MÓGŪ Modern Chinese Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Babylon

In my 65 years I've eaten Chinese food pretty much everywhere. I was excited to try Mogu "Modern" Chinese food. My takeout order was waiting me when I arrived at the Commack branch of this relative newcomer to the shortlist of local Chinese food restaurants that are my old standbys. My first observation was that the restaurant was busy and that's always a good sign. My order waiting for me when I arrived and was handed to me by a nice young lady in a hefty paper bag and despite dropping more than $60 on dinner my first thought was, "Gee, the bag is a little light."

Mogu did not mess up my order as plainly seen on the receipt stapled to the bag that had each dish placed in the bag crossed off. Being that Mogu is a "modern Chinese restaurant," there are no heavy/laden dishes due to frying and this was a good omen (for the most part).

Let's begin with the staple of all Chinese apps, steamed pork dumplings. The order of dumplings (8) were accompanied by a rather underwhelming soy-ginger dipping sauce. I was disappointed that the vinegar tang that one gets with most dipping sauces just didn't enliven the rather blah pork filling. The dumpling skins tore easily and at least to me, they seemed over-steamed. I actually added some rice wine vinegar I had at home to the dipping sauce to give it some zing and it was MUCH better. Moving on ...

The scallion pancakes were nice and thankfully not those heavy, oil soaked triangular "sponges" served by many restaurants. Alas, that same soy-ginger dipping sauce was a letdown for an otherwise proper scallion pancake. Someone at Mogu doesn't seem to appreciate vinegar and its importance in Chinese dishes ... I regret that things got worse with the Mogu hot and sour soup ...

The hot and sour soup broth was nice. Consistency was very nice (no cornstarch taste) and the soup was swimming with all manner of textbook hot and sour soup ingredients. Missing: VINEGAR tang (c'mon Mogu kitchen ... someone must really dislike vinegar - why?), sesame oil (boy, it really needed it). There was a faint pepper overtone to the soup and the broth taste was clean. Please get someone to taste and adjust seasoning in all your food prep. Mogu is on to a great hot and sour soup but it DEFINITELY needs some tweaking.

I loved the King Egg Roll! The sauce that came with it reminded me of French dressing but somehow, it worked. The roll was intensely satisfying, filled with all manner of meat and vegs and THIS I would order, again ... yum!

"Emperor" Tso's Chicken was good. The sauce (which I asked for on the side) was nicely flavored and not overly sweet - just the right heat and intense flavor (here, the use of vinegar was on point). The air fried chicken chunks were OK, albeit a little on the dry side but the dish satisfies. This is a winner!

Pepper Steak was pretty good, too. The sauce was not overly packed with flavor but the flank steak was tender and the dish was full of peppers and onions. It was pleasant to eat.

The "almost" fried rice was barely passable and was conspicuously missing egg, scallions, peas, onions and a goodly addition of soy ... in other words, missing flavor.

My lasting impression of Mogu? Clean flavors and decent quality ingredients that need to be kicked up more in the kitchen. Mogu proves (quite well, too) that good Chinese food doesn't have to heavily fried. If they do some simple work kicking up flavors this could easily be my new "go to" Chinese restaurant. The concept is a good one ... now, get a few experienced chefs to help you develop the flavors more and you'll have a surefire winner!

FAVORITE DISHES King Egg Roll w/chicken Emperor...

Wow wow wow..I am in love with this place! Great concept! My fiancé and I love traditional Chinese food but stay away as of lately because of the sodium, the greasiness and fat. I’ve been dying to try this place as they promote a modern heathy Chinese cuisine on Instagram. Let me tell you they deliver on their promises! Upon heading there I called to inquire about the sodium and spoke to such a sweet woman named Annie she explained in quite detail how it’s all prepared in air woks and air fryers and made some great suggestions based on our nutritional needs, this was so helpful. When I got there I was happy to see the place was immaculate and upon working my way to the counter at least 3 employees were smiling greeting us and eager to help. I found Annie there who I spoke to on the phone and she continued to help. We ordered “The Emperor's Tso’s with the “not so fried rice” and the Chicken and broccoli in brown sauce with some egg drop soup we requested “no added salt.” We managed to snag a high top table with the help of Ryan who was bringing our food out and cleaned the area quickly so we could sit. :) We went to work on everything and let me tell you it all was outstanding, simply delicious. I love egg drop soup so much but usually avoid because of the overload of salt this was so good tasty without the overload. It all was better than I thought it would be. Annie came to check on us to see if it was ok or too salty…now this is served cafeteria style there are really no servers, only to bring the food to the table after ordering at the counter so this was above and beyond outstanding service by Annie, very caring. We talked about coming back and trying some more items like an egg roll about 2 mins later a worker came over to the table and offered us an egg roll of our choice on the house from Annie..I was so impressed with this.. how thoughtful, we picked a steak egg roll to go and wrapped some food to take home. Upon leaving I felt I needed to talk to a manager about how great everything was including Annie, to my surprise the young man who cleaned the table was the manager his name is Ryan and he is such an amazing person he talked so much about how they take pride in their restaurants and want to go beyond expectations. I assured him it’s working as I can see it in the food and the service. The employees like Annie who he is training to be the best is shining. I took some pictures when I got home.. the egg roll was sooo good. I do not have the Emperors tsos on here because my fiancé ate it all! It was crunchy and the sauce was perfect! I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves Chinese food but doesn’t like the msg the sodium the grease and extra calories. This place has the old school Chinese food taste with a healthy modern twist so fresh and tasty without the bloating, bad ingredients and guilt. Try for yourself and ignore bad reviews if they do not like it, it’s because they are used to the bad stuff. Great job Mogu Thank you, Annie, Ryan and Staff for a great lunch! This place deserves and appreciates your business!...

LET ME EMPHASIZE: Once you eat at this kitchen, you will never — and I mean NEVER — want to go to any of those cheap, greasy-spoon Chinese kitchens ever again. The food is delicious, the workers are friendly, and the inside is clean. I remember my family and I were leaving one night after finishing our meal, and a couple came too late due to them closing, and one of the workers even came outside and apologized due to them closing. I've been dying for a good Chinese food place for a while, and this is the perfect place. When you enter, the inside is already stunningly clean and the interior design is beautiful, and the smell inside is DELICIOUS. It doesn't have that greasy stench that most of the typical greasy-spoon Chinese kitchens do. And the reason why is because everything is air-fried, not stir-fried. So not only will it taste delicious, it will be MUCH HEALTHIER. All of the drinks are also right up at the counter, and to my surprise they have Boylan's soda! Another plus! Before I ordered my Emperor Tso's, I asked if I could get a small sample of the sauce/glaze they use for it, and they did! I got mine spicy. Now, I'm a person who despises spicy things, but this was not hot at all, it was a beautiful blend between sweet and spicy. It doesn't hurt your mouth at all, despite there being dried peppers in it. For those who cannot have anything spicy what-so-ever, don't worry, you can order the Emperor Tso's without any spiciness! The chicken itself had a nice soft crispiness to it, and the cut of the chicken and the way it was cooked, it was not stringy, overly chewy, or overcooked at all. Very pleased! You should also try the Tangerine Chicken if you love General Tso's. Another dish I really loved here was the Mei Fun. I can't explain the taste, but it was delicious! Rice noodles cooked with eggs (really interesting!) and a variety of vegetables. Be careful, because it does have shrimp, but I presume you can get it without. As for the egg rolls, I wouldn't say they are bad, rather they are very different and fresher-tasting compared to the greasy-spoon kitchens, so expect it to not taste similar in any way. Would I recommend this kitchen? YES, 100%. Even to those who are really picky food eaters, as I am one, they should definitely try this place as they have nothing to worry about. It's all fresh, it tastes delightful, and overall I hope this place gets very popular. It's funny, I discovered this place by simply passing by it on the road, and I am glad my family and I tried it. I typically never give out 5 stars no matter what, however this was one of the most life-changing experience I've had. I may be exaggerating, but I will never again go back to a typical greasy-spoon Chinese kitchen. I cannot wait to come back every month to try all of the...