Nihal Chinese, Dubai - Hidden Handmade Delights

Can anyone say dumplings? Lamb dumplings people!

Does anything say delicious more than a heaped pile of freshly steamed, juicy lamb dumplings? I doubt it very much. Each hot little parcel is a flavour explosion that leaves you fumbling with your chopsticks to try and stab at the next slippery sucker. When they are cooked fresh, with the perfect ratio of casing to meat quantity,  they tick every box in my book. The dumplings at Nihal Chinese have received significant hype and I am happy to report (as is not always the case) that they lived up to, if not exceeded, their fine reputation!

The vegie dumplings were fresh and fantastic

Dumplings aside, I tend to cringe at the suggestion of "Chinese." Far, far too often, my experience of Chinese cuisine has been a salty, oily, bland adaptation of a traditional dish which rewards you with psychedelic MSG fueled dreams. I was ready to be proven wrong.

We gathered a willing group and ventued off into the night to pay a visit to Nihal Chinese which is not the easiest restaurant to find thanks in part to its fading sign and its somewhat awkward location. Our perseverance was awarded upon arrival with our very own private room which is always nice when you have a larger group but it does segregate you somewhat from the entertainment of Nihal's open kitchen where, for better or worse, you can witness your meal being created.

Handcrafted Noodle Soup with Lamb

We started with the dumplings; how could we not? We were a tad disappointed that the famed pan fried bao were not available on the night we were there. However, the disappointment was short lived following the delivery of bulging plates of the handmade lamb, chicken and vegetable dumplings. Wow! The dumplings use a much thinner casing than the bao which is more like a cake/bun texture. This means that the dumplings really showcase their contents in all their glory. While the lamb ones were unquestionably delicious, the chicken dumplings were a big hit and the freshness of the vegetable dumplings won over even the most steadfast carnivores of our group.

While ordinary, civilised humans would have been satisfied after the dumplings, we clearly did not fit this description and proceeded to order an incredible quantity of food. The menu sucks you in with page after page of enticing photos, and the prices are too cheap to deter you from ordering insane quantities. I started with a very simple, but perfectly tasty seaweed with egg soup - a pallet cleanser really. Out of the two noodle soups we ordered, the definite winner was the lamb. The handcrafted noodles were sensational and the lamb was surprisingly good quality meat - as opposed to the Beef soup which was let down by the fatty, chewy scraps of beef. The noodles were quite different to other handmade noodles we had tried elsewhere; they were much wider and were quite thick, but this suited the intensity of the soup's flavour very nicely.

Spicy Handcrafted Noodles - AWESOME!

In case our stomachs weren't ready to explode, we rounded off our soups with a bowl of spicy handcrafted noodles which came a very close runner up to the lamb noodle soup and the dumplings! The spice of the sauce drizzled over and hiding under the noodles was just right - a warm, green pepper type of spice that perfectly complemented the slightly thinner noodles which were topped with a generous scoop of peanuts.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Nihal Chinese received a unanimous vote of 'Highly Recommended'. It has some really excellent food at incredibly reasonably prices for a Dubai restaurant. Although some of the food took awhile to make it to the table, the staff were friendly and attentive and when the food came it was fresh, good quality and delicious. The serving sizes are also very generous and the handmade noodles are the best I have had in a long time. It is definitely worth the trek to Jumeriah to try out this restaurant and we will be heading back to try the elusive fried bao very soon!

The bill (for 2, but there was enough for at least 4 people):
1 x Signature Lamb Dumplings - 26 Dhs
1 x Steamed Vegetable Dumplings - 18 Dhs
1 x Steamed Chicken Dumplings - 20 Dhs
1 x Fried Handcrafted Noodle Soup with Lamb (Medium) - 20 Dhs
1 x Handcrafted Noodle Soup with Beef (Medium) - 20 Dhs
1 x Seaweed with Egg Soup - 8 Dhs
1 x Handcrafted Noodles (spicy) - 12 Dhs
1 x Homemade Lemonade - 10 Dhs
1 x Endless Pot of Jasmine Tea - 28 Dhs
1 x large water - 6 Dhs
TOTAL: 168 Dhs (Approx. US$45)

Restaurant address:Jumeirah 1, opposite Union House, where the enormous flagpole is.

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