In our area, there has been a plethora of Chinese restaurants opening. Literally around us, there are at least 3 hot pot places. I don’t really consider Nai Brothers a hot pot, but what grabbed my attention was that it specializes in sour fish soups. Nai Brothers is a very small chain with its primary location in Flushing, and this Long Island City location being it’s smaller sibling that’s closer to Manhattan. This is something that’s not only comfort food, but something that I quite enjoy from Chinese cuisine. We were able to walk in on a Saturday without reservations very easily.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance is really no frills. They have a wait staff that take your order via a tablet. When the order is ready, a robot carries you food and automatically travels to your table. The wait staff closely follows it. When the robot server stops, the wait staff takes the food out and place it on your table. It’s a funny protocol, but I am guessing that they use these robots so that they don’t have to handle the food until the very last second.
When it comes to paying, you pay through the tablet. I really dislike how the staff holds the tablet while you sign and passively pressure you to hurry. The tablets by default focus on 20% tip, and I didn’t take the time to see if the tip is before or after tax. Regardless, service was fast.
Food
The spicy sauce with tofu skin ($9) came with loads of tofu skin and some light seasoning. This dish was served cold. The seasoning is typically chili oil, sesame oil, and some chopped red and green peppers. My partner really enjoyed this and devoured it as if it were their main dish.
The Signature Sauerkraut ($14 for small, $25 for large) came with basa fish. This is the small portion, which was enough to feed the two of us. We did not specify any heat to it, so we ate it as given. The sichuan peppercorns were numbing, but be warned that the chopped dried peppers are insanely hot. I bit into one of them, and my tongue was on fire and my eyes were tearing up. I had to remove all of them out. Other than the heat, the flavor of the soup was quite good if you’re into sour flavors. The Chinese style sauerkraut was definitely fermented deeply and had a nice sour but umami flavor. The broth was really delicious to drink with the rice. The basa fish itself was similar to other pickled stewed fish dishes at Chinese restaurants. At the bottom of the soup, there was a medley of additives, including napa cabbage, tofu, bean sprouts, radish, and potatoes. When split between two people, I felt satisfied for a few hours.
Final Verdict
Nai Brother is a decent specialty Chinese restaurant that focuses on sour fish soups. The soups are pretty flavorful, and you don’t need to venture all the way to Flushing to get this. The price is pretty reasonable, but don’t expect to be super full since it’s just rice and fish. If you’re nearby, don’t hesitate to check this out if you want to try something authentic with a lot of spice and flavor.
Yelp Jabs
made the mistake of stopping in on my way to my kickball game and was greeted by an unfriendly who waived me off when I asked to use their restroom … Given the lack of etiquette run by this business, it seems like it’s a no frill kinda place so wouldn’t recommend it for someone looking for a nice ambiance but can’t speak for the food.
This Elitist rated this restaurant low because they felt the hospitality of the restaurant could have been more courteous to them since they don’t allow non-patrons to use the restroom. You don’t even have to judge the service to know that this restaurant is a very typical Chinese restaurant. There’s nothing modern about the service or ambiance, so it appears that this Elitist is simply being vindictive.
What was so cute was they had a cuuuuuute little robot zooming around delivering food. hehe. night times on weekends will be a long wait…its super popular. come during weekdays.
We did stop by around 4:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon without any issue. But yeah, if you decide to eat at the same time as everyone else, it could be difficult.
Revisions
- Jun 24, 2023 - Initial revision.