Manhattan Chinatown
A Guide for Tourists
Restaurants
Whether or not you want a little snack or a full on Shanghainese feast, these are some of the must go to spots for an incredible and authentic Chinese experience when you're stopping in New York City. As soon as you step within the farthest bounds of Chinatown, the sizzling and savory aromas of roast duck and beef noodles invades your nostrils. Here we have compiled a list of some of our favorite hole-in-the-wall establishments and we hope you enjoy our tastiest secrets that we've discovered from a long and ardent search for the most delicious and authentic Chinese food.
Prosperity Dumplings
If you are looking for the best restaurants in New York’s Chinatown, “Prosperity Dumplings” is one of the most well-known and hailed joints to stop by and it is located at 46 Eldridge Street. Prosperity Dumplings is known not only for its delicious and quick dim-sum style dumplings, but for its extremely affordable price range as well. In comparison to virtually any other restaurant in New York, the food is a complete steal. For $2 you can order feast of 10 Chive and Pork Boiled Dumplings. For just another dollar you can also get a bowl of Beef Noodle Soup. In addition to its cost-saving measures, the restaurant was featured in the New York Times as well as “Adam Platt’s Where to Eat 2009.” Clearly Prosperity Dumplings has a strong track record of delicious food that not only satiates the palate, but also will not break your bank if you want to have a fine meal.
As you can see the restaurant may be small but its reputation cannot be contained in the miniscule walls. The owners offer takeout service but when the average wait time for a meal is 5 minutes, it hardly seems worth the effort. According to many “yelp!” reviewers, this is one must-attend stop while visiting New York for not only the food, but the authentic Asian experience as well.
Great NY Noodle Town is another traditional Chinatown restaurant which attracts a very sizeable client base. Located in Chinatown Two Bridges section of New York City at 28 Bowery Street, Great NY Noodle Town has been open for over 32 years with only a short shut down in 2010 that sent its loyal customers into a panic. The restaurant has been praised by celebrity chefs like Kurt Gutenbrunner, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and David Chang as an authentic Chinatown restaurant. The restaurant was ‘discovered’ in 1992 by the New York Times and has been lauded by the paper and its customers ever since. Entrees range in price from $5 to $15, but typically the average meal price is around $7. The owners of the restaurant still remain a mystery as all articles reviewing the restaurant have failed to track down both the owner and head chef of the acclaimed establishment.
The environment of the restaurant is very casual and formal. Some of the furniture is dingy but functional and the restaurant is lined with tile flooring. The restaurant features large round tables that offer a communal eating setting. The specializes for the day are written on pieces of paper that are then taped to the windows. Great NY Noodle Town also stays open until 4 a.m. which makes for great food when coming home from the local bars. The restaurant is constantly bustling, with waiters serving food at an extremely fast pace and with customers filtering in and out at a high turnover rate. The typical clientele range in backgrounds, from Chinatown residents to police officers to hipsters to parents and their kids.
Great NY Noodle Town offers many traditional Chinese dishes as well as some more creative entrees. One of the more unique dishes served when in season is the soft shelled crab. The restaurant fries the crab and then throws on its own housemade seasoning and salt. In the Chinese barbeque tradition, the restaurant prides itself on its roasted duck and roasted pork. The Pan Fried Noodles are also highly reviewed and are said to ‘go down very easy’. The duck dish is also very famous and served cold and delicious.
The review of Great NY Noodle Town are generally very positive. The restaurant received 3.5 stars out of 5 on Yelp, with over 589 people submitting their experiences with the restaurant. Customers describe the service at the restaurant as “curt but effective” and the food as “always delicious”. Many people have written reviews about their late-night eating experience, which seems to be a very popular time to eat at the restaurant. As with the other article reviews, the Yelp reviews praise the soft shelled crab as well as the roasted pork and duck.
Joe's Shanghai
Joe’s Shanghai is another vital stopping point for tourists of the New York Chinatown area. The restaurant was established in 1995 and has since thrived off of specializing in the unique and very special Szechuan cuisine despite the misleading name. This restaurant was also featured in the New York Times, where it won the “Best Restaurant” award. It was also endorsed by Gourmet Magazine, Travel and Leisure, and the Zagat Survey. The restaurant is located on 9 Pell Street and due to its rampant success in the last several years, it has opened a second location at 24 W 56th street. The establishment is owned and cared for under a joint venture by two men named Terry and Raymond.
In addition to its sizzling Szechuan style dishes, they apparently serve a to-die-for Xiao Long Bao. According to Krystal N. of San Jose off of Yelp!, “Joe’s Shanghai was one of our must-go-tos on our list while visiting New York, and it did not disappoint our expectations.” The restaurant not only attracts tourists from all over the world, but local Chinese residents, New York bankers, and college students from the area. When you enter the restaurant you will be seated at one of the many large round tables where dishes are served onto a lazy Susan, creating an immediate aura of comradery with your fellow diners.
The restaurant received rave reviews on Yelp! minus a couple distinct few that seemed to complain about poor service and the wait. It averaged a 4 star rating out of 2474 reviews, which is remarkably impressive. It is by far one of the most highly attended restaurants in Chinatown, as it has the most reviews of any restaurant I have seen on Yelp! Other than that there were only incredible things to be said about the quality of the food.
Another staple of Chinatown restaurants is Big Wong King located on 67 Mott Street. Found in the Chinatown Two Bridges area of Manhattan, Big Wong King is an authentic Chinese Noodle shop restaurant. Big Wong King is known for its Hong Kong-style fast food. The restaurant is fairly cheap compared to other Chinatown restaurants and especially when you consider the higher prices of New York City cuisine. On average, most entrees on the menu are between $5 and $11. The family that runs Big Wong King are not the original founders, but related in some manner. The restaurant has been around for more than 30 years, and maintains its low prices without sacrificing on quality.
Big Wong King offers both sit down seating as well as takeout service. Inside the restaurant, there are many large round tables that seat about eight to ten people. While there are a variety of meats that the restaurant serves, Big Wong King specializes in duck. When you enter the restaurant, there is a plethora of ducks hanging from the glass cabinets in the front and a fair amount also hanging in the kitchen. The hanging ducks give the restaurant a very authentic Chinese ambiance, as one would expect to find the same type of hanging meat arrangement in shops in China. The wait staff sometimes seats its guest with absolute strangers, but you may ask for your own table if desired. Big Wong King is always bustling with residents of Chinatown as well as visitors, and the service is extremely fast. The restaurant brings in all types of people, from Wall Street bankers to local college students to the actual residents of Chinatown.
Big Wong King’s menu consists of many traditional Chinese foods, such as congee, steamed rice crepes, and Cantonese noodles. The menu is fairly extensive, offering over 200 different variations of entrees. Big Wong King offers a wide variety of different meats as well as the full gamut of seafood. Big Wong King is known for its roast duck, as well as its barbeque pork, porridge with salted pork and preserved egg, and roast duck in noodle with wonton. The restaurant is also known for its housemade traditional hot sauce that accompanies the roast duck.
The reviews of Big Wong King are very positive for the most part. On Yelp, the online restaurant reviewer, Big Wong King received a four star average on a total of 771 reviews. Thos who have reviewed the restaurant always mention how crowded the restaurant can get but also emphasize that the food is always delicious and quick. Restaurant goers recommend any of the barbeque meats, especially the pork and the duck, as well as pork wonton soup and beef low mein.