Petite Soo Chow

Pan fried juicy buns! Soup dumplings! Watercrest spinach! Dry crispy pork with salt & pepper! Soooooo delicious! Satisfied. Definitely made for group dining.

Soup dumplings were stuffed with meaty filling and well prepared. I recommend this place for people who are craving soup dumplings but don’t want to travel to NY city.

Food tasted ok the first couple times dining in this disgusting hole in the wall place with terrible parking. After several more take out orders we stopped ordering from them because the noodle dishes and rice dishes always tasted like it was drenched in soy sauce. Taste and quality of dishes = 2 thumbs down.

Been here a few times. I’d enjoy the soup dumplings here if I craved them and didn’t want to go into the city. Duck is decent.
Hole in the wall restaurants do have a charm to some, but my last visit, a small cockroach made its way across our table. Big cockroaches mean they’ve been there for a while while small means… It’s problem growing. I slapped the table pretty loudly and then lost my appetite. Owner/​manager didn’t say anything.
Also, the server brought a wrong order and we got charged for it. After explaining the mistake, they took it off but it’s funny they don’t update the taxes. I didn’t care to discuss it.
Told my dad about the critter. He says he’ll never go back again, either.

Soup dumplings are exactly what I wanted. As good if not better than Joe’s. XLBs can only get so good, and these are right at the top. Didn’t try anything else, but enjoyed the dumplings. Will be going back for sure. Super cheap, and they serve tea and peanuts, which I appreciated. Reminds me a lot of Gourmet Dumpling House in Boston, glad I found something similar so close to home.
Right next door to Blackbeard Ramen, nice to do dumplings here and ramen there, double up.

Petite Soo Chow was good. Very good. The food was delicious with the perfect balance of spice, sauce and cooking technique. Service was efficient with no communication issues. Price point fair. Décor nice. Petite Soo Chow will probably be my go to Chinese sit down restaurant in Cliffside Park.
We arrived shortly after 7 PM on a weekday night. The place was busy with conversation, ordering, eating, etc. I felt something good was going to happen. Nice welcome at the door. A cook making soup dumplings up front. Everything was pointing to a nice meal.
Waiter drop some menus, tea and a small dish of roasted nuts. Wife already knows I do the ordering in Chinese restaurants. Order placed: shredded pork with garlic sauce, beef with peppers, pork soup dumplings and pork/​crab soup dumplings.
Read some reviews with communication issues and/​or rude waiters. Let me say that everyone was nice, polite and does their job. This is not Per Se with the service interaction and the «experience». Service here is simple with minimal interaction. Only when needed. This is fine with me.
Pork and beef entrees came out first. No biggie. Waiter said dumplings where still being prepared. Every table had 2, 3 or more orders of soup dumplings. So the delay was expected with one person manning the station.
Pork with garlic was delicious. Tender shredded pieces of pork. Balance seasoning with a few snow peas. Sauce very light; just a light coating with hints of spiciness. The menu had the one pepper sign. Thought it would be hotter in spice, but it was a very tasty dish.
Beef with peppers. Again shredded meat with shredded peppers. Before, I order waiter informed me it would be hot. Real hot. Bring it on, baby. Entrée was spicy, but not hot like the waiter said. Little disappointing for me, but my wife said it was a perfect hot spice ratio. Again a perfect balance of spices with a light sauce coating. It did not have that oily texture or taste.
I felt both dishes had that delicate cooking technique. It is not that ton of peanut oil, sauces, large veggies, etc. It was more like the European style cooking with the balance of spices and ingredients. Nothing overwhelms an ingredient; it compliments.
BEFORE I COMMENT ON THE SOUP DUMPLINGS. STOP WITH THE THEY ARE NOT AS GOOD AS THAT PLACE IN FLUSHING. PEOPLE, YOU ARE NOT IN FLUSHING. THIS IS CLIFFSIDE PARK IN JERSEY. COM’ON MAN…
The soup dumplings where good. Damn good. Delicate, tender filling, salt ratio, soup, wrap, etc. It had that balance of flavor with the first slurp or first bite with all the goodness of the soup dumpling. They were exploding with my taste buds. The synapses was at high level of tasty and good with my brain cells. ALL GOOD…
I must comment that the crab/​pork had plenty of seafood. Over the years I found places cheating on the crab. Cost was a major factor, but because of this I found the pork/​crab dumpling a little overwhelming with seafood. This is not an issue if you love seafood. While both where delicious. I like the pork one better.
Overall, Petite Soo Chow does a good job across the board. Delicious food. Efficient service. Comfortable seating with a private room. They take CC, but only VISA/​MC; no AMEX. Private parking lot. I enjoy going to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant. Since I was a kid we made weekly stops to the restaurant down the street. When you find a good place you stick with it and I will certainly be making weekly stops to Petite Soo Chow.

One of my favorite places to go to. The best crab soup dumplings ever! We usually order the beef with pepper (the one that comes with buns) and shanghai style chow mein. YUM!

Came here because my Korean friends wanted soup dumplings. The dumplings are average, they do not have to traditional southern small soup dumplings with thin skin, but a more northern interpretation of them with an average thickness skin and a larger size. For comparison purposes though, the skin is thinner than Joe’s Shanghai’s and the size is a bit smaller as well. I think their soup isn’t as good as Joe’s Shanghai’s soup. Good and plenty of soup inside but not very flavorful.
We ordered another sweet and sour (.?) shrimp dish, it’s good American Chinese food I suppose. Also got bok choy in chicken stock and with dry shrimp (上湯白菜), but it’s not made how it’s traditionally made — they thicken the soup so it’s more like a sauce instead of soup. Bleh. The chicken with cashews was good — again, good quality American Chinese food that I wouldn’t pay the price for (more than $ 10 I believe). Got the dry noodles with scallion oil and dry shrimp too (開陽蔥油拌面), flavor was pretty good, but the noodles are wrong — not the traditional thinner type of noodles anyway. They use a thicker round udon-​like noodle, which makes the texture more doughy. Not really my thing, but still an acceptable representation of the real dish. The only other authentic dish we ordered was the pork ribs in brown sauce (無錫排骨). The flavor was good and the meat is well cooked — soft and falls off the bones instead of hard and chewy, but they don’t cut the ribs into small squares like how they make it traditionally, which doesn’t really change anything but it just goes to show that this place interprets the dishes in a northern Chinese style instead of southern.
They do give you free rice with every entrée you order — a plus. Overall, good somewhat Americanized, northern Chinese version of southern Chinese food. But it’s farrrrr from being authentic southern Chinese cuisine.
I’d love to come back and try their breakfast items and soy milk some other time when I’m at the liberty of ordering only authentic Chinese dishes though!

I’ve only been here once but I thought the soup dumplings were some of the best I’ve had. The soup dumplings were very juicy and they came out steaming hot. We also tried their pork rice cake which was delicious. Very comparable taste-​wise to what you would find in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The fried dumplings were large and meaty. The only thing we ordered that we would not get again is the scallion pancake — they were thick and doughy. Service was very fast, attentive, and friendly. We thought the prices were reasonable although portions are smaller here than what you’d find in the city. It sure beats going all the way into the city for some authentic Shanghainese cuisine. We look forward to coming back and trying other dishes.

Not many places in northern NJ with soup dumplings but this is one of the better spots. Good amount of soup and meat in each dumpling, and great flavor. Staff was very kind and didn’t have to wait long whenever we needed something. Parking lot is kinda small so come a little earlier than you plan to so you can get a spot

The soup dumplings were not greatly flavored. The skin dough broke easily. We also ordered beef noodle soup. It was extremely oily and spicy.

The beef noodle soup was super spicy, I couldn’t even finish it. The soup dumplings were good, but the skin broke easily and some of them were already broken before we picked it up. I think if they put cabbage leaves underneath the dumplings, it would help from sticking to the bottom.
I was so disappointed since the reviews for this place were so good. Others next to us ordered congee and fried dumplings which looked really good. I would come back again to try other dishes.

Was craving good Chinese on the Jersey side and immediately thought of this place. This is a Shanghai Chinese, delicious, hole in the wall sit down eat and go restaurant known for one if the only known decent soup dumplings in the area. People are always waiting on line. It’s a little annoying when seemingly a Chinese family cute the line after we’ve been waiting on line for 15 – 20 min. because they know someone. But it’s worth the wait.
This time, we ordered snow peas ($ 15). It was delicious. It was sauteed in what seemed to be salted oil and garlic slices. I’m not sure it was worth $ 15, but being the only restaurant of its kind in the area, people are willing to pay (whereas in NYC Chinatown, it would be around $ 5 for the same dish). But that was the best dish!
The others were goid as well. We ordered crab pork soup dumplings and Singaporean curry noodles (veggies and pork slices included). It was delicious. We couldn’t finish the noodles, so we took it to go.
We were very happy. We waited in line for about 15 minutes (parking lot also full so parked two blocks away), took 10 – 15 mins to decide/​order and food to come out, ate for another 10. The entire experience was a little over 30 min. Easy. Very happy!

Soup dumplings are a must! Also the salt and pepper shrimp is always a good go to dish!

I am so so happy to have found this place. Jersey isn’t very known for their Chinese food so finding this place brings happiness to my heart. Seems like others agree because you will usually expect a wait.
Best things to order here: definitely the soup dumplings, Pan fried noodles — sea food style, salted pork chops, sliced beef in spicy sauce. Every dish was on point. Can’t wait to go back!

I guess This is a perfect example for Unilocal Elite to step up and let others know how bad the service can be.
We had a group of six people and arrived when it opened for one hour already. However, after we grabbed the appetizer ourselves, it seemed that everything just stopped. After waiting for about close to an hour, our next food came, with no apologies. Ok fine, we don’t care about your apology anyway as it did not help anything. Then came another 30 min wait before the crab soup dumplings, they were delicious. Then they kept sending us the check, apparently forgot we had another order of soup dumpling! When we asked where was our next dish, they kept informing us these were all we had got. I clearly recalled even when the soup dumpling arrived another 30 min later, our waiter was still saying to us there was no order! I guess it is really your time to fix your memory, let alone learning how to be nice to your customers! One more thing, one excuse the manager here gave us was that the chef arrived one hour late. Ok, assuming what you had said was correct (which apparently not, based on your staff’s memory), how come other people around us already got the same order however we did not? I would stop here.
One of the not many times where I wish I could have just deducted tips from the bill, just to compensate my waste of time here. Do not come!

I excitedly went there to try the soup dumplings but was, sadly, disappointed. These weren’t that flavorful and the filling reminded me of an empanada, with a crumb-​like texture to the meat. It wasn’t what I was hoping for because I wanted super flavorful soup filling me up. I did appreciate that they all seemed freshly made but the dumplings were lacking for me.
We ordered two other dishes. Salt and pepper pork chops and a white fish dish that I don’t even know what it was called but it had a mildly spicy sauce to it. Both of those dishes were pretty good and preferred them to the soup dumplings. If I were to go back, I probably would just order regular dishes. The prices are all very reasonable!
Service was good but the restaurant is kind of easy to miss if you’ve never been there (it was my first time). The parking is a little tight and kind of sparse because it is a busy place.

The numerous positive reviews for PSC are well deserved!
Some reviewers complain that the quality is slipping. I dunno. This is pretty damn good Shanghai style food with authentic flavors and unique combinations.
If the room were a bit more user friendly (it is divey — which I like, but in a cramped sort of way — which I don’t) and the service a bit more laid back (they are very polite but rush you through your meal to service folks waiting in line for a table), I would rate it five stars.
The soup dumplings are wonderful; they pack a meaty explosion of crab and pork flavor in every boiling hot bite. The dumpling skins are thin and tender, but hold together well enough to seal in the stuffing and rich juices. Yummm! Making these takes some doing, and since they are made to order by the ladies working in impossibly cramped quarters at the vestibule area (watch them do this — its cool!) I always get two orders at once (6 per order) because I know I will want more.
On two recent visits we also tried: minced beef and tofu with hot peppers and steamed buns — (a great kick start for the palate — spicy and rich); soft shell crabs in a brown ginger/​garlic preparation (nice texture — tender and full flavored); wok’d water spinach (scallion-​like — crunchy texture with garlic — this was very good); pork dumplings in hot oil (nice spice — clears the sinus); vegetarian stuffed tofu skins (interesting); tofu skin noodles (sorta like pappardelle — weird texture but it kind of works with the garlic sauce they serve with); eggplant with basil and garlic (excellent); beef chow fun, and assorted other veggies.
We shared a round table with some other folks during one visit and the meal was served on a central lazy Susan — Chinese style. It was a bit more of an intimate experience to share the meal with strangers — some of whom were ethnic Chinese, who knew the menu quite well and helped with ordering.
PSC is well worth the trip and even a wait for seating — but early dinner on a weekday is rarely a problem. Judging from the crowds we encountered, they have many fans.

I am sad to write this review. We’ve been coming to this establishment for over 10 years. We used to come here about once a week and sometimes more. The last time we came here, about a year ago, the food just wasn’t as good. The portions were much smaller than they used to be and the food just did not taste good. Well, after a year hiatus, we decided to give it another go tonight and hoped that the bad meal a year prior was just an anomaly.
Well, I am sad to say that tonight was the last time that we will ever eat here again. We ordered 5 dishes. Some classics that we’ve always loved such as the snow pea leaf with garlic, and beef with yellow leek, pork juicy buns and spicy beef and their special pork chop. Everything tasted bland and boiled. It was one disappointing dish after another. Our waiter asked us if everything was ok. I told him nothing was ok and the food did not taste good at all. He apologized. He said perhaps our tastebuds have changed over the years. No, our tastebuds have not changed. But your portion sizes and seasonings in the food have changed… drastically. And I believe the prices have also gone up. The owner came over to our table to enquire about which dish we didn’t like. I told her all of the dishes were a disappointment.
My parents have owned their own restaurants and been in the restaurant business for over 30 years. We can tell the difference between a dish that was stir fried and a dish that was boiled then stir fried. The outcome in the latter technique is that the ingredients become soggy and can’t hold seasonings. Restaurants do that to save time and the result is a half-​assed dish that tastes parboiled. There was hardly any meat in the meat dishes and mostly veggies.
Even their house speciality, the juicy bun, was off tonight. My son used to be able to thrown down two orders all on his own. Tonight, he only had the one piece and refused to eat another bun.
While most of the staff were professional, we didn’t appreciate one particular waitress who kept trying to get us to order fish or crab or some other over priced seafood dish. We had already ordered 5 dishes for 3 adults and a kid which was more than enough food but she kept suggesting we order seafood. We are old customers. We know what we want without even looking at the menu. She was way too pushy. Even after I told her that we didn’t like seafood, she continued with her seafood suggestions. Seafood=pricier=higher bill=more tips.
Update: I just checked out photos that other posted over 2 years ago. I haven’t lost my mind. There did used to be 8 pieces per order of juicy bun. Now there’s only 6. There also used to be 10 pieces of bun in that beef with hot peppers dish and now they only give 4. Not good.
Time to find another Chinese place to eat in nj or else we’d have to go into nyc for a good meal.

I didn’t think I’d be able to try this place so soon because my brother took my car, but I was able to join in with some Shanghainese friends on their trip here. We came around 12:30p on a Saturday and the restaurant was packed. You might have to sit with some strangers at their larger tables. My Shanghainese friends mainly came to get their youtiao, but unfortunately it was sold out by the time we got there. Only 1 hour after opening too! Our waiter told us, next time we should get in early to get them.
We opted for more dim sum type dishes instead of regular entrees.
CiFanTuan (糍飯糰) — This was my first time trying this Shanghainese food. It consists of a youtiao wrapped in glutinous rice.
Soup Dumplings — The dumplings were huge! Probably the largest xiaolongbao that I’ve ever seen. The skin was nice and thin. Despite being large, there wasn’t as much soup as I thought it would hold and the meat was kind of bland. Still a good xiaolongbao. I pretty much like all xiaolongboas, even the frozen ones.
Shengjianbao (生煎包) — I absolutely love these. Way better than the xiaolongbao. These are essentially pork buns that are pan-​fried with water to produce a simultaneous steaming and frying effect. They use the same meat as the xiaolongbao, but the fried skin just makes it so much better. Order these if you can, because they also sell out fast.
Xuecai roushi niangao (雪菜肉絲炒年糕) — A little oily, but definitely a must order. The niangao was soft and chewy. What I really loved was the xuecai stir-​fried through it all. There wasn’t much meat, but that was alright with me. What I wanted was the vegetable anyways.
Soymilk — Here they provide both a salty and sweet version. I never had the salty one before since in Tainan, people there generally like things on the sweeter side. The soymilk here is kind of bland.
This place is a little bit out of the way for me, but when I get my car back definitely making a trip back. Best part, everything was so cheap! Everything came around to about $ 11 per person.