Xiao Yuan Huan

Oyster omelette-​below average. The oysters are small and not fresh. Very sticky omelette. Fresh spinach. Inauthentic sauce.

Just visit New World Shopping Center yesterday, One thing I like to let everyone know that the food from this store is not clean and safe.
My wife went to the restroom and saw a girl with their uniform step out of the lady’s room, one hand already had glove on, and trying to put another glove on the other hand, without washing her hand and back to the store continue working.
I will never buy anything form them.

A food stall that shows signs of decreasing quality over test of time. I ordered the «gua bao» or braised pork belly in steamed buns ($ 5.50÷2) not a sour cabbage bun. The sandwich was 70% vegetable with the other 30% scraps of moderately dry pork belly. Also it took them 10 minutes to make it…
The other disappointment was the oyster omelette ($ 5.95). Flavor-​wise it was great but the corn starch was obviously unevenly mixed with the omelette creating giant gelatinous blobs.
The problem is consistency but what can I do when Taiwanese food vendors are so limited in this food court.

Got the oyster pancake here. Good portion of veggies, sauce tasted right, and good portion of pancake. I do prefer a little more crisp say at the edges of the pancake. Is it fair to ding a star for personal preference? Splitting the pancake into four portions, each seemed to have its share of oysters (fresh enough for stall food).

I stepped off the 7 train with one goal in mind: Finding and eating some stinky tofu. I saw the Unilocal reviews and decided to go here, although I was suspicious of the average Unilocal reviews. And that’s what this place is, average.
I first found out about stinky tofu when I was in Taipei, where vendors sold it on sticks in giant blocks at the Shilin night market. This was served in smaller chunks on a tray. Still a perfectly acceptable presentation, but it’s just not as fun as holding a giant hunk of tofu with the consistency of a rice krispy treat and the smell of gym socks. It was good, but the flavors weren’t remotely as strong as I’d hoped.
Somehow I think there are better places within a block, but I just wasn’t able to find them.

I was debating on whether this should be a three or a four star. Again, the not so much a «fan» quite yet, but I think for the food, the price, the value, it’s more than just «A-​OK» to me. At any rate, I decided that if I were to live in Flushing and frequent this food court for lunch/​dinner meals, I’d probably come to Xiao Yuan Huan pretty often.
We were browsing all the vendors in the food court and finally decided on ordering the pork belly burgers and the good ol’minced pork and rice combo from this place. It tasted like home. The mince pork and rice was very good portion and tasty. With the pickled veggies, cabbages, and soy sauce egg, for a decent price. The clear soup was nice as well. The pork belly burgers were pretty good. Again for the price, I think it was a nice meal /​cheap eats. So I am leaning more toward being a fan.

+ Oyster Omelet tasted like it was straight from a Taiwanese night market
~ Gua Bao was solid but nothing to write home about

Believe it or not, yesterday was my first time eating at New World Mall. I was in the area for a haircut appointment, and needed a quick lunch. Have heard for years that food was good at the food court. I was totally overwhelmed. Didn’t really know what I was looking for, but so glad I stumbled upon this place. I ordered the lunch box pork chop over rice. It came in a school lunch tray which included rice, braised egg, veggies, pork chop of course, and a soup. While they were preparing my food, I was checking out the shaved ice menu on the side. I glanced at the lady fixing up the area and saw that it was the owner from the Taiwanese restaurant on the corner of Roosevelt Ave and Prince St that closed down years ago. I’ve always missed the food there. So I was very happy to know she’s a part of this place. The food was good. The pork chop was good, but a little too salty. But very similar to how it tasted at the old restaurant. I didn’t care for the soup. But at $ 5.95 it was well worth it. Next time I definitely need to try the shaved ice which I used to love at the old restaurant.

Can’t really read Chinese that well but I know this is definitely one of the best place to grab Taiwanese food within New World Mall. Unfortunately I have to agree with most people that the quality of food here has been going down BUT if you stick with their signature stuff, I think you’ll still be okay! I’m talking about the lunch boxes/​specials here!
My GO TO food at this place is definitely either the pork chop over rice or chicken chop over rice. Not only are they inexpensive, but they come in gigantic portions as well. I like how they include all these side dishes along with your meal– pickled veggie, mince pork over your rice, marinated egg and soup.
I got the chicken chop today and boy it’s huge! I took a big bite into that chicken chop and YUMMMMM it’s so greasy but juicy!!! The small side dishes definitely combines well with the chicken chop! By the time I finished eating the chicken, I had no more room to eat the rice and the soup.
I enjoyed this place very much. The food was pretty average but the cost justify the quality of food you get here. You can’t find too many places that’ll charge $ 7 and give you enough food for two meals. I think my main concern eating here is finding a spot to sit during the weekends!

Great authentic Taiwanese food — just like my Mom makes it! (Well, hers is better). This is my favorite Taiwanese food place in all of Flushing. Seriously. You’d have to go to Taiwan to get better Taiwanese food than this. Try the shaved ice!!!

Downhill alert on the pork burger. not so good at all anymore. :(
Pork different
bun different
mustard greens different
and none of this in a good way.

I’ve been getting Caribbean/​Latin-​American style «piraguas» in Corona for as long as I can remember. I never thought anyone else would come close to the consistency and flavor that I have loved since I was young. I don’t like the traditional Taiwanese flavors — no beans for me, thanks, and this place has no problem pleasing my picky 5 year-​old taste buds.
The best businesses always think of a customers first, and while I’ve never had the food, I can speak to both the customer service and the ice at this place.
I knocked off one star only because it is somewhat difficult to find since it is in New World Mall — definitely a 5-​star place otherwise!

FOOD:
1. Stinky Tofu — For stinky tofu from a FOOD COURT, this dish was quite good! I had low expectations for this because, unless I’m at a specialty restaurant not even many restaurants can get tofu as stinky as I’d like it to be. The worse it smells, the better! So… again, for a food court to get the stinky tofu as stinky as they got it, I was rather impressed! Kudos to Xiao Yuan Huan!
2. Oyster Pancake — Unlike the stinky tofu, I can’t believe they have the guts to sell this. It’s such a disappointment. It’s small, it barely had any oysters, and they used way too much starch! I was so disappointed since this place has pretty decent ratings and since their stinky tofu was pretty good!
The Stinky Tofu earned itself 4 stars, but the Oyster Pancakes only deserved a 1.5…so I decided to give Xiao Yuan Huan a 3 for now. I’d like to be able to come back to try some other food here. Since the reviews of this place seem pretty good, I feel like I’ve missed out on much!

Tainan night market noodles…$ 6.5
I love this shop because it is the closest taste you can get to Taiwan in NYC.
I usually get the the night market dish, but I will try the gimbo soup next.

Though the receipt still says Burger Shack, it’s really a little Taiwanese stall in the New World Mall basement food court.
With oyster omelets, pork chop over rice, and other Taiwanese food delicacies both in a meal and individually for people to try, it’s not a bad sample of what you could possible get out on the street in Taiwan. The sausage isn’t great from the standards I’ve seen (it’s a bit dry for some reason, not fatty enough pork?), but the pork chop over rice (really, any meat over rice) is filling — egg, pork chops (2), broccoli, cabbage, preserved veggies, and some meat sauce over the rice — decently filling for two, really.
The pork chops are sweet, but the five spice flavor on them isn’t strong enough for me. Will have to try the stinky tofu there later.

This place is great for a cheap massive portion of a lunch box meal. I’ve had the chicken and pork chops and I will say that I’ve enjoyed both equally. I love the Taiwanese toppings with the preserved vegetables. They are so tasty with rice and are to die for! I also loved the boiled egg (perhaps a tea egg?) it just rings as simple food yet tasty.
However, I will say that with some much delicious food around, I don’t know if this is sort of a first choice for the mall. But try if you get a chance.

CONFESSION: Their stinky tofu almost made me cry. Not because it was so stinky, but because it was SO GOOD. Comparable to some of the best I’ve had *in Taiwan*. Yes, seriously.
After a lifetime of constant NYC stinky tofu desperation and disappointment (looking at you, 66 Lu’s), it feels like Xiao Yuan Huan (trans: «little ring») has restored a piece of my soul. Their stinky tofu is freshly fried, crisp on the outside but pillowy inside, has that covetable juiciness to it, and has a wonderful stinky flavor/​smell. I wasn’t even planning on getting it until I walked by XYH’s stall and sensed a little waft of something mighty familiar…
Eat it right then and there. DO NOT choose take-​out. You will ruin it.
It’s «fried fermented tofu» or something like that on the menu, $ 5.75 per order. Believe you me, I KNOW my Taiwanese street food. And this stinky tofu takes the cake… so to speak. I don’t care about the other dishes, this stinky tofu revelation itself is 5 stars!
(Just kidding, I’ll be back to try the other dishes since my interest and confidence in this little food stall has spiked. Yes I’d been ignoring it out of cynicism)
Note: the pickled lettuce and garlic soy sauce that traditionally come with stinky tofu were okay. As a reference point, 66 Lu’s garlic sauce is great, but their tofu is dry, entirely non-​stinky, and generally blows.

According to the Daily News they have the Number # 1 Pork Buns in NYC and are the «go to pork bun destination» of the locals. This, of course, is the same Daily News that prints the Cuban flag and calls it the flag of Puerto Rico. So it wasn’t exactly a surprise that this turned out to be a dud with a two capital «D“s. Unfortunately I let my curiosity get the better of me and tried their:
Pork buns: Probably the driest pork buns I’ve ever had. I needed to constantly wash them down with water or soup cuz they weren’t going down too well. Flavor was practically nonexistent. ¹⁄₅
Spicy Herb season fried chicken bites over rice: This was okay. Can’t say the chicken was too flavorful or spicy but at least it wasn’t too oily and I also liked the sauce they put on the rice. The best part was the light fish flavored soup that came on the side. It helped me wash down the pork buns. ³⁄₅
With so many better options in the New World Mall food court, I can’t see how these guys are gonna stay in business for long. Then again, there are always fools like me who will fall for the Daily News article.
Click here for your daily dose of BS:

I read about this place in the Daily News as they were touted the «Best Pork Bun». So when I found myself in the food court of the New World Mall, you know I had to give it a try. I am so glad I did, I can see why people voted it the best pork bun. It was delicious! $ 4.95 gets you, not 1, but 2 buns. This is no regular pork bun, an open faced bun with a slab of pork belly topped with peanuts, cilantro and some pickled veggies. What a wonderful bite! It had the perfect balance of sweet, sour and unami. It’s definitely a must try!

I tried their pork chop lunchbox special, which is a good deal they offer with a variety of main entrees to choose from.
The pork chop lunchbox came with a simple soup, rice topped off with minced braised pork belly, sauteed cabbage, a soy sauce braised egg, and some bok choy. One thing I really wished this pork chop meal came with was some preserved mustard greens. The fried pork chop was of a good size and wasn’t overly greasy, but a bit on the thin side. It didn’t have much bone or fatty gristle parts, which was good. The minced braised pork belly that topped the rice was a nice touch, though I wish I had more of that saucy broth for my rice.
Their other offerings looked pretty yummy, especially those sausages. They also offer oyster pancakes, Taiwanese hamburgers, etc.
This food court is quite busy, so might be a bit hard or aggravating to find a clean, unoccupied table.