Begun the dim sum wars have.
As I wrote in another review, my go-to place for dim sum east of Flushing has always been Northern Manor. LN1380 is the newest dim sum place to hit Little Neck, and perhaps not coincidentally it's just two doors down. On the one hand, this was quite the cheeky move by the owners, but on the other hand, if a little competition will help both restaurants provide higher and higher quality dim sum for all of us, that's never a bad thing.
Of course, putting your restaurant two doors down from your competitor is going to lead to comparisons, and so that's how I'll frame this review.
- The layout - This is all-important for a dim sum place, and Northern Manor wins this one hands down, helped by the fact that they just have more room to work with. At LN1380 we were seated on a side table, and the space was so limited that carts couldn't even roll by. We often had to get up out of our seats to flag down certain food (which kind of defeats the purpose of dim sum).
- The food - I tend to judge dim sum by the shumai, and my wife judges it by the chicken feet. The shumai was good, but just seemed a little overcooked--just a bit too poofy and soggy. My wife reports that the chicken feet were too soggy as well. The slight edge here goes to Northern Manor was well, where both those things usually come out just right.
- The service - This is where I give a big edge to Northern Manor. As we were wrapping up our meal, we asked one of the servers if we could order something to go. She seemed annoyed at us and told us to go to the front to pay, and then we could order whatever she wanted there. To the manager's credit, he intercepted my wife and told her he'd take care of it.
- The creativity - This is clearly where LN1380 is looking to differentiate themselves, and they do a pretty good job. They have cute menu options such as glutenous rice balls shaped like a chick, sweet buns shaped like little pigs (complete with ears and snout made of tiny buns), and sausage buns shaped like little dogs. Granted, a lot of their innovations are gimmicky, and they do come at a cost, but I do like the fact that they try.
- The customers - Not a good thing or a bad thing, but just an observation. I sensed that the clientele in LN1380 were more upscale, "hipster" types, while Northern Manor tended to have more families and "regular" folk.
- The cost - Big edge to Northern Manor here. Our bill at LN1380 for two people came out to over $60, which is over $20 more than what we usually at at Northern Manor. Granted, we tried a few of their unique dishes, which added quite a bit to the bill. But I was disappointed that they even charged for tea, which is akin to McDonalds charging for napkins and packets of salt.
- Parking - It stinks for both LN1380 and Northern Manor. Both have parking lots in the back; Northern Major is first-come, first-served, while LN1380 charges for valet parking. You'll do best to get a spot at a meter on the street.
And so the winner by split decision is Northern Manor. If I had to choose between the two (and I do), Northern Manor will typically be my go-to place, although I wouldn't hesitate to walk two doors down to LN1380 if the wait is too long. I should also say that both places still pale in comparison to Flushing, but if you live in Eastern Queens or Nassau County and need your dim sum fix without having to deal with traffic and parking, you can't go wrong with either of them. read more