He Nan Flavor: a bit let down...
So there's been a lot of excitement / hype over He Nan Flavor coming to Manhattan. And I'm all for more Chinese regional cuisines being represented, so I was pretty excited. You never know what the next Xi'an will be.
Well, He Nan it ain't.
There was nothing BAD about the food, mind you - and perhaps this is merely the fault of there being too much good food in our city, at every price point, that the level of the game has been raised - but even at the low prices, I don't feel in much of a rush to go back.
Yes, the "pancake with pork" was both cheaper and larger than Xi'an's, but at those low prices the difference is middling. Unfortunately, it fell flat on flavor - it kind of didnt taste like anything. I added a squirt of Sriracha to mine, which made it more enjoyable. But then it just tasted like Sriracha. I could see grabbing one to go if I was in the neighborhood and wanted something quick and filling, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way for it.
The second dish I tried was the pork and black bean lo mein. Again, the same issue as the pancake - there simply wasn't much flavor going on in there. The noodles, when I opened the container (I got take-out) were one giant blob - they were in the bag for maybe around 10 minutes. I've gotten take-out noodles from Xi'an, which an even further walk from my apartment, and they didn't gum up. And while I'm sure that texturally they'd have been better were they eaten at the restaurant, the problem wasn't so much the texture as the flavor - or lack of it. This time I went with some Chiu Chow, which again made things better - but the underlying dish added very little to the flavor conversation. I make a better black bean sauce at home, to be honest. It actually tastes like something. That said, the veggies were fresh and crisp and provided nice contrast,
Finally, I moved on to the Big Tray Of Chicken. Well, any worries about lack of flavor were swept aside the moment I pulled the lid off. A waft of aromas came flying out - bright fresh cilantro, a touch of anise. And the taste didn't disappoint - deep and rich, if not terribly complex (but we're not dining at Le Bernardin, here...)
The chicken was all good and tender, though it was a bit haphazardly chopped - you need to be mindful to look out for tiny bits of bone. But overall, good stuff! This was a dish worth ordering again. My only complaint is that it's VERY oily - about halfway through, my skin started to feel greasy, had to set the rest aside for later.
Anyway, BTOC was decent enough for me to go back and perhaps try a couple different things - I've heard the sour vegetable dumplings are good, perhaps one of the lamb soups. But for now, the jury's still out.
It wasn't a bad experience, mind you, like my ill-fated trip to the inexplicably lauded A-Wah. Just didn't quite live up to the hype I'd been hearing on the boards.
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A-Wah
5 Catherine St, New York, NY 10038
He Nan Flavor
68 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002
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Tried both the pork pancake and pork and black bean lo mein as well - on site. Agree to some extent, I think the pork filling at Xi'an Food is slightly better, though the pancake itself was very good. Actually, I thought the whole thing tasted better after I re-heated it in my toaster oven at home.
The noodles were good, but I like mine a tad chewier, like at Xi'an. I added a little chili oil, but found the dish got better as I got closer to the bottom of the bowl, where the broth/sauce really soaked into the noodles.
Would like to give the big tray of chicken and their lamb noodle soup a shot.
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re: squid kun
scoopG
May 16, 2011 06:59 AM
I've had the Big Plate of Chicken dish at both places (in-house) and have found them the same.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/774685
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I think a good part of the cachet for Xi'an And He Nan Flavor is that these are Chinese regional cuisines probably never seen before in the U.S. However, neither is this gourmet food, particularly considering the modest price tags of the items offered by both of these enterprises, just interesting and tasty food. I think the new name of the old Fried Dumpling on Allen St. sums it up--Inexpensive Delicacies.
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He Nan Flavor
68 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002›2 Replies-
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re: scoopG
sgordon
May 16, 2011 07:19 AM
"Gourmet" had nothing to do with my complaints. As I said - "we're not dining at Le Bernardin here."
Cheap is great. I was comparing the food to other places at a similar price point - I love Xi'an, the food is exciting and flavorful. At He Nan, it wasn't.
I guess the issue is I simply didn't find it to be "interesting and tasty food" - and truth be told, it doesn't even need to be interesting to please me, certainly not at that price point - just tasty is all I ask. Didn't feel I got that, though.
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