Xiao Dong Bei Chinese Cuisine

Very authentic Sichuan cuisine with big portions and a reasonable price. The staff is considerably friendly and patient. We went on a weekend late at night when they were about to close. Although the restaurant was pretty much empty, they were still willing to serve us. Their menu was quite extensive with traditional Sichuan food, as well as typical Chinese dishes.
We tried the baby ribs with peanuts and peppers, a dish recommended by the waiter. The ribs were not how we imagined it to be, as they were sliced as thin as paper. There was definitely a lot of preparation work behind making this dish! I like how they stirred fried the meat rather than deep fried the ribs. The peanuts were an alleviating complement with the spiced up meat.
On the more traditional side, we also ordered the braised beef dish. Having tried just about every Sichuan restaurant in Manhattan and in the works in Queens, Xiao Dong Bei serves one of the biggest pots of braised beef. With the addition of black fungus and a variant of other different veggies, they sure filled the bowl with an abundance of protein and carbs. Drowned in Sichuan oil, the beef was super tender and the veggies were soaked with flavor. The dish definitely wasn’t the spiciest we’ve had, but it was still delicious.
Rice isn’t complimentary, so be sure to order a few as chasers with these yummy Sichuan plates.

Food: 3.5÷5.0
Service: 2.0÷5.0
Value: 3.5÷5.0
Décor: 2.0÷5.0
Overall: 3.0÷5.0
The menu is a mix of Northeastern China and Szechuan. I can’t opine on the latter, and I also can’t opine on the value-​oriented lunch/​take-​out offerings. I am shocked how high the current ratings are. Not to be a downer, but I don’t see how an objective group of people could seriously give this place that many fives. The food is indeed northeastern, but the quality was very much mediocre. In one of the dishes, the potato was flat out undercooked. The service was poor with a lot of chatting amongst the younger wait staff when they weren’t busy dealing with customers. Poor service is something that could be a function of an off day in a poorly-​controlled Chinese restaurant setting, and certainly you can get around it if the food’s worth going back for, but that’s just not the case. Not going back. Just so you know, I was tempted to give 1 or 2 stars to average the rating down, but that wouldn’t be right.

I came here for lunch and had a salt baked pork chop with pepper (more canonically known as salt and pepper pork chop). The pork chops were lightly breaded and bone-​in (though there weren’t many bones). The amount of seasoning used was just right, and the meat was quite fresh. The portion was large enough to save some for dinner.

I came here recently due to the high Unilocal rating. We come to Flushing regularly and I am always seeking for good Chinese restaurants here. I’ve never heard of Xiao Dong Bei (translated to «Little Northeast», as in Northeastern Chinese cuisine) before, but was eager to try it as my grandparents are from Northern China, and «Dong Bei» cuisine always reminds me of my childhood visits with my grandparents. Anyway, maybe that was an unfairly high expectation of this place, but I was a bit disappointed by the food here. Perhaps I didn’t order the «right» food, I thought the four dishes we ordered were just average.
We tried:
Ants on a Tree — this was my favorite dish, it’s vermicelli noodles with shredded pork. I thought the sauce was really delicious with just the right amount of spiciness. This is a pretty easy dish to execute, but some places tend to make it too oily, it is done pretty well here.
Sauteed Crispy Pork — the server recommended this dish. I thought it was just ok. The pork was crispy, but not very flavorful inside. Also, you need to eat this dish as fast as possible. As soon as the meat cools down a bit, the meat became very tough and starchy
Crispy Fish with Chili Pepper — I wanted to order the whole fish, but per the waiter, the market price for a whole fish was $ 55, which I thought was ridiculous. Most places charge approximately 20 – 25 for a whole fish. I am always annoy when I see «m/​p» on menus as I feel like the restaurant can just charge whatever they want. I opted for fish fillets instead, which was not bad. I like the crispiness of the fish, although the fish could’ve used more flavor notes other than spicy. I thought the chef went a little heavy with the Sichuan peppercorns in the dish, but if you a big fan of spicy food, it would probably be a plus.
Stir Fried Eggplant with Basil — an average dish. I thought it was a tad too oily, but other than that, not a very memorable dish.
Overall, I thought this place was over-​priced, the food was so-​so with hits and misses across the board. Given the plethora of good Chinese restaurants in Flushing, I don’t think I will visit again.

I really like the spicy fish there. As a Chinese, they can cook really local Northeast food from China. My husband and I go to this restaurant really frequently with our friends.

Unfamiliar food choices, and poor service. The Braised spare ribs was all bone and no meat it impossible to eat. After serving our food the waiter did not return to the table until we had to get his attention for the check. Will not visit again.

I was so hyped up by all of the 5-​star reviews, I guess I expected too much, and was just a little disappointed.
My daughter was sad to hear that she couldn’t get General Tsao’s Chicken there, but somewhat enjoyed the pork in sweet & sour sauce (crispy). Unfortunately, it seems like the waiter forgot to order it, as our dishes came out one or two at a time, and finally my wife’s yummy eggplant and green spicy peppers dish, when we realized the sweet/​sour pork never arrived. My daughter started getting ticked off, she was starving, and we only went for Chinese in the first place cuz she wanted that dang General Tsao’s Chicken. We checked w/​the waiter, he checked in the kitchen, came back with his index finger pointing up, and said, «One minute. Just a one minute, ok?» Around 5 — 10 min later, it came out extremely hot.
Ok, absolutely no one is perfect. There weren’t any other mistakes, and there were 2 servers helping us. Their English wasn’t that easy to understand, but they understood us pretty well, and seemed genuinely interested in our experience there. Given that we were a white family in an almost entirely Chinese restaurant, I was happy with the service we received. (Of course, being white in a Chinese restaurant should have nothing to do with our experience, but the fact that it is real, I think it’s something that cannot be denied.)
Bathroom was clean, dishes were clean. I hate the thick plastic chop sticks they give you there, but it’s way better than eating noodles with your hands.
My noodle, pork & mushroom dish was ok, and noodles were somewhat chewy, but yummy; however, I found the amount of pork & mushrooms in it to be skimpy. The overall portion size of the dishes was quite large. We took home a lot of food, and spent $ 50 (before tip) for the 3 of us. My wife absolutely loved her eggplant dish, and sautéed stringbeans.
I might return, but my wife found the menu to be too bizarre in many respects (and that’s one reason I appreciate the place). Where else can you be served a dish of duck heads, or fish-​head soup?

We were here for dinner on a Tuesday evening, The place was busy but we were seated immediately. It’s a small restaurant, only minutes from the subway station.
This restaurant serve Northern style Chinese food. The menu is great! Lots of pictures! This is great for the people who is not familiar with the kind of food they are serving. We ordered the crispy fish filet with hot pepper & the pork with spicy garlic sauce. The crispy fish filet has cumin, which is great! We love it! They also put a lot of sliced onion which is also great! One of us really love onion! The crispy fish filet isn’t as crispy but you can tell that it’s a fish filet, not just some thin filet with lots of breading. The pork with garlic sauce were delicious but extremely greasy. It’s shredded pork swimming in chili oil. It is definitely not something we would eat pretty often.
Overall, the food here is delicious. It’s definitely worth stopping by. If you happen to be staying at the Comfort Inn on 37^th ave, this restaurant is pretty much almost next to it. The portion is definitely generous. We spent about $ 31 here for dinner & there was so much food for the price we paid. We were so stuffed. One minor flaw about this place is that the food can take a little long to come out. The wait wasn’t ridiculously long but it’s just longer than most Chinese restaurant.

The spicy red pepper lamb was our favorite. If you like basil, the stir fried eggplant with basil was excellent. We came as a group of 6 and there was nothing we had that we did not love. Would recommend this place any day.

Ordered the spicy lamb with chili and was totally wowed by the combination of chili, onions, cliantro and the magic ingredient: cumin. Could quibble about the small size of the lamb pieces, but won’t since there was a fair amount of meat overall.
Not usually a fan of peanuts or carrot, but was taken by the complementary appetizer of marinated peanuts, carrots and celery.
Nice staff too!
Will definitely be going back to try more.
On my second visit I ordered the oxtail with corn. The segments of corn on the cob were amazingly sweet, the mushrooms succulent, and the bamboo shoots and baby bok choy were crispy. That said, the meat on the bone, while tender, was a bit sparse and didn’t have that marrow richness that oxtail can have. Still, the mandala arrangement of the elements and the preparation had the feel of a high end restaurant.
Third visit: Baby chicken with mushroom. An good amount of small chunks of chicken on the bone, black mushrooms and sweet potato noodle comes in a slightly thickened wonderfully rich flavored soup. That said, the chicken had a disappointingly dry texture; guess «baby» means lacking in fat that makes meat moist. This comes in a small wok that they put over a heating flame: my advice, don’t use the flame which will overcook the meat even more.
Based on these experiences, I’m wondering if meat isn’t their forte, or is treated like a flavoring more than a primary ingredient. The strength of some aspect of every dish prevents me from reducing my rating – so far.

On a hot summer night in Manhattan we ventured on the #7 train to Flushing Queens (NYC’s other China Town) on a mission for greatchinese food. Mission accomplished.!!
Xiao Dong Bai offers a varied menu of authentic delicacies prepared in a light and clean manner. There is nothing here that is swimming in globs of chili oil and fat like most chinese restaurants these days. Everything coming out of Xiao Dong Bai’s wok is stir fried to crispy
crackly goodness.
Now for the Particulars:
The cold dishes of spicy tofu noodles and wood ear fungus salad were exceptional. The noodles were quite firm «al dente» if you will and lightly coated in a delicious asian vinaigrette that packed a hot but reasonable punch. The salad was pungent light and slippery. A perfect way to begin on this hot humid night.
The next dish to arrive was a whole shrimp fried with
Dry red chili peppers. They were crispy crunchy and can
To be eaten whole in the shell especially good if you need to build up your calcium reserves. After this came a wonderful stir fry of eggplant potato and green onions. It was off the chain yum and we finished every morsel. Finally skinless chicken thighs, bone in over Chinese cabbage in an aromatic sauce. The sauce was a little too powerful for our tastes but the chicken was perfectly stir fried with very little grease.
The staff are extremely friendly and are happy to explain
the extensive menu and to guide you as many of the
Offerings here are not commonly found in most Americanized Chinese restaurants. The menu featured lots of pictures of the food and for me this is usually a turn off.
Since the menu is extraordinary and the offerings not
widely known to most non Chinese diners we can let this one slide. BTW it’s a few blocks from the Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue intersection but, it’s well worth the hike.

Wonderful northeast Chinese cuisine. It also has some sichuan style food. Would come again and again and again.

This restaurant reminds me why I love Unilocal.Great food at a place I would have easily overlooked. The stewed oxtail was incredible, their noodles were great and I enjoyed the black fungus with pork. I will go back!

I loved this place. I ate in the restaurant and the staff was helpful with my food selections. I ordered a steamed orange pork with rice. It was really great and the atmosphere was very authentic. Great Dim Sum!

Good vegetarian options. Try the fava/​broad bean dish, eggplant and peppers, and the tofu skin chili casserole.
Cumin chili lamb is solid and so is their shredded pickled cabbage and pork.
Interesting was the fried tea leaves and peppers on top of salt pepper shrimp.
Closing things out was the deep fried egg white meringue desserts stuffed with red bean paste (rolled in large pink? grain sugar). Only second time seeing this dessert offered since a visit to Toronto.
Clean interior, large clean bathroom. Good three large tables. Beer by the pitcher available.

炒鸡好吃！
I come from northern China and this place is very authentic. Highly recommend Stewed Chicken with mushroom (小鸡炖蘑菇), braised pork with vermicelli (酸菜炖粉丝), fried pork in scoop (锅包肉)
The chef is quite good at Sichuan food too.

The food here taste so good. I love the yam cabbage pork bone soup and braised fish fillet.

This was a wonderful find. It’s off the beaten track and I suspect it’s known only to those who seek out excellent meals made with fresh ingredients in authentic ways. We had several dishes and they were all superb. We will definitely return!

Definitely recommended this place! The most authentic northeastern chinese foods here

Very solid Northeast China cuisine from this relatively new house on 37^th Street, Flushing.
A modestly sized floor with enough room for several large tables, or many more smaller ones, the space feels bright even on a rainy night in November. The staff is accommodating and easily chats with the customers when they have a spare moment. They were all bilingual and quickly made me comfortable.
I ordered Eggplant and Peppers in Soy Bean Sauce and Shredded Pork in Sweet Bean Sauce. More than enough for 3 people. The Chinese Eggplant was tender with a mild sweetness that countered the heat from the Hot Green Peppers. The Soy Bean Sauce added a pleasant and mildly salty undertone that went well in combination. The Shredded Pork was cooked to complete softness, while the Sweet Bean Sauce lightly supplemented the flavor in a slightly sour direction. Again, they worked well together.
Xiao Dong Bei is a nice out of the way joint where a quiet meal can be treasured without the crowds and hype that come with the fame and long waits of the more well known places in town.
Definitely a keeper, at least until it is discovered and becomes impossible to walk into and get a table without a rez.