In town for my niece's graduation and went here for her graduation celebration. This place is no frills but the food is great. We ordered several dishes and my favorite are the dan dan noodles, crispy fish and sesame tofu. I didn't take any pictures since we were all hungry. The only glitch was my brother ordered salt and pepper calamari and the waitress thought we said salt and pepper ribs. I didn't think she spoke or understood English very well. She was the only waitress working. We were the only customers there and slowly there were more. read more

This restaurant is conveniently located in Carrboro with parking available. I ordered the mapo tofu, Kung Pao lotus root, eggplant with garlic sauce all to-go. The staff member I interacted with was super kind and gave me extra fortune cookies and utensils, which I appreciated. The vibe is definitely hole in the wall, but you can tell it's a family-run and that they care a lot about the food. The food was solid and it had that mala flavor that I was looking for. Portion sizes were pretty generous and they gave me a ton of rice with each dish. Overall, decent Sichuanese food! read more

We ordered from here for delivery, switching it up from our usual Jade Palace favorite. It was OK. There are other things I'd try but I'm torn. The sesame tofu was the best I've had, nice and crispy, which is different from most places. The wonton soup on the other hand, I tend to judge places based on their wonton soup and it was meh. The broth was flavorless but the wontons were pretty decent and abundant. The portions were SMALL. The containers of lo mein and rice were in like, mini takeout boxes, and the entrees were the size of appetizers. I get that people may want to try multiple dishes, but the prices were NOT that of small plates. I would maybe try again, but not our favorite we've tried. read more

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Had dinner there for my friend's birthday and the food was delicious! The ambiance is not IG ready, but who needs that when the food is great and it's affordable? It's old school family style vibes and I'm here for it! read more

Terrible food, slow service, and dirty restaurant. My friends who recommended this place advice will never be listened to again!

It's really disappointing leaving this review after coming here 12-13 years but we've had 2 bad takeout experiences in a row and won't be coming back. They've been having consistency issues for a while but the dry fried pork ribs and Kung Pao chicken we ordered were so far away from what they used to be. Everything tasted like Sweet Baby Rays, not what I'm looking for in Szechuan. I really wish we could return this food but previous customer service experiences with them have only proven frustrating. We only kept coming because the food was good, and now it's not read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Pork rib and cilantro - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

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Love this place. Best Chinese food I've ever had and introduced me to Sichuan cuisine. My go to dishes are ba shu spicy chicken, mapu tofu (w/pork), and szechuan spicy fish. If you're feeling adventurous, try the spicy pig ear. It's worth it read more

Unfortunately, Gourmet Kingdom was a letdown for us. Based on my experience, I can only give this place two stars ("Could've been better"). It's disappointing because my oldest sister and her kids like this place, as do others my wife and I know, and the reviews and pictures on Yelp looked promising. The food wasn't bad, but the service was not good and the ambiance needs some serious work. This is an old restaurant. It's evident when you look at the building from the outside in. I'm fine with that. Old buildings can add character and history, but this was a case of letting a place go. When we visited for dinner, the space was dark and not very clean. The lights were turned off in large sections of the dining room. The only place customers were being seated was at the front of the house, next to the street-facing windows. There was also a large group in a private room in the back. On either side of the large dining room, in darkened spaces, was an old buffet and boxes of inventory. These parts of the dining room had become storage for the restaurant. Practical, sure, but not good for the atmosphere. Again, that didn't really bother me. What got me were the sticky menus, sticky tables, sticky, worn-out, and uncomfortable booths, the corroded faucets in the men's restroom, etc. This place could use a good deep-cleaning and renovation, or at least some upgrades. Service was poor for three main reasons: (1) Extensive wait. We waited at least one hour to get our food. (2) Food allergy. I told both the owner and the server that I was allergic to shrimp. They both understood and said they would remove the shrimp from the seafood noodle soup. However, when the soup finally came out, it had shrimp in it. (3) Wrong charges. They charged us for tea we didn't order nor receive. For one dish, they charged us a higher price than was printed on the menu. I have nothing personal against owner David and our server. They were nice. They needed help (understaffed). The restaurant wasn't that busy during our visit. It was David and two servers plus who knows how many cooks in the kitchen. I suspect David did some of the cooking and there might have been only one other, maybe two others, helping out in the kitchen. I appreciated that David came to our table to greet us, answer any questions about the menu that we had, and gave us his recommendations. After placing our order with our server, I turned to my wife and told her that I wasn't confident that our entire order would come out right. For almost every item I ordered, our server sounded surprised like, "Huh? We have that on the menu?" I made sure to point at the menu numbers along with the Chinese and English text because I think several of the dishes on the menu are similar and can potentially be easily mixed up. Also, many of the menu descriptions were not very descriptive at all. Here's what we went with: * L3. Sweet and Sour Jelly Fish ($8.25) * L14. Shredded Beef Tripe in Chili Sauce ($7.25) - showed up as "L14. Spicy Beef Tripe" on receipt at $8.79 including tax (different than menu price) * F7. Beef Noodle Soup ($8.95) * F9. Three Flavor Soup ($8.25) - showed up as "Seafood Vegetable Noodle Soup" on receipt * Black Sea Bass (market price = $24.67 including tax during our visit) - from the specials menu, last page of book menu * Water Spinach ($13.50) - not on menu, also known as Chinese spinach, Chinese watercress, and ong choy In general, the food ranged from OK to good. Our table's favorite dish was F7. Beef Noodle Soup. The noodle soups are served in big, generous portions. I believe they're made with thick wheat noodles. Not egg or rice noodles. The Beef Noodle Soup had a decently-flavored red broth with various cuts of beef that included tendon and collagen plus bok choy and fresh cilantro. I do not recommend the F9. Three Flavor or Seafood Vegetable Noodle Soup because, simply put, it's a relatively bland Shanghainese-style dish where not as much seasoning is used. The quality of the ingredients was fine, though. The ingredients included swai fish (Vietnamese/striped catfish), small shrimp, bamboo shoots, tomato, cabbage, spring onion, wood ear, and snow peas. I asked the owner about another noodle soup on the menu, F8. "Ms. Song's Noodle Soup" and he told me it was very similar to F9. above except he didn't mention that it had any vegetables in it. The Sweet and Sour Jelly Fish and Shredded Beef Tripe in Chili Sauce were tasty. I liked that the jellyfish was cut into thick slices, though it was a bit too chewy. The beef tripe had a nice consistency and was seasoned well, but it lacked any Sichuan peppercorns and thus any numbing effect. The Black Sea Bass was flavored well, but the meat tasted overcooked and slightly tough. I love that they had Water Spinach with garlic, but it tasted somewhat old and tough. Large portion size, however, so that was good. Owner David told us he took over the restaurant over 11 years ago. read more

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I have to update my review because after getting takeout from here again, I have to say I am appalled at the sheer amount of oil in their dishes. The egg rolls were practically inedible because of the sogginess from the loads of oil. Do yourselves and your stomachs a favor by eating somewhere a bit healthier. Or be mindful about what you order. read more

criminally underrated - three pepper chicken and lotus root are the best things you'll ever put in your mouth, i take all my third dates here to see if they actually have taste in food vs. culinary performance i love how the room is open and they play soft ed sheeran piano covers, perfect third date ambience the folks are so so kind, one time i left my hat and they held it for me for two weeks and recognized me the next time i came in if the allegations catch up to me i want GK as my last meal read more

I am genuinely shocked that this place has such low reviews on Yelp. It was expensive, for sure, but everything we ordered for lunch was delicious. It is one of the only restaurants in Chapel Hill with traditional Sichuan dishes. The highlights of our meal were the 回锅肉 (twice cooked pork) and their 香辣鱼 (sichuan spicy fish). The pork was addictively sweet, spicy, and salty, perfectly paired with white rice. The fish was battered then fried, and had a shatteringly crisp shell and tender, flaky fish sprinkled with various spices making it a bit spicy and salty. It paired wonderfully with the sauce from the twice cooked pork. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

The best authentic chinese restaurant within a 2 mile radius of UNC Chapel Hill. They are a bit short staffed, so if you go on a busy evening/weekend, you might have to wait a bit. However, the dishes are well cooked. My friend even ordered a box of 回锅肉 (twice cooked pork) to go because he loved it that much! Pros: Food is very good Cons: Short staffed, ambiance needs some renovation, food isn't the cheapest. I am still willing to give 4 stars since I believe the quality of the food outweighed this restaurant's other shortcomings. read more

ordered food on Chinese New Year. Steamed pork belly with rice flour, lo mien house special and steamed whole fish with soy sauce. the lo mien and steamed pork belly are swimming in oil. Complained to the manager but responded "what you order is what we freshly cook" I told him meat and lo mein are very hard like cooked 5 days ago and swimming in oil. Teamed fish taste is ok but very small fish, very expensive for the price. It's a waste of money. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - lo mein with hard meat and noodles - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

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Something has changed. Gourmet Kingdom just doesn't cook its fantastic dishes so fantastic anymore. So sad. New Cooks? New Owners? It used to deserve 5 stars but it seems now it is too much like a regular American Chinese Restaurant. read more

From the outside, Gourmet Kingdom looks like an unassuming, hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Yet, I cannot recommend this restaurant enough for its authentic, multi-award-winning Szechuan-style food. For the full experience, try dining "family style" where you order various dishes for the group to share. Some of my favorites are Mapo tofu, Pecan shrimp, spicy fried fish, and Mongolian beef (SEE PHOTOS). The overall service is amazing and the food is unbeatable so check them out! FOOD: 9/10 PRICE: 9/10 SERVICE: 9/10 VIBES: 6/10 Would I try again? DO IT EVERY WEEK :) read more

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This place is a must when you go to this area. It is the most authentic Chinese place you could find. Most of the dishes I get here are quite spicy so I hope you are ready to sweat. I would recommend getting the twiced cook pork, bashu chicken or fish, eggplant with garlic (not spicy), and szechuan fish. Those are the main ones I get there. If you are coming with two people then three dishes is PLENTY. It is better going with a larger group of people so you can try more dishes. However if you go with a larger group it is probably better for one person to pay and then everyone to pay that one person back. They can be a little difficult when splitting more than five credit cards or so. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

This restaurant is by far the best and most authentic Szechuan restaurant in the area. The food is always fresh and delicious.

One of my go-to stops whenever I'm in town and am eating with 4+ people. I would 110% recommend sharing family style. Their food is super authentic and you really can't go wrong with anything on the menu. We got three dishes to share with 4 people and that was more than enough! My three go-to dishes that brings me so much comfort are the eggplants, mapo tofu, and the szechuan spicy fish. For some reason, the food was a bit more spicier than I was used to when I've come before, which I didn't mind, but my friends who don't really eat spicy foods definitely felt the kick. If you have time to come during lunch, I'd recommend that because their lunch menu has pretty good prices and is SUPER filling! read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Szechuan spicy fish, mapo tofu, and eggplants - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Anytime we're in or near Chapel Hill-Carrboro, we try to go to Gourmet Kingdom for North Carolina's best Szechuan food. Just wanted to report that we ate there again this week, and that it's as good as ever. We had dinner there and also ordered some dishes to go to take back to Asheville for family members. We especially liked the spicy chicken with three kinds of peppers (and, yes, it is quite spicy) and also an old favorite, shredded pork with black fungus in garlic sauce. Both were terrific. The green beans were good, too. The kung pao lotus root wasn't quite as good as usual, perhaps because it didn't have as much flavorful sauce as usual. As an appetizer, we tried the steamed buns, which are basically just meat dumplings in a vinegar sauce. That was fine, but it wouldn't be a favorite. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Steamed buns at Gourmet Kingdom, Carrboro (original order is 7 buns in a vinegar sauce, $8.95) - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Probably the most mediocre Chinese food without being just bad. Almost everything was certainly made from a frozen state. Spring rolls, sesame chicken, fried rice. Think Panda Express, and then a couple of levels down. read more

It's been a few years since I've been to Gourmet Kingdom and things have changed. Once it was up there with the best in the Triangle - Super Wok, C&T Wok, and the best of Morrisville. Now it's just edible and no more than that. It was my first time there for lunch. We ordered 2 traditional lunch specials, both with hot and sour soup. The soup was oddly sweet, not too hot or sour, but the fried noodles were very fresh. An appetizer of crispy pig's ear wasn't crispy at all but was fairly bland. If you thought very, very hard you maybe could imagine a slight hint of Sichuan peppercorn and very little else. Both mains, tripe and pork, suffered from the same excessive sweetness. The sauce on the tripe was just bland. The sauce on the pork was a bit too salty. Neither was more than just passable. On the plus side, the portions were generous and represent good value. On the downside, in addition to the mediocre food, the atmosphere was dismal. Most of the lights were off, parts of the dining room were being used for storage, and the floors and tables were sticky. It was like eating in a dingy warehouse and was a serious turnoff. I thought about leaving before ordering and probably should have. Maybe the food at dinner is better but I doubt the floors are any cleaner. I miss the old Gourmet Kingdom. read more

My waitress is friendly and helpful. The portion here is big. It is good if you want to share with friends. I tried cumin lamb and fish pickled mustard green soup. You should be aware of the spiciness here. The lamb is quite spicy and lots of cumin. Soup could be better if it is less salty. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Cumin lamb - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

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We were in town for a couple weeks and were craving some Chinese food. I've been to China a couple times and we have authentic Chinese food not from where we live in California, so I can be a little judgy, but I appreciate the difference between American Chinese food & authentic Chinese food. This is pretty authentic. I had a pretty good feeling about it when I saw the website and menu. I ordered a few favs and tried a couple new things. We definitely over ordered--you know you over ordered when they give you way too many chopsticks and settings to go-- but we enjoyed leftovers the next day. I ordered online and it was ready when I came by to pick it up. They had everything ready to go in a heater bag on a large rack with my name on it. When I got home (and even did a quick walk with the dogs) everything was still hot and perfect. I was excited to try it because I got that fragrance not that I get when I walk through the Asian markets. I can never put my finger on it, but if I smell it, I know it's going to be legit. We ordered the hot & sour soup, pork & veggie wontons in chili sauce, eggplant with black mushrooms, beef broccoli, sweet & sour chicken, vegetable lo mein, duck with yam cake & spicy beer sauce. Although the menu or online system did not say it, it came with a ton of white rice. I think I was so hungry that I forgot about the soup and made a big plate of everything first. My favorites were the wontons in the chili sauce--so good. I loved the vinegar and spice. The sauce was so good and reminded me of a cooking class I took in Beijing. I also really liked the eggplant with black mushrooms. The eggplants were super tender and the mushrooms gave a nice texture to the dish. The beef broccoli, sweet & sour chicken and vegetable lo mein were all what you would expect. I love a few staple dishes that you can always depend on. I would recommend all of these dishes. Now, I took a chance with the duck dish and it was a bit of a fail for me. The skin was too rubbery, the meat was a little tough and the sauce was a little salty for me--and I have a salty tooth. The other fail, that I eventually go to, was the hot & sour soup. Maybe it's because I like the American Chinese version, but this didn't do it for me, in fact I'm still craving that sour spicy note. I'm not sure if maybe they used black vinegar--which is a very different flavor--or the balance was off, but neither of us liked it. I wouldn't recommend either of these dishes. Overall, we were pleased with this place and I'd recommend it. They did not provide any soy sauce with our to-go order--maybe because they're so legit since soy sauce is Japanese or maybe they just forgot--but we ended up not even needing it. All the dishes were saucy and didn't need it. If you're craving some authentic Chinese, give this place a chance. read more

If you have only one meal in Chapel Hill or Carrboro, I suggest Gourmet Kingdom if you enjoy world-class Sichuan fare that equals or exceeds the quality of that which can be found in Toronto, LA, New York, or San Francisco. The setting itself is a bit on the common side but the service is excellent, recommendations are appropriate, and it's quite clean. My family of foodies chooses Gourmet Kingdom for all birthdays, celebrations, and visitors who are looking for outstanding and original Sichuan dishes. We especially crave their tea duck, pork with scallions, bashu tofu, chick w/ three kinds of pepper, Mao's style braised pork, twice cooked pork, kung pao lotus root, and many others. Even their wontons are amazing (served in a slightly spicy broth). read more

I cannot think of a place which is less appealing and appetizing than this. Inside it looks like an old deliberate warehouse, and I don't mean this is a compliment. Just really sad. My friends and I sat down and decided not to order, because we lost our appetite. read more

I love this place. Great portions. Always fresh. My favorite dish is currently the duck in beer sauce.

Good food. Good service. Nice place. Had sweet and sour chicken. It was good. Thank you.

This place is such a staple in our takeout rotation. It never misses. There is one item we always get - fried crispy fish. This is the bomb. Do not miss out, it so good. We weren't sure how this item would hold up togo but they have thought about everything. They cut the top of the to go box to give the food more ventilation. The fish remained super crispy! So smart. This time we decided to venture out and get a couple more items - salt and pepper shrimp and tea smoked duck. Definitely can tell it would be better eaten at the restaurant vs togo. The shrimp didn't stay as crispy and I wish they had gone for it and use head on shrimp. And up the salt and pepper flavor. The duck was a bit on the dry side but nothing dipping in sauce couldn't fix. We will continue to work our way through the menu but they get 5 stars just for the crispy fried fish! read more

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Been here for many years, been doing a takeout from here almost weekly. I highly recommend the steamed fish. Sometimes it's hard to get Bc the owner only orders a few fish at a time. I have experienced few incidents That they ran out of the fish before I could order one. Cumin lamb is my favorite. Compare to other Chinese restaurants in the area, gourmet makes the most authentic flavor. Recently got addicted to the sesame pork ribs. The only downside is that the protein size is small although they raised price on most of the dishes... read more

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Beat Chinese food we have found in NC yet! We ordered 5 dishes for two people and everything is amazing. Spicy pork noodle soup is amazing and green beans fantastic. Everything 10/10 read more

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Great for group dining so you can try as many dishes as you can from their extensive menu! We really enjoyed the spicy fish, the shrimps and the duck! read more

Everytime I try a Chinese restaurant in the Durham/Raleigh/Triangle area, I feel like it just gets worse and worse. This one was by far, the worst one yet, sadly, as it was recommended by a friend who had lived in this area during his undergrad days. First, parking is difficult to find. If there's no parking outside the restaurant, there's parking across the street in this parking/shopping plaza area. We didn't know this, so we spent a good portion of time circling around looking for parking. When we got to the restaurant, it was sort of half empty on a weekend night around 7:30pm. The restaurant is dingy looking, but I can't expect much, as I am used to Chinese hole-in-the wall restaurants. I would rather value taste/authenticity vs ambiance. So we order food... the food takes FOREVER. We spent 40 minutes waiting for each dish. The portion sizes are also small for the most part. The kung pao lotus root dish, which was raved about in the reviews, was decent if you can overlook that it was a bit too sweet. Fried chicken dish with peppers and house sauce (basu chicken)... the house sauce (basu sauce) was bad. Sui zhu yu (fish with chili oil)... the sauce was way too thick. Usually sui zhu yu should be a more watery/oil dish, not with thick sauce. I was excited for the osthmanthus flavored congee (love anything osthmanthus) - this is basically jiu niang (rice wine dish). Can't taste the osthmanthus, and can't taste the jiu niang. Dish is bland/sour in a bad way. The only thing that was good here was the spicy beef noodle soup. read more

Gourmet Kingdom had a promising menu but ultimately was a letdown of an experience (despite its very friendly service). In some dishes (the cumin lamb) the spices were on point but the meat quality was so terrible that it didn't matter - the lamb tasted like it had been in the freezer for a decade. In others (the fried fish) the fish was on point but the spices fell flat - the fish was fried airily and lightly with a clean batter, but all the dry spices just fell off the sides and wouldn't stick well enough to get any in a chopstickful, not that there was much more to it than dry red chilies. The eggplant in garlic sauce was probably the best dish of the three because of its liberal use of hot bean paste. read more

Crispy Whole Fish in Szechuan Bean Sauce was very very good! The extra juice was great soaked up in the rice. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Crispy Whole Fish in Szechuan Bean Sauce - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

Traditional Szechuan food served family-style in dated surroundings with friendly service and heaping portions. (To do it Google style). Don't be put off by the brass décor and unused buffet, and cheap tablecloths. The Szechuan specialties here are absolutely incredible -- twice-cooked pork, three pepper chicken, Chengdu wontons in chili oil. The spicy dishes are crazy spicy, and the not spicy dishes have layers and layers of flavor. I've brought a couple of purist here who say the food is too oily and the crab maw soup is too bland, so be warne and take that as you will. But for this American foodie raised on KFC and Subway, it's totally perfect. The service is always incredibly friendly, and they bring each dish out as it's ready so that you get it piping hot. The best way to enjoy this place is with a large group, so you can try many things and find your favorites. I'm also told though they have incredible lunch prices for the traditional food once you do find your favorite. Also, for those who want Chinese American:. I've never tried it here, why would you bother, when you can get Mapo Tofu?!? Cannot comment. read more

I'm honestly shocked that I haven't reviewed this place already, considering it's my favorite Chinese food in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area. I've been eating here for three years and the quality has not gone down at all. My go to order is the General Tso's tofu, which is perfect and definitely my comfort food. The service is always fantastic here, and I was happy to see while ordering takeout yesterday that they are maintaining social distancing guidelines and provide hand sanitizer to customers picking up their food. One of my favorite restaurants in the Triangle. I highly recommend. :-) read more

Worst ever, fish dish is horrble and the manager first said he cannot smell it, then insists this is the authentic flavor of the fish. If this is the authentic flavor, you DON'T need to smell and say there is none first, then claim.this is what it should be like. After we repeatedly say we don't want this dish any more, the owner starts to say that we don't know how to eat/appreriate the fish！ So, when customer complains the dish tastes bad, it could ALWAYS be the customers' FAULTS, as clearly the customers could have no idea what should be the so-called authentic flavor. I have cooked this fish myself and the tastes were much better. BTW, the WORST restaurant owner/manager I have ever seen in my life. I hardly feel angry at a restaurant and this is the first time. I could feel it is getting worse over time but today is the deal breaker. Not coming back for sure and no idea what happened over the four years to bring a good restaurant into such a disappointing one. read more

Gourmet Kingdom - Chinese Near Me - Carrboro, North Carolina

This is the spot for a more "authentic" Chinese food experience, and probably the best in the triangle. Friendly service, quiet atmosphere. The food is served family style, so I would recommend bringing a group and trying several dishes! Don't miss out on the lotus root or the fried spicy fish. Also love the wontons in chili oil! We love GK!! read more

Parking lot is a bit sketchy but entered in still hopeful. There were two separate menus, one in mandarin primarily and the other in English. Ordered the dumplings, pan fried and they were delicious. For the entrees ordered the walnut chicken and Green Onion Lamb. Both were absolutely delightful. Sadly when we received our check the prices were different on our receipt than what was listed on EITHER menu. Highly recommend asking how much your food is actually going to bee. Both entrees ended up being $4 more each. When asked they said they hadn't updated their menus yet, but still didn't honor the price they actually had listed. It was a great eat, but I sadly will not be returning. read more

This is my favorite place for authentic Chinese food in the Durham and Chapel Hill area -- and this is coming from someone who has lived in Taiwan for 7 years :) I've been here both with big and small groups, and the restaurant is suitable for both. Of course, I'd recommend bringing more people to share the dishes family-style, but you're fine if you come here and get a table for 1 as well. It's a casual restaurant -- nothing fancy. The server was nice and friendly, and the service was prompt. This time around, we ordered the eggplant dish (comes with complimentary rice), spicy beef noodle soup, and xiao long bao ("soup dumplings"). I highly recommend the eggplant and the beef noodle soup. The xiao long bao was not that great -- there wasn't any soup inside, the meat was not flavored and was just mostly plain ground pork, and the dumpling skin was also rather dry. I would definitely order the eggplant and beef noodle soup again, though. Also, we ordered green tea that was warm and great for a chilly day; it was about $2.50 for a pot. I would definitely come back! read more

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