all affect our service. While the bar area was a bit more boisterous, largely fueled by flaming shots and sake bombs, our area was quieter. At times it did seem a bit loud for our liking, nevertheless it was not at all out of control or crass. It was simply loud fun from drinking and laughing, in a way that sort of made us feel like we were at some local restaurant in Taiwan. That part was awesome!
Now to the food. It too was authentic and excellent. I started with the shrimp dumpling soup and could have simply eaten 2 more bowls of this and been happy. The dumpling wrapper was the best I’ve had. It wasn’t to firm or starchy, and it wasn’t too soft. It really was delicious. The shrimp in ide was fresh, clean, and well cooked. I’d have preferred if it were diced and maybe mixed with something but it was very good as is.
We also had the sea bass, which I generally don’t order due to the buttery flavor profile. True to form this bass was buttery and very well prepared. It was served with a very nice sweet and spicy sauce. The fish was presented in a flaming pot which added to the experience. All in all it was a well prepared dish. We had a bunch of other dumplings and some sake. We stuck with mostly the meatless dishes, and it was all very good.
In conclusion Mr. Chu’s offers above average, simply prepared food. The portions are fair, as are the prices. There are enough different meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes to satisfy a group of dinners with different tastes and dietary needs. There are also enough different price points to accommodate everyone’s budget. This place is better than 3 stars but not quite 4 starts– a solid place to eat in Miami. I’ll definitely be back and may bump them up to 4 stars once I’ve had a wider sampling of food! Looking forward to that!

Chu’s would receive 5 stars had they gotten the Japanese eggplant perfect. It’s really 4.5 stars. Widest selection of freshly prepared dim sum I have ever seen in Miami, and it’s served all day! All the dumplings are freshly prepared, there is a variety of healthy vegetarian steamed versions, as well as pork buns and meatballs. We totally pigged out and left with a $ 60 bill for dinner for 2, amazing.
The kitchen is huge, open and the entire staff is from Asia. The restaurant appears to be family owned and operated. From what I can tell, the menu is authentic. Everything is served family style and there is a great variety of pricier dishes likes market price seafood or Beijing duck as well as low priced rice, noodle and veggie dishes. And you know the stuff is good when a majority of patrons speaks Chinese.
Here is the takeaway from our little indulgences:
Hot sake– strongest sake I ever tasted, in a good way. I have a sneaking suspicion it might be homemade. Either that or they order the stuff straight from Taiwan.
Japanese eggplant. Too mushy for my taste, topped with BBQ sauce. Good dish but I’ve had better.
Pan fried leek dumplings. Great, a bit spicy and crunchy.
Steamed spinach dumplings. Awesome. $ 4 buy you three huge steaming dumplings. The spinach filling is bright green, fresh and flavored with dried shrimp. Yummy.
Shrimp wonton soup, once again huge, fresh and great.
Sweet and sour crispy sea bass. Big enough to share and served with a side of white or brown rice. Delicious, just like the sweet and sour fish I’ve had many times in China. A little oily but hey, that’s what happens with deep fried fish.
Finally, desserts. Just as they do in China, there really are no desserts on the menu. They have some sweet dim sum options that are very traditional. Sesame balls, egg custard tarts, almond pudding and a pineapple bun. The pineapple bun was big, large enough to share. It was fresh, steaming, soft and not too sweet. Even the BF took a couple of extra bites, although he is usually not a dessert eater.
We will most definitely be back to sample some more of their dishes. Maybe next time they’ll get the 5 star rating.

When I eat, I savor my food with three senses– sight, taste, and touch, so when I rank my favorite foods, one of the main things I focus on is texture. I know that’s a really random thing to write, but texture is important when it comes to food. You want a dessert that’s soft and melts in your mouth, or you could want something crunchy, so when I tried Chu’s pineapple buns, I was in joygasmic heaven.
Chu’s pineapple bun is everything I could ever want in a dessert. When you first bite into it, it is soft and feels like it just came out of the oven. The sugar crystals in the top also give it a special crunch, and the filling inside has the creamiest pineapple flavor I have ever tasted. It is also pretty big for a dessert bun. I highly recommend everyone try it when they visit. I l work five minutes away, and I am definitely making it a priority to visit this place whenever I am craving a savory treat and have an extra $ 3.50 to spend. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!
I have only been here once with Unilocaler, Albert L., and the servers here are pretty nice. The dim sum is also good from what I heard, but I have not tried it yet.
Five stars for their pineapple bun. It seriously is a piece of joygasmic heaven!

This is the best dim sum I’ve had in south florida. They have a number of rarities that are done amazingly like the soupy dumpling (a dumpling made of a gelatinous inner material that becomes soup internalized once heated) and the sticky pork bun (crispy fried outside, sticky glutinous rice dough, with a succulent savory pork inside that is shockingly flavorful and delicious). Many of the reviews are somewhat bizarre. The prices are good for Miami, but I think people made the mistake of ordering dim sum at night. Dinner prices are higher, but most traditional dim sum never serve it except at lunchtime, if not only on weekends. The entrees look great, though I did not try them. From the chinese broccoli to shrimp eggplant all the ingredients were fresh, cooked to perfection, and solidly balanced. Nothing was too salty, gelatinous, or greasy as can happen.
This place gets the little things right. For tea, they offer you jasmine, green, or oolong. It’s housed in a gorgeous old building that feels homey. There’s stained glass with ornate metal work, nice cosy paintings, a full bar, and lots of space/​rooms. The owner was fraternizing with patrons, drinking wine, and chatting. Everyone was friendly, and the service was quit. I like a place where you can stroll in, chat with friends, enjoy great food without too much pomp or intrusions. This is my new go-​to dim sum place, probably not more popular for location alone (in the abyss that is coral gables and a few blocks off miracle mile out of stumbling distance for all the bmw suv driving denizens).

Love this place. Go to lunch here at least 2 – 3 days a week. Price is good. Quality is definitely great, best I’ve had in the Miami area. Love the service. It feels very authentic. Only caveat is they don’t open on Tuesday. ;)
Great soups, dim sum and vegetables. Never tried deserts here, but never felt the need for them.

Best Chinese food I’ve had in the greater Miami area (yes this includes Tropical Chinese). I always find it re-​assuring when the majority of the patrons in the restaurant are Asian. The Dim Sum menu was great. We highly recommend the Peking duck «appetizer». Appetizer is a misnomer though as it will feed 4 easily. Unlike other Chinese restaurants their sauces are just perfect as opposed to being overbearing. Started off with the best Bombay Saphire martini I’ve ever had. The service was very good.
The main reason that I only gave it four stars is that the restaurant layout is very disjoint. The restaurant is divided in 3 areas. The décor is a mix of what was there before an Argentine place and Chinese decorations. There aren’t enough 2 people tables, so they were going to sit us in a very large table that was not very intimate. Instead, we sat close to the bar and got too much cigarette smoke. The place could definitely use a makeover.

This lovely Taiwanese restaurant is a must try. It is owned by a wonderful Japanese/​Taiwanese couple. This time we had the shrimp lettuce wrap, Taiwanese pork noodle soup, fried pork intestine and Taiwanese bok choy. They all taste delicious. We had no complaint. The price of each dish is a bit pricey, but I went with a
coupon, so I had a good deal. At the end of dinner, the restaurant owner came out and gave us a pineapple custard bun ON THEM! They are so kind! I’ll definitely go back. It’s hard to find Taiwanese food down in South Florida!

Definitely not your typical asian restaurant. This was my first time eating tawainese cuisine in the area. Some dishes I’ve tried is their 3 cups tofu, pork belly dish, clams in black bean sauce with basil, and their crispy peppery chicken with basil. There could of been a few more, but I don’t remember the names of it.
Everything tasted delicious! If you love tofu, the 3 cups tofu dish was my fav and will be yours too! Followed by the pork belly.
Also there is a huge portrait painting of the owner by the bar… you may even see him walking around. so if you do a double take, you are not seeing things! I coincidentally saw him in the same exact outfit lol

Finally went back again and had the Snapper Supreme! No other Asian restaurant cooks this dish :) It’s one of Chu’s signature dishes that will blow you out of the water. It is cooked to perfection as the fish is drizzled with their sweet ginger sauce.
I do admit however that the pricing here is higher than other authentic restaurants in Miami, which keeps me from coming more often. Thank you Chu’s for your authentic cooking!!! :)

I have to say it was the worst dim sum I’ve had in Miami. With five in our group who grew up in Hong Kong, we know what good dim sum is, and this is NOT it. I want to tell Mr Chu: If you don’t know how to make Cantonese dim sum, please stay with Taiwanese food. The only good thing I can say about this place is that the décor is nicer than your avg Chinese restaurant (though the paintings creep me out a bit).
We ordered a bunch of dumplings, but several were just a bland lump of unidentifiable stuff that we couldn’t figure out which ones they were. The tripe was tough. The worst is the rice paste roll. It’s supposed to be a thin layer of paste with stuffings like beef, shrimp, etc, rolled up inside. The rice paste sheet here was so thick. Imagine a nice blanket softly contouring your body. Then imagine wrapping yourself in a yoga mat. That’s how their Cheung Fun looks. The Xiao Lung Bao was a disappointment too, though I’ve never had a good one in S, Florida, so I suppose I can’t really call that below par. Oh, dream on for the juicy soup dumpling…
The service was also lacking, the teapot was not refilled promptly while empty plates piled up on the table.
Rarely can one go to dim sum and leave hungry, but we did, as we had no desire to taste more dishes from there. Wish I could give a more complete review of their noodles/​rice and entress, but you’ll have a hard time trying to drag me back.