Nanking Express

my boyfriend and i come here all the time. I just love the food. Try there rasmali, it is soo good. best dessert ever

Food: eh
Service: eh
Ambiance: eh
Would I go back? No.

When you first get there, you’re gunna be overwhelmed by amount of choices on the menu. Once you get past that, and decide what you want to eat, you will see that it was worth the initial shock.
The food is delicious. I’ll admit, I only order the Butter Chicken Masala or Afghan Chicken, Rice, and Naan, but I’ve gone to taste their catering and they gave us this huge spread of stuff I don’t even know the name of and it was all delicious. If you do go for catering, the owner (manager? not sure) is super sweet and helpful; he really took time to work with us on our order even though we didn’t have an appointment or anything, we just walked in one evening.
Since we first discovered Nanking, we’ve gone back numerous times with our friends (a good mix of nationalities — many of us who are admittedly not adventurous in our food), and everyone has loved it it thus far. I’m far from an expert in Indian food, but if you’ve never tried it before, Nanking is definitely a place to start.

Service is good. Food is good but I only had chicken tikka Marsala, chicken lollipop, Thai chicken curry.

Out of all the indian places to go in the area, this is the one to avoid.
The place is small, with standard seating. Also, it’s not very clean. There were a couple roaches on the dining table where we were eating after we’ve gotten the food.
This would have been fine if the food was excellent, but it was not — the chicken was stale and bland. Maybe it’s a one time thing, but there’s a lot better options around to try.

Honestly, the food is just perfect here. They don’t skimp on the spiciness which I’m a big fan of and it tastes like real Indian Food. When I say real, I mean authentic… which is very hard to find in New York now because of the increase in Indian restaurants. ESPECIALLY in Jackson Heights… oh boy.
Prices: Is affordable, but not crazy cheap. come on, it’s Indian food… It can’t really be super cheap to begin with.
Food: As mentioned before… delicious!
Ambiance: Not too crowded, quiet, intimate

The sign outside stated that they had Mughlai food, which I had never had, so my friend and I went in. Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking from India.
It turns out that this place also serves Chinese and Thai food as well, but we choose things off the Mughlai menu. The things we tried were the Seekh Kabab Chicken, Rogan Josh (a traditional lamb curry), and the Chicken Chili Masala. The food was so-​so, but honestly it just tasted to us like food you would find in any other Indian place.
Service was also very slow. They never stopped by our table to ask to refill our water, and it took several tries to wave a waiter down to do so. The food took a very long time to come out and you get very little food for high prices. The entrees we ordered came with tiny pieces of meat, and they also charge you for the rice here! Yes, that’s right. The entrees do not come with rice — that is extra. We were still hungry after we left here. Empty stomachs and empty wallets.

Way too expensive! I had food from the desi chinese menu, it was very sweet. Food was okay, good portion but too pricy for Queens. Bill came to $ 23 for one plate of noodles and small appetizer of chicken. Found an unexplained surcharge on my receipt, so I did not leave a tip. They also do not accept credit card. Will not come back.
I gave 2 stars because they are halal and the staff was kind.

great food!!! great chicken makahani, fried rice, mutton curry and the biryani is pretty gooooodddd…
but service sucks!!! the waiter/​waitress always looks depressed. takes them time to take ur order and if u ask them about a food item, they look at you clueless.

Went there for a Saturday Buffet.
Food was a ³⁄₅. (Noodles and Crispy Okra were good, others were so so)
Service was a ²⁄₅. (only 2 people were serving and were not very attentive)
Ambiance was a 2.5÷5. (very cramped up for a place in Queens)
Price was ok for the food served.
Again this is a Saturday Buffet Experience only. I probably will try it once again on a regular non-​buffet day.

Have always wanted to try this restaurant after reading a NYTimes article about Chinese influenced food. The portions were generous and I think eating family-​style was fun and the best option.
1 Stars fro the décor and ambiance. It had a glorified take-​out set-​up. I thought the meal was going to be a disaster because there was hair on both of our appetizer plates that were on the table before we sat down. And (I believe) a hair in my soup (rare that I say that the great flavor of the soup distracted me enough to continue eating it). I’m scared to complain, sometimes you don’t know what they’ll do to the rest of your meal.
We went at 8pm on a Wed. night. There were ⁴⁄₅ other tables with families & groups there.
I recommend everything that we ordered:
FYI– their version of Medium Spicy, is probably Hot for the newbie palate. It seems like everything has some spice to it. It’s a little weird that they have Thai on the menu.
Coriander Lemon vegetarian Soup
Chili Garlic Noodles with Egg
Bhindi Masala (Okra with onion & tomato)
Lamb Biyrani– with some yogurt sauce
Dal Makhani (combination of creamed lentils, flavored with butter, tempered with garlic) — ordered later to eat with the Roti. The waitress recommended this. Excellent nutty flavor. I usually don’t like Dal this changed my mind completely.
Roti– was crispy, fresh, and bubbly.
I can easily go back for lunch with just the soup or dal and some rice or ripped up roti thrown in. Great subtle but strong flavors. Yum.

Don’t understand the hype about this place. Had the shrimp pad thai here and felt there was too much soy sauce. The shrimp were small, most likely the frozen kind, and there wasn’t enough egg or bean sprouts. Next time I’m opting for the Indian/​Mughlai side of the menu. At $ 10, I didn’t think this was worth it.

I went there for pick up, and the food is delicious — I ordered drums of heaven, Chicken chili, chicken Thai and chicken garlic. The portions were generous, the taste delicious, and the girl at the counter very friendly and personable.
I would go there again

Being from a Southeast Asian country, I am the toughest critic for Indian food. Indian Chinese fusion places always confuse me. I don’t know what to expect. Should I expect Indian food or Chinese food???
I went in Nanking on a Saturday. I was walking around Jackson Heights looking for a lunch buffet. I was very surprised with the food. The food was just okay, and yes it confused me too. I wasn’t too sure if I was eating chinese or indian food. I stopped thinking about it after the first serving. For $ 11 bucks, I got access to the buffet, a mango lassi, and a dessert. I think the best part of my lunch was the fresh nan’s (bread) that was brought out. I hate when buffets just leave the nan lying around
and it becomes hard and tough.
Go into Nanking if you are hungry and you don’t have much money in your pocket.

i have to admit, i am not the hugest fan of indian chinese but nanking took me by surprise.
the food here is fresh, delicious, and they don’t skimp on portions. between my friend and i, we split a soup, chicken dish, and noodles. we were stuffed, and had a meal to take home. here are the details:
veggie tom yum soup: can i say YUM!!! i loved the taste of lemongrass! it was soo refreshing! i highly recommend it! the soups are pretty pricey ($ 5 for one bowl) but you can split it w another person.
hakka noodles w egg: very satisfying! a very unique, flavorful taste. tey give you A LOT! it can easily feed 3 – 4 people!
chili chicken: DELICIOUS! their description is somewhat misleading. it said something about chicken in a soy sauce… but you could hardly taste the soy sauce. instead, the chicken is drenched in a spicy, garlicky sauce!
overall, this place was great. i’d definitely come back!

This place has Mughlai and Indo-​Chinese fare. The food is solid, made to your spice level, and there a variety of options to choose from. The service is attentive and friendly. Food is served quick and hot. The only gripe, it can be on the oily or salty side at times. Overall, it definitely serves the Indo-​Chinese crave for when I’m in the area.

Nanking has become one of my new favorite restaurants.
I’ve ordered take out & eaten in the restaurant. Both options secure great food. The staff is very friendly. They seem to recognize me now & offer me drinks while I wait for take out.
Another Unilocaler mentioned the lure being the fusion of Indian & Chinese — I completely agree. I haven’t had a bad dish there. Even my simpering Brooklyn buddies & finicky relatives love Nanking.
The kitchen does a great job of honoring the requested spiceyness. I love the tandori chicken, the corn soup, the palak paneer & chicken tikka masala. The lamb looks pretty good so I am looking to try that out in the near future.

this place is great… I only wish there was a similar venue on the west coast.
I love their hakka noodles, drumsticks from heaven, and various other dishes. I mostly stick to the chinese side of the menu as traditional Indian food is easy to come by in this neighborhood. The real pull here is the Indian-​Chinese fusion cuisine that is like no-​other. It’s a small restaurant, but decent décor and friendly staff. My dad’s a talker and managed to make friends with all of them by the time we left… even sharing dessert (my birthday cake) with them! Naturally, we had decent service for party of 6, which seemed huge for this tiny restaurant. They are sensitive to Islamic dietary restrictions, offering ramadan specials and vegetarian options.
If you’re tired of your basic chinese take-​out, this place is a good place to check out for something different.

The buffet is a bit more than your non-​president Hamilton dollar bill, but to offset it is the lure of only being available on the weekends. It took me out. What could I do with a rotating spread of over 20 items? I did what I had to.
Ailed-​with-​ADD buffet Includes chilli chicken, Manchurian chicken, hakka noodles, gobi Manchurian dry, Nanking fried rice, tandoori chicken, butter chicken masala, bhuna gosht, aloo gobi, chicken biryani and others. Also comes with naan PLUS your choice of a elementary school plastic cup of lassi. Yogurt has always been a little tough getting down the throat for me. I’m gradually getting used to it living a block away from Little India.
Chinese-​Indian in my mind, but describes it as Chinese — Thai — Mughlai on the menu. It seems to employ a more soy-​based blend of Indian spices which makes me go to the bathroom faster. It’s a little too greasy to give another visit in the next couple of years.
The lunch deals are interesting. You get like four things. Indian or Chinese, choose one. Price is nice, but I just can’t handle the food. Read other reviews for opinions not mine.

Great place – the fusion idea kind of frightened me at first. They are nice! Their buffet is good. The décor is better than most places around here! It’s perfect for timid eaters of Indian, because you can get something more Chinese or Thai. Their spicy is pretty spicy. They do get a little cheap (you have to order naan separately, and the buffet never includes the classic dishes). Their naan is some of the best I have ever had though, so I will pay for it.
They are doing the most creative things with modern Indian food in this neighborhood. Their Eid menu has some special things too.
EDITED TO ADD
I had their Thai dishes, which are not good! And now, if you order takeout, rice is not included. They don’t tell you this, and so you get your curry and no rice! It’s ridiculous!