Published by Angie. Last Updated on June 24, 2025.
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Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings got its start in Flushing, New York, a few decades ago and has since garnered a huge following, expanding to multiple locations in several states. Needless to say, the opening of a location right here in Pittsburgh created a huge initial buzz and anticipation.
We visited soon after opening and enjoyed the fun vibe, the variety of soup dumplings on offer, and several of the non-dumpling menu offerings.
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Dumpling Feast at Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings
We visited the location in South Side Works a few weeks after the initial craze and had a short wait of about 15 minutes. The setup is good in that they take your phone number and text you when your table is ready, so you can feel free to walk around while you wait.
Once at our table, we marveled at the extensive menu and the huge variety of soup dumplings with different fillings. Not only that, there were pages and pages of other dim sum and southern Chinese dishes besides soup dumplings, including breakfast (served all day!), stir-fried dishes, appetizers, fried rice dishes, noodles, soups, and desserts.
For soup dumplings alone, there are nearly a dozen options to choose from. Luckily, the restaurant seems to know the choices are overwhelming, and they offer a soup dumpling sampler with six varieties: chicken soup; classic pork filling; crab and pork; luffa, shrimp, and pork; truffle and pork; and scallop and pork. Of course we had to try the sampler! The chicken soup and the crab/pork fillings were our favorite, with nicely seasoned, savory fillings with good depth of flavor. The dumpling wrappers themselves were on the thicker side with some chew, good for retaining the hot soupy fillings.
We appreciated that there were little placards on every table with instructions on how to eat the dumplings. There's more to it than you might think, including making a dipping sauce with the right ratio of soy sauce to vinegar, taking a bite to release steam, adding the dipping sauce to your spoon, slurping the liquid, and finally eating the dumpling!
We went a little overboard on ordering and also tried the scallion pancake, pan-fried pork and crab buns, pork and veggie wontons in spicy peanut sauce, and braised pork meatballs.
The scallion pancake was fried to crisp perfection and was ultra flaky, and the pork and crab buns were chock full of tasty filling. The wontons were one of our favorite dishes with a meaty filling and a creamy, rich, spicy, nutty sauce that was perfectly balanced (and is a dish we could order again and again). The braised pork meatballs were a huge portion and were slathered in a sweet-savory barbecue sauce, with tender bok choy on the side.
While the restaurant does have a liquor license, the options were limited at the time of our visit simple cocktails and canned beer. There is a full dessert menu as well, but we were too stuffed to avail ourselves of it. It does sound good, though, with options like dessert bao, sticky rice, and pumpkin fritters.
The service was very speedy, with our dumplings coming out first and everything else in rapid succession. To us the only downside in our experience was the noise level – with the restaurant packed, it was hard to chat with our group across the table.
All in all, we really enjoyed the dumplings here and were even more pleasantly surprised by all of the other small plates we ordered. We're happy that more good food options are coming to South Side Works, too – meaning Nan Xiang is yet another reason to come hang out in the area.
Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings is located at 2773 Sidney Street in SouthSide Works.
