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Just when you thought that we had run out of Chinese restaurants to review, you would be wrong. And with so many new ones opening all around us, we should have enough Chinese food to keep us well-fed. Today’s Quest took us to Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings (aka Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao), located at 1500 Old County Road, Westbury, NY 11590. They are located in the “Fortunoff” Mall, a few doors down from the now-closed P.F. Chang’s. And interestingly, two doors down from another new Dumpling restaurant. When it rains, it pours!
Dumplings?! Dumplings?? That’s what we are going to have for dinner? Relax. Despite the name, they have a full menu of Chinese dishes. Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao is a sister restaurant of the ones in Flushing, and now seemingly all over.
From their website:
In 2006, we opened Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, our first soup dumpling restaurant in Flushing, the culinary capital of NYC.
We quickly earned a reputation for having “the city’s best soup dumplings” and established a tradition of excellence, winning a Michelin Guide recommendation for nine consecutive years.
For Chinese food lovers, Nan Xiang soup dumplings represent authentic Southern Chinese cuisine and Chinese comfort food in New York City.
Almost 20 years and nine locations later, Nan Xiang is still on a mission to bring the most delicious soup dumplings, made with warmth and love, to every community.
This location is just beautiful. Modern. Contemporary. Clean. So fancy, and modern, that some (not sure how the determination is made) dishes are brought to your table by a cute robot. I tried striking up a conversation and getting her number, but all she repeated was model, name, and serial number.
But, how was the food?
I love the open kitchen!
At first glance at the menu, I noticed that their prices were 20 to 30% higher than those at their locations in Flushing, NY. Nonplussed, we soldiered on and ordered a few dishes from our very friendly and attentive server:
Scallion Pancakes with Sliced Beef – With just a little bit of hoisin sauce, these pancakes were out of this world. We were off to a great start.
Sweet & Sour Spareribs – BOOM! Just like that!! This meal was now cooking. These ribs are literally off the hook (and fall off the bone). YUMMY so good! More please?!!
Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce – Despite our best efforts at times, we do try to eat healthy-ish and get our veggies in. This bok choy was excellent. It melted in your mouth. Highly recommended (but don’t prioritize this dish over the Sweet & Sound Spareribs if you have to eliminate one. Pro Tip: Don’t! Order BOTH!
Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings – Like, what? We weren’t going to order Soup Dumplings from a Chinese restaurant that literally has “Soup Dumplings” in their name? Of course. These are their signature pork soup dumplings, and they were simply magnificent. There is plenty of soup in these buns to satisfy. The bao was just the right thickness and consistency, and the pork (don’t tell our Jewish friends 😉 ) was excellent too. Sensing a pattern here? We had to have more Soup Dumplings. But, we opted for a different variety (they have PLENTY of variety, so you’ll find some that will whet your appetite, and also fill your steamer basket with lots of color.
Crab Meat & Pork Soup Dumplings – Honestly, I don’t recall them tasting all that different than the soup pork dumplings. And, that’s not a terrible thing, really.
So there you have it. Four Mee’s. Five dishes. You would think that it wasn’t enough to feed this hungry crew. But the portion sizes were excellent, and we were full. Well, full enough to make sure that we still had room for Carvel Ice Cream! After all, it was a Wednesday night, and Carvel is still running a buy one and get one free classic sundaes.
The first shock of the night was when the bill arrived. Cognizant of the menu, we were incredibly shocked that the bill was much LESS than what we anticipated. We were happy Mee’s. One last thing to do before we departed….
Our Rating:
Do you agree with our Rating?
Humbly submitted for your consumption,
—Mee Magnum (“Chop! Chop!”)
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