I think this place is better than Tai Er and Nai brother (and certainly more reasonably priced than both) - probably the best sauerkraut fish I've had in NYC to date.
I came by for a weekend lunch with 2 friends - they were pretty busy (the restaurant isn't the biggest) but we were able to get seated in 10-15 min.
For the fish stew you can order either the large or small size, whose portion size they suggest is suitable for 2 people or 1 person, respectively. We ordered one large and one small option, and we ended up taking home enough for another meal later, but I think just 1 large wouldn't quite have been enough for the three of us.
In any case, we had the snakehead fish / laotan pickled cabbage base 老罈酸菜魚(黑魚) and the basa fish with the "royal tomato" base 公舉蕃茄魚(巴沙魚). The suancai base was delicious, with a healthy kick of spicyness without being overpowering, and a nice choice of side dishes (big fan of the bean curd). The fish itself was really soft and yummy.
Tomato base, in contrast, wasn't that great - the soup broth itself was too heavy/thick, but the flavour was nice (and the basa fish was fine). We ordered the snakehead/suancai dish as part of the combo set, which also came with drinks and the yummy brown sugar glutinous rice cake (紅糖糍粑) dessert.
Price point was really solid (came out to less than $25pp in total, with leftovers!), which was definitely great value for the quality of the fish and portion sizes. Will try to...
Read morebeen wanting to give this spot a try and finally stopped in last night to get takeout. the menu consists of mostly fish dishes and you can get them as a set meal or a-la-carte. i opted for the small snakehead poached fish with pickled mustard. you also get to pick two "sides", basically, veggies or other additional items to add to the fish dish. i picked wood ear fungus and the clear noodles. service was quick and i got my order pretty quickly.
the dish was studded with green peppercorns and dried chili peppers. i'd say the spice level is a 2-3 on a scale of 10. the fish comes with skin-on, one thing to note if you don't like eating fish skin, and is oh-so-tender. broth was hot and slightly tart from the pickled mustard. the slippery noodles was a nice addition. the rice was really fragrant and nicely cooked. i usually try to limit how much rice i'd eat and i couldn't resist.
service was really good and i do think it's a good value (made two meals out of it). would return to try the...
Read moreA little shop of Chinese sauerkraut-style fish bowls, with pickled veggies and golden, sour or salty/oily broth over fish, beef, or pork along with some appetizers. The appetizers were just ok, but the aromatic hot oil and suancai fish was excellent, more than enough for one person (plus maybe one). You can swap out the two veggies with other choices but I liked the lettuce and baby nappa.
Everyone gets a bowl of rice, and they have a gift card deal - buy $300 and get $50 free. Plus free meal on your birthday, and some discounts on Tuesdays or Wednesdays? Check the signs. Seats filled up quickly on a weekend and they were packed - come early and enjoy. The double serving for two was smaller than a single serving for one, so just get two if you have two good sized appetites.
Single unisex bathroom, and the tables have drawers with paper napkins. Drinks - eh, pass, had better elsewhere. They did forget a dish, but that's ok, we were...
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