Miami may not have dozens of Chinese restaurants to choose from, but it does have wonderful options that may become your new staple for delicious Chinese food. From old-school Miami restaurants that specialize in authentic Cantonese cuisine, like Tropical Chinese in West Miami-Dade, to newer spots that feature fusion dishes inspired by East Asia and South America, like Novikov, Komodo, and RedFarm, this list has it all.
Without further ado, New Times presents the top 11 Chinese restaurants in Miami, listed in alphabetical order.
Chang's Chinese Restaurant
1311 SW 107th Ave., Miami305-221-8104
changschineserestaurantfl.comOne meal at Chang's will change your perceptions of Chinese food forever. A family-run establishment that's been serving the South Florida community for more than four decades, Chang's is the sort of place that can make you feel as though you're living in Hong Kong. In 2004, Tony Chan took over Chang's, the very restaurant where he learned to cook after immigrating to Miami in 1987 — at the age of 16 — from Guangzhou, China. Today, the hole-in-the-wall Cantonese restaurant continues its tradition of writing hand-drawn menus of daily selections on the wall. Everything here is cooked in a piping hot wok, a technique used to encapsulate the smoky "wok hei" flavor, a complex charred aroma that emanates from the stir fries served in Cantonese dishes. Menu highlights include salt-and-pepper tofu, stewed eggplant with minced pork, steamed fish, and beef horfun.
Dumpling King
237 NE 167th St., North Miami Beach305-654-4008
dumplingkingonline.usDumpling King is where the Magic City goes to get its dumpling fix. After all, that's what this restaurant does best. While the menu offers fried rice, noodles, and lunch special entrées like General Tso's or broccoli chicken, most come here for fried or steamed dumplings. While both are phenomenal, Dumpling King is also home to Miami's best soup dumplings, or xiao long bao, which are best when eaten in-house, still steaming from the kitchen. The beauty of these babies is in their girth: Each thick, sturdy wrap holds them together in your hands without the threat of bottoming out. At once chewy and tender, it's thick enough to hold the hot, unctuous broth and tender globe of minced pork (or crab and pork) beneath while simultaneously absorbing the accompanying tangy black vinegar.
Hong's BBQ
6831 Stirling Rd., Davie954-314-7131
hongsbbqdavie.comAt the center of a nondescript Davie strip mall that houses a Subway, Carvel, and farmers' market, you will find Hong's BBQ. If it's Chinese you're after, you won't come here for a takeout menu of familiar Chinese favorites. Instead, you've come — as the name suggests — for the barbecue, specifically, the chef's crispy pork. While the roast duck and marinated chicken are tender, flavorful, and worth an order, the crispy pork is in high demand. Alongside the duck and chicken, a single pig is roasted each day, hanging behind the glass-enclosed counter and prep station. Order it, and the chef will slice off a section of fatty, tender meat encased in a sheet of crisp skin. Like a perfect Caja China roast, the wafer-thin sheets of skin crunch and crack as you take a bite of each salty-sweet cube of pork. Pair it with a platter of seasonal steamed vegetables and a pot of green tea for the perfect lunch break.
Kon Chau Chinese Restaurant
8376 SW 40th St., Miami305-553-7799
konchauchinese.comWhen chef/owner Philip Ho opened Kon Chau in 2011 in Sunny Isles Beach, it became a fast favorite for its array of xiao long bao and dim sum. Today, nothing beats spending a Saturday morning hearing the clacking of ceramic dishes and cackling of conversation while stuffing your face with the kitchen's fresh, handmade eats. Classics include sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, turnip cakes, shrimp dumplings, and wonton soup. Feeling adventurous? Try the chicken feet with black bean sauce or the beef tripe.
King Palace Chinese Bar-B-Q
330 NE 167th St., North Miami305-949-2339Since 2001, the Wu family has made a living dishing out their favorite Chinese delicacies. The family left Guangzhou, China, in 1982 for Caracas, Venezuela, where they opened a Chinese restaurant that offered locals orange chicken and Mongolian beef alongside traditional dishes. In 1999, they arrived in Miami and opened their Chinese barbecue spot for the South Florida masses while offering the same traditional and fusion-fare approach. Inside the restaurant, the red-dyed hides of whole roast duck and rotisserie meats hang behind glass walls. And if it's seafood you're after, several tanks house live fish and shellfish served freshly cooked upon ordering. Once, you could order exotic dishes like shark fin soup, but today, the chef's more colorful choices range from salt-and-pepper squid and sliced conch with yellow chives to pig intestines with preserved vegetables and fried frog legs with shredded pork.
Komodo, owned by Groot Hospitality, has become synonymous with Brickell for its Asian-fusion cuisine like these dumplings that come wrapped in gold.
Groot Hospitality photo
Komodo Miami
801 Brickell Ave., Miami305-534-2211
komodomiami.comAt Komodo, you can find truffled beef tartare, miso Chilean sea bass, and king crab lo mein. Yet the high is the restaurant's Peking duck — the apple of Grutman's eye and the first thing you see as you approach the crimson-and-black restaurant. The kitchen took out ads in the city's Chinese newspaper to find its duck masters, and today, a trio undertakes the perpetual, painstaking process that gives these birds their crisp skin and succulent flesh.
Popular Toronto Chinese restaurant Mimi Chinese will open its first U.S. location in Miami Beach serving regional Chinese cuisine.
Photo by Daniel Neuhaus
Mimi Chinese
1575 Alton Rd., Miami Beach305-701-3137
mimichinese.comJust opened, Toronto's Mimi Chinese has opened its first U.S. location in Miami Beach, and it's already a hit with stars like DJ Khaled. Mimi Chinese serves dishes from regions in China like Guangdong, Sichuan, Hong Kong, and Hunan. Culinary director David Schwartz, who won the 2023 Michelin Guide Toronto Young Chef Award, leads the kitchen alongside executive chef Braden Chong. Chef specials range from "General Tso" chicken with ginger syrup to "Hidden Chicken" loaded with chilies. For groups, the kitchen offers larger-format plates like an 18-ounce black pepper striploin, A5 Wagyu ribeye from Kaneko Farms, and a whole bass prepared two ways — with scallion and ginger or Hunan-style with house fermented chili.
Novikov Miami
300 S. Biscayne Blvd., Miami305-489-1000
novikovmiami.com Novikov Miami is the first U.S. outpost of the Japanese-Chinese fusion eatery, with locations in London, Moscow, and Dubai. In Miami, the menu boasts 17 sections with dozens of plates. Robata items are perhaps some of the heartier fare on the menu. The Wagyu skirt steak, asparagus with soy sauce, and corn on the cob all arrive with a nice char. But the show-stopper is the Peking duck. The crisp foie gras version is like a meaty duck potato chip, and for an extra $90, it comes topped with caviar, making it the most expensive item on the menu.
RedFarm
3131 Commodore Plz., Coconut Grove305-330-9700
redfarmnyc.com
Renowned for its Pac-Man-shaped dumplings, Peking duck dinners, and Chinese staples with a new spin, New York's contemporary Chinese restaurant, RedFarm, opened in Coconut Grove this year and has solidified itself as one of the best new Chinese spots in town. Although not the most authentic, the excellent flavors here cannot be denied. Founded by dim sum master Joe Ng and Ed Schoenfeld, RedFarm executes inventive twists on Chinese favorites, like pastrami-filled egg rolls, shrimp-stuffed jalapeño poppers, crisp braised oxtail dumplings, pan-fried lamb dumplings, and a Thai curry loaded with mussels and clams. Plus, the restaurant is beautifully decorated with a full bar, making it the perfect date night spot for Chinese.
Sang's Chinese Restaurant offers a menu of American-Chinese dishes served alongside daily handmade dim sum.
Photo by Nicole Danna
Sang's Chinese Restaurant
1925 NE 163rd St., North Miami Beach305-947-7076
sangschinesefoodanddimsum.getsauce.comIf you enter a restaurant in China and ask for "egg foo yung," a puzzled look will most assuredly cross your waiter's face. The term is meaningless in that country, the dish nonexistent, yet it's long been a popular staple in Chinese-American eateries. At Sang's Chinese Restaurant in North Miami Beach, the egg foo yung is exemplary — three pancake-sized omelets cooked to order with bean sprouts, caramelized onions, and nuggets of roast pork, the thin brown sauce exhibiting less cornstarch gloopiness than is usually the case. With its fresh preparations of standard Cantonese fare, Sang's is just the affordable, family-style Chinese-American restaurant every neighborhood should have.
Tropical Chinese
7991 Bird Rd., Miami305-262-7576
tropicalchinesemiami.comAfter 40 years in business, Tropical Chinese is still going strong as Miami's favorite spot for Chinese cuisine. The dinner menu is chock full of delicious Cantonese offerings. When Mei and Gregory Yu's parents opened Tropical Chinese in 1984, they didn't foresee it becoming one of the city's best and most authentic Chinese restaurants, let alone the nation. Today, the Magic City is fortunate that the spot continues to offer some of the best Cantonese fare around. Go for the xiao long bao steamed buns, Peking duck, and scallion pancakes with beef. Moreover, this unassuming spot in a West Miami-Dade strip mall remains a go-to for the best dim sum in the county. More than 30 kinds of are offered, all prepared fresh on site.
