Q House
Permanently Closed
Refined Chinese plates & cocktails in an intimate, modern dining room
Refined Chinese plates & cocktails in an intimate, modern dining room
"Tiny but mighty, this East Colfax purveyor of contemporary Chinese cuisine won Eater’s Restaurant of the Year Award in 2018 and has been going strong ever since. The menu packs a heck of a punch for its size, whether chef-partner Chris Lin is slathering spare ribs in sweet-and-sour marinade, chopped peanuts, and fried garlic; reimagining lo mein with five spice–rubbed Wagyu brisket; or deftly tossing fingerlings and Chinese cauliflower in black bean vinaigrette. The bar crew pairs it all with light, sprightly cocktails featuring green tea, shiso leaf, lychee, and the like as well as aptly chosen sakes, craft beers, and wines (think bubbles and skin-contact white blends)." - Ruth Tobias
"Q House at the end of 2018 won the Eater award for Restaurant of the Year, and this month it earned three stars from 5280 critic Scott Mowbray. The menu’s ability to undersell and over-deliver most of its dishes made up for a slightly less impressive cocktail list and the room’s decor, Mowbray wrote. Momofuku-trained chef Christopher Lin takes traditional ingredients and updates them here, focusing on a flawless cooking technique that shows from the chewy rice to the pig’s ears. Must try dishes, according to Mowbray, are braised pork rice, salt-and-pepper shrimp, cold brisket salad, pig ear salad, and “anything fried.”" - Camila Navarrette
"When Christopher Lin started cooking pig ear salad, General Tso’s eggplant, and trout fried rice on a previously uninspired stretch of Colfax, the surrounding neighborhoods and the rest of Denver took notice. Together with business partners Jen Mattioni and Jon Pinto, Lin is creating the kind of rare place that serves its community and acts as a dining destination — perhaps because the food stirs up memories of those American Chinese restaurants we all grew up eating at, and then deftly moves past them. An energetic and easy-going vibe, an attention to detail in the service and presentation, this is the spot to get to if you haven’t yet and to fall back on when in need of some next-level comfort." - Josie Sexton
"Taiwanese and regional Chinese food from Lin’s family recipes and time spent working in New York under chefs such as David Chang." - Josie Sexton
Wood floors, exposed ducts and garage-style doors keep things casual at Q House, where eager diners dig in to family-style dishes. Chef Christopher Lin shares his Taiwanese heritage on this broad Chinese menu with modern Sichuan leanings. Pick and choose from small and large dishes, all designed for sharing. A plate of chicken and shrimp wontons made with chicken schmaltz and dressed in a sweet soy with rice vinegar and chili oil is a crowd-pleaser. Chong Qing chicken, with cubes of dark meat chicken tossed in potato and rice starch and fried crispy with chilies and Sichuan pepper, is subtle at first, but the heat builds and delivers fantastic flavor. - Michelin Inspector
