Tom B.
Yelp
It's been so long now--and so many visits--that it might be time for an update, even if the place has stayed wonderfully the same.
We've been in at least a dozen times, if not a couple dozen, through the years. Last night we came in for a family birthday. This gave us the chance to try way more items than we have in the past, which just made us love that place even more.
What's the same?
Still a little strip mall that can feel like a maze to turn into if you're not a regular. Still tons of other good restaurants and a few other types of businesses in the same parking lot. Inside, it's clean, brightly lit, welcoming, and decorated with big lit photos of the food.
What's new?
Not much, except now you scan a QR code to get the menu, and order from your phone. The "Caution: Dumplings EXTREMELY hot!" signs at every table might or might not be new. I can't really remember.
Service is so warm and charming--checking in on you, making sure you have plenty of water and tea. They answer questions about the food, but you don't have to do much to get your order moving. You make your picks, click through, and away it goes. You can still pay at the counter; no need to sign in to order. The kitchen gets the signal right away even if you don't have an account.
We tried every appetizer, and they were all gone halfway through the meal (6 small-ish portions spread across 2 orders). We got the beef buns for the first time, and they really are spectacular; the dough is light and airy, barely even spongey. We've all had buns that were like chewing through a wet sock, they were so dense and flavorless, but these have spring to them and really help to show off the filling. 3 huge ones, and we could barely finish bites from splitting one.
We ordered 4 different dumplings, and they really do come out just volcano-hot. We finished about 75% of these (12 in each order). The birthday boy and his GF both skipped lunch because they were so excited for dumplings, and still washed up on the beach without quite finishing everything.
The restaurant treated us to a plate of complimentary cold noodles for the birthday boy, which helped lessen his embarrassment at having to open presents in front of the entire restaurant. Long noodles, long life, they tell us.
We also tried the braised beef soup this time, which everybody dug. Since I have a cold, they let me have most of it. Amazing rich deep flavor to the chunks of beef, great satisfying rich broth. Crunchy bok choy, nice chewy long noodles. This is an awesome soup! I'd love it to be served a little hotter, but I'll order this again, especially this time of year.
We've always loved the food here, and it's always been lucky for our waistlines that they're a little outside our delivery area. Last night made it feel so homey and so much like a welcoming neighborhood place to go that it felt closer to our hearts and our home. We'll be back even more often than before.