DLS and I have been on quite a soup dumpling kick lately, obviously, and one of the names that comes up any time soup dumplings are mentioned is Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. I mean, it has “soup dumpling” (xiao long bao) in the name! They must be good. That and every single time I’ve tried to go, the line has been out the door, which means it must be good, right? One Tuesday night, Hungry, Cheese, TC, Noah, DLS and I headed into Flushing to see what the hype was about (though a few of us had been before).
An order of crispy pig ears was ordered. Most of us found these lacking – not really crispy, just chewy bits of cartilage – which, if you’re into that, great. We weren’t.
The “spicy” intestines fared much better. I enjoyed these, though I noted that they weren’t spicy by any means.
As has become our habit with soup dumplings, DLS and I ordered fried rice cakes as well. These were pretty good, though the plate was drowning in oil when we finished it.
Interestingly, where every other places serves their soup dumplings in steamer trays of 8, Nan Xiang does trays of 6. As such, every single person at our table got our own tray of dumplings. I ordered the pork & crab ones – that is the type I’ve been ordering everywhere, so for fairness’ sake, I stuck with it – and was both pleased and distraught to see how thin the skin is. While thin skin encourages one to taste just what’s inside, with less bready outside to interfere with the flavors of porky goodness and soup, it also makes it infinitely harder to pick up without tearing. I admit I had trouble initially, but got the hang of it and managed to pop no more. As mentioned, the impossibly thin skin made it easy to focus on what was inside: delicious pork, interspersed with bits of crab roe… yum. While some people may not like the thinner skin, I enjoyed it very much and thought these were very good – definitely among the best I’d had on this soup dumpling journey…
Yvo says: While the other dishes were hit or miss, the soup dumplings were spot on very good. We all enjoyed them, though some of us couldn’t eat a single tray without breaking every single dumpling… ahem… won’t name names… hahaha. If you like soup dumplings, you should definitely try them at least once!
recommended
CheeeeEEEEse says
Were they intestines? I thought they were spicy.
Feisty Foodie says
They look like intestines and I seem to recall someone saying that they were. Maybe it was just the piece I ate? I didn’t detect any spiciness whatsoever. BUT I’ve also been eating a lot more spicy food lately (read: any) (though an old friend was shocked while I was eating in front of him, saying I was eating something even he [a pepper-head] found spicy). I think this trip to Nan Xiang was before I started eating spicy food though…I don’t know. I’m sure someone else who was there will pipe up with corrections/comments 🙂
Ellen says
better than joe shanghai’s.. which is kind of oily tasting
Feisty Foodie says
I wasn’t a fan of Joe’s Shanghai: http://feistyfoodie.com/2012/02/01/joes-shanghai/
esther says
I love their soup dumplings but their other food is not good. I wish I can combine Joe’s Shanghai dishes with this place’s soup dumplings!!
Feisty Foodie says
Really? What dishes did you like at Joe’s and which location? I haven’t liked what I’ve eaten at their restaurants so far.
Honestly, Shanghai Cafe Deluxe so far has had the most overall tastiness. http://feistyfoodie.com/2012/01/05/shanghai-cafe-deluxe-2/ (I went back another time that I won’t be blogging, but the dishes were all very tasty.)
T.C. says
Really good soup dumplings!!
Intestines? I liked the spicy beef & tripe dish. I had it here before and this time it was milder this time. Mmm chili oil FTW.
Feisty Foodie says
Are tripe and intestines not the same thing? Either way, I didn’t think it was spicy at all 🙂
T.C. says
Needs more chili oil like the first time I had it. Oozing with it. LOL.
The tripe is cow’s stomach. Hungry and I def. were not the “intestines” culprit.
Feisty Foodie says
Oh, I get those two confused.
hungry says
It was beef tripe. Honeycomb to be exact. And it’s the 3rd stomach of a cow.
hungry says
Sorry, second stomach.
And the soup dumplings are very good. TC and I both ordered a second batch.
Feisty Foodie says
I always confuse tripe with intestines.
Christine says
Tasty soup dumpling adventures? Where can I sign up?
Feisty Foodie says
🙂