[REVIEW] NAN XIANG XIAO LONG BAO – Great Cheap Eats!

Our Chinese Quest gets greater by the day! Our latest adventure has taken us to Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, located at 38-12 Prince Street in Flushing, New York. This place is well known for its Soup Dumplings, and came highly recommended. Nan Xiang is the district in Shanghai where Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) were invented. Driving to Flushing is not for the faint of heart, but Gonzi did a fabulous job of fighting the traffic, and scouting out a parking spot. Walking up to the restaurant, we were elated to see a big A rating on the door, not always the case in this part of town. The inside of the place is standard Flushing, nothing fancy with tables tightly packed with customers. Nan Xiang serves beer only, so I brought two bottles of white wine along. One bottle was a Riesling called Clean Slate, and the other a Pinot called Mezzacorona. I tasted only the Pinot, and it went perfectly with our dinner choices. The staff was cordial, and very helpful in setting us up for our wine. Our perfect evening started with a surprise gift from Mee Magnum, beautiful personalized chop sticks in a wooden case. A million thanks to my brother Mee!

Starters included Scallion Pancakes, Steamed Crab Meat & Pork Buns (Soup Dumplings), and Cucumber & Garlic:

Scallion Pancakes are always a nice way to start a Chinese meal, but in essence they were just OK, not great.

Steamed Crab Meat & Pork Buns are one of the the specialties of the house, and they did not disappoint. As you crack the skin of the outside dumpling which is light, and not gummy, you are introduced to the heavenly flavors that abound!! A rich brown broth flavored with pork & fish cooked to perfection. The soup is hot, but not scalding like at Joe’s Shanghai. This Mee gives them 4 Stars.

The Cucumber & Garlic is a very refreshing dish that is a nice contrast to the rest of the meal. Served cold in a light sesame oil with cilantro.

Now for the Main Event:

Crispy Noodle with Shredded Chicken did not light my fire. Not too much chicken served over crispy noodles. I felt it lacked a lot in the flavor department, and tasted like a dish you would find in an old school Long Island restaurant.

Pan Fried Pork Buns are fried (obviously), and crispy on the bottom. The pork was delicious. They claimed it takes 25 minutes to make, but we did not wait that long. These dumplings were good, but I enjoyed the soup dumplings better.

Rice Cakes with Shredded Pork were not at all what I thought they were going to be. I love this dish!! Rice cakes are like cross sections of gnocchi, except made with rice instead of potato. Served with a light sauce, but not enough pork. This will become a recurring theme with this restaurant- a little light on the proteins. I have to say that this dish might be Questie-2015 worthy. As a reminder, the Questie is the award that we give to the restaurants that serve the top five dishes in a calendar year.

Rice Cakes with Pork, Shrimp & Fish is another Home Run. The rice cakes were so good, we had to order them again. Like the other dish but with even more flavor. For Mee, this is one of the great discoveries of the Quest!

Shanghai Pan Fried U-Don Noodles are thick noodles in a light brown sauce and some veggies. Not bad, but I enjoyed the rice cakes a lot more.

Seaweed & Garlic was totally not needed after all these great dishes. I usually enjoy a seaweed salad, but this one was just OK.

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao is a real treat, especially if you like Soup Dumplings. The dishes are a little small, and they tend to short you on the proteins, but the food is enjoyable and different from typical LI Chinese. I would highly recommend the Rice Cakes. Next time, I will try all the different styles of Soup Dumplings. The entire meal cost $83.00 for the five of us, and we left stuffed. A must try when in Flushing.

Instead of running out to Carvel for dessert, Carvel came to us compliments of Mee Yong Joo. We surprised Mee Magnum for his birthday and enjoyed Carvel at the dinner table. Fabulous Night with Fabulous Friends, is there anything better in life?  I think not!

Until next time,

Mee Tsu Yan