Nanking Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Artesia

Is there a better lunch buffet in Little India? I got Nanking for you, man!

$7.95 lunch buffet

I'm the buffet boss, especially when it comes to Little India. Nanking Chinese restaurant recently opened up in Little India Village, occupying the former home of Tangy Tomato. The cuisine consists of Indian, Chinese & Nepalese dishes.

First thing I wanted to try? The Chinese food. Haka noodles & fried rice- Surprisingly well done, the noodles & rice weren't oily or salty. Neither were they spicy. These were light & excellent tasting.

Hot & sour and sweet corn soup- I found these absolutely delicious! Both were thick & hearty, moreso than the ones I'm accustomed to from Chinese restaurants. Rich in flavor, I favored the hot & sour soup because of the savory over the sweet from the sweet corn, but both are fortifying and warming to the soul.

Manchurian veggie balls- Looking just like meatballs, the Manchurian veggie balls were mealy in texture, but the sauce contributed a spicy tanginess. Close your eyes, and you'll think you're eating meat.

Nepalese & Indian food. Bagara baingan- I love me some eggplant, and these were terrific. Fork tender & bright, the bagara baingan were one of the highlights for me.

Chicken pakora- Think boneless wings. The chicken pakora were succulent & juicy, with a light, crunchy coating. I can put away about a ton of these watching Walking Dead or Ancient Aliens. Know what I'm sayin?

Other favorites included daal, paneer, chicken biryani, goat curry & samosas. Unfortunately, no momos (dumplings) are offered during the lunch buffet.

Dessert- The buffet's dessert section was comprised of fresh fruit (cantaloupe & pineapple), jello & the sinfully addictive mango soufflé- Reminding me of the mango pie filling I make using cans of mango pulp & Knox unflavored gelatin, this was akin to whipped mango pudding. Sweet, but not too sweet. Slightly ethereal, but enough substance to coat the tastebuds with the flavor profile of sweet Indian mango. I demonstrated the utmost restraint & kept myself from taking the entire tray of mango souffle for myself.

Service was good. My plates were cleared in a timely manner & my soda water w/lime filled. Plenty of table seating inside, hospitable to large groups & gatherings. Several flatscreen TV's with Indian music videos & the BBC for your viewing pleasure.

Parking is in a private lot at Little India Village. Be mindful that parking is strictly enforced. Your car may be towed if you leave to walk down Pioneer Blvd. Nanking Chinese is on the second floor of the South Wing of the shopping center.

Feel like a king for a pauper's price! Nanking Chinese offers up delicious Indian/Chinese/Nepalese cuisine at a bargain basement price. I immensely enjoyed helping myself to the lunch buffet, the highlights being the chicken pakora, bagara baingan, the samosas, the soup. Pretty much the entire buffet. Nanking Chinese is a welcome addition to the competitive Little India market & I'll be a frequent visitor whenever my tummy hankers for Himalayan food once more.

Highly...

For the lunch Buffet if you check do the Yelp check- in, it's $7.99. I however, did the Groupon. It's the $10 for $20 but the voucher states it's only from Tuesday-Friday.

On the 2nd floor of the plaza (parking plenty free in the lot), this I believe is a difficult location in the past due to low visibility. It's a semi-circle, full of windows with red drapes, reminiscent of Chinese dining. The buffet is located on the wall next to the kitchen. Before I talk about what is good and what I didn't like on the food, I want to let you know the flavors were all there but quality could be better. I guess for a $8 buffet (Or $5 in my case), they weren't really going to make much money.

The Garlic Naan Bread-ask for it. However, ours came out crispy. More like a quesadilla with flavorings.

The Saag Paneer. The cheese tasted super soft. Good flavoring, didn't taste fresh but I would get it again.

Chicken Tikka -Probably the best dish here. Tasted fresh and flavorful but doesn't taste like it has Ghee on it. There are sides of onions and lemons further down the station.

Chicken Biryani-This came out a little later after we came in. It was a full try of it and actually quite good.

Yes, there are a couple of curries, both were decent but not much meat.

There's not really any Chinese dish here. No dumplings (Momos) for the lunch buffet. There was a Jalapeno dish that tasted like a the Chinese Eggplant dish.

And service here is quite good. The younger gentleman always asked if we needed anything. Also the lady comes around and asks if we wanted beer.

For some of the bad, not every dish had a name on it. Most of the dishes I've had at one time or another (there's really not that many for the buffet). The ones that looks like it was deep fried or with a lot of sauce, I skipped.

Our table was wobbly, some eating wasn't really enjoyable until we moved to the other side of the table.

The mango pudding tasted like mango lassi with more condensed milk and chilled. A bit too sweet for me.

Overall, this is not a bad buffet if you want something different. It's cheap, fast, and friendly. Selections could be better, but you are getting what you paid for here. Oh and my stomach didn't quite agree with the food that I ate here, so I had to take off for that making this place just okay. Otherwise, it would've...

I'm a big foodie!

I can appreciate when restaurants put in the efforts and do their best yet something goes wrong! I can also appreciate food that may be presented good, but may lack the taste or say vice-versa. However when every opportunity is missed... Here is what happened...

I order food to-go. The food took a lot longer than suggested it will take over the phone. They messed up on my order and called me 10 minutes after I left and asked me to come back to pick up something they didn't add in my order. When I got home the quantity of the food was half of what you'd get if you order in person but I paid the same price. There were 2 dishes that were missing. There was no effort in presenting the food. I ordered, 1 Gobi Manchurian (wet) 2 Gobi Manchurian (dry), fried rice, sweet corn soup, manchaw soup, haka noodles and American chopisue. Neither of the dishes looked like what they should. For 2 I don't know what they looked like since I never got them. The flavor was anything but what you'd expect for those dishes to taste. I paid a premium price to order food to go, did not get what I wanted, food tasted anything but what's expected, Quality of food was stale and inconsistent. Overall, I had a very horrific experience here!

What boggles my mind, is they have Indo-Chinese in their name, yet, the food quality, taste or presentation feels like a novice's attempt to cook for the first time!

I would NOT recommend...