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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.

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A Picture Prelude to a Flushing Taste Test

My friend Ian claimed to have found a xiao long bao spot in Flushing that rivals my childhood favorite, Joe’s Shanghai. Ian promised a juicier xiao long bao. We set out to put the two to the test.

Sitting on the floor of the express shuttle to Flushing from Manhattan’s Chinatown. 20 minutes to destination! A bargain ($2.50 each way) versus the hour long commute using the 7 train.

Already starving. Had to pick up a pork and vegetable bun. Mmmm.

Enjoying some warm soy milk on the way to the meeting point.

Success! Ready for the Xiao long SHOW DOWN – first stop. Joe’s Shanghai.