Carma Asian Tapas
“U must try the crab soup dumpling, it's the entry to this wonderful restaurant.”
“The soup dumplings and the peking duck tacos are good too though I might like The Bao's XLB better.”
“The soup dumplings are better than those in joe's shanghai(Manhattan one); and the beef noodle is extremely good”
Carma Asian Tapas
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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3.5-4 stars. The food here is solid but the ambiance is lacking. Came here for dinner and there were only a few other people in the restaurant (which is fairly large and spans two rooms). We ordered the pork bao zi (dim sum), mushrooms, crab xiaolongbao, and duck tacos. I actually really liked the mushrooms: they were lightly fried and very nicely flavored. The other stuff was good but not too memorable.
I think this place would be a bigger hit if it weren't in West Village, which tends to favor more westernized places. The concept here is Asian tapas that kind of have a western flavor, but with so many other fabulous Asian/Asian fusion options in East Village and other areas of cities, it's understandable that this place (located kind of randomly on Carmine St.) doesn't receive as much attention.
Might be a better place for a quick brunch if you're looking for some Asian food in West Village!
Delicious crab soup dumplings, hot, rich broth inside and thin dumpling peel – just the way it should be.
The crispy pork chop was thinly breaded, but coated all over, not too oily, and authentic. Tasty!
The sauteed vegetables were good but a more ordinary dish. It was a mix of Chinese broccoli, some sliced black mushrooms, and Chinese yam. I could taste the rice wine used in it.
The beef noodle soup was pretty good though I would have liked the broth to be richer in flavor and to have more depth. I enjoyed the doughy texture of the noodles, and the beef was very soft and tender. Too bad the noodle soup didn't have some pickled mustard in it.
Enjoyable black sesame ice cream, nice texture and there was good, strong flavor of black sesame throughout.
I didn't know there was any Taiwanese food near West Village, so this was a good find!
This place was more like a 3.5/5, just to be fair.
Food was a bit higher than average – they claimed to serve the best soup dumplings in the city, apparently this was not true at all, as even Joe's Shanghai has gotten better-made soup dumplings. Foie Gras dumpling was a good-try, however it was a bit bland and lack of taste. We enjoyed both the grilled fish and spicy dry pot a lot, both claimed to be at the "extremely" spicy level.
The way our waiter (or boss? Not sure on this one.) treated us was to warn us not to use the coupon during Fri/Sat, without even mentioning anything in the coupon. This indeed pissed everyone off – why didn't you make this rule upfront?
Not like it.
Food and ambiance are solid 4 star. Only thing is that they could have been better organized if they specify on Yelp that only one check-in coupon is acceptable at one table and cannot use with the deal purchased on Yelp the same time. The waiter seemed clueless about what the exact rules are, so he went back and forth between table and his boss(?) to notify us what they are. I'm fine with those rules, but please just be upfront. Our waiter was nice and friendly tho that he waived that first rule and poured free beers for the whole table.
Food-wise, I enjoyed the soup dumplings, fried mushroom, stir-fried celery with dry tofu, spicy dry hot pot, and the three cup chicken. Hard to say if the soup dumplings are really the best in town, but they were pretty damn good (nailed the flavor, delicate made – a little hole open on the top of the dumpling so that you can sip from it. Not sure how did they prevent the soup from pouring out when steaming?!). The fried mushroom (various kinds of mushroom) is so delicious, juicy, tender that it taste like a fried fat meat but way healthier calorie-wise. They also nailed the flavor of spicy hot pot with the right amount of spiciness and savory.
Overall, I like the food and ambiance. Just be more clear with the Yelp discount!
Very excited to see a Taiwanese restaurant open – and how the soup dumplings here is the best on NYC and way better than Joes Shanghai.
But it definitely has a lot of room for improvement – and I really, really hope it does improve because west village is a very competitive restaurant scene and I don't think this place will stick around for me to frequent regularly for beef noodle soup if it doesn't improve – and that's some tasty beef noodle soup so I have my fingers crossed for this place.
Pro:
– great menu selection
– soup dumplings is the best in NYC (you'd have to take a flight to get better ones)
– beef noodle soup, a staple, is solid
– cute ambiance
– great location
– very friendly service
Improvements:
– very disorganized, you can see the waitstaff make mistakes and run around needlessly because the managers are ordering them left and right – better training, better operational efficiency, and autonomy for the staff is needed
– managers (I believe that's their role) walking around back and forth but not engaging with customers disrupts the ambiance and dining experience – chip in, help out your staff, and set an example of what needs to be done but not make them needlessly run around as to neglect customers
– 3 cup chicken does not, and should not, be cooked with such an insane amount of sugar
– cash only is fine, but expect that people will spend less because they don't have enough cash on them
– waitstaff presentation is important too – clean and professional and a level of consistency will feel cleaner than pajama hipster – granted this was only one and majority was fine
Will be back, I really would like to see this place succeed and hope it improves as to attract more customers and stay in business so I can finally have a regular Taiwanese spot to go to.
You really have to be a true New Yorker to discover a chinese place like this. We tried the shaomai from the gallery and heard about this place. Cute and special chinese dish. Witty art covered all wall. The owner are Taiwanese I think . Just like tapas the portion is little but interesting.
I went to this place as a birthday celebration dinner. The food was wonderful and the flavors were very bold and well paired. I was impressed at how they combined different food cuisines in their dishes. The eggplant dish was very good, as well as the shrimp. The soup dumplings were quite good, but for the price and the flavor, I would still go to Joe's Shanghai. Our server was a little absent minded at times, but overall he was quite attentive and professional.
Excellent service provided by our waiter! He was extremely warm, friendly and attentive. The food here is basically what the name is- small plates of Asian fusion food.
They have dumplings (xiao long bao), peking duck tacos and many creative dishes. The organic vegetable dumplings were very good. Kinda pricey.
My friends raved about the peking duck tacos (I did not try them).
Remember to use your yelp check in! Free beer/ ice cream. The restaurant itself is pretty nice as well. Nice decor!
The reason I am docking 2 stars is because they serve Foie Gras dumplings- extremely unethical and should be banned. That's all.
The food is pretty good but I will think twice about returning to a place that serves Foie Gras.