Joe’s Shanghai vs. Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao

For those of you that don’t know what a xiao long bao is, it is a soup dumpling. Xiao long bao is roughly translated as ‘little dragon bun’ and is one of my favorite foods since childhood. A gelatin filling melts into soup as the dumpling is steamed in a bamboo basket on a bed of cabbage. My favorite type has crab meat and pork.

Context: Ian found a soup dumpling he claims is better than the ones found at Joe’s Shanghai. We made our way out to Flushing on Sunday afternoon and put the two to a taste test.

We first went to Joe’s Shanghai on 37th avenue to reacquaint ourselves with taste. We needed a point of reference. We are also glutinous people and love eating.

First off, my opinion is skewed because my heart yearns for Joe’s crab meat and pork xiao long baos- they were the first I’d ever had in my life. There are a lot of dissenters who claim Joe’s Shanghai is overrated and they may very well be right, but I think they are THE SHIT. The skin is thick and the soup and meat are super tasty. I’ve had some mixed experiences at the Chinatown location on Pell Street. The restaurant is a busy place and they’ve learned to prepare batches and batches of dumplings ahead of time to meet demands- so in turn, I’ve always had fast service but some unimpressive and dry dumplings, but my nostalgia always kicks in and I never leave unhappy.

That being said, Joe’s Shanghai fulfilled my hopes today and definitely set the tone for some tough competition.

Unable to keep this a controlled test (as previously mentioned, I already ate a pork and vegetable bun before getting to the restaurant), we had some salty, delicious string-beans. Yum.

That about wraps up Joe’s for now. On to Nan Xiang. After some wrong turns, we eventually found ourselves under a red awning waiting for a seat at Ian’s newfound favorite soup dumpling joint.

Finally seated in the restaurant we glanced over the short menu and ordered the competitor’s namesake along with some scallion pancakes with sliced beef.

Alexa’s first annoyance while scanning the menu: “6 not 8.” At about the same price point, Nan Xiang gives you two less dragon buns!

Anyway, the soup dumplings came out after a bit of a long wait and anticipating the need to binge eat we ordered another batch.

Out of sheer hunger, we ravaged the first batch of soup dumplings (at least I did). Blinded by the grueling wait, I hardly had a chance to think about what was going on. My first impression was that Nan Xiang’s xiao long bao definitely did seem to be soupier! I did have enough sense of mind to register the fact that the scallion pancakes with sliced beef were delicious delicious delicious.

We were already ready for the next order the minute the last bun was devoured but instead, we waited. And waited.

And waited.

Where are my soup dumplings? Charlotte is hungry. Alexa is irritated. Another tip of the hat to Joe’s fast service.

Gao Di and I. Perturbed.

And just when we are about to get rabid….

Placated.

With my head back on straight I could do some proper judging. The skin was thinner than what I’m accustomed to and I had some fearful moments of popping the skin and attempting to collect the soup in my spoon before escaping to bamboo basket limbo. The soup dumplings were FRESHLY made (accounting for the long wait) and succulent! They were really good!

So… the verdict?

Our general consensus was that both xiao long bao’s were great (lame, right?) and offered some differences.

As a dining experience, the service at Joe’s is much, much faster. Before the menu is even in your face the waiter is always asking, “You want xiao long bao?” In terms of the actual dumpling, like I said, I grew up on Joe’s. For me, I’m inclined to their soup dumplings. We decided that Joe’s soup tends to be a little clumpy but I love it that way. I think Joe’s Shanghai’s are meatier and I love their thick and chewy dumpling skin.

Nan Xiang’s service isn’t so much lacking as it is slow, but that means you can expect that your xiao long baos are actually being made right then and there, something I don’t even expect from Joe’s, honestly. Dying for soup dumplings, the wait was a little unbearable, but I have to admit, Nan Xiang’s dumplings were definitely as Ian described: soupy! The dumpling was unquestionably more soupy and had a thinner skin (preferred by some!), although whether or not it was tastier is to be debated. There is the question of value, at the same price Joe’s throws you two more buns! Either way, I think they were really nice and crabby and offered a reliable diversion from Joe’s Shanghai that’s actually good.

Go do your own taste test and get back to me.