ChiCha San Chen.

Solid · Japanese · North Austin · $$$$

book ahead

Shima aji drizzled with salsa macha sits next to nigiri dressed in nothing but soy and wasabi. Most of the fish has been dry aged or cured first.

Solid · Sichuan · North Austin · $$

book ahead

The Peking duck lands on a bamboo platter with hoisin, plum sauce, cucumbers, green onions, brown sugar and a bowl of duck broth to sip between bites.

Solid · Cantonese, dim sum · North Austin · $$

walk-in

Order the Dungeness crab Hong Kong Typhoon Shelter style, which arrives fried under a pile of crispy bits.

Destination · Sichuan · North Austin, Burnet/Research

walk-in

Raphael Brion over-ordered here once, asked everyone at his table to name a favorite dish, and most of them picked the eggplant in garlic sauce.

Solid · Cantonese · North Austin

walk-in

The barbecue counter is the first thing you see at Din Ho, on the left as you walk in, where the cooks hack roast duck, chicken and slabs of char siu into bite-sized pieces, and Mick Vann…

Solid · Chinese · North Central Austin · $

walk-in

The steamed egg with ground pork costs three dollars: soft and flan-like, with the pork swimming in chili oil, and the critic's verdict is that until inflation catches up it is the best three dollars you can spend in Austin.