In less than 3 years, Lin has established itself as an award-winning Northern Chinese restaurant…even the reputable Conde Nast Travellers Magazine featured Lin as having the best xiao long bao and noodle soup in the world.

For the quality and ingenuity of the food, the prices are very budget friendly.   All their dumplings and noodles are hand-made too. When you walk in the restaurant, you’ll notice it’s not a particularly polished place but it was comfortable. The waitress who served us was very bubbly and cheerful, and treated everyone as if they were a long lost relative.

We didn’t think too hard of what to order…well because I knew what I wanted lol. Luckily, my family and relatives were pleased with my selection.

Of course, we had to order their highly acclaimed xiao long bao and another dumpling dish, the vegetable and pork dumplings aka shui gao

After a careful bite, I understood why this little package of soup and meat won so many awards. The skin was very delicate and light but not too thin that it would break when you try to pick it up. It was really one of the most ‘soupiest’ dumplings around and the meat filling was very soft. The hearty vegetable and pork dumplings was served in this tasty light broth.

Other well known delicacies to try were the Lion’s Head (aka Chinese meatballs) and the Shanghai Style Meat Cakes

We had the ‘red’ variation of the Lion’s head, pork meatballs, which was braised in soya sauce and oil. The meatballs were very tender but because it was in a soy & oil like stew it was too greasy for my liking. The Shanghai Style Meat cakes are cured meat in puff pastry. I loved how the meat was both savoury and sweet…sort of reminds me of a BBQ pork bun filling, and the pastry was very light and flaky.

The smoked tea duck looked interesting and I thought it would go well with my childhood favourite, the Shanghai style vegetable and salted meat on rice

The smoked tea duck definitely had that smoked cured taste to it but I was disappointed it didn’t have a richer tea flavour. The rice was a bit on the salty side from the meat but it wasn’t overwhelming. My grandparents used to make this for me with diced bak choy and chopped stir-fried beef. Each bite brought back fond memories *sigh*

I appreciate Lin’s approach in making these dishes accessible to everyone, and bringing a feel of a hometown family-gathering to the restaurant. And based on the crowd that night, the neighborhood loves this new kid on the block too.

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House
1537 W Broadway