Li Wah

TASTY CHINESE EATS IN CLEVELAND!

I don't know what the demographics are of Cleveland, OH but this Asia Plaza, that Li Wah Restaurant is located in, certainly gives a worthy comparison to what we have in Los Angeles, CA. The first thing when we walk into Li Wah, that strikes me, is how friendly the staff is! Everyone is smiling! Even the crabs in the water tanks are!!! I coulda sworn one of them gave me a "tip your cap" gesture as I walked by toward the bathroom! Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles RARELY smile, so this is a BIG plus! The second thing noticed was the scent of Honey Walnut Shrimp in the air! How could you NOT walk into this place with an aroma like that?!? We were visiting Cleveland to watch my son compete in a Volleyball tournament at Cleveland State University and after a long day Da Kid was craving sustenance! Smelling that scent just sucked my son in like a vacuum and made his stomach growl like a lion! Luckily Li Wah was open later in the evening because Chinese dim sum is his jam! Pleasant atmosphere, spacious dining area, AND a whole buncha Asian folk inside confirming the foods' authenticity lol! Alrighty... let's eat!

WALNUT SHRIMP with CREAMY SAUCE: HAD to order this just because of that aroma in the air and it did not disappoint! Slight carmelization yet still creamy as well, made for some really tasty shrimps that were plump & juicy. Ample broccoli florets as a border for the dish were perfectly steamed and complemented the dish perfectly. This did not last long.

SHANGHAI PORK DUMPLING (their Xiao Long Bao): Comes 5 pieces per order. Not a rival to what we can get in Los Angeles or New York City, but for Cleveland, I am pretty happy with the quality of XLB that we got here. Smaller in size but the wrapper held strong when pulled from bamboo container with chopsticks. Meat inside had some flavor to it and definitely a juicy explosion when you bit into each dumpling. Not bad, Cleveland... not bad at all.

SPICY SALT & PEPPER SQUID: Yummy YUMMY!! Big plate of squid pieces perfectly deep fried, that had nice flavor and heat to it. Not gummy at all. I'd order this again!

HONG KONG STYLE VANCOUVER CRAB: Big dish of shelled crab pieces battered, flavored, and deep fried. Pretty big serving, probably better to be shared, than eaten solo. VERY GOOD FLAVOR TO IT! Not sure how they can flavor the meat inside the shell but it was. My mom's loved every bite! They provide all the appropriate tools to get the meat fyi ;)

PEPPER STEAK HO FUN (their Chow Fun): Another large serving here! This wide noodle dish is has a really good taste to it. The noodles are well prepared, not soft & squishy but more of a chewy gummy texture. Big chunks of steak are cooked just right so it's not chewy at all. Solid stuff.

BABY BOK CHOY with GARLIC SAUCE: Had to get some fiber in so we decided on something a lil more unique than what we are use to. The garlic sauce is flavorful but garlic-ness is subtle. The Bok Choy is crisp. Big dish, good for a group of people or 1 vegetarian who wants one dish ;)

VERY EASY RECOMMENDATION! A solid option for Chinese dim sum and traditional entrees in Cleveland, OH. Enjoy ;)

It was a beautiful day in Cleveland sittings afternoon off and treated my husband to a late lunch here. The Asian Plaza is neat to walk around. A few shops with gifts and items from Asia. A pharmacy. Reminded me of items available when I traveled to Malaysia.

The carts being rolled around d had very interesting items. We ordered a few things to share. Steamed bbq beef buns, sesame balls with red bean paste (more dessert but good anytime lol ) also shrimp dumplings that my husband liked and chicken potsticker. We also shared 幹炒牛河
Dry Beef Chow Fun - a Rice noodle dish with onions bean sprout, green onion & beef. This could've used more beef It was mostly noodle and cabbage. It did taste good.

The hot chili in the condiment tray was really good.
I also had a taro boba tea. Yum.
Service was super. If you get a chance to talk to Ed. He will give you China and Hong Kong history. Nice guy. No extra charge.

Definitely recommend !!! We will be back!

Dimsum is such an integral part of my food culture and the nostalgia of carts being pushed around and random dishes being peddled is something hard to find now. Li wah captures that old feeling of dimsum restaurants with the loud clattering, various offerings of food, and the fine hustle and bustle of trying to let you enjoy your time but also trying to get you out so another customer can dine.

Dimsum here was decent, I got a lot of my normal suspects and all were good. Having fried taro dumplings and lao sao bao were highlights as I tend to have difficulty finding those. Because there are carts being pushed around, you can order what you like by poitlnting so you can easily get what you want. Of course, for those dishes that aren't available or haven't seen come by, you can also put in orders with the wait staff and they'll bring it out. I will say that latter part tends to be easier if you speak some form of Chinese so service may be different depending on language barriers.

Overall, I'm surprised such a restaurant exists in Cleveland and hope to return soon for that hint of nostalgia.

This is the worst dim sum I've ever had. Dry soup dumplings with little flavor, undercooked pork dumplings, undercooked or unset custard buns.... The food is inedible. We weren't given water or tea, had to ask for water, and we stopped eating after a couple of bites. They asked us if we wanted boxes for all of the untouched food which seemed odd rather than asking us why we didn't touch most of the food. They charge an automatic 18% service charge which is smart on their part because they wouldn't have gotten anything otherwise. Stay away from this place.

Ended up here after another restaurant was closed, but it was a blessing in disguise! My work team came to celebrate a birthday lunch and the food was delicious. The general tso's chicken was great. We tried veggie spring rolls and dumplings too - also really good. Staff were friendly and nice atmosphere!

Honestly this place was my stomping ground for years. The service is just fine, but the food is the real deal and the prices are very fair! I've also never had to wait more than a few mins because it's spacious inside with lots of tables. I always leave very full with my dim sum craving satisfied. I don't live in Cleveland anymore but now that I'm gone I really miss this place - it's hard to find good dim sum for a good price!

Traveling the country trying out dim sum restaurants, I decided to try this restaurant while out in the Cleveland area. It was still the first dim sum restaurant that shows up on a search even after searching several years later from my first experience. I came on a Saturday and was excited to see them pushing carts. Overall the food quality was better than what I previously remembered. The dishes not on the carts that I wanted came out very fast after requesting them, and tasted excellent. Overall an improvement from what I previously remember, and was excited to see a dim sum restaurant still open after trying it several years earlier.

Christmas lunch (dinner)! We placed an order over the phone and saw the limited menu for the Holiday. They didn't allow for substitutions or split checks-which was understandable. They told us it would be a 30 minute wait, and unfortunately it was much longer due to the holiday. All the meat options come with white rice (in case anyone was wondering haha). My brother waited there for an additional 30 minutes and was able to pick everything up! Food was hot and ready and very delicious. Would come again:)
Merry Christmas!!

Went to Li Wah for the annual Chinese New Year. The event was fun and we particularly loved the Lion Dance.. Great family event and can't wait for next year. We ordered food off the menu and everything was delivered quickly and was delicious. We also recently went for Dim Sum and enjoyed various varieties of fresh dim sum brought to our table on carts. Great price, service and food.

Love the dim sum here. It's not the best I've ever had but it's solid. A little pricey but won't break the bank.

Big fan of the jellyfish and crispy pork. Dim sum is typical dumplings, chicken feet, steamed ribs ....

Located in Asiatown plaza. Nice place for lunch.