Long's Noodle House

It's been quite a while since I've been to Long's. I don't go very often now that they're so busy all the time. I can still remember going for lunch in high school when they'd just opened and it was empty. Those were the days.

To be nostalgic, I ordered the Tan Tan Noodles (擔擔麵) and the Steamy Pork Dumplings (小籠包). Then since B was eating with me, I also added the Spicy Wontons (紅油抄手).

The noodles were good. The noodles themselves were properly cooked and the sauce / soup was peanuty. The broth wasn't as thick as I remember but I'm not mad at it as it still had great flavour.

At first I was apprehensive about the dumplings because the owner wasn't making it herself anymore. However, they were still the juiciest/ soupiest xiaolongbao I've had. The skin was paper thin. It's still the best xiaolongbao I've had. I personally think it's better than Ding Tai Fung - even the one in Taipei. It's just juicier. Sorry for the ugly photo, I couldn't wait to dig in and forgot to take a picture before I started eating.

We ordered the wontons because it was supposed to be spicy and B loves spice. Unfortunately, it wasn't spicy at all. However it was still good: the meat was moist and tender, the wrapper had a good texture. It was a little on the oily side. I also couldn't wait to eat so I messed up the presentation a bit for this picture as well.

At the end we were overly full. We probably could have done without the wontons.

The owner still recognized me after all these years. Which was a nice touch. I would love to go back. If only I were okay with waiting in line. But turnaround is quick so luckily we didn't have to wait long. I definitely recommend simply for their amazing xiaolongbao - and of course everything else tastes good too.

Tang's Bistro

I was craving noodle soup and feeling lazy so we went somewhere close by.

The renovations made the restaurant really hip and I really like that the restaurant is divided into thirds. I guess the renovations cost too much because this was the first Chinese restaurant that charged for tea.

I had the brisket and wonton rice noodle soup. My partner had the BBQ and wonton vermicelli. We also had pork soup dumplings.

The food were solid. My brisket was soft and the soup was flavourful. My partner's BBQ pork was overcooked and too tough. They had them under a bunch of noodles so I think they just kept cooking.

We were too excited to remember to take a picture of the pork soup dumpling, but they were mediocre. There wasn't enough soup in each dumpling and although the skin was thick, they broke easily.

I think I would have enjoyed the experience more if the server told us the noodles were ginormous. But solid.