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Lovers of Peking duck no longer have to drive north for Peking duck at Bamboo House. The popular Chinese restaurant in Humble, known for its perfect, crispy-skinned rendition of the classic dish, has arrived within the city limits.
The restaurant just opened its doors at 5901 Westheimer Road, taking over the spot that housed the short-lived QJD Peking Duck Restaurant, which opened in September 2018. At the new Bamboo House, chef and owner Lianzhuo Chu — who hails from Shandong, but has owned successful restaurants in Shanghai, California, and New Mexico — has expanded the menu to include shareable, large-format dishes like sizzling pepper beef that’s set on fire at the table after a liberal dousing of whiskey, and a house specialty whole Dungeness crab in Thai curry sauce.
Showing off his mastery of Shanghainese cuisine, Chu has also added cult-fave xiao long bao soup dumplings to the menu, with plans to roll out sheng jian bao, or crispy-bottomed bao within the next two weeks. The soup dumplings, which come eight to an order and are filled with either pork or crab, can already be counted among the best in Houston.
As with their Humble location, the Peking duck at Bamboo House Houston is hung to dry and roasted to crispy perfection in a specially-imported duck oven. Then, it’s carved and served on a bamboo tray with hoisin sauce, plum sauce, brown sugar, scallions and cucumber, and round pancakes made from scratch. A second course of duck soup is included with each order, and whole ducks are divided into half-duck portions to ensure that the skin stays crisp.
With 180 seats, the 7,500 square foot restaurant, L-shaped restaurant is split into two sections, with two dining rooms that offer separate seating for large and small parties. Beer and wine will be served once Bamboo House secures its TABC license.
Unlike the Humble outpost, the new Houston spot will not be offering free duck as a birthday special. “We’re working on a different kind of special,” Chu’s daughter, Yuchen Chen, says. “We want people to be able to have different reasons to visit both locations.”
Bamboo House Houston is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lunch specials are offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
