Mr. H

Modern Chinese and Taiwanese fare in Seaport, Boston

What a pleasant surprise! A new addition to the Coje Restaurant Group has entered the scene. Mr. H, located in the Seaport district of Boston, is a stylish red-and-gold decorated restaurant that you may have heard about. Red, often associated with celebration, joy, and good fortune, is also believed to ward off evil. Gold, unsurprisingly, is a color symbolizing prosperity. Beyond the vibrant colors, dragons, flowers, and Chinese art adorn the walls.

Executive Chef Tom Berry has broken down the menu into four sections: Cold Treasures, Night Market, Dumplings & Dim Sum, and Wok & BBQ. Each section hones in on a specific style of cooking that takes skill and practice to perfect.

To start off the evening, we ordered a few tasty cocktails that were also easy on the eyes. My friend and I both enjoyed lychee martinis, while the other two ordered the ‘Celebration’ and ‘Lucky You,’ which were vodka-based drinks with green tea and cucumber, and mezcal-based with strawberry and ginger, respectively.

The restaurant suggests sharing multiple dishes, similar to tapas, with 2-3 dishes per person recommended. We ordered spicy cucumbers, crab and shrimp shumai, jade dumplings, soup dumplings, dandan noodles with fried tofu, honey prawns, mushroom fried rice, and siu mei steak.

All of the dishes were beautifully plated, but there were a few shortcomings. Many of the dishes were over-salted. Flavors that should have shone through, such as sesame and chili, were hard to detect because of the overpowering salt. Additionally, the spicy cucumbers arrived last. We had hoped to start with this cold appetizer, which is light and refreshing. Unfortunately, the cucumbers were disappointing, as the sauce felt watered down by the moisture from the vegetables. Ideally, cucumbers should be salted to release excess water, then patted dry before mixing with sauces and seasonings.

Of the vegetarian dishes, the jade dumplings were lackluster and reminiscent of dumplings served in more casual settings. For an upscale restaurant, I expected the filling to be more flavorful, or at least to incorporate unique vegetables to surprise the diner. The other vegetarian dishes included the dandan noodles with fried tofu and mushroom fried rice. The dandan noodles were tasty, but they didn’t resemble the traditional dish. The noodles and tofu were cooked perfectly, but the sauce tasted more like a tangy peanut sauce than the classic Szechuan spicy sesame sauce. The mushroom fried rice was flavorful but oily, and it was made with long-grain rice similar to basmati, which was surprising, as jasmine or medium-grain rice is typically used for this dish.

For the non-vegetarians, the honey prawns were much too heavily battered and drenched in sauce, the steak was over-salted, and the soup dumplings had a thick casing with very little soup. I worry that the beautiful presentation of the dishes might lead people to assume the food is excellent. While it was decent, there were consistent issues with thick batter, thick dumpling dough, excess salt, and watered-down sauces. I believe this restaurant has potential, especially given the crowds it’s drawing, but the dishes could use some fine-tuning. I’d recommend giving the restaurant a little time to settle after the initial buzz before making a reservation.

One final, playful touch that put a smile on our faces was the fortune-telling fish we received instead of fortune cookies. This little fish moves when placed in the palm of your hand, supposedly revealing your current emotional state. As you can see from mine… I’m feeling passionate???

Maybe it was the cocktails or the lively atmosphere, but there’s definitely something intriguing about Mr. H that makes you want to come back—even if just to see how they grow from here.

⭐️ Rating: 7.1/10