Location: 3800 Indiana 26 Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: (765) 449-8728
Cuisine: Chinese
Review: A mighty thank you is now going out to all my fabulous Lafayette Eats readers. When planning my evening out and looking for a good place to try on the east side, I sent a call into Twitter and Facebook and was deluged with many tasty options. I chose Nanking, though, because that was the only one that got four separate nods.
And wow, am I ever glad I took the advice! It was fantastic!
I guess I’ve probably driven by Nanking a million times and just never really paid attention to it. It’s got a giant sign and everything, but when I went to find it tonight, I had to really look. It’s on SR 26, just east of Creasy, on the north side of the road. Trying to get across 26 and into the parking lot is a bit of a challenge, especially at night, but if you can manage, it’s totally worth it.
We arrived and went in and found the restaurant really full of people. We were greeted quickly and given a table. I’m almost ashamed to admit how long it’s been since I’ve eaten at a Chinese Restaurant where you sit down with a menu. A mistake I don’t plan to make again for a while. After sitting down, a server immediately came out and filled our water glasses and then, before we could even think about ordering it, poured us two cups of hot tea and left the pot on the table. That was super cool! We were going to get tea anyway. And the tea was quite good as well.
I was told in both Twitter and Facebook that I should skip the standard menu and go with the traditional menu. I wasn’t sure what that meant when I got there, but when you open the menu, you do see all the standard American style Chinese food – beef with broccoli, etc. Several pages of it actually. But when you flip to the very back of the menu, there’s the “authentic Chinese dishes” that I heard about and that’s where we chose our meals.
I ordered the mixed meats with pan fried noodles. I was a little scared of the whole “mixed meats” thing – what kind of meat are we talking about here? But I’m glad I ordered it, it was really good. And the serving was ENORMOUS. The meats included shrimp, chicken, and beef and possibly pork but I wasn’t entirely sure. Broccoli, carrots, and then of course the noodles rounded out the dish. It was most excellent.
My husband ordered diced chicken in hot brown sauce. When they brought out the dishes, his looked amazing. I was actually jealous of what he ordered. He scooped a bunch of rice onto his plate, loaded it up with diced chicken and went to town. He reported that while it was hot (hence the name) that it was really good.
So after my first helping of my pan fried noodles I had my own helping of his dish to compare. And wow, it was great too!
The portions were huge, the food was amazing and it was a nice place to eat. It is now my most favorite Chinese restaurant in all of Lafayette/West Lafayette and I know we’ll be eating there again.
Kid friendly: Yes, if your kids will eat Chinese food. There were children eating there.
Price Range: Pretty cheap, I thought. We paid less than $20 for our two giant plates of food, with enough left over for lunch tomorrow.
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