Old Place Cafe 老地方

One factor that makes a dining experience extraordinary, besides the obvious determinants of Food and Venue, is the companion who shares the meal with. Such was a memorable lunch for two food lovers when we met at a mom-and-pop spot in Sugar Land called Old Place.As an adventurous foodie who gets excited about trying different takes on traditional dishes, my newly acquainted friend, J, was already having a lively conversation with the lady running the restaurant when I arrived. Once we sit down, with the recommendation of the nice lady from San Dong province, food orders are fired off rapidly. We were told to eat the Rou Jia Mo (肉夾饃) first once the food came, Braised Pulled Pork in a Flatbread made with Wheat flour dough with Yeast, which is like a Chinese Meat Sandwich or Hamburger. The filling is flavorful, fluffy, and moist, almost like the texture of Barbacoa, held together nicely by the light and porous Arepa-like Flatbread. A good start to the feast to come.I'm always interested in Dan Dan Noodles (担担面) because it's a simple noodle dish but different places have their own twist. We tasted Sesame and Soy Sauce, with a good spicy kick, and tasty Minced Pork and Crushed Peanuts, all mixed into a bowl of delectable Dry Noodles. I'm happy to get to try this.As J said, the intensity of the Dan Dan Noodles is so well-complimented by the cooler dish of Shaan Xi Liang Pi (陕西凉). The process of making Liang Pi is quite laborious, including several repeated processes to separate gluten and starch by washing the dough in cold water a few times. It's served with Solidifired Gluten (麵筋), in a lighter garlicky vinegary chili oil sauce, and julienned vegetables.We also have the popular Shanghainese dish, Pan-fried Buns (生煎包), which has Meat fillings, encased in a semi-leavened dough. The top part of the Bun is cooked through the steaming heat of the covered pan, while the bottom part is fried to a perfect crisp, giving the Buns 2 different textures to bite on.How can we not order their Lamb Dumplings (羊肉水饺)? Dumplings are a more prominent staple in Northern China and the owners of the restaurant have ethnic ties with Inner Mongolia who value Lamb as the main source of protein. We totally devoured them, and J did most of the hard work.I have been missing Xiong's Cafe 老地方 on Bellaire since it's permanently closed during the pandemic. We found out from the boss lady that both locations were originally founded by a husband and wife team, but have since then been sold to different owners. This only location in Sugar Land has been operated by the same San Dong family for a long time. They pride themselves on doing the kitchen work themselves the traditional way without hiring outside help. It is authentic regional Chinese cuisine for sure if you're the kind who appreciates it. Throughout the meal, we get to know each other and let our thoughts and opinions run free, like old friends who are familiar with each other for years. I've learned a lot from J and am amazed that the Universe has its own mysterious ways of bringing people together from different parts of the world. I will come back to check out their Lamb Noodle Soup, which was my top favorite dish at the old Xiong's Cafe. Like I said in the beginning, although the food was wonderful and authentic, what makes this meal truly memorable is the fascinating friendship you build while sharing food together.

The workers are so friendly! The food is a must try -- "comfort food". I will definitely come back here more often because i love the atmosphere and service!

Old place cafe is one of my favorite mom and pop shop when it comes down to Chinese food. When entering their restaurant, it feels like you been transported to China. They have wooden benches and beautiful paintings on the walls to help set a unique homey feeling. Their flavors are unique towards their region from where they are from. Their is a lot of variety when it comes down to their menu. They have lots of dumpling and noodles options. One of my favorite dish is their appetizer onion pancake. It is crispy, flaky and delicious. Today I tried the Dan Dan mien (noodles) which is a peanut based noodle with ground pork. It was yummy and creamy. When you first get the noodles, make sure to mix the noodles around to mix the sauce into the noodles. If you want their pan fried dumplings is also amazing. The crispy, hot dumplings is very funny. But be careful it is very hot when it come out. For their service, we went during lunch hour and they were busy. There was a worker who help kept the place nice and tidy even during their busy hour. The food came out quickly and hot and delicious.

We came on dumpling day, had pork, shrimp and lamb. Also lamb soup for a cold evening. Fantastic food. I'll recommend.

Price is cheap. But quality is not good. Beef noodle soup and smoke chicken were good. Steam lamb dumpling and steam pork depending (Xiao long Bao ) were very bad. Don't not order them . Taste bad . Zhajiang noodles ( bean sauce noodles) and boiled pork dumplings were ok average.

This place has super authentic, quality Chinese food. The workers don't usually speak much English, but they are always warm and welcoming. Been coming here for years, and always hits the spot when I'm craving noodles or dumplings.

Great authentic Chinese food here. They will see us more often. Lame and noodles, yummy...

Got the beef noodle soup with pork and cabbage dumplings. Very rich taste, super quaint place, I will be back!

We were looking for a place to eat for lunch and saw Asians in this restaurant. So we decided to try it out. It didn't disappoint. The staff hardly spoke English. The decor is simple. They have self-serve water, tea, hot sauce, and utensils. The menu is both in English and Chinese. You can now pay by credit card. One of their menu has pictures. We ordered beef noodle soup, lamb (so tender) soup, pan-fried pork dumplings, chicken lo mein, and spicy wonton. All of them were delicious. We will definitely go back and try their other items.

老地方 ("lao di fang") is a literally an "old place" but the meaning is a place where old friends meet or get together. The homey vibe with zero pretense, sweet service and tasty food is not too different with places I frequented back in NY. I guess this really is an old place.It doesn't look like much from the outside and won't look like much on the inside either. There are some bench style seats meant for slightly larger groups, but this is a place not meant for a lot of peeps. It's run by an older Northern Chinese couple, a literal "mom and pop" spot, and they definitely take their time with making the food. There is self-serve tea, a little bit of English, and a lot of Mandarin speaking locals. It's also cash only.The food is more of a 麵館 ("mian guan") or a place that specializes in noodles, dumplings, and baos, a common theme for northern Chinese spots. There are some classics, such as their zha Jiang noodle, a hearty bolognese type noodle dish with meat gravy and thicker noodles. The fried guo tie dumplings are thicker on the skin, a doughier alternative than what folks might be used to. The rou jia mo sandwiches are often called "Chinese hamburgers" but here they're called sliders and feature a nice crisp on the outside with lots of juicy lamb and herbs on the inside. There are other dishes reflective of other regions offered here, which might seem left of field but is likely necessary for their patrons. They have soup dumplings (小籠包) and pan-fried buns (生煎包) which are homemade but a tad on the doughier side. Their liangpi is perfectly room temperature but not much else beyond the wheat gluten. I appreciate their version of red oil dumplings (紅油抄手) even if there is little to no kick. The dan dan noodles are heartier than their Sichuan counterpart, which means more noodle and ground pork, but considerably less spice.All in all, I really appreciate what they have to offer. I anticipate that in the coming months and hopefully years, that I'll be able to make my way through their entire menu. This is one of the few places in Sugar Land that is legit and quite authentic.