Z Counter

The food was fresh and delicious. The staff was very good and walked us thru the choices. I saw 5 people that came in for take out. I can’t wait to go back soon. The combo rice bowl was enough for 2 people easy and I eat a lot. The pancake wrapped beef was a popular item we were told and it didn’t disappoint at all! My buddy had the salad with chicken and it was also big enough for 2.

Modern, hip vibe — you walk in and everyone is looking pretty happy. Yeah, after eating here, we understand exactly why… the food is epic! The place is unassuming. You walk up to the counter, order your food and pay (you can order from the picture menu or the words menu… no joke).
You watch as food is constantly being delivered to tables. Then you realize that the food is served as it comes out — they don’t wait for the entire order. It’s hot, it’s fresh, and it’s killer! This practice is refreshingly honest and is a clear representation of how much they care about the food. They will dash common practices just to ensure the food is fresh off the iron!
Jose Lamboy hit us up and suggested this place. He said we must try the pork belly steam buns and the green onion pancake. Well, it was an awesome suggestion!
We had the Green Onion Pancake Wrap with Beef and it was incredible!!! Like, seriously craving it as my fingers fly across the keys. Crisp fresh veggies inside of a flaky green onion pancake. The filling… so super savory. The charred beef fills your senses. Mmmmm…
Next we had the Pork Belly Steam Buns. The soft steamed buns make the perfect vessel for slow cooked pork belly delicious with crispy pickled vegetables and cilantro. Pour some of that ginger sauce on it and take a big bite… a perfect balance of textures, the softness of the roll, the chewiness of the meat, and the crunchiness of the vegetables. Another perfect dish!
And we have to give an honorable mention to the pancit. The beef was incredible — charred and flavorful. The dish was perfect. Not greasy, and with a delicious egg creating a sauce on top. We clearly have a soft spot for eggs.
We highly recommend Z-​Counter! The food is amazing and will be on our personal «pick some up on the way home» list.
For more amazing dishes in the Coastal Bend, check us out on Drooldish!

Love the food. It’s so delicious. The food takes a while to come out but it’s so worth it. It’s always fresh, every single time. My only problem is with the girl up front. She has the side of her head shaved. She’s rude and impatient. Like she’s rushing you. It’s not the 1^st time it happens either. She’s so busy being impatient she’s forgotten some orders then tells us we have to pay for it. No, that was your fault.
Other then that girl, everything else is great. Don’t hesitate to go by. It’s worth it. Maybe put that girl in her place too.

All the great reviews caught my interest, and I was not disappointed. The staff was friendly and answered all our first time visit questions. The food was fantastic! Will be back to try everything on the menu.

I tried Z Counter while out of town and the staff was pretty friendly and knowledgable of places to hangout at. The food was really good!

You know I have never Posted a review for any place my whole life but I had to download the app to rate this Amazing place. From walking in and informing the lady at the counter it was my first time she pointed me in every good direction. The food (chicken fried rice bowl) was outstanding and there was plenty. I will definatly recommend this to anyone looking for a new place to eat and I will be stopping into the place everytime I visit from now on. Thank you Zcounter!

Delicious!!! Totally addicted to the pancit, dad’s Mac n cheese is awesome, the sloppy joes are amazing, and the beef soup is delish!

So I’m sitting here at z counter waiting on my take out. The guy behind the counter is complaining about how busy it is today. How he f****ing hates customers and that they just piss him off! He was literally shaking today with anger! Welcome to the restaurant business buddy!!! Probably not what a first time customer wants to hear before his first
Order! Hope the food is good!

This place was so good. They have their entire menu in pictures on the wall which I thought was amazing. My food looked exactly like the picture on the wall too. $ 22 for 2 entrees and 2 bottles of Mexican Coke is pretty cheap to me. Definitely coming back :)

Let’s get down to business. If you told me that this place was in Corpus Christi before I visited, I would have called you a liar and walked away. No offense to CC residents at all, but when I think of Corpus, I think of seafood and pizza. Z Counter completely turned me on my head. This place is out of this world good. Thank you Corpus for allowing me to be green with envy that I would not be able to eat here on the regular.
I was scouring Unilocal for some unique places to eat in Corpus during a recent business trip. What sold me was the Miso Mac & Cheese and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into Z Counter. The cashier was incredibly friendly and gave great recommendations when I told her I wasn’t sure what to order. I came in right before closing time and while I felt bad an apologized (I thought I misplaced my wallet and spent close to an hour searching for it) both the cashier and cook reassured me they appreciated my business.
Upon recommendation, I went with the Green Onion Pancake Wrap with Bulgogi (!!!) Beef and a side of the infamous (seriously) Miso Mac & Cheese. The wrap was heaven in bite size form. The sauce that comes with it, is a perfect balance of sweet and tang. I also had some of their house ginger sauce which was equally as tasty. The bulgogi was some of the best I’ve ever had. I was worried the pancake would be too heavy, but it was more like a crêpe and leant itself to the flavor of the entire warp harmoniously. The biggest problem I have with mac & cheese is that it tends to be just noodles and cheese, no matter how many cheeses you add to it or topping you put on top. The miso takes this mac to another level completely. It’s unlike miso soup and gives the mac a whole other dimension completely. Not to mention, it was a great reheat when I was a little hungry after a few late night beers.
I loved Z Counter and may make the drive down to Corpus to satisfy my craving!
TL;DR: this food suddenly transformed me into a a NY Times food critic, try it out now.

Z counter is Z counter. It’s good for a quick snack or meal, and the variety is fun, but don’t expect traditional tastes. Everything is Z counters own version which can be good or bad depending on the person ordering the food. They have everything from Banh Mi (try the short rib), to ramen, soups, street food type dishes. The place could be kept a little cleaner, as while looking for a table I occasionally have trouble due to non-​bussed tables.

We went after friends had given this a great review, pair that with it being late in the evening we were sold and came here. So walk up was convient so were the photos on the wall helped with our order too. I got the leg quarter soup and the pork belly steamed bun which were both ok and pretty good. My husband had the banh mi which he liked and my daughter had the ramen noodle stir fry. We ate most of our meal there and my daughter was tired so we packed everything up and left. So today as I was reheating my daughters left overs to munch on got half way through a pretty yummy noodle stir-​fry when I felt a crunch and a sharp pain only to discover it was a piece of glass shard. It sucks because now I’m hoping that was the only piece of glass and crossing my fingers that my kid didn’t either. So approach with caution and check yo noodles!

I had the Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice and an order of Sesame Tater Tots for my toddler… the fried rice was very good, and a huge portion so I had plenty leftover for lunch the next day… the tots had a sweet sauce on them which was tasty but made them soggy quickly. The only real complaint I had was the high chairs, which were very sticky and looked like they had never been wiped down.

Everything was delicious! Me and my friends hadn’t eaten all day long d/​t some unlucky circumstances but what a good way to celebrate being alive than eating. We sure did chow down and savored every bite of their food. The place was a small place but nonetheless, cheap food, good service & cheap prices.

⁴¹⁄₂ stars for A gastronomic odyssey like nothing I would expect to find in Corpus Christi, TX!
Counter service, seat yourself humble ambience with traditional Korean, Hawaiian, and Vietnamese favorites on the menu – yet with something more. Favorites were Miso Mac n Cheese, bibimbap, pancit, and pork bun. Mmmmmmmmmm.
If you’re anything like me, aged, fermented soybean paste doesn’t exactly scream «party in my mouth». Yet after my Z Counter encounter, I must admit that miso is becoming a flavor bomb worth my closer acquaintance.
If a traditional Southern belle chef married into an Asian family, the resulting offspring would be Z Counter’s Miso Mac and Cheese. To say it was provocative is perhaps an understatement. This surprising dish had unctuous flavor, creaminess, a tang (Parmesan maybe, along with the shining miso star?), a bite of garlic (?), and just hit the spot in all the right places!
Other dishes of note were Bibimbap– a signature Korean dish that means «mixed rice». Z Counter version is a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul and gochujang, soy sauce, and bean paste. Again, I’m more and more convinced that fermented soy is something I’m going to have to experiment with in my own kitchen.
Four and a half stars, Z Counter! The only thing that didn’t knock my socks off were the sesame tots. I’ll definitely be back for more.

If I’m being completely honest about this restaurant, I’ll say three things about it: atmosphere/​ambience, food quality and taste, and overall experience.
The atmosphere of the place is light. we walked in, it seemed like a legit Asian fusion restaurant from first impressions, and the cashier was really nice and attentive. The ambience of the place was really retro, even with all the pictures of the menu items on the wall with clever names.
The food quality was medium to subpar. I ordered the bun bo hue and my friend ordered the jap chae. His jap chae was well made and was pretty good but we had to keep adding hot sauces and lemon to enhance the flavors. My bun bo hue was decent. Ive had my fair share of Asian foods and bun bo hue in the past, but I gotta say that this one did not meet my standards. The soup was overwhelming the noodles and the meat, the pork and beef were cooked well but wasn’t as tender as I thought it’d be, and overall the soup just didn’t taste as awesome as bun bo hue would normally taste. It was fresh and hot when it came out which is a plus for me.
Overall experience, it was a place that has a retro Asian fusion vibe for the average joe who likes Asian takeout or looking for a place to satisfy their cravings. They had a tv which was nice bc I got to watch the football game while eating. The staff was friendly and efficient, and the customers came in one after the other, I’m assuming they really like the food too. The food was pretty decent but nevertheless it’s a great business that I hope will continue to run, given that they stay true to the actual depth of the Asian foods they cook.

I had the the (1) Steamed Buns w/​Pork Belly and (2) the Sloppy Tso’s Bun. They were good, not bland, but pretty unimpressive. Just «good», and that’s the extent of it. They weren’t even that great of a deal. You get four, but the price point seems high for something that amounts to a simple appetizer.
Also, these «buns» are the modern type of bun which is basically folded, steamed bread, like a taco. They are not a traditional bun where the bread encompasses all of the filling. I also feel a little ripped off with these types of «buns,» and they lack all charm.

Went there last week. My husband and I each ordered bibimbap, with one order of jap chae (glass noodles) as a side. Well, we realized why it was so expensive later — we were charged for the jap chae meal and not the side, and that’s why the jap chae was so much, in terms of food and cost. The cashier was not particularly pleasant either.
The bibimbap was the worst that I ever had. Usually it comes in a stone bowl. This one did not, which might be understandable since it is an Asian fusion place. But our bibimbap was not hot. It was warm, at best. It was overportioned, mainly with rice, but still had a good amount of other items in ratio. Perhaps I have high expectations of this type of dish because I am from the Toronto area. I would definitely not order that dish again.
I will say that the jap chae was really good. It was hot, compared to the bibimbap. Both dishes were served on the same style of bowl. I would give this place another chance and try some other dishes because I believe that some of their menu items ARE good, but some of them are not.

OH-​EM-​GEE!!! Where has THIS place been all my life? The category say’s «Asian Fusion» but it’s more like Asian COMFORT FOOD! Amazing menu and unGODly good food. Prepare yourself because it is most unlike ANY of the tired, familiar Asian places you find within a chopstick’s throw of its location.
My first visit, I got to have a sampling of different items. The chicken miso mac & cheese is the BOMB! Traditional mac & cheese with a heavy influence of garlic, sesame oil and miso. Wow! It was all I could do to share it — but there was more coming.
The spam musubi is a kick. I understand its origins and I’d always been curious. SO glad I tried it. Now I’m hooked. A thick slice of grilled SPAM on an even thicker bed of seasoned rice and then wrapped in a seaweed «band». Simple, tasty, pass me another.
One of the (many) stars on the menu is their Pancit! This one was a «combo» special that had chicken, beef and (I think) pork. Amazing flavors with the fresh vegetables, noodles and sauce. OH, and the fried egg on top was the clincher!
Their beef short rib tacos and steamed buns with pork belly are equally delicious. Tender meats wrapped in either an «eggy» tortilla or a pillowy, steamed bun. With the pickled daikon and carrots and a drizzle of their special sauce, just makes it all the more worthwhile.
The next time I went, not two days later, I tried their «Deluxe Pancakes.» These are not what you think. A savory, green onion pancake, stuffed with beef, vegetables, wrapped and cut sushi-​style and served with that awesome sauce. I’ll be coming back for those.
AND, don’t leave their without getting some Asian Street Donuts to cap off an EXCELLENT meal. Puffy fried dough with different… fruit pudding? fillings and rolled in powdered sugar.
I know — I had to go to church on Sunday to confess all these sins. Incredible food. Decent prices and service — although simple and somewhat slow when they get busy (and they do get busy). The place is SMALL but don’t let that keep you from just grabbing something and taking it with you.
I’m ready to go back… again and again and again…

I was in Corpus Christi recently for a short vacation and wanted to eat at a relatively affordable yet highly rated restaurant near my hotel. Z Counter seemed to fit the bill. Plus, I’m a sucker for Asian Fusion food.
When we arrived inside, I finally understood why the restaurant is considered a hidden gem. It’s located in a bland shopping complex and the interior is rather small. Very easy for passerbys to miss.
One aspect I really appreciated was the fact that their wall was covered in photos of all their menu items (great for people who don’t normally eat Asian cuisine). In additon, the girl at the counter was very helpful and nice. I ordered the Korean Short Ribs Rice Bowl. The bowl was of a decent size, filled with vegetables, and topped with a fried egg. I’m slightly disappointed in the ribs since they were really chewy and a bit too fatty, but tasted good nontheless. My friend ordered the Creole Bowl, which was pretty good as well. However, I found their chicken fried rice to be very bland. Overall, I wouldn’t mind going back to Z Counter to try out their other dishes!