01/25/03

Best Chinese Food in Austin!

by rdeschner

Snow Pea is the best kept secret in Austin. I have never eaten at a better Chinese/Sushi restaurant in all of my years in Austin, and I eat out a lot! It is hidden behind a strip-mallesque facade, but inside you will find an intricately decorated Chinese food hideaway. To top it off, even a college student could afford its modest prices.

....And you won't believe the sushi!

• Pros: Inexpensive, Not Crowded, Great Atmosphere
• Cons: Hidden

05/07/08

Tasty chinese food without the MSG

by danjh

This is our favorite chinese restaurant. The owner and staff are very friendly, and the food, service, and value are good. One of the great things about Snow Pea is they never use MSG, which my wife is allergic to. We've also found that too many oriental restaurants use MSG as a crutch, and those that don't tend to be better. We think that's true for Snow Pea - most of the food is very tasty without the MSG. The "snow pea favorites" are especially good. Some of our favorites are snow pea special garlic, cilantro scallops, basil shrimp, and hohng-yu vegetables. The old stand-bys like moo-sho pork, sweet and sour chicken, egg rolls, dumplings, and hot-and-sour soup are good too. The only thing we've ordered that we didn't like is snow pea special tofu. The quality is of their sushi is not quite up to a par with a place like Uchi, but then it's not priced like Uchi either. For a change of pace, we often order up a big platter of sushi and are very happy with it.

03/16/08

Not great for Chinese food

by ginnylovesfood

We have been here once and the staff was very friendly and service was fast. This is definitely not the place to go for authentic Chinese food. If you like Asian flavors its worth a try, but don't expect to see any Chinese families here.

02/07/08

Not what it used to be

by Victor15b

Quality of service and meals here has declined over the past year. I work close by and would frequently go to Snow Pea for lunch, but lately the staff has been less than courteous, and I think they started using cheaper ingredients. Alot of the menu items, especially the soups, have been pretty bland lately.

10/30/06

Good Sushi, Great Staff

by sieon_ah

The sushi at Snow Pea is good! The staff is great, very informative about their selections. It's a little hidden off 38th but it's worth the trip!!

• Pros: quiet, enjoyable setting, service
• Cons: difficult to find at first.

10/10/06

Much better sushi places in town

by reesman6

For one, their sushi happy hour is NOT on rolls. Just nigiri/sashimi. For two, i've eaten at 7 other sushi places in town, and this was my LEAST favorite. The flavors were blah and bland. The spider roll (hard to screw up) was just boring. Nothing tasted extra fresh as a result. There are so many other great sushi places in Austin. Don't waste your time. Try Maru if you want good quality with low prices. It's right up the street.

09/25/06

Don't believe what you hear....

by gottaloveit

Everyone can have a bad expirience at any restaurant, it doesn't mean it's bad though. I love this place! Not only does it have an awesome sushi happy hour it has wonderful chinese food as well! 2 for 1 sushi, half price sake, and $1 off domestics are a start! Great family atmosphere and definately some of the best food I've had in a while. I actually go through withdraws if I don't get my fix! To make it short, go see for yourself, don't believe the bad things other's say. Seeing (and tasting) is believing, I keep going back!!!

• Pros: Good service, Great Happy Hour, Wonderful food
• Cons: a little hard to find

08/08/06

Great for Sushi

by littleblacksheep

People seem to get disappointed by this place because they hear great reviews, go there, and then order dumplings or some such dish. Well, that's just simply not the way to do it.

I count Snow Pea as one of my favorite restaurants because it has the best sushi I've ever had. If you're not a sushi eater, there's really no point in going because the food itself is pretty mediocre (although I am a fan of their sesame chicken).

It's not just the sushi for me though. I've found that when I've been there (quite frequently, with my family) the service has been excellent. The food comes out fast, the sushi is always beautifully presented, and the staff is friendly and adorable. I'm also a fan of their décor. I like that it's mostly asian themed but with a few cherub statues hanging around here and there. It doesn't make any sense, but it's cute.

Finally it's all at a good price. My family and I can stuff ourselves full of sushi (which requires a lot of it) and not feel guilty about spending too much on some raw fish. It's really worth trying if you take sushi seriously. (And if you do, I recommend the unagi/eel nigiri, the dragon roll, or the spider roll)

• Pros: Good Service, Fantastically Good Sushi
• Cons: Average to Below Average Dishes

07/24/06

Greatly disappointed

by veggievoice

I'd been given a gift certificate worth $50 to eat at Snow Pea about six months ago. There was no expiration date printed on the certificate, so I did not rush to use it, but looked forward to taking out two of my friends for a nice dinner. We finally went to the restaurant a couple of weeks ago. The atmosphere was decent, the service was mediocre, but the menu had plenty to choose from. We eagerly ordered close to $50 worth of food. The edamame was plain with just a sprinkle of salt, the fried rice was very dry and the Buddha's delight remained fairly untouched. The vegetarian sushi plate was quite tasty though. Throughout the meal we kept saying, "Well, at least it's free." The bill for $42.25 came and I presented my gift certificate only to be met with a "Oh... we don't take those anymore. Sorry." Uh, what? I didn't realize that that's how gift certificates worked! Someone paid money or exchanged services worth $50 in order to get a gift certificate, but apparently the owner changed her mind and decided not to accept them anymore. What a great way to handle your business. Accept $50 and give nothing back in return. So, overall the food sucked and I ended up spending $50 on a meal I'd much rather have eaten somewhere like PF Chang's. Don't eat there.

• Pros: Large selection
• Cons: Bland food and selfish owners

A plethora of fresh Asian cuisine in the heart of Austin.

by Contributor

In Short
A gilded wooden arch provides an ostentatious entrance for the hungry diner. Oversized Shijo wall lights, traditional Asian rice paintings and scroll art adorn the walls. The layout is spacious with comfortable seating throughout. The restaurant incorporates several ethnic dishes on one menu. Pork bulgogi, a Korean offering, is flavored with a stone-ground chili sauce and onions. There's basil shrimp, a Chinese staple and a sushi menu with garlic tuna and masago.

02/20/06

Mediocre Americanized Asian Cuisine

by yingyangyou

Having read some reviews on Citysearch, I decided to take a group of my friends to try this restaurant out. I was sorely dissapointed. Almost every dish we ordered did not come as expected. Even the most basic Ma-Po tofu was disgustingly sweet and the Korean bul-gogi tasted like beef stir fried with sweet soy sauce. This restaurant is anything BUT authentic. Not only that, the portions were small for being 10-15 dollar dishes. Stay away from fusion restaurants like this if you're looking for good Asian food.

• Pros: Good Atmosphere, Nice Presentation
• Cons: Average Tasting Food, Expensive for Chinese, Not Authentic