Yun An Ki T Chen

Excellent food and service. The wait for the food was very fast. The boiled fish is very spicy and the portion is large enough for two people. The mint beef was a new dish for me. It was well-executed, but the flavors are not for my palate. The coconut milk is indeed milk with bread on top and tapioca pudding. Water was refilled frequently. Servers were all pleasant and answered questions happily.

We had high expectations for this restaurant before flying to Boston since my family is from Yunnan. Unfortunately, the food we ordered did not live up to our expectations at all! With that said, we ordered xuanwei ham and potato rice, Yongping braised chicken, and pea jelly salad. Let’s talk about one by one. First, the ham in the rice is not from Xuanwei I guess. They are just made from pork scraps without any good ham smell. Besides, it is really oily with those pork scraps. Second, Yongping braised chicken is not what expected at all. It was so dry that the taste of chicken is so similar to the three cup chicken. And it is extremely salty 😔 Third, the only thing we liked about this meal is the spicy sauce in the pea jelly salad. I wish they could cut the jelly smaller and thinner so that those sauces can be fully absorbed into the jelly and they will taste better! Overall I think we ordered the wrong dishes and maybe we would try other ones that provide better taste!

Solid Yunnanese food with a decent amount of options for appetizers, and entrées. Good vibe with some neat decor and ambiance. Service however was atrocious. Not particularly friendly and definitely far from attentive. They never checked in on us and it took them nearly twenty minutes to notice we were done eating. Would have probably had a friendlier experience at a prison 's dining hall. I don't know how they got a James Beard nomination with service being so sloppy. I'd be reluctant to return just because of that, even though the food we had was good. And it's a shame really because they offer a rather unique take on Chinese food, representing food from the Yunnan region, which is frequently overlooked and definitely underrepresented.

Checked out this place on a Saturday night with a group of friends after discovering it on Boston Eater. Dimly lit with booths and antique-looking decor. We ordered quite a few dishes because we were hungry, but the portions were huge (not complaining)! The sticky rice steamed ribs were a unanimous favorite, and the boiled pork in chili oil was a unanimous least favorite. The boiled pork and the boiled fish dishes had way too much peppercorn, which made them difficult to eat because we could not scoop anything without getting a mouthful of peppercorn as well. However, the boiled fish alone was okay. I liked the stir fried rice cakes too because the texture and flavors were nice: it was almost as if you put mochi in a clay pot to get that burnt, chewy/crispy texture. The coconut delight dessert was not too sweet (which was good) but also not memorable. Overall, I don't think this type of cuisine is for me, but you'll get the bang for your buck, and I had no complaints about the service when I went.