Xlb Kitchen

Restaurant is small inside, but does have a nice outdoor, kind of a garden, seating area. The pork dumplings were ok, juicy. The stir fried noodles average. The hot spicy wontons were over cooked with very soft skin and liquity sauce, not much flavors (yes, just spicy). The veg was just ok. Service was good.

Nice cute outdoor seating and some really satisfying food. I was a big fan of the glutinous rice with pork in bamboo. The sticky rice was a nice combination with the saucy pork! XLBs were solid but the Szechuan chili oil wontons were surprisingly bland. You definitely get the classic Szechuan numbing but flavor wise could've been stronger.

We came here for dinner on a Friday evening. The outdoor dining area was very cute and comfy. We sat around a metal mesh table under lots of vines. The springy chairs that rocked were also interesting to sit in. The kids liked the feel of having dinner in the backyard. The buns weren’t as equally impressive. I like buns that have thin and puffy skins. All the buns here, steamed and seared, had thick and tough skins that were chewy. They probably are of Northern China style. My wife also ordered other dishes such as Chongqing spicy chicken nuggets and they were pretty big and not very crispy. Overall, they have a variety of choices, not just buns, but nothing stood out as super impressive, so I’m giving an average 3-star.

I rate this place at about a 3.4 outa 5, but rounded down to a 3. TLDR: Get the Xiaolongbao, it's a must. Probably get the Dan Dan noodles. The soup dumplings were really good, wrappers are thin, soup and the dumplings were good. The Smoked duck kinda tasted like ham, but I also don't like duck, so take that into account. The dan dan noodles were a bit overcooked, but the sauce was really good. It normally comes with peanuts in it, so fyi to those that don't like it or allergic. The Szechuan chili oil wontons were kinda meh. The wontons did not have much fillings, the sauce was okay, a bit lacking in both flavor and spiciness. The hot and sour soup was also just okay. Was neither hot(spicy) nor sour. It was kinda sour, but not that much.

I couldn't stop "oooh"-ing and "ahhh"-ing during my dinner here! I have heard many mixed reviews about the quality of their food and XLB... but I must say, I am a BIG FAN! They have indoor and outdoor dining available, and the customer service is nice. Free tea for the table too! + Pork Xiao Long Bao: These XLB were seriously massive! I gasped when the waitress brought them to our table. They were incredibly juicy! The perfect amount of broth and an excellent dough-to-meat ratio. The only downside is that they ONLY have pork XLB; no crab or chicken options. + Honey Walnut Prawns: A hefty price tag on this entrée, but the prawns were a great size! I will say, they were cooked a bit firm for my liking. The overall flavor was great though! Tender walnuts, a good amount of mayo and breading... it wasn't overkill at all! It was served on a bed of fresh lettuce too.

This is the worst XLB and Hong You Chao Shou I've had in the past 10 years. The dumpling skin of the Hong You Chao Shou was probably overcooked that once I tried to take it out from the soup, it collapsed. The XLB has a weird sweet flavor and the dumpling skin is again not chewy and easily collapsed. The Yangzhou gan si was probably the best dish among these 3 although it's not authentic. The servers were ok though. But won't come back anymore.