Liang H.
Yelp
I was excited for another new Northern Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood and curious to see how it would stack up against BP's other northern Chinese restaurants. We walked in and it was a much larger restaurant than expected, at about 50% capacity with a few larger parties seated. Immediately, I noticed the stark settings and lack of decorations, as well as a sign for free wifi. Who cares about decorations if the food is good, right? The waitress was a nice and polite young lady who thoroughly explained the menu to us. She immediately brought us some free tea and free side dishes-- however, she gave us kimchi and a bean sprout dish not remotely resembling Chinese food at all, definitely more reminiscent of Korean banchan. Whatever, it was free, it was tasty, and it was unlimited refills. We ate it up because we were starving. For two gluttons, we ordered the Spicy Whole Fish, the Yu Xiang tofu, scallion pancake, and lamb shumai. We didn't wait very long for our food, and the portions were generous enough. The spicy whole fish came on a butane burner and one of those square metal trays, bubbling with broccoli, lotus root, fried tofu pouches, cauliflower, and bok Choy. While the flavor of the broth and vegetables was good, the fish itself (tilapia I believe) was disappointingly small for $9.99 and tasted a bit like "dirt" for an aftertaste. The Yu Xiang tofu was tasty, coming in triangular slices of fried tofu for $7.95 with a pungent sauce very strong in chili bean "doubanjiang" flavor, and generously portioned. My favorite part of the dinner was the scallion pancake, which was flaky and soaked up the broth and juices from both dishes nicely. The waitress had told me they ran out of lamb and asked me if beef filling was okay for the shumai ($7.95) and I said sure, because I wanted to try it. The skins are not handmade and there are no vegetables in the filling- all meat- but it was tasty, just a touch salty. Is this my favorite and best tasting Chinese restaurant? Nah, I've had better in Chinatown. However, I will return for the kind service and fair prices and decent tasting food.
Update : came back here with four friends and had to knock off a star because while the food was delicious, two of the dishes we ordered were way salty. We had the ma po tofu, a spicy fish dish (sorry I forgot the name), scallion pancake, dumplings, cumin lamb, and crispy chicken. My favorite was the crispy chicken because I enjoyed the celery complementing the dish as well as the hot and fresh chicken. However, the chili sauce in the tofu and fish were way salty. The dumplings were delicious, but the scallion pancakes didn't taste as great as last time. Plus, they didn't offer us the complementary side dishes as an appetizer whetter -- which they had, because I asked them about it. However, it was still a good experience and only $15 per person ($60 total for all that food!)
Update: Came back one week later from my 1st update and man the food was good- solid 4 stars again. We had the "big plate chicken" (Chinese translation), Fish Fragrant eggplant, cumin bone -in lamb, crispy tofu, and scallion pancake. Ginormous portions and so delicious. Our faves were the eggplant which came with wood ear and were hot and fresh (they were fried before tossed in the sweet and sour fish fragrant sauce) , and the cumin bone in lamb which was SPICY but so tender. I liked the potato and bell peppers and fat noodles in the big plate chicken . Service is always so pleasant and kind despite being slower, but they are quite popular so the wait time is understood. $60 before tip for all that food!