Northern Tiger was created to bring the rich flavors of Northern Chinese cuisine to the City of New York. Formed by two friends with Northern Chinese backgrounds and passion for good food, our goal is to introduce to this diverse food scenario wheat-based food, heavy noodles, and enticingly tasty dumplings. Seeing that Northern Chinese cuisine was even underrepresented in NYC, we set out to nurture with comfort-food meals prepared via grandmother’s recipes.
For us, food is more than just ingredients—it’s culture and connection. We carefully prepare every dish to honor northern traditions—from hand-pulled noodles to seasonal vegetarian dumplings—while making these flavors accessible to both newcomers and longtime fans. Our menu, recipes, and blog work together to educate and celebrate this unique heritage.
From the melting pot of culinary arts and restaurant running comes the multifaceted skills of Northern Tiger’s founders Li Wei and Michael Chen. Both were raised on Northern Chinese comfort food-the sort of food that is filling, warming, and giving warmth to one’s soul. They wanted to spread this nostalgia far and wide and create a space where people could learn about food beyond the plate-truly tasting it and hearing stories related to it.
Li Wei delves deep into proper cooking methods and sourcing ingredients, while Michael takes care of the guest experience and day-to-day affairs. Together, they have positioned Northern Tiger into a platform that nurtures food, culture, and education.
The food setup in New York is gigantic and varied, with Northern Chinese cuisine having often been in the shadow of the other regional cuisines. Northern Tiger aims to keep this great culinary tradition alive by serving the classic and authentic cuisine side by-side with community events and a blog for stories and recipes. From the good old lamb noodle soup to the best fresh handmade dumplings, we open the doors for everybody to experience and appreciate Northern Chinese food culture.
Ensuring Quality – this is the core principle we hold at Northern Tiger. We are glad to present the Northern Chinese cuisine to the world in its pure form, without any gimmicks, disfiguring the uniqueness of its taste. Away from food, we want to offer a community around Northern Chinese culture and cuisine. Events, cooking hints, stories- essentially anything connects food lovers with the background of their food. So whether you are dining with us or cooking at home, Northern Tiger is here to guide you through the discovery and enjoyment of this food culture.
Northern Tiger is more than a restaurant or recipes site-there is a growing community of foodies, home cooks, and inquisitive eaters. We are going to expand more soon-with more recipes and topics on culture and food.
Please, come and look through our menu, try out a few recipes, peruse our blog, and come along for a lovely culinary journey through Northern China.