Noodles & Dumplings

Overall Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Dickson's Fooday Review #289
This time I visited a Chinese restaurant in El Paso, Texas, USA!
Of course, I came here to try some Chinese cuisine.
From the restaurant's name, it’s clear that it specializes in dumplings and noodles.

In fact, there are many Chinese restaurants in the US, but their flavors vary significantly.
So if you want to eat some authentic Chinese dishes,
you really need to put in some effort to find them!

This time I was recommended by local colleagues,
so I made a special trip to see if I could find some home-cooked flavors from my hometown!

In summary, the overall food was quite good.
Perhaps because the owners here are Chinese,
it naturally has the taste of Chinese cuisine.

Of course, compared to the authentic flavors you find in Taiwan, there is a difference,
but knowing that familiar tastes and dishes are available on the other side of the world
is already very heartwarming!

The variety of dishes offered here is quite extensive.
From the menu, you can see that most Chinese dishes are available here.
For dumplings, there are various meat options to choose from,
and they even have both noodle soup and dry noodles!
If you want rice, they have that too.

Moreover, what’s special here is that they really do sell bao and soup dumplings!
You can see that the menu includes xiaolongbao and meat bao~~
Could it be that you can taste some nostalgic flavors?

In addition, in the main courses,
there are many options similar to the lunch sets we have in Taiwan,
which allows you to try various American-style Chinese dishes!

If you are working nearby or traveling,
and really want to try some Chinese meals,
I would recommend this place for a try~~

Food: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Drinks: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑
Service: 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑
Price: 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑

⭐️ Food Section
👉 Kung Pao Chicken Rice
The main dish I ordered that day was Kung Pao Chicken Rice,
thinking I would play it safe and confirm the taste.

Indeed, the Kung Pao Chicken Rice here has a very local flavor,
but the portion is about 1.5 times larger than in Taiwan!!
Is this the legendary American size?

Surprisingly, even one main dish's portion is huge~~
Overall, I think the taste is quite similar to what we eat in Taiwan,
and the seasoning is neither overly salty nor sweet,
it’s really safe.
Not particularly exceptional but also not bad!

👉 Milk Bao
I’m not quite sure how to translate this directly,
it should just be milk custard bao, right?

I personally think this is quite high quality.
If you come here, you really should try it.
Inside, it’s similar to the milk custard bao we have in Taiwan,
and besides having custard,
the powdered sugar on the outside is just amazing!!!
Although it’s extremely indulgent,
paired with the whole milk custard bao,
it’s very delicious!!!

👉 Pan-fried Dumplings
The pan-fried dumplings here are quite special when served,
because they arrive whole and not cut.
So when eating, you have to cut them piece by piece
to share one dumpling at a time.
The downside is that these dumplings lack any unique characteristics,
and they aren’t as delicious as those in Taiwan.

So I think you don’t really need to specifically order the pan-fried dumplings!

⭐️ Drink Section
👉 Bubble Tea
I’ve always been curious about how bubble tea tastes outside the country.
And usually, each place’s bubble tea has different flavors.
I think the tea part here is acceptable,
but abroad, they have way too many types of tea,
and many of them are very sweet.

They might focus on colorful textures,
but the real highlight is the tapioca.
Many bubble teas abroad have tapioca
that’s hard and chewy!!
It completely lacks the soft, tender tapioca feel found in Taiwan.

This is probably the only major difference.
And I think the most crucial part of bubble tea is indeed the tapioca,
so trying it here I feel it just doesn't work.
Thus, I think the tapioca here is not very good either 😂😂😂

⭐️ Atmosphere Section
The atmosphere of this restaurant feels just like an ordinary casual dining place.
It’s quite bright overall.
The space inside is also quite large, with many seats,
making it quite suitable for groups dining together.

Additionally, the restaurant is filled with Eastern flavors.
The decorations on the walls are full of Chinese characters,
and many of the artwork styles reflect traditional Chinese aesthetics.

There’s also an open kitchen with a glass partition,
so you can see how the chefs make various types of bao.
You can see that most of the chefs here have East Asian appearances,
therefore the dishes here are also filled with Chinese flavors!

⭐️ Service Section
Basically, this restaurant offers very standard service,
with just basic ordering and food delivery.
They accept card payments in addition to cash.

However, even without any special service,
this restaurant still expects tips.
Of course, tipping in the US is becoming increasingly high,
so leaving a 20% tip has become quite common 🥹🥹🥹

⭐️ Price Section
I think this restaurant’s prices are reasonable considering the US consumption standards,
and each dish is served in very large portions.
If you can’t finish it, you definitely need to take some home!

⭐️ Overall
I think it’s already a great fortune to enjoy more authentic Chinese cuisine
in Texas, USA.
Moreover, the portion sizes here are incredibly generous.
In addition, the flavors of the dishes are not bad~~
It’s really suitable for those wanting to eat some Chinese-style dishes in the US!

If you happen to be passing by, you really should give it a try!