Fan’s Tea & Dumpling

On a Wednesday evening we were seated immediately by a friendly waitress. She answered our questions, explained the specials and brought water quickly. The menu is simple, there’s a bit of authentic and a bit of Americanized to it. We ordered pan-​fried dumplings as an app they were piping hot and crispy around the edges, yummy.
Entrees arrived, combination noodles for me. Loaded with meat and veggies, good stuff. Service was great, the dining area is nothing fancy but it’s quiet and clean. Prices are reasonable.
It’s worth noting that they offer hot-​pot for one, $ 15. I’ve only ever seen this as servings for 4 or more.

I found this place yesterday and I went back for their roasted duck again today! This restaurant is a absolute hidden gem! I think they changed owners a few months ago. But yes I will definitely recommend this restaurant!

«Comfort Food from Hong Kong» — That pretty much sums up the offerings from the less-​known restaurant.
I’ve been aware of the restaurant for a while now, in fact I got to know it only from Unilocal’s one day I was browsing for nearby restaurants at Oak Park Mall. It didn’t come back to me until friends of mine told me about the Hong Kong-​style «cart noodles» offered at Fan’s. I was intrigued immediately!
Cart Noodles from Hong Kong got its name because they’re first offered by hawkers, usually unlicensed, selling noodles in a cart on the streets. The car has a main boiler (maybe two, one for spicy and the other one not) for soup-​base, customers can choose from different kind of noodles and other ingredients to the noddles. The base-​price covers the noodles and soup, and each ingredient is added at a fixed price, and you can order as many (or little) as you want, customize it to your liking.
Back to the Fan’s: Not only does it offer cart noodles, it also offers some Hong Kong style rice dishes with Hong Kong-​style BBQ pork and steam-​cooked chicken. It comes with generous portion. Unfortunately due to limited ingredients offered in KC area and limited amount of customers, some BBQ items which require long cooking/​processing time and quick turn-​around are missing, such as roast pork with crispy skin… which could be sourced from 888 Market just 2 exits down on Highway 69 but I’d say the owner smartly decided not to, or else it could risk selling un-​crispy and items. Anyhow, the combo meat dish items are roast duck, BBQ pork and steamed chicken with ginger-​scallion sauce.
You won’t find the typical Chinese menu here, but I can tell you the price is very reasonable for the cart noodles and the Hong Kong-​style BBQ items. It’s definitely worth trying.

Never had a bad meal here. Solid, fresh option for local Chinese food. Many of their chicken dishes are white meat only instead of random chicken parts at other Chinese joints.
The location is odd — sandwiched next to an Iranian market and across the parking lot from National American University. I hope their lunch crowd during the week is better than the evenings — I wouldn’t expect them to be here much longer if they can’t muster up the business. From the looks of it, though, their carry-​out business is good.

Delightful experience. Beware they downsized there menu and have less options, but what they do have is great. We ordered to go because they no longer deliver. We ordered both steamed and fried dumplings. Both were very satisfying. They are served with a great dipping sauce. Anything with their pork has great authentic Peking, China traditional flavor. Next time we’re trying the duck. To top it off the two ladies that rang me up were incredibly friendly. I practiced speaking manadarin with them while I was waiting and they printed off a new menu for me to take home. More people need to try this place and repeat visit.

Great food, not expensive. I’d much rather have freshly cooked food than eat stuff that’s been on a buffet for hours. Even their lunch portions are big. The most expensive lunch dish is the Triple Delight at $ 7. Comes with soup, fried rice, and a crab rangoon. Really like their sauces. So tasty!

I heard rumors about the service being sub-​par and the wait time for one’s order being something close to ‘glacial.’ However, I found the wait staff to be attentive and lively and the timeliness of my order to be prompt and punctual. I wasn’t impressed by either facet but I wasn’t disappointed either.
If anything, the food was just as ‘adequate.’ There was nothing remarkable in either good or bad measure. It was pretty on-​par with other fast-​food/​convenient Chinese/​Pan-​Asian watering holes. The setting wasn’t pretty or emersive and it wasn’t dirty or cluttered. It was, plain.
I would feel pretty safe giving this place a solid ‘C’ for the whole experience. It is exactly as one would expect. It was an average experience that won’t make your toes curl and it won’t fill you with rage.

Just… no. I should have trusted the bad reviews. The dumplings are ok, I guess, but nothing to write home about. I’ve eaten quite a few Chinese dumplings in my day (mostly in San Francisco and Toronto). These were what jarred pasta sauce is to a trattoria in Rome. Meh.
But the really awful part was the lo mein. Tasteless, greasy, heavy, inedible. Served inexplicably with a side of white rice (with noodles?!). And a leaden, greasy, cardboard-​like spring roll. I don’t like to pan restaurants. I feel bad for places that are just trying to make a go of it. But really, the person cooking in this restaurant has no business being in the business of selling food.

The menu looks like a westernized Chinese restaurant but I didn’t really care as I was on a mission to try the dumplings. I mean, come on, it’s part of the restaurant’s name, the dumplings HAVE to be good.
They were TO.DIE.FOR.
I ordered the steam dumplings which were stuffed to the max with meat (6 for $ 4.50). The (not) soy sauce that comes with it was SO perfect. While I waited, the lady offered me some oolong tea and made me feel so warm and welcomed. I don’t know why people had qualms about the service, as my to-​go experience was nothing but good.
I went at around 12:45pm on a Friday and it was a major deadzone… not sure why though…

OK, so after several takeout trips of ordering Kung Pao Chicken, I finally decided to try a couple of other dishes I usually like. The Kung Pao is just so good, I didn’t want to miss out on it.
First, I tried the General Tsao’s Chicken. It was a disappointment. It was NOT spicy at all. In fact, I felt like the breading was pretty mushy. It came with a generous side of steamed broccoli, so at least I fooled myself into thinking it was a healthy meal. I DID grab a bottle of hot sauce out of my fridge and slather it. Oooooo, things changed!!! Oh yes, this made ALL the difference! I will order the Tsao’s again.
Next, I tried the Pork Lo Mein. The pork was lean and had a smokey flavor, and the lo mein noodles were as usual. Is there any other way to get them? Again, I added hot sauce, and it was delicious!
Although the Kung Pao is still by far the healthiest of any of my favorite dishes at Fan’s, I now know if I desire a temporary change from my routine, I have delicious options.
And as always, their takeout service is impeccable. I don’t know her name, but the lady who answers the phone and runs the front counter is delightful. She’s always professional, friendly, and talkative.

I’m no expert on Chinese food, but I know enough to avoid those places with pictures of the entrees in lieu of a menu. I had the lo mein and my husband had the triple delight, and we were both very pleased. The spring rolls tasted fresh, as did the crab rangoon. Our soups were flavorful and the service was fabulous.

I have been meaning to get on here and update my original review of this restaurant for a while now. Originally I had given this place a 5-​star rating but ever since it had change ownership in last April, its gone absolutely down hill. The original owner Jennifer, had used quality ingredients in her phenomenal entrees but the current owner has a different agenda and it shows. The presentation and the taste are horrid. Never again… Save yourself from this awful experience.

With new Management comes poorly flavored food. This place used to be a weekly stop for carryout on the way home. So what changed? The food used to have great flavor. You could actually taste the individual ingredients. Crab Wontons had actual chunks of crab and bits of scallions mixed in the cream cheese — now it is nothing but cream cheese and tastes of old grease in the fryer. Pork fried rice now tastes like used vegetable oil. Orange beef now tastes just how it sounds — none of the subtleties from before. Cashew Chicken is bland. Mongolian beef is watery. Twice cooked pork is just steamed to be reheated. I could go on but the message is the same — BLAND. Bring back the former management. I would gladly sacrifice speedy service for quality food.

Regretfully, I cannot give Fan’s Tea anything more than one star. While their food is good, it’s not worth a drive for the horrendous service.
I wanted the chow fun. I was told the chow fun was delicious and honestly, it’s one of my favorite dishes. I was hoping to get a chow fun Big Wong style. So that’s what I ordered. The other almost dozen people had put in their orders as well, all at the same time.
Not too long after, people start getting their apps. Then people start getting their entrees. I watch as everyone else gets their food, though it’s only coming out dish by dish over a half hour period. That is, everyone else except my husband, me and another person. I hadn’t eaten all day so I’m no longer hungry but starved. Finally a plate was set in front of me. It looks good. I’m thinking this is my husband’s plate. He’s thinking it’s mine. After discussing and exclaiming, «We didn’t order that!», our waitress came over and insisted that’s what we ordered. Uh uh. So I ask her to go find out when the beef chow fun will be ready.
At this point, we both feel like starving kids from Africa so we dig in. After all, it’s been about an hour since we put in our order. Fast service! Almost half an hour later, my husband’s dish comes out. Really fast service.
They never even came out with the chow fun, nor did they apologize. When I started making comments to our dinner crowd about how I still never got what I ordered, one of the other guys said they told him in Chinese. Uhh, why are you telling him and not me? I have lived within enough Asian communities to know how that works but that still doesn’t irk me any less or make me think that it’s less racist.
No apologies or even offers to remedy the situation at all. There are plenty of other places closer so I don’t have to deal with crappy, racist, slow service.

I will start by saying that the steamed dumplings were amazing. I also had their hot and sour soup. It was just as good as most, but nothing stood out about it. The GF had chicken fried rice. I did not try it, but she said it was really good.
Our service was exactly what I would expect in what appeared to be a family owned/​operated restaurant. The service was superb. We were in and out for dinner in less that 30min. I was surprised at this based on other reviews.
The only reservation that I have about this place is the name. I only counted three dishes with dumplings. To me, if your name contains the words tea and dumplings, there should be several varieties of each. That being said, I do realize that it would be hard to make it on only tea and dumplings in OPR. Oh well, the dumplings I had were really, really good. I will definitely go back.

5 stars for the food. 1 star for the service.
A regular told us to order the chow fun (sp). I ordered the chicken mixed vegetables and hot and sour soup as well.
We were at a table along with a dozen other people. Everyone got their food at different times over a half hour period or longer. I think we were the last to get a dish other than hot and sour soup, which was spicy, but not that tasty.
They finally delivered our dish. We both exclaimed, «we didn’t order that!» When we got the waitress, she said it was beef chow mein. I repeated that we ordered beef chow fun twice. I know she wrote down the order originally. She said she’d get it right out to us and left the dish on our plate. Another half hour passes and still no chow fun or chicken with mixed veggies. I’m like, screw this, I’m eating the Beef Chow Mein! The next time the waitress comes, I ask where my other dish is… and she said they’re working on it. Over an hour after we placed our original order the one dish we actually ordered came out.
Now, the food itself, other than the hot and sour soup was excellent and some of the best we’ve eaten in the KC Metro. However, the service was ATROCIOUS. They never even came out with our Chow Fun or apologized or took anything off the bill. We ended up paying for an entrée we didn’t order, didn’t want, and by the time we realized they weren’t taking it back, it was lukewarm.
It’s rather sad that 1.5 hours after you ordered your food, you’re the last one still eating and everyone else has taken off or had long finished their food.
Also, apparently there were specials on a board. It would have been nice if they told us about it before ordering. For an authentic Chinese Restaurant, most of the dishes on the menu looked pretty «whitebread» to me. The food tasted great, though! Also, the place seems to have little seating. They even took one of our chairs away and brought it outside the restaurant in the middle of our meal, yet keeping the place setting where we could have used the room. What’s sup with that?
GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE! The service really wanted me to give this place one star, but the food itself was quite good.

And review #400 goes to… Fan’s Tea & Dumpling!
I met a few people (6 I think) here for dinner and drove 30ish miles in the snow to get here. That was a super long and slow drive which should take 30 minutes or so but took 1 hour because of the snow.
When you first walk in, you’ll notice that there’s a lot of open space. I feel like there could be room for a lot more tables and chairs but that’s just my opinion. The place was a little dim, but I was still able to see the menu. There weren’t a lot of people inside and I think it was because of the snow.
We all shared a few orders of Fried Dumplings ($ 4.50 and it comes with 6 pieces) which is actually pot stickers but whatever. lol I think they were all made from scratch or something. It tasted good and it had its own sauce to use. One of the guys in our group told me that the House Special Beef Noodle Soup ($ 8.50) was good so I ordered that. I think 2 other people at my table ordered the same thing I did.
The House Special Beef Noodle Soup tasted okay to me, but I guess I’m too used to the beef noodle soup I’ve eaten back in California. However, it was definitely a safe choice if you had no idea what to order. The egg roll was good but I didn’t dip it in the sauce they provided. This place charged for tea (I think $ 1.80) so don’t assume it’s free like how most Chinese restaurants I’ve been that had free tea.
Overall, I think this place was good and make sure to try their Fried Dumplings.

Count Mike P. as a fan of Fan’s.
(We have a mouse in our kitchen so until it is killed by one of six traps waiting for it, we eat out for dinner. Excuse to try new places!)
Fan’s Tea and Dumpling is, like other reviewers noted, off the street in a quiet strip mall. We dined at around 6:15 P.M. on a Thursday night and there was only two diners, but a steady stream of take-​out customers. No need for reservations, yet. That’s until the word about their from scratch dumplings gets out.
We ordered appetizers of Crab Rangoons (6 for $ 4.50) and Dumplings (6 for $ 4.50). I didn’t know there were other types of dumplings until reading Alisha V.‘s review, a day after my meal. I would like to see the items they make from scratch highlighted. The Rangoons were great! Not sure if house made but full of cheese and tiny specs of red crab meat, served with small dish of sweet and sour sauce.
The Dumplings were amazing. The dumplings are served on a bed of dry cabage and carrots. They weren’t greasy or oily at all. The teriyaki sauce that accompanies it is salty/​sweet.
**The service the entire meal was awesome! The owner, Jennifer Fan, is personable and funny. She makes everyone feel welcome.
On to the entrees. I ordered the Seafood Combination for $ 9.95 (Jumbo shrimp, fresh scallop, crabmeat sauteed with an assortment of fresh vegetables in white sauce). I was offered the addition of squid which I gladly accepted. This entrée was disappointing for these reasons: the shrimp were pale and stiff, not many scallops and the «crabmeat sauteed» was actually imitation crab meat. The fake crab had the texture of a wet Twinkie. Wouldn’t order again.
My partner ordered the Chicken with Mushrooms for $ 7.75. She said the mushrooms tasted canned and not fresh. I ate the leftovers and her entrée tasted like a Chinese buffet selection.
In conclusion, I will try Fan’s a few more times and ask more questions about what their specialties are before ordering. I’d like to see tea or sake samples/​flights offered at their bar.
After meeting Mrs. Fan, there’s no dought who’s idea it was to paint the wine barrels above the bar with smiley faces.

Holy Soup! This place rocked my socks! I found this gem on this website called Unilocal (heard of it?!) and after reading one review my mouth was watering. Then I read the others and put eating here on my high priority list. Like whoa! At 8o’clock on a Monday night the dining room was vacant. Lucky for me, because the owner came out to chit chat. I couldn’t have felt more welcome than if I were in her own kitchen. She was forthcoming with Fan Facts. Like all dishes are prepared with white meat (except tonight’s special, Kung Pao Chicken). Specials are changed daily, tonight’s was only $ 6.95. I was already planning my next meal here while I was waiting for my to-​go. Would tomorrow for lunch be to soon? The lunch combo is only $ 5.95, comes with soup, rice, entrée and some other stuff, it seems that I have already lost the menu. They have it on-​line, but back to the point: yuuummmm
The menu is your standard American Chinese fare except with no MSG, all fresh ingredients, hand made. Even the dumplings, all of it. The House Special Dumplings are sublime. In attempt to ward off a February cold I ordered Hot and Sour soup. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I don’t even care who knows. I drank the soup on the way home. ooohhhm. It was like a blind tasting. The texture and flavor of each ingredient was distinct. In my mouth I could taste the mushrooms, egg, chicken, tofu, the tang was delightfully subtle. Beware: this soup is served hot, I couldn’t stop drinking it although I could feel my mouth burning.
All the little dumplings made it to the table. Juicy, but not wet, gentle pork flavor and little green bits inside. Beautifully handcrafted.
Delivery is a 3 mile radius, minimum order of $ 20.
I’m excited to try the rest of the menu. Tomorrow for lunch? Yes please.

Had the steamed dumplings and beef noodle soup. Good portions and tasty food. We were able to split the two dishes between the two of us for lunch. The soup broth was good and their dumplings are homemade including the skin which is impressive nowadays. The atmosphere is diner-​like and no frills but the owner is nice and the meal is a good value. Do not expect however that there are a lot of dumpling choices… there aren’t. Three menu is mostly what you’d find in any Chinese restaurant.