Xing Long

Christmas dinner — the good, the bad, and the ugly
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We came here as a large party for Christmas dinner.
There was a roast suckling pig special for $ 168.88, which comes with 10 items total
Let’s break this review down into a quick read
The Good
— — — —
— free roasted /​salted peanuts. Pretty good appetizer
— Roasted suckling pig — the skin was perfectly crisped, and the meat was very tender. They did an excellent job roasting this approximately 5 pound piglet.
— the soup was actually very delicious and full of umami (NOT MSG), due to the multiple ingredients including fish maw, chicken, sea cucumber, and chicken feet.
— the sauteed fried tofu with broccoli was very savory. It was slightly crisped on the outside, but very tender on the inside.
— the sauteed Bok Choy with crab meat had real crab meat.
— I actually enjoyed the fried rice with chicken and egg white. very light and each grain of rice was perfectly firm — perfect «mouth feel»
— fried fish Thai style — this was ok. crispy fish for sure, and the sauce was pretty savory with a sweet chili flavor and wilted basil.
The Bad
— — — -
— the jumbo shrimp sauteed in garlic was ok, but the shell was slightly stuck to the meat. Yes I know it is almost impossible to get fresh shrimp for a dish like this, but still.
— the fried salt and pepper pork chop with slivered onions was pretty tasty, although a bit on the greasy side.
— the Hainan chicken was well seasoned, however the meat was a bit mushy. Again, I know it’s difficult to get fresh chicken for this dish, but what can I say, I’m a Chinese food connoisseur
— the crab meat in the Bok Choy dish was a bit too salty, which means it was not fresh crab meat. (fresh crab meat should be slightly sweet and springy)
— not a fan of red bean porridge as a dessert. Sorry.
The Ugly
— — — -
— They added 15% gratuity to the Casio-​style ticker tape calculator. The problem? They put the tip AFTER the tax, which is completely wrong — it should have been added BEFORE the tax. It amounts to two extra dollars — not going to break the bank, but really it’s the principle.
Is it worth coming back? A tossup. Only half of the dishes were enjoyable, and again I didn’t like the whole issue with the gratuity. I know the dishes are probably above average compared to multiple other sub-​par Chinese restaurants out there (like those in the remnant Chinatown), but I certainly don’t have a resounding desire to recommend this place to friends and family. Sorry.

Their 3 items for $ 19.99 family meal is only take out. I ask them and they said so. Plus, they told my table that the portions are smaller hence why it would be cheaper and that we have to order ahead of time. Anyways, my family went to try this place on a Friday night since it was new. We came here before they change the name and it was much cheaper back then. On a Friday night there was only five tables and one server which seems to be the manager as well. Our table of eight sat down and the server came back twice to ask if we are ready which we weren’t since everything on the menu seem over price. The server did not even bother to help us by recommending dishes like other Chinese restaurants do. We order six dishes and the server try to persuade us into getting a soup for $ 10.00. The soup was the usual soup they serve in all the typical Chinese Restaurant and it is usually for FREE. The dishes were not good except the curry. It seems as every dish is filled with onion. The portion of what we actually order and the amount of onion is ridiculous. The service is so bad. After all our dishes arrive, the server never came back to check on up. Our tea pot was empty and we needed more rice. We raised our hand to get their attention but we were ignore. There was a table near us that was drinking red wine. The chefs came out and they stood next to the table to drink wine as well. Our server was there surrounding the table too. You can tell they are all friends but hello, youre running a business and they are not the only ones there. I understand that a little wine might do no harm but seriously, why the hell do you need to drink it in front of the whole restaurant ignoring the other customers? We seriously have to scream «excuse me» to get their attention. I never seen such awful and irresponsible behavior from servers/​chefs. I will never come back again! Oh btw, they told us that they change a dollar per a person for rice. Are you kidding me? The last time it happened to me was in China and thats more reasonable.

This restaurant replaces «Big 3». The «Big 3» sign is still up, but all the menus have changed and so has the wait staff. Xing Long has various deals and banquet-​style meals. There were plenty of dishes to choose from (I love this about authentic Chinese restaurants and not the usual ‘Beef and Broccoli’, ‘Kung Pao Chicken’, ‘Orange Chicken’, ‘Fried rice’ types). They have lunch specials, dinner specials, and even a ‘special family dinner’ in which you can choose 3 items for $ 19.99! Sounds like a bargain to me! While I can’t say what is the «go-​to» dish or even provide a quick tip on what to pick, there are dozens and dozens of dishes to pick from. For someone who travels often and experiences Chinese food from NYC and Chicago, 626 Chinese food is definitely hard to beat and this restaurant surely adds to the street cred. Haha.