Nainai’s Noodle & Dumpling Bar

Nai Nai is stop #2 on my #100cheapeats tour and I’m so glad I’ve experienced it.
In sort of a «middle of no where» location in Silver Spring, here’s what I ate while enjoying the scenery of cars swoosh by smoothly on a nice sunny day…
For appetizer: Year of the Ox
Your regular beef dumpling with soy dipping sauce, these babies are necessary to be ordered by the dozen. Though I only ordered 3 (not realizing the bite size) it was just enough to start the meal off right.
Entrée: Bao Chicka Wow Bao
Let’s have a moment of silence for the Bao bun — unbelievably soft stuffed with crispy fried chicken, topped with vinegary slaw & sweet yet spicy Siracha mayo. It comes in 2’s. Which is all you need. I was basically full after and ordered another round for home/​dinner.
I also brought home the Tipsy Noodles which offered a nice balance of fluffy flat noodle to chicken ratio, packed with a lot of heat. If you like spicy, you’ll love this dish.
Overall, it’s a must try for your bucket list and a definite #onabudget location.

I used to love this place when it first opened, but over the course of two years, I’ve watched the dumpling fillings shrink to a point that they’re now comically small, and the noodle servings shrink to child’s size. It’s a shame, because the food really is pretty good.

The bao are pretty good – I had the one with Bulogi and kimchi on top (can’t remember the name) but the dumplings are nothing to write home about. The filling is under seasoned and the shell isn’t the best consistency I’ve had. Maybe I’m spoiled though – my old roommate from Shanghai makes the best dumplings I’ve ever had. Anyways, it’s also pretty pricy. I paid like $ 15 and I was still hungry – went and got fries from McDonald’s afterwords, lol

I don’t think I’ve ever actually had the dumplings here but both the baos and the noodle bowls/​soups are excellent. My favorite is the Streets of Taipei, a flavorfully spicy bowl of beefy deliciousness. The Bao Chicka Wow Bao and Pai Gow (noodles) also merit specific mention. This is across the street from me and I love that there’s a nice, laid-​back place to either eat-​in or grab carryout from.

Spartan but clean storefront, selling dumplings and bao. Love the bao — they are definitely worth a visit, but the dumplings were just OK. The bao are not in a bun, but are more like a small taco, with bao filling and dough. Would love to try the squid but they were out each time I went to order.

I’m so sad. I was hoping this place would be good since I love Chinese noodles, dumplings, and baos. And this place is right across the street from me. But am I disappointed. Ingredients are good and fresh but none of it tastes all that good. It’d be too salty, not enough salt, too mushy, etc. Also it’s expensive for what it is!

Nice little place in a store front of a new apartment building. Seating for probably 20 people. Food is okay, considering that I stopped there on my way home from work at the end of rush hour, i.e. they were somewhat busy and seemingly had more carry out orders. Ordered the Thou Shall Not Bao, Bao Chicka Wow Bao, Year of the Dragon Dumplings, and Thirsty Noodles; carried out. Not the best Bao I’ve had; dumplings were okay but no different from those I’ve gotten from Trader Joe’s; Noodles kind of bland. Was REALLY looking forward to the soft goodness of a spicy Bao. Will try again. Just being honest.

Cute little spot… Atmosphere is cool. The food is yummy! I will most certainly be going back. Loved the chicken bao /​taco

The Year of the Ox dumplings are really good! The only dumpling that is fried, slightly crunchy on outside, filling is well balanced and seasoned perfectly. Would recommend. The specialty dumpling sauce is weird — spicy & tangy, would suggest chili oil or vinegar instead. Will definitely visit again.

I tried noodle this time. The texture of noodle itself is good, that why it’s not one star, but the flavor is terrible. I guess that’s why you seldom see Asian customers here. Won’t go back

This place is great. I’m from LA and have grown up eating Chinese food. Hard to find a good place that serves this type of Chinese food. Baos and noodles are great.

Eh, I was pretty underwhelmed with Nainai’s… the interior décor is clean & simplistic, the service is quick & easy (order at counter, grab table, wait for food, etc.), and the variety of options is decent, but I was hoping to be wow’ed by the food and it just didn’t meet my expectations.
Our group of 4 arrived around 8:30pm on a Friday night, and it wasn’t particularly busy. A few other groups were eating, and there was no line at the counter. My bf and I ordered the Muay Thai noodle bowl, the Ni Hao Bao, the Zodiac dumplings, and the sake. Our sake was brought over immediately, and paired with small side portions of pickled carrots and nuts. The sake was pretty smooth, and the aftertaste has nice, fruity hints. Self-​serve water available at the counter — the water is infused with lemon and mint!
Our food was ready fairly quickly. I was a bit surprised by the size of the bao, given that you only get 1 and it was $ 4. The bun itself is a little thin (not as fluffy as other baos I’ve had), but you get ample filling! The Ni Hao Bao comes with 5-​spice duck, daikon carrot slaw, and chopped scallions. It was alright; the duck was a little dry and I couldn’t really discern the 5-​spice flavoring, so eh, unremarkable. You get 3 of each type of dumpling with the Zodiac (Pig — pork, Rabbit — veggie, Ox — beef, and Dragon — seafood), and it comes with their house dumpling sauce. The dumplings are tinted! Green for the veggie, pink/​red for the pork, etc. Such a cute touch, plus it’s easier to tell which one you’re eating. :P Overall, the dumpling fillings are pretty good, although none of them really stuck out to me… but what really got me was how thick and mushy the skins were. Usually, I’d either prefer dumpling skins thin & crispy, or thick & chewy (think al dente pasta). Unfortunately, for how thick the skins were, the texture was way too soft (kinda like they’d been sitting in water for too long). The sauce was pretty good though — a nice blend of soy, spicy chili oil, and red wine vinegar that brought the dumplings to an acceptable flavor level.
My bf enjoyed the Muay Thai noodles (shrimp, red curry, tomatoes, basil, shittake mushrooms), although the noodles were also a little too soft. It’s also surprisingly spicy, the kind that slowly builds as you take subsequent bites… thank god for the refreshing lemon/​mint water! :P The portion is generous; we finished about half and took the rest home as leftovers.
For $ 35, I’d say this a bit on the pricey side for the portion/​quality you get (mostly the bao and dumplings, the noodle bowl @ $ 12 is pretty worth it). Maybe I’m just too spoiled with cheap, frozen dumpling prices at local Asian supermarkets and the homemade dumplings my mom makes?

We stopped by to try the infamous Nainai’s on a late Thursday after stopping in Denizens. I had already heard so much from Mike B. that I could not wait to try it out!
We decided to share so that we could have a little of everything. I ordered the Streets of Taipei beef noodle soup and he ordered the dumpling/​bao combo which came with 6 dumplings and 2 bao’s. For the dumplings, we ordered Year of the Dragon & Year of the Pig. For baos, we ordered the Ni Hao (5 spice duck) and Bao Chicka Wow Bao (fried chicken).
I highly enjoyed the beef noodle soup. This was true street food. Instead of thin slices of tendon & beef, the beef in this noodle soup were more like chunks of braised beef. This was a welcome change. The bok choy was also chopped up into bite-​sized pieces making it easy to eat. The broth was very flavorful; though, my dining companion stated it was too much sodium. After guzzling water at home, I would have to agree. One of my favorite parts is the homemade noodles in this soup. Way to hit it home with the authenticity! Thinner than AJ’s homemade noodles, but surprisingly more delicious!
The dumplings I thought were just okay — not very flavorful though I’ve had way better in Rockville. They were thin and cooked thoroughly. I just wish the filling was a little more dventurous.
The bao’s I thought were good. They’re like «Chinese tacos.» They were meaty, flavorful, and topped with delicious pickled carrots & radishes. And you know I love the marriage of texture and flavor.
The place was clean and casual. The employees were also friendly. I would definitely return for the noodle soup.
Tips: Parking — public garage on street parallel to East West or park 2 blocks down opposite side on East West in public garage and walk over. Otherwise, street parking if you can find any! Diagonal from Denizen’s.
Make sure you ask for their peanuts, pickles, and nainai’s spicy chili sauce!!! :)

This place is pretty good. The pork belly bao and chicken finger bao are really delicious. The beef dumplings are pretty standard and consistent. My wife ordered the noodle soup with «tiger» in the name and she really enjoyed it.
I would give them 5 stars if I could order drinks from Scion (which I should be able to because they are owned by the same people). The problem is that most people that I know love to grab dumplings and alcohol but they have canned beer that is very expensive (draft prices next door).

I left with a full belly and a big smile on my face.
Here is what I loved:
+ A compelling story — Nainai means grandmother in Chinese and this dumpling bar is chock full of appreciation for the owner’s grandmother who apparently dresses up in Chinese takeout box containers for Halloween. Adorable? Yes! You can also pay tribute to your own nanai/​mom-​mom/​lola/​ba noi/​bubbke/​etc by tacking a photo up on their back wall.
+ Traditional Asian dishes with a modern presentation and fun naming mechanism
+ Friendly service: Even though this restaurant would count as fast-​casual our counter person still went out of his way to make sure we were happy with our meals, had all of the utensils we needed, and enough water to drink. I barely get this much attention at some sit down restaurants (see review for Bourbon) so color me impressed.
+ Great pricing!
Here is what I ate (don’t worry I shared and there were plenty of leftovers):
+ Though Shall Not Bao — A fresh bun stuffed with pork belly (with just the right amount of delicious fat) and tons of crunchy peanuts and garlic that all together was a big mouthful of yum!
+ The Zodiac — Basically ALL of the dumplings! They were all great but I was especially drooling over the pan fried beef dumplings. Because beef? Yum. Because fried dough beef? Double yum.
+ Streets of Taipei Noodle Soup — Our server hooked it up! We asked to split a bowl of soup so he was nice enough to break it into two bowls for us so we did not have to awkwardly spill all over our table. The noodles were the perfect amount of chewiness and the beef brisket tender. Bok choy and mustard greens in anything make my mouth happy and the soup was surprisingly very spicy! I had to break out the kleenex because my sinuses started clearing up immediately.
I would GLADLY cross state lines to come back here.

5 star for the spicy beef noodles. I’m not huge on noodle dishes, but this is probably my favorite around. There was a good amount of beef, and it was very tender. The broth was delicious, and I really like the noodles that they use. Definitely will be coming back for that. I also tried my friend’s … I believe it was the crouching tiger? The broth was also very flavorful.
I heard the bao’s weren’t very good, so we tried the dumplings. I wouldn’t recommend them. We tried the assortment– pretty tasteless, and the actual wrap was really thick (however, the dipping sauces were pretty good, lol).

Love the decoration, the simplicity of the chairs, the nai nai wall of fame, and the menu choices. But the food quality was so below average that it’ll have to take a drunken Silver Spring night for me to come back.
After months of anticipation, we stopped by here for lunch over the weekend, and ordered the Thou Shalt Not Bao (pork belly bao), Year of the Dragon dumplings (shrimp, scallop, whitefish), and Tipsy noodles (wide flat noodles with chicken). The pork belly bao had a nice semi-​crispy buns, with too little filling in the middle. The pork belly itself was a tad cold, and the peanuts didn’t seem to fit the bill. The dumplings of the frozen variety — it didn’t taste fresh, the dough was under cooked, and the filling had no flavor, even with the sauce it came with. Lastly the tipsy noodles was your average Chinese take-​out quality, with far too much onions and not enough chicken.
It was very difficult to find silver linings in any of the dishes we ordered, not to mention the prices were fairly expensive ($ 30+ after all said and done). Be sure to drink plenty of water afterwards as well.
Nai nai, you greatly disappointed this kid.

Nainai in Chinese means grandmother. This restaurant pays tribute to the owner’s grandmother, as you will notice when you enter the restaurant.
All of their menu items have cute names like Bow Chicka Wow Bao, Pai Gow Noodles, Emperor’s New Clothes, etc! I wanted to try everything. I’m so glad I came here with fellow Unilocalers for this month’s Unilocal Luck Club dinner. We ordered a lot!
Samurai Soba Salad: This is a great appetizer to start with. It has lightly sauced soba noodles and edamame.
Sun Yat Sen Rolls: This is a normal vegetarian spring roll with cabbage, mushroom, and celery with sweet chili sauce. Nothing mind-​blowing.
Bao: I think we got the Thao Shalt Not Bao. Whatever it was, I wasn’t that impressed. The meat was a little overcooked and dry.
The Zodiac (3 of each type of dumpling): This is a sampler of the four types of dumplings. The Year of the Ox is a pan-​fried beef dumpling. The Year of the Rabbit is a steamed vegetarian dumpling with clear noodles, bok choy, and other veggies. The Year of the Dragon is a steamed dumpling with shrimp, fish, and scallops. The Year of the Pig is a steamed dumpling made of, yep, pork. Out of the four, I liked the Year of the Ox dumpling the best. Maybe because it was pan-​fried. It just seemed tastier. The skin of the steamed dumplings seemed a little too thick and they just weren’t as memorable for my palate as the beef one. They do have really tasty sauces for dipping though!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Noodle Soup: This is a home-​style kind of noodle soup, something any Chinese mom can easily whip up. It was delicious and had plenty of vegetables. It’s like a Chinese style of chicken noodle soup, but with pork.
Streets of Taipei: This has beef brisket and bokchoy in a slightly spicy beef broth. This was so delicious and flavorful. It’s an excellent choice to eat during the cold winter!
The noodles used in both of these noodle soups are made fresh daily. All noodle dishes are also served a small side of edamame, peanuts, and a pickled veggie.
Tipsy Noodles with Tofu: By the time I got this, I was already too full, but I tried a little bit of the flat noodle. This is supposed to be a play-​off of Drunken Noodles, but it was not very spicy. I will have to try this again when I return.
Sesame balls for dessert (off the menu): The bite-​size sesame balls came in this cute, rubber take out container. It was good. The fried sesame on the outside made it crispy and chewy. The red bean paste inside was not overly sweet.
This place seems like a fast food restaurant because you order and pay at the counter and you get your own utensils and sauces, but the quality of the food here is far from that. The food is nothing fancy, but it is delicious and made fresh. The service was great. I’d definitely return to try other dishes.
Don’t forget to bring a picture of your Nainai (grandmother) and stick it on their wall!

Street and garage parking attached to the building. Order at the counter before you sit. Friendly service, fork-​sticks for the less authentic customers, cute décor, TV for solo diners, indie alternative background tunes. Taiwan beer and pearl milk tea, hell yeah.
Year of the Fire Rooster has traditional flavors and the dumplings themselves aren’t too overcooked. Streets of Taipei is similarly legit, with pickled mustard greens and just enough chopped baby bok choy and properly braised stew brisket; aggressively seasoned broth, and the inconsistent handmade noodles show they need practice. Thou Shalt Not Bao is worth getting– just the right fat ratio on moderately sliced pork belly, and the buns are toasted lightly on the outside. Garnishing accents are appropriate.
Tipsy noodles are filling, with the chicken breast cut into small but tender pieces. Sunday Night at Nainai’s was a bowl of very soft textures– sweet potatoes were as soft as the meat, and the ribs had been cooked for so long that the bones disintegrated with the slightest pressure. Ni Hao bao was a miss: any gaminess I enjoy is dominated by the five-​spice, and the fine shred on the pulled duck killed a lot of texture that the julienned daikon/​carrot/​scallion couldn’t counter.
Overall, I’m impressed. Future hit list: Muay Thai Noodles, Mahjong Noodles, Zodiac medley of dumplings, Seoul Cow Bao (even though it’s bulgogi and not galbi), Bao Chicka Wow Bao, Emperor’s New Clothes, Samurai Soba Salad.

Music Man Series Of Reviews
Adaptation of Gary Indiana:
Nainai’s Noodle Bar!
What a wonderful name!
Translated to Grandma, a Japanese dame.
NaiNais Noodle Bar, as a Shakespeare would say,
Tastes so delicious on the tongue this way–
Nainais Noodles, Nainais Noodles, Nainais Noodles,
Let me say it once again.
Nainai Noodles, Nainais Noodles, Nainais Noodles,
That’s the restaurant that I lunched in.
If you’d like to have a delectable situation
Their now open for an 11:30 — 2:30 lunch-​cation
I will say without a moment of hesitation
That I like this place
And I certainly will retrace
My steps too.
Nainais Noodles
Nainais Noodles
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but–
Nainais Noodles
Nainais Noodles
Nainais Noodles
They call Silver Spring home!
Other notes:
–I ordered the Seoul Cow Bao. Korean beef bulgogi in a toasted bao bun with kimchi on top. I would have liked a little more kimchi, but I always would like a little more kimchi. The bao was delicious and was topped with sesame and cilantro.
— I also ordered the «Year Of The Pig» (yes, everything has an adorable name). Very good dumplings.
–The Spicy Chili Sauce– I could eat that stuff like soup. I dipped everything in it! Then I ate some of it with my chopsticks. SOOO good.