CM
Christopher Martin
May 4, 2026
I stopped in on a whim to check out a new restaurant after an appointment down the street. I was quite pleasantly surprised. I was expecting the 'normal' fast food experience for asian food: one scoop of rice, a protein portion, side item. Instead, I got a surprisingly large container tub that had a LOT of rather well prepped, in my opinion, white rice in it along with a fit-in tray on top with my order (the jade beef and broccoli, ordered on recommendation of the cashier, for $13.99).
Since I was dining in, I was able to get the Value Meal, which was $2 for a canned drink and a snack (what iWok calls the appetizer menu: Options were chicken egg roll, crab rangoon, and veggie spring roll. I went with the spring rolls). Came with a set of chopsticks, toothpick, and a spork in a sealed pouch as well as soy sauce, sriacha sauce, and sweet and sour sauce.
The beef was quite well prepped, tasted like actual beef (which I despair at having to use as a description these days, as I have run into some restaurants downgrading the cut of their meat in response to raising prices), broccoli was fresh. Everything was well-cooked without feeling overdone or soggy. Veggie Spring rolls were light but a nice side-garnish to the main event of the rice bowl.
All in all, quite a fast, pleasant lunch. Filling, left me happy to gush about it online and to the staff (as they'd asked me to tell them how I liked it), and I'll probably be going back again the next time I'm in the area with a craving for Asian food flavors.
Aside: Gaifan is apparently Mongolian for 'sauce on rice'. Learn something new everyday.
I stopped in the bathroom to wash my hands before the meal, and it was clean and in good condition as well.
I think the only negatives I can really think of are that the dine-in area is a bit small (two booths, several two-person tables) and the location is a little awkward (you can only really pull into it if heading down Holcombe/Bellaire away from the Medical Center), but those are fairly minor nitpicks, all things considered, and not unique problems for dining along Holcombe/Bellaire restaurants.