Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe

This restaurant mixes great service, a relaxed atmosphere and excellent food. Everything was prepared very well, had fresh ingredients.

Just tried this place for the first time. Got the spicy basil curry fried rice with tofu for a carry out order.
Pros:
–The fried rice was super tasty and I would’ve just given them a 5 if not for the multiple cons…
–Staff was friendly. I was ridiculously indecisive over the phone but they were really nice about it and helped with suggestions and gave me parking information.
Cons:
–They told me my order would be ready in 15 – 20 min so I arrived approximately 15 min after I placed the order, but I ended up waiting there for an additional ~20 minutes with no apology for the long wait or an offer for anything like free appetizer.
–They didn’t have the veggie dumplings or seafood wontons. No big deal. However, the fried rice was so good I wanted to eat it again the next day and try the dumplings, but they were still out which makes it not so okay… you’d think they’d make more of their most popular items if they had ran out the day before.
–I thought it was overpriced. With tax, my fried rice came out to $ 13 (I think the google prices are about $ 1 off). It certainly was a decent amount but it makes me cringe to pay that much for rice and tofu that costs $ 2. I expect a large size of fried rice to be closer to $ 7 and that’s usually for ones that come with meat.
–They seem very unorganized. Their menu isn’t even posted on their own Facebook (or it’s not quick to find like it should be). They’re randomly closed/won’t deliver and you just have to hope their Facebook is updated. The new phone number for carry out orders isn’t clearly visible on their page… you have to call the wrong number and wait for the message to tell you the correct one or you have to find the comment on their Facebook (not even a real post) that has the number in it.
Overall, good food but bad business practices. I will likely return because I’m craving the fried rice, but I wish they would fix some of the bad stuff.

This place is 5 star all day.
The food is fantastic.
The prices are spot on.
There is an all white meat option for entrees for an extra buck.
So I have eaten all over the US and I grew up a mere 30 – 40 min from Chinatown in NYC.
So a five star review should say a lot.
The hot and sour soup is perfect for the everyday Asian style eater. (Personally I like the Skype to be a little more pungent.)
Apparently the wonton soup is really good seeing my g/​f got two orders.
The Kung pao chicken was very tasty but not much pow. I assume that’s because it’s made for the more tame pallet. Next time I come in and order I’ll ask for a little more kick
The tangerine chicken was by far my favorite. I would order that on the daily.
Now let me talk about the woman here running the dining area. I can’t say anything but good things about her. She was very sweet and funny and provided great attention to all the customers.
Hopefully during the dinner hours she has an extra set of hands to handle the flow of customers.
This place was also recently renovated. Idk what it looked like before but I love it.
It’s Cozy.
It’s a little tiny.
But just be early. I was here at 12.

My dinner companions and I all agreed that the food here was ‘okay’ as far as Chinese Food goes. I liked the tea service they offered.
That’s pretty much all I liked about the place. I had a bad customer-​service experience with them, which left a figurative bad taste in my mouth, so I have not gone back since.
When I got home, I realized I had forgotten a somewhat valuable personal belonging on the table. I called, and the person I spoke with said that somebody in the last shift found it and they will check with her as to what she did with it, and call me tomorrow. After a few days and a series of back-​and-​forth phone calls, they finally tell me that, regrettably, the girl who found my item forgot to put it in the safe, and it was recently stolen from the hostess stand/​register area. Great.
They were very apologetic, and took down my address to send me a gift certificate for the ordeal, but it never arrived. :)

This place is tucked away and hidden in fountain square. We were advised to eat here. It is fresh Asian food. Not greasy and delicious. We had the spring rolls and the egg rolls. The hot mustard and it is so hot but delicious. The staff was very nice. We also had the Kung pay shrimp which was good. The shrimp were large but could have had a few more.
All in all very good and such a fresh change from your regular Asian grease spot.

Wow! All in all, they hit everything perfectly at Naisa.
Came here with a friend whose family is from Taiwan and is from LA, and has a much stronger opinion on good Asian food than my European-​midwest palate (I’m a bit of an experienced foodie, but her resume is far stronger than mine). Happy to say we both loved this establishment!
The hot tea service is $ 3.50 each but delicious! We got the oolong and it was quite tasty and served in a very nice pot. Loose-​leaf tea is always a plus, and we were also able to take the rest ‘to go’ in styrofoam cups.
For appetizer we got the pork dumplings. OMG. Just… I can’t describe them well enough to even hint at their perfectness. The sauce was a perfect touch.
My entrée was the tangerine chicken for $ 12 + $ 1 upcharge for white meat — that is annoying but whatever. It’s spicy and sweet but I asked for it mild and the result was much sweeter than spicy. My friend got a tofu dish that was rice and quite spicy! We discovered that combining both of our dishes was a smart move and a tasty result! On their own, both dishes were good as well.
The waitress (Irish name, I forget) was exemplary. Very dignified, calm, gave detailed information, and had a soothing voice. She was on top of everything, even with 3 other parties.
Overall, the establishment is well designed — much nicer inside than the outside would suggest!

First impression, quite little hole in the wall place. Simply but nicely decorated. And they have comfy chairs, always a plus.
The food is served family style so keep this in mind when ordering or looking at the prices. We split the dumplings and they will do combinations if you want to have more than one type which we did. I thought the dough was a little thick but I seem to think that about must places that serve dumplings here in Indiana.
Next was the main dish of tangerine chicken. OMG! Itv was amazing. Spicy enough for me, and I like my food spicy. But not kill your mouth spicy so hubby who doesn’t like spicy enjoyed it too. At the same time it had a nice amount of sweetness to balance it out. The liberal use of tangerine zest gave it a lovely tang for a well balanced dish.
For dessert we shared an order of cinnamon sugar puffs with a honey ginger dipping sauce. Little fluffy clouds of yumminess.
And best of all was the price. Hubby and I had a full meal for way less than we usually do. Which is always a huge plus.

Why do I love Chinese food? Umami sauces, fried rice, stir-​fried vegetables, pillowy tofu, huge portions… I’m definitely not in any sort of health-​conscious mentality when I’m craving this cuisine. Let’s be honest: you’re not getting carry-​out for some steamed vegetables and rice, are you?
Naisa is the option everyone should choose when opting for Pan Asian in Indy. Yes, you get your heaping portions, umami sauces, fried fixings, and pillowy tofu, but it’s all homemade and from scratch here… FTW!
I was lucky enough to join up with some Unilocalers for Liz S’s UYE, and our communal table enjoyed seafood wontons and three kinds of dumplings, all of which were fabulous. Per Heather H.‘s recommendation, I ordered the vegetarian rice noodles with tofu. I was delighted when my bowl was placed in front of me. My overflowing pile of rice noodles, tofu, bamboo, napa cabbage, and broccoli could have generously fed two people. I was quite satisfied with my selection from every twirl of rice noodles around my fork to biting down on a sauce-​saturated piece of tofu. Best of all, I didn’t have that dreaded overstuffed feeling some of us may get after enjoying (too-​much) Chinese fare.
From here on out, I know where I’ll be bringing my business, knowing the made-​from-​scratch TLC that goes into Naisa’s food!

Took me a few days to get around to writing a review, mostly because I’m not sure how I feel yet.
For starters, I can’t really judge the service since I was with a large group that filed in gradually. Service was a bit on the slow side as a result, but I doubt that’s typical. So. I’ll have to give it another chance when I’m on a date or with just a few friends.
The food: slightly above average. I was only wowed by one appetizer, and that was the veggie dumpling plate. Super yummy! And also bright green! Loved those. But another plate of dumplings that had chicken and carrots in them seemed a little bland. Same goes for my wonton soup. If you like your soup low on flavor (read: salt), then you will probably love it. I just wasn’t impressed with the broth, but someone else in my group loved it, so I think it’s a matter of preference. For my main course I got the honey sesame chicken. It tasted a bit like a honey BBQ glaze. Also, it’s dark meat. You have to pay extra if you want white meat. Just an FYI. While the soup was bland, I felt the honey sesame chicken was a little too in your face with flavor. And it was saturated in the sauce.
Perhaps I didn’t order the right combo. Like I said, the veggie dumplings were amazing! I also liked their fried seafood wontons. I’m willing to give the restaurant another shot since it gets good reviews over all. Maybe next time I’ll find the right dishes for my tastebuds.

I only gone 1 time so far, but it’s worth 5 stars. I’ll start with a tip first. There is no sign on building (it is in the window) so if you are driving one direction you won’t see the sign. Use GPS or Google maps and you will be fine.
Now why it deserves 5 stars in my opinion. It is simple the food is fantastic! I tried veggie dumplings the outer casing is spinach. The pork dumplings are the same in most places, but they were not greasy or dried from reheating them. The cheese wantons were cooked to perfection without a soggy crust around the filling. My main meal was tangerine chicken. I paid the extra $ 1 for white meat (worth it). The flavor was absolutely perfect. You could taste the tangerine and it didnt taste like it came from a premade bottle. The chicken was crispy on outside and moist on the inside. I ordered extra spicy and it was a good level of heat.
I have friends that let me try what they ordered and they were all good. I tried the garlic chili chicken (good). Also tried 2 tofu dishes. I hate tofu and I liked these dishes enough to order them again. The fried tofu in curry rice was my favorite of the tofu dishes. I can’t remember the name of the other tofu dish. It was served with cilantro and served in a pot.
The only issue you might have is the service is a little slow. I don’t mind waiting an extra 3 – 4 minutes for my food if it tastes this good.

So it’s been almost 4 years since I’ve last reviewed Naisa. Has my opinion changed at all? NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST.
Their Wonton Soup is still a brothy bowl of home. (With a dash of pepper. sigh.) Their veggie dumplings (house suggestion is PAN FRIED! SO GOOD.) with spinach dough and their dumpling sauce (like a soy sauce, sesame oil and scallion mix) is so crispy, yet moist and so delicious. NEW ITEM! Christina has started making Chicken Dumplings with a CARROT dough. Holy tastiness!
Anywho, same things go for my usuals: Mapo Tofu (with a little extra cilantro.) and some Spicy Basil Curry Fried Rice with fluffy crispy tofu (and no egg, for the vegan at heart!) – seriously, my mouth waters just thinking of these and I just had them last night. These are dishes I could have every night for the rest of my life, and although morbidly obese I would be, I would also be incredibly happy.
Please support this lovely restaurant. You can tell Christina puts her heart in every morsel she puts out. Love love love love this little gem!
Just had my first UYE there last night– 19 people?! HELL YES! What a great turnout! We slightly closed the place down, but good golly miss Molly, I could do that every night.

The food here is absolutely fabulous. The hot and sour soup bursting with flavors with nice chunks of mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoots and who knows what floating around in it.
The crab rangoon were yummy, nice light crispy outside, sweet and creamy inside. Perfection.
I tried the pepper chicken this time around and it was delicious… the heat accumulated though and so by the end of my meal I was sweating. Well worth it though.
The reason I don’t give five stars is the service, while it is efficient and accurate the lady just lacks enthusiasm. I mean no sense of humor, no smile, no interaction… monotone voice… bland so bland… downright unfriendly on the phone… you just feel unwelcome, like you’re a bother…

So… I finally made it here while they were open. Which is no small feat. Being family owned and operated, the hours seem a bit strange and I never have been able to hit it while they’ve been opened. Tonight that changed.
The person who seated us saw me checking into Unilocal and gave me the «newbie» speech: everything is homemade, including the egg rolls. Sauces from scratch and everything is fresh. She also told me that everything is delicious so don’t ask for recommendations, because it’s all good.
We started with some basics. Crab Rangoon, fried pork dumplings and egg rolls for the table. The egg rolls came with a spicy mustard that could peel paint, but was delicious and cleared our sinuses out. Pork dumplings were so so, and the Crab Rangoon tasted like every other Asian restaurant I’ve had them at.
For my main course I did the veggie steamer with chicken, and also ordered the veggie dumplings based on reviews and tips I read on Unilocal.I did the tangerine orange sauce with my rice and veggies, and it was delicious.
The food was great, but the service left a little bit to be desired. Don’t get me wrong. Our server was very polite and very knowledgable about the menu. But she kept forgetting things. I ordered the green tea with a side of ginger honey. She forgot the honey until I asked for it. I asked for extra napkins three times before they arrived. Our water glasses were empty most of the time while we were eating, and to get them filled, we had to ask.
I also noted on another review they offer delivery. I asked for a to go menu so I could order carry out sometime, and was told they were in the process of updating their menu so they didn’t have any to go. Again, a little disappointing.
5 star good and 3 star service equals a 4 star review from me.

From the outside it may not look like much, but I’ve found that many of my favorite restaurants are these tucked away, hole in the wall, «humble» joints.
Their portions are very generous. My dinner companion and I both ordered hot and sour soup and split one order of garlic chile chicken, and that was more than plenty of food.
The heat in both the hot and sour soup and the garlic chile chicken is much like the bite of horseradish. At first it’s just a bit of heat. Then about the fifth or sixth bite it kicks in. Hello sinuses!
They also do takeout! I will for sure be back. Their tangerine chicken is also rumored to be delicious!