Featured Dessert: Chinatown Pastries and Bubble Tea
Maryse Chevrière — March 23, 2010
Clockwise from top: Walnut Swirl Chocolate Bun, Deep-Fried Sesame Rice Ball, Sponge Cake; Dried Pork Bun; Fay Da Bakery.
There is no shortage of places to grab a quick snack if you happen to find yourself in Chinatown with a craving for sweets. Let’s be honest, there’s really no shortage of places to eat in the neighborhood. It’s a truth that can make choosing where to go when that sugar-fix hits all the more challenging. Fay Da Bakery, on the corner of Canal and Mercer Streets, is an old stand-by, and a great go-to.
Cakes, cookies, breads, buns— options abound. The Walnut Swirl Chocolate Bun features eggy bread, and an even distribution of chocolate and nuts. It would be great for breakfast with your morning coffee, so too the airy, mildly-sweet Sponge Cake. The small, hollow sesame ball, filled with red bean paste, has a chewy texture and crunch from the sesame seeds. If you’re eating dim sum at Jing Fong, and they happen to run out of these delightful treats, just come here.
If you’re more of a savory-for-dessert person, go with the Dried Pork Bun. A layer of dried pork is spread over a mayonnaise atop a plain roll. It might not be the sexiest looking pork bun you’ve ever seen, but aesthetics aside it has a wonderful salty-sweet flavor combination. Makes you wonder what else dried pork shavings would be good on top of. Pasta? Eggs?
AlwaysInformed: Dim Sum Deal at Jing Fong
Arthur Bovino — March 09, 2010
Clockwise from top: Jing Fong in Chinatown, Beef and Shrimp Shao Mai, food carts, Tapioca Dessert.
An escalator up a passageway lit by crystal chandeliers spills you out into a vast, gilded dining room filled with blue neon, and table after table. There is a constant chatter in Cantonese, and different smells rising in clouds of steam from carts as they pass through the crowd.
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So it is at Jing Fong Restaurant on Elizabeth Street, the Chinatown dim sum hotspot with an enticing weekday special (left) that should not be forgotten. Just be wary of the small print: “All promotions are subject to change without notice.” A meal can end with haggling the bill as if you had been transported to a market in Hong Kong. Even if you think you may have paid a few extra dollars for being a gweilo (foreigner), you can still walk out feeling as if you are about to burst with dim sum without having spent a fortune. It’s especially fun for a long lunch, if you can get away from the office.
For those who haven’t been, the more adventurous rites of passage include: Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce, Boiled Pig Stomach, and Honeycomb Tripe. Everyone seems to find at least one of these dishes enjoyable— at Always Hungry that’s the Tripe (chicken feet involve too much work for too little payoff). It may not be as pretty as some of the versions we love around town, but it’s still good.
AlwaysPartying: The Year of the Tiger
Arthur Bovino — February 12, 2010
Decorations in Chinatown.
Kung Hei Fat Choi! Congratulations and be prosperous!
We’ve been eating a lot in Chinatown lately. So to honor the Year of the Tiger, we’re sharing some of what we’ve enjoyed and experienced. Like the game-changing Salt and Pepper Squid from Yee Li, the Spicy Pork Jerky form Ling Kee, the exceptional BBQ Pork Banh Mi from Sau Voi, newcomers like Xi’an Famous Foods, and of course, standards like Peking Duck from Peking Duck House.
While by no means a definitive guide to eating all of Chinatown, it is a collection of interesting and noteworthy foods in the neighborhood. They’re worth checking out if you haven’t already visited, and worth returning to if you have. You can also check out previous Chinatown coverage here.
Now, where are our little red packets…Lycee Dow Loi!
Click Here for the Full Slideshow >>
Featured Restaurant: Xi’an Famous Foods
GutterGourmet and Arthur Bovino — February 12, 2010
Clockwise from top: Cumin Lamb Burger, Spicy Pork Spine Noodle Soup, Exterior.
The greeting card and federal holidays have been getting all the love. But this weekend also marks the Chinese New Year: The Year of the Tiger. And if you haven’t yet been to Xi’an’s new satellite, there’s not a more buzzed about place in Chinatown to visit for a meal to bring in the new year.
Xi’an Famous Foods is beneath the Manhattan Bridge near the corner of East Broadway and Forsyth, next to where the original Saigon Bakery used to be (for banh mi trivia experts). There’s as much room for customers as there is for one more person to squeeze into the last car of a Brooklyn-bound L at 1st Ave during rush hour. Stake out the tiny metal counter in the corner, or have a spot to eat nearby in mind. Hint: there are two Starbucks within about eight blocks (111 Worth St and 183 Centre St).
Of course, the dish that put the “Famous” in Xi’an Famous Foods is the incredible Asian cumin spiced lamb “burger” on flat bread. The muttony, powerful, cumin-flavored meat totally delivers on its reputation. The pork “burger” will make you forget about David Chang’s Momofuku buns (for a moment). They’re spectacular and are 50 cents less then the lamb at $2.00 and $2.50, respectively.
For the thrill seeker, there’s the Spicy and Tingly Lamb Face Salad. The cold, fatty, spicy meat has just enough greens mixed in to be put in that category. The Lamb Treasure’s Soup (exactly what you think), and the Stewed Lamb Spine and Rib are also not for the faint of heart. The noodles in the Stewed Lamb Spine Hand-Pulled Noodles in Soup are amazing, and the soup gets better and better as you reach the bottom. If they run out of the lamb spine, try the pig spine— it’s delicious too. Wash it all down with sour Hawberry tea made from the fruit of the Chinese Hawthorne tree and you’ll think you’re in Xi’an City instead of New York City.
What’s in a Name: Peking Duck House
The Gluttoness — October 01, 2009
Just as parents set out to find the perfect name for their newborns, chefs and restaurant owners alike are always searching for the perfect title for their restaurants. Some people go for the obvious, like a relative’s name or a favorite ingredient, but often, there is more to a moniker than meets the eye.
Presentation of Whole Peking Duck from Peking Duck House on Mott Street.
Peking Duck House (view) is a glaring exception to the rule above. Unlike the newly opened Blue Elm, or Xie Xie, or any other restaurant whose name leaves no indication as to what is being served, Peking Duck House wears its product on its signage. If you’re looking for peking duck, then Peking Duck House is the obvious place for you. Fancier than most Chinatown establishments, the white tablecloths and suited waiters set a much more elegant tone than Nice Green Bo’s hurried service, awkward communal seating and sticky plastic tabletops.
Most importantly, the namesake dish is as well-executed as anywhere else in New York City, and at much more affordable prices than fancier Chinese restaurants like Tse Yang or Mr. K’s. An entire Peking Duck, with the traditional fixings costs $40 and this BYOB establishment offers prix-fixe deals for larger parties at $26.50 per person.
We prefer the Mott Street location, but with another restaurant in Midtown, you don’t have to head down to Chinatown. Peking Duck House is perfect for a range of occasions, from birthday dinners and quiet dates to a night out with the kids or impressing out-of-towners. Peking duck lovers need not look any further for their fix. Sometimes the obvious choice is the best one. In this case the sign says it all.
SEARCH: Peking Duck
The Gluttoness — September 24, 2009
Sliced Peking Duck at Philippe.
Peking Duck isn’t just a meal. When that gilded, lacquered bird is presented tableside it’s a full-on, succulent experience that engages all the senses. Fat-trimmed shards of duck are wrapped in pancakes, usually with hoisin and julienned scallion and/or cucumber. The assembly only adds to the anticipation of the bite, the moist meat enhanced by the sweet sauce and crisp produce. Best of all, forks and knives are set aside and you get to eat with your fingers, the customary way to consume it at even the finest Chinese restaurants.
Whether you’re looking for white tablecloths or a casual trip to Chinatown, the best Peking Duck isn’t always located in the fanciest of places. To prove our point, we typed “Peking Duck” into our Very Advanced Search Engine. From Mott Street to Madison Avenue, here are AlwaysHungryNY.com’s favorite restaurants for Peking Duck in Manhattan.
Philippe (above)
AlwaysInformed: What’s Joe Difference?
The Gluttoness — September 17, 2009
Joe’s Shanghai and Joe’s Ginger, photos courtesy forgotten-ny.com and Joe’s Shanghai Restaurants.
We walked by a crowd of people waiting outside Joe Shangai (restaurant page) for soup dumplings in Chinatown the other day and it reminded us of something that most New Yorkers are aware of but that some newbies may not have caught onto yet: Joe’s Shanghai and the nearby eatery, Joe’s Ginger, are one in the same. And with similar menus and prices, you can get the popular Xiao Long Bao (“Little Basket of Dumplings”) at the relatively dormant Joe’s Ginger without having to wait or subject yourself to the deafening ambient chatter of Joe’s Shanghai.
Joe Ginger’s Crab Meat with Pork Meat “Steamed Bun,” $6.25/8.
After years of success following the 1995 creation of his first Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing, owner Joe Si opened Joe’s Ginger in late 2004 as an expansion of his business model. This isn’t one of those instances where a longer wait delivers more satisfaction with the food when it finally arrives. Whether you order the piping hot dumplings with just pork or pork with crabmeat, they taste even better when the hour wait becomes an instant feast.
AlwaysLearning: Durian, As Bad As They Say
Arthur Bovino — August 24, 2009
Durian, the so-called “King of Fruits,” being prepared at the fruit stand outside Tú Qùynh Pharmacy in Chinatown.
Durian. Eating this stinky fruit is a culinary rite of passage you see Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain perform halfway around the world, late at night on television. But you don’t have to let them have all the food challenge fun.
Where it’s from: Southeast Asia. Though native to Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, Thailand is the world’s largest exporter.
What it is: Durian, a greenish-brown fruit renowned for its powerful smell, grows from a tropical evergreen tree, and grows to be a foot long and a half-foot wide. Its spiny shell inspired the name— duri is Malay for thorn. The texture inside is part custard, part mushy-stringy-slimy rot. The smell comes from a high concentration of sulfurous compounds.
Comparisons to cheese, sewage, and death, and descriptions like “banana, caramel, and vanilla, with a slight onion tang,” may seem over-the-top at first. Travel-writer, Richard Sterling’s description sets the tone: “pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.” But Bourdain’s isn’t far behind, “your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.”
There is no hyperbole. Keeping this down may be difficult. As if durian’s natural flavor isn’t uncompelling enough, some preparations go further. Take Tempoyak, fermented durian, and boder, durian minced with salt, onions and vinegar.
There are several durian-related urban legends. One is that the ripe fruit falls from the tree and kills people. Another is that it eating it in excess can kill anyone with high blood pressure. Many in Southeast Asia believe that it’s lethal to consume alcohol with durian, some brave souls set out to disprove on video. It’s also believed to be an aphrodisiac— there’s said to be an expression in Java, “durian jatuh sarung naik”, meaning “durians fall and the sarongs come up.”
Left, Tú Qùynh Pharmacy at 230 Grand Street. Right, Durian Sorbet at Bao Noodles.
Where to get it in New York: Visit the stand in Chinatown outside Tú Qùynh Pharmacy on the corner of Grand and Bowery. They regularly receive durian flown frozen from Thailand. You have to buy the whole fruit, which on average weighs 8 to 11 pounds and costs about $2/lb. A salesman with protective gloves selects a durian (when ripe and shaken, it’s said to rattle inside like a soft-boiled egg), slices it open with a boxcutter and seals it in plastic for you.
If you’re interested in a more tame experience, try Bao Noodles, which recently featured a surprisingly pleasant Durian sorbet or Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, which regularly offers Durian Ice Cream.
AlwaysInvestigating: Hot Mini Cakes
The Gluttoness — April 28, 2009
On a weekend afternoon, it is not uncommon to find a long line forming behind a tiny street cart labeled Hot Mini Cakes at the southeast corner of Bowery and Grand. The aroma alone could stop you in your tracks. The recession-proof menu clearly helps this crowd-pleaser. Twenty of these pop-able pancakes only sets you back one dollar. Mini cakes can be found all over Hong Kong, but New York City was first introduced to these Asian sweets by a stand aptly titled “Hong Kong Cakes.” Since it closed, Shao Chen has taken to the streets to satiate Chinatown locals, tourists and mini cake addicts alike, with his own heavily populated outpost. Chen worked in Hong Kong for many years, where he honed his secret mini cake recipe and fortified the perfect technique.
On this particular day, the cart was manned by David Chen, an adorable elderly Asian man who is not a direct relative of Shao, even though they share a last name (apparently, it’s a “very big family in China”). David Chen, like Shao, is in his late 70s. He operates the cart three to four times a week, weather permitting, and has been doing so for the past five years. The all-natural mini cakes are made with flour, sugar, eggs and water, but only Shao knows the exact proportions of ingredients. The batter is even delivered premade so you can’t watch him and try to figure it out either. Shao’s double-sided griddle is heated over an open flame until all thirty holes are piping hot, then both surfaces are brushed with butter. Once the batter is added, it takes about 1-2 minutes for the mini cakes to be ready. The griddle is flipped repeatedly so that the cakes cook on both sides.
The results are bite-sized morsels: crisp and golden on the outside, sweet and airy on the inside. When ready, they’re dispensed into a metal bowl, quickly separated (some stick together) and packaged in little wax paper bags. Before these steaming packages can even be closed, customers are eagerly waiting, dollar in hand. Or in my case, $5 for a quickly consumed 100.
Location: Corner of Bowery & Grand (view map)
AlwaysInformed: The Year of the Ox
The Gluttoness — January 23, 2009
The Chinese New Year is upon us, and this year the day of the first lunar month falls on Monday, January 26th. Befitting of these tough times, The Year of the Ox symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Aside from being truthful and sincere, the Ox is not extravagant, and would frown at the thought of living off credit cards and carrying anxiety-inducing levels of debt.
One of the most important traditional Chinese holidays, this pivotal occasion is celebrated throughout the city with exotic parades and fun festivals, but as always, the real parties can be found at the restaurants.
The grandmaster of the Chinese New Year Banquet is Chin Chin, with their 8-course tasting menu. Rest assured your $60 won’t only be going towards the special “Jewels of the Sea” menu, but will also pay for the Lion Dance Dragon Parade that will entertain you with martial arts and fireworks while warding off evil spirits in the eatery. While the menu is available from now until Wednesday, the Dragon Parade will only take place on Monday the 26th and Tuesday the 27th (we’d recommend booking fast since the event is known to draw reporters from all over the city). Other high-end options include Shun Lee Palace’s $69.95 tasting menu, and Cafe Evergreen’s 10-course dinner and traditional lion dance for $62 per person.
For those feeling the pinch of the recession, Chinatown offers a slew of less expensive options. Oriental Garden, who has been holding their annual banquet for twenty years, has an a la carte option for pickier eaters. Since the real purpose of celebrating the Chinese New Year is about spending time with family and friends, both Golden Unicorn and Ping’s Seafood encourage groups of ten to partake in their festivities. Golden Unicorn is $32 per person for up to 10 people, and Ping’s Seafood offers a 10-course extravaganza for ten at a flat rate of $328 for everyone.
AlwaysPartying: Apotheke Food Guide
The Gluttoness — September 19, 2008
If you’re planning on trying out Apotheke this weekend, it’s good to know what’s AlwaysHungry approved in the neighborhood. No surprise here, but since Apotheke is located on a curvy little street in the depths of Chinatown, cheap Chinese food is going to be your best bet. But just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s not delicious, and if you’re planning to splurge $1000 on a table at Apotheke, you might as well keep your dinner bill to a minimum. Whatever your plan is, it’s definitely not a good idea to hit up the absinthe on an empty stomach.
Joe’s Shanghai (Soup Dumplings, Tourist Trap)
Chatham Square (Steamed Pork Buns)
Doyers Vietnamese (Vietnamese Noodles, Bubble Tea)
Nice Green Bo (Soup Dumplings, Chow Fun, Open until Midnight)
The Grand Sichuan (Soup Dumplings, Sichuan Hot Pot)
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