In today’s installment of “What Did Spencer Eat For Lunch?” I visited XLB, which has been on my list for awhile now. XLB is a fast casual Chinese restaurant with a limited menu that features Bao. Their namesake (XLB) is an acronym for Xiao Long Bao, which are soup dumplings. Those are smaller and come in a steam basket with 8. What I ordered was the Pork and Cabbage Bao, which are larger and come 3 per order. Steamed buns filled pork and cabbage with a tangy soy dipping sauce. They were tasty. Pork and cabbage is such a great combination and the dipping sauce was a perfect tangy/vinegary foil to the flavors. My only complaint was that they were a bit too dough-y, especially the top half. Next time I will order the namesake XLB, which are smaller, more dumpling than bun.

Also ordered a noodle dish, the Beef Ho Fun pictured below. This is a Cantonese wide noodle stir fry with beef, green onions and bean sprouts. I love wide noodles and they are always my go to, whether Chinese or Thai. Give me all that gluten and starch! The best part about this dish was the beef. It was marinated properly in a soy sauce mix and had enough tang and flavor. The rest of the dish was lacking in flavor and punch. They should have used some of the beef marinade as sauce for the dish. The green onions were a bit much in terms of quantity and size, and the sprouts didn’t contribute much. I would have liked more greens cut smaller (bok choy, peppers, etc.). The dish as a whole needed more seasoning, but the flavorful beef helped save it. A hearty dish. I’m intrigued enough to go back and try some other things, specifically the XLB and their Five Spice Popcorn Chicken. Happy eating!