RedFarm

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Cute looking food=tasty food. Same applies to animals.

The Dim Sum experience at Red Farm is a polar opposite than getting Dim Sum in Chinatown just 20 minutes away. Red Farm, opened by Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng (Chinatown Brasserie) is as stated on the website, “inspired Chinese cuisine with Greenmarket Sensibility”, translation: place for white people to eat dim sum without feeling intimidated and hold the MSG. Red Farm is quite small and is dominated with communal tables which I do not like but hey, it does capture the essence of eating in Chinatown and on the plus side, chances of you being setting next to a creepy old Chinese Grandma that stares at you throughout the meal is slim. 

Pac Man Dumplings

Dim Sum items dominate the meal with a good selection of appetizers, large plates and rice and noodle dishes. The brunch meal features some salad and sandwiches but I pretty much ignored. We started off with the Pac Man Shrimp Dumplings, or shrimp har gaw. It was a playfully cute looking dish, the dumplings were multicolored and had a tempura’d sweet potato that was looked like well, Pac Man. The dumpling skins are thicker, but the shrimp filling was great and if you are wondering, Pac Man tasted good too. It had actual whole pieces of shrimp, rather than a discernible meat paste. More after the Jump!

Xi’an Famous Foods

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: What sounds more appetizing? The Chinese name of a dish or the literal English translation of the dish?

The cold weather is coming in which means that lines at ice cream shops are shorter and eating bowls of hot noodle soup hits the spot. I remember when I was little and I attempted to describe the pure awesomeness of noodle soups to my very Caucasian friends, they looked at me like I was nuts, soup and noodles? Isn’t noodles suppose to be smothered in a red sauce or cream? Soup? What is this weird Asian kid thinking? Well guess what guys, while you were stuck at home eating cans of watery condensed chicken noodle soup, I got legit noodles that it was okay for me to slurp and actual bits of meat and soup…who is the weird Asian kid now? (still me I think)

Lamb Noodle Soup

Lamb Burger-no supersize

Anyways, Xi’an Famous Foods that originally started off in a small stall in Flushing has invaded Manhattan in the past year opening multiple locations so you can get you Northern/Mongolian Chinese foods like Lamb face salad and hand pulled noodles without the 7 train trek. I can think no better way to beat the incoming cold than a bowl of lamb noodle soup from Xi’an. I went to the St. Marks location in the late afternoon and it packed. I opted to get my order to go. I got an order of the lamb noodle soup and the lamb burger. 

The noodles are made to order as well as the other menu items so it may take a while but the food is worth it. By made to order, I mean they are hand pulled before getting a quick dunk in boiling water. The noodles travelled well and still had a bit of chew to them when I finally started eating them. The broth was flavorful and meaty and although I decided to not get it spicy, it still tasted good, though I added a bit of sambal sauce in it and will most likely get it non-Gringo spicy next time. The lamb burger is a nice treat and is not really like a burger. If burger by definition is meat in between a bun then yes, it is a burger but not something you are finding at Shake Shack. The Bun is a Uighur flatbread that is split open and filled with shredded lamb that is heavily spiced with coriander, cumin and chili. The result is a robust and flavorful sandwich that will make a lamb eater out of anyone.

Xi’an Foods is not really a sit down and have a calm dining experience. It is the Far East version of a turn and burn operation, but like most turn and burn operations, they depend on volume and in order to get that, they need to turn out good tasting food which they are. Xi’an is also very Gringo friendly which they have pictures on the wall and vending machine lettering system so ordering is not hard at all. If you plan on eating there, just be prepared to get cozy with the people around you, and like always, slurping is okay.

Xi’an Famous Foods

81 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10003

www.xianfoods.com/

Petite Soo Chow- ain't nothinh petite about the food

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: When you can see people making the dumplings, it is a good sign

In searching for good soup dumplings led me to Cliffside Park New Jersey to Petite Soochow. I have actually been to this place before when I was younger when it was originally opened in Upper Saddle River but it closed. Petite Soo Chow reopened a few years ago at this location and has been going strong. Petite Soo Chow specializes in Shanghai style food which includes soup dumplings. I unfortunately had a bad soup dumpling experience in New Jersey and I needed soup dumpling redemption and a reason to have faith in New Jersey food again.

A good sign of good soup dumplings

This place gets crowded and full really fast. They will do Chinatown style seating in which they will throw people together at the same tables. So if you have a party of three, and there is a table that seats eight, do not be surprised if you are seated there along with a family of four. I originally was uncomfortable with this kind of seating because you will sometimes have that one kid or old grandma that like stares at you while you are eating. I am not an animal, STOP LOOKING AT ME! But I have gotten used to it and if it is a little kid staring at me while I am eating, I will stare back and make faces at him and make him laugh and hopefully get him in trouble with his strict Asian parents (GOTCHA!). 

Food Porn After the Jump!