NiHao

The idea of Asian tapas food is definitely new to me but I'm a SUPER Fan! I loved this place so much. In fact, we took our leftovers home on our flight the next morning because it was just way too good to leave behind!The dry rub fried fish and the spicy eggplant were my absolute favorites. We went pretty late, very close to closing, but it was packed and full of life and the servers were kind to us and didn't rush us. I will literally go out of my way to come back here!

Came here for lunch on a Friday around 1 and the place was filled. Just managed to get a table for 2. A lot of the dishes here are served tapas style, enough for 2-3 people to split per dish.The food was made extremely well and every dish we ordered felt like it had a unique flavor profile that made it stand out against the other dishes. I loved the bok choy specifically.

I've had so many people rave about NiHao and finally decided to try it since it was close by. I think the interior is beautiful and the staff is kind and welcoming. My friend and I came with a list of things we wanted to try and ordered; some of these things were great! BUT some of these things were not ... (The Nots are at the bottom).I would recommend getting the garlic cucumber salad! This is a MUST especially when eating so many fried foods it cuts the greasiness. The Dan Dan noodles, Pork Buns, Red Braised Pork Belly, Walnut Shrimp *Green Beans, and *Fried Eggplant were all good dishes! *The only thing about the veggie dishes that i didn't like was the saltiness. The Cumin Lamb, Guangong beef, and Chongquin chicken were SO SALTY; so much so that we even asked our server about it and she apologized! (we weren't going to send back our food - just genuinely curious if it was because we had gone close to closing, or if it was due to the mala pepper - it was neither, instead it just depended on the chef who was cooking it). Honestly, we should have gotten it remade especially for the amount of food we got. Skip out on the Fried Fish and Chongquing Chicken it's just batter! This too was also salty. Overall, based on the first experience i'm hesitant to come back. Half of the food was OVER SALTED, and straight batter. The price point for the dishes i would say are fair since they are tapa style, but the mains i.e Meats & Fishes missed the mark thus the price did not match the taste in this case.

REAL TALK: I was a little hesitant in trying out NiHao, as this is one of Peter Chang's restaurants; didn't really have positive experiences at his other eateries, so I was a bit skeptical.We came here for an early lunch and were seated right away.We ordered:+Shanghai Soup Dumplings - served with vinegar and ginger; the hubs thought this tasted pretty good, considering there were only 3; stated that there was a good amount of soup inside+Shrimp Dumplings - the site's menu states a 'Signature Shrimp & Chive Dumplings', but that were just plain har gows, filled with only shrimp; shrimp could have been more fresh as it had a slightly 'fishy' taste to them+Stir-Fried Beef Chow Fun - with wide noodles; this actually had a nice taste to them and cooked well; don't forget to ask for extra soy sauce and chili oilNote that this is a dim sum/tapas-style, so the portions are of a 'sampling size' and meant to order a number of plates to share.Staff were nice, but could have been more attentive - we had to wait to get refills, the condiments were forgotten, and it took a while to flag down to get our check.Garage and limited metered street parking can be found in the area.+Stir-Fried Beef Chow Fun+inattentive staff

Nihao is a perfectly decent restaurant in Crystal City. 3.5 stars rounded up.This was our first visit to Nihao. We were a bit confused because we thought it was located in the store front that has "1500" over the doors. But Nihao wasn't in there. As it turns out its address "1500-F" was several storefronts down from there, located next to the cinema.We were pleasantly surprised to discover that parking in the garage underneath the 1500 block is free on weekends. We love that and will be back to Crystal Drive more often.We came around 1:00pm on a Saturday and the restaurant was only half-filled so we were able to be seated immediately. Our server said that Nihao, a tapas restaurant, recommends 3-5 dishes for two people. As it turns out, the dishes we ordered were more entree sized. So the six tapas we ordered were way too much food and we took half of it home. Prices are reasonable.Service was good, with frequent checkups on us. The exception was at the end of the meal when we waited around 15 minutes for our server to stop by, so we could ask for the check and take-out boxes. We did like how our dishes came out fairly staggered.OK, so on to the food. I said in a review recently that I am persnickety about seasonings. So again, take what I am about to say with several grains of salt.Peter's Steamed Chili wontons with shrimp and pork were okay but tasted a bit exotic to me (hints of five spice?). The Dry-Fried Green Beans had a great texture and were salted just right, but I found their flavors to be very exotic and not especially to my liking.More to liking was the clay pot with oyster sauce. With a mild balanced flavor this dish contained pieces of (breaded and fried beforehand?) white fish and broccoli. The honey walnut shrimp were excellent. I also quite liked the Stir-fried Beef Chow Fun. The Chongqing Spicy Chicken had a good flavor and was not overly spicy, even if half of the dish was slices of dried red chili.A note of caution about the tea: even after steeping for about 5 minutes, the tea in the pot was still extremely hot, scalding hot.

We (a group of 8) came here for New Year's Day dinner. There is free underground parking after 4 pm. This restaurant (One of Peter Chang Restaurants) offers tapas tapas-style Chinese menu. The restaurant is modern with nice, simple decor. We were seated in the back of the restaurant which was quiet and gave us some privacy. We ordered these dishes to share:Cucumber Salad (Good)Scallion Bubble Pancake (Good)Pig's Ear in Chili Oil (Very good)Wood ear Mushroom Salad (Very good)Husband and Wife Tripe and Tendon (Very good)Deep fried Eggplant (Good)Chongqing Spicy Chicken (Very good)Farmer's Stir-Fry with Eggs (Very good)Dry-fried Fish (Very good-crispy and tasty)Dan Dan Noodles (Good)Iron Pot Rice (Good fried rice)Spicy Lamb (0k - Too gamey)Braised Pork Belly (Bad - too sweet and too fatty)Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs (Good)Streamed Pork Bun (Good - took a long time)Peking Duck (Good - expensive and small portion)Spicy Whole Branzino (OK - fish was crispy but dry)The service was good and most dishes came out fast except for steamed buns. We were surprised they didn't give us any rice even though we ordered a whole fish, family-style portion which cost $38. Why nickel-and-dime us for the rice? Portions were small so you probably need to order two dishes per person. Overall, it was a good experience. We enjoyed most of the dishes but will not recommend Peking Duck, Lamb, Pork Belly, or Whole Branzino.

I stopped by NiHao Arlington for happy hour and had such a fantastic experience! I decided to sit at the bar, and I'm so glad I did because the service was exceptional. The bartender was friendly, attentive, and offered great recommendations. I ended up trying the Woodear mushroom salad, which was spicy, tangy, and bursting with unique flavors that made it stand out from other mushroom dishes I've had before. The textures were also amazing--the mushrooms were perfectly chewy, and the spices gave the dish a delightful kick. I paired it with one of their happy hour cocktails, which was well-balanced and refreshing. The ambiance of the restaurant was modern and elegant while still feeling approachable, and I loved the thoughtful details in the decor. I'm already planning a return visit to explore more of the menu.

great restaurant, similar to other Peter Chang restaurants in quality and value, they offer smaller portions for dine in so you can try more. Takeout is great, just remember to order rice as I never do at his restaurants. favorite dishes are the dry pepper chicken, spicy eggplant, dry fried anything, lo mein, yuba salad, and tamago tofu (great texture)

My husband is obsessed with this restaurant...he would give it a 5/5. I give it a 4 for a very specific reason which I'll explain!Pros: - LOVE the portion sizes for the price (*for dining in, that is)- ^Very fun for sharing dishes with others- Great quality food, as I've come to know and expect with a Peter Chang restaurant - Cute and clean ambiance (busy, but to be expected)Cons:- They advertise gluten free/can be made gluten free for some of their items. SOME OF THESE ITEMS STILL HAVE SOY SAUCE. I had one server who did not mention that their "gluten free" items had soy sauce, so I happily ate gluten. I had another server say, "but you're okay with soy sauce, right?" ***Gluten free people - double and triple check that there is no soy sauce in your "gluten free" item***

Overview:Tough to write this review, but this was unfortunately a very rare 1 star review. Dined in February 2025 and gets the 1 star solely based on quality of service. Cannot recommend this restaurant and baffled that it made it to Top 100 in DC.Food:Food is all pretty good, 4 stars on food alone. Tapas for Sichuan food is a great concept because all dishes are appropriately sized in order to try a lot family style without necessarily having to dine with a large party. Service:Absolutely terrible. There are plenty of staff, but it feels like no one is actually available to work. Have to flag down or actually walk around the corner where they are socializing in order to ask for things. Water never refilled, rare check-ins, and dishes never removed, which is important for tapas since there are many dishes being ordered with limited table space. Staff were constantly occupying the bathrooms. Multiple other parties confused as to why everyone needing to be flagging help down and waiting for bathroom. Ordered dishes were forgotten and then the happy hour price wasn't honored. When it was pointed out, they said they can't fix it because it they re-enter it, it would force the kitchen to make the dish again. Ambiance: Decent, fast casual style.