Abu Dhabi does not boast many affordable East Asian cuisines — in particular, restaurants that specialize in Chinese cuisine are not as common as Indian or Filipino delicacy places.

Considering the few options, New City Palace is a delightful addition to Chinese food in Abu Dhabi. Tucked away by Al Falah street, New City Palace is a Chinese restaurant that serves noodles, cold and warm dishes.

One of the most eye-catching features of the restaurant is the glass-walled noodle-making counter. Once customers step into the restaurant, they are greeted by a scene of fresh noodles being pulled by the chefs themselves for every new order. Braised beef noodle soup, costing 30 AED, and beef la mian, at only 25 AED, are some of the most popular menu items at the restaurant, sought by people who crave hand-pulled noodles. The deep beef broth, together with the radish and braised beef toppings, nicely complement the freshly boiled noodles. The la mian can also heartily fill your stomach.

Photo by Soohyun Hwangbo

New City Palace is also one of a few places that has an affordable dim sum menu. A personal recommendation would be its shrimp xiao mai (21 AED), a steamed bite-sized dumpling filled with cabbage, onion and shrimp. A juicy bite into piping hot dim sum will definitely satiate your taste buds. In addition, black pepper beef (38 AED) and kung pao chicken (35 AED) are also some of the most sought-after hot dishes, and there is an array of vegetarian dishes as well. Large groups can order these and share among themselves with bowls of rice, which is sufficient to make up a satisfactory meal.

If you expect a truly authentic taste, the restaurant may not be up to par; however, New City Palace offers solid dishes at reasonable prices — good enough to satisfy cravings for some Southeast Asian-styled Chinese food. It operates from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. and can be reached at +971 2 626 2762.