bcc: you asked a short question, but I’ll give a (very) long answer. I’m an old CH guy who has spent most of my life in NYC eating in all types of restaurants, high end to really inexpensive, convenient to very out of the way. Are you coming soon or do you have some time to do some research and narrowing down of potential places? And, do you have any idea of what part of NYC you will be staying & for how long? I’m not trying to avoid answering but, if you have time, I won’t immediately answer with specific places but give you some Ideas to consider. Okay? After all, NYC is huge and everyone coming here underestimates what’s available – thousands of places to choose from in a very wide geographic area.
So… first of all, there are several (at least 4) major Chinatowns in NYC and then there are quite a few very good Sichuan places scattered around Manhattan away from any of them. So, the first question is what type of Chinese food are you interested in? The most diverse Chinatown is in Flushing, Queens & it has many ethnic home cooking storefront type of places, a bunch of more banquet hall type restaurants & several “malls” with stalls side by side offering their specific ethnic “style”. I have spent many, many days going to interesting family owned stalls and restaurants, sampling regional specialties not usually found in other cities’ Chinatowns. However, Flushing is not convenient to folks staying in central Manhattan or Brooklyn so it requires time away from touring major sites. The major Manhattan C’town has historically been Cantonese, Mandarin or Hong Kong focused, but the last 10 or so years have seen major immigration from the mainland so there is some more diversity there now. That’s the area most tourists go and there are several good places to be recommended there. And, as I said, there are more than a few Sichuan (& other) good places sprinkled throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
As for “Indian”, there are two major areas in Manhattan that have an abundance of side by side Indian/Pakistanian/Bangladeshian places. I think I’m safe in saying that, if anyone recommends one of them on E.6th St, don’t go. Yes, there are some places there that are ok but, in general, its a grease trap using low end ingredients. The other major area in Manhattan is around Lexington Ave in the East 20-30 St area. There are some better places there, but nothing really high end. I eat in that area but, if you’re looking for more creative or higher level chef driven stuff, these places are throughout Manhattan. Eater.com & Theinfatuation.com keep pretty good track of where they are. Then, in both Brooklyn and Queens, there are areas that have large populations of Pakistanis. There are an abundance of what is called “steam table” places in each area and they are popular with taxi drivers and others who want a quick ethnic lunch.
Lucky for your reading patience, I know just about nothing about Korean in Manhattan other than that there’s a row of places in the East 33rd St area off Park Ave. which are well thought of.
If you’re staying in Brooklyn, I can be of the most help with specific places. And there are several others on HO who also get around a lot. But, I suggest you look at some blogs and websites other than Eater.com. Here are a couple I think you might find valuable:
https://www.eatingintranslation.com (Dave Cook writes it, is a friend, is on HO, and finds ethnic places/events)
eattheworldnyc.com (the writer moved to Los Angeles but his years of write ups are available on line)
Obviously, I’m not shy about writing on this stuff, nor about anything else. And I’ve been shameless with food board participants throughout the U.S. and in Europe (specifically with the Paris posters & even more specifically in getting ptipois to take my wife and I to an African restaurant/storefront she knows in northern Paris) in asking for help, meeting for meals, etc… so don’t hesitate in asking for things. Just resign yourself to getting long answers.
Enough.
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Hi Steve,
For years we’ve stayed in the Bowery Hanbee in Chinatown, but that hotel has apparently closed. So if and when we come, in the fall, we’ll probably stay in the same area. We have eaten in Flushing, and enjoyed it very much, but we are less mobile these days, so I doubt we’ll get out to Flushing or Brooklyn, Subway is probably out, and I try to limit what we spend on taxis.
There are a few places in Chinatown that we really like, such as Joe’s Shanghai, Great NY Noodletown, Wu’s Wonton King. But I’m always looking for new places.
I know a few good Korean places in Manhattan, but am always interested in getting to know new ones. As far as Indian food in NYC is concerned, I don’t know anything I’d want to try. I’m hoping to hear of something interesting from @Saregama.
My fault. I misunderstood the situation and assumed that you were not at all familiar with NYC. Hopefully, someone else, somewhere down the road, can get something out of my treatise. We’ve been to several of the recent upscale Indian openings, but I cant say that I’ve been impressed with any of them. The owners of Dhamaka have reworked their flagship place (was Rahi, now Semma) &. that might be interesting. I guess I also look forward to what Saregama might have to say on this.
For superb upscale Indian cuisine, I highly recommend Indian Accent, located in Midtown.
Jhio Kim, the former pastry chef at The Modern, and partners have opened Joomak Banjum, a restaurant serving Korean-Chinese cuisine. Unfortunately, we cannot try it because we are not doing any indoor restaurant dining. However, from what I’ve read, the food is excellent. Jhio’s desserts at The Modern were phenomenal (in the Before time, we were regulars there), so I’m sure they’re a highlight.
we like five senses and dons bogam in ktown, will try cote at some point.
a lot of good szechuan in and around w38th in the garment district, great for pre-theater. also, we had a recent discussion here around chinese restaurants:
Both of these look interesting. We’ll keep them in mind. Thanks.
We haven’t made it to Cote yet, but we have eaten at two of three Dons Bogams. We liked them a lot. Now we have to get to the third.
You didn’t mention Malaysian, but I’ll put this out there because I’m happy I visited on my last trip, for an iced coffee. It’s a small place, and casual. Not fancy.
https://instagram.com/kopitiamnyc
I haven’t been for ages- Saravanaa Bhavan, an international chain of vegetarian Indian restaurants, has a location on Lexington that serves an Indian breakfast, including idli and other breakfast dishes. Might be interesting if you haven’t been. Again, casual , and not fancy.
It opens for breakfast at 9 am:
https://www.saravanaabhavan.us/
If you’re interested in vegetarian Korean food, Hangawi is a nice experience.
My last Chinese meal in Chinatown was a lunch at Yeah Shanghai Deluxe, formerly
Old Shanghai Deluxe, (50 Mott, ground floor, at the corner of Mott and Bayard), and it’s still open.
While the name of the restaurant has changed over the years, the food continues to be quite good, as far as I know, although I haven’t been since Aug 2019.
These photos are Buttertart’s from 2011. The dishes looked the same in Aug 2018.
Soy beans and rice cake dish
Xiao Long Bao
Braised chicken and chestnuts
We also ordered fried fish, stir fried pea shoots, maybe a few other dishes.
also, hwa yuan re-opened, we loved the original, havent been to new one but generally plays to good reviews.
Hiya @bcc
Korean – at the “fancy” end I love Cote, which is not more expensive especially for their prix fixe, but is a different setup. For regular ktown Miss Korea is always solid (they have a great lunch bbq deal btw), as is Jongro but that’s more of a pain to get seated at. For ambience (and good food too) there’s the penthouse Gaonnuri with a lovely view. And for takeout or a quick bite Woorijip. (I see Don’s Bogam mentioned – one of my previous favorites, but I haven’t been in several years.) Then there are several modern Korean places that are excellent - Atoboy & their more formal second place, also Hanjan, and a couple of others. There’s also My Name is Han — pretty different meal experience by day and night. And there a couple of new smokeless bbq places (the one I’m thinking of is on Madison but it should pop up in a search).
Indian - Again the high/low factor. I’ll start by saying I’m not a fan of the Chintan Pandya places that the critics and many other folks have adored for a few years (Adda, etc). I much prefer Baar Baar, though I haven’t been since the pandemic. The new entrant in that category is Sona – more shiny than good, imo. For solid food that always hits the spot, Hemant Mathur’s place is great – Saar. His (ex?)wife recently opened Tagmo in the seaport, which I’ve heard good things about haven’t tried yet (she’s also a pastry chef and has a modern mithai store there). For fast casual I love The Kati Roll Company (and specifically the chicken egg roll, though they are all good) – many locations and a good quick meal or anytime snack (all my visiting friends get hooked on this one). And in the dive category, stop by Little India / Lex between 27-29 st – Haandi was always a stop (they had a blip when they lost a bunch of staff but I think they’ve since recovered), and I can’t remember the name of the place across the street from Kalustyans but it’s on the first floor in the middle of the block. (Speaking of Kalustyans – for Indian snack & grocery shopping skip it and go over to New India Store on 3rd ave & 28th). Also around that Lex stretch are also a few good South Indian places – I like Pippali (off Lex) and Anjappar (which has excellent - but spicy! - Chettinad food), and a few more that are are consistently good though they’ll never make any lists — Bhatti for eg. One unusual place you may want to try is Vatan - it’s a gujarati vegetarian thali (prix fixe) that’s excellent and authentic. AYCE and in courses (my favorite is the first course, which is a plethora of snacky things— I eat my fill of those and then lightly snack on the mains…)
Chinese - So many good options. For dim sum I used to love DSGG but I haven’t been back post pandemic (yet) because the UWS Jing Fong is excellent and closer (their chinatown location finally reopened too). Cafe China for Sichuan, and a newer place in midtown that’s very good too - Blue Willow. Red Farm for modernized / expensive but excellent food. I recall you said you stay in chinatown — have you had big tray chicken yet? It is crowded, which may still be consideration, unless you get takeout. For XLB I’m back to believing Joe’s is the gold standard, though I do most often get my fix in midtown at Kung Fu.
I’m sure I’m forgetting things having been away for a few months again, so I’ll add as my memory is jogged .
I’ve been twice, and while I think it’s better than your average Chinese place, it’s also too expensive for how much better it is. According to me. But I’ve only had the vegetarian and seafood stuff - maybe the duck makes up for everything else.
I don’t think BCD Tofu has been mentioned, so I’m mentioning it. Best soondubu jjigae I’ve had.
Thanks & welcome home Saregama. Although Dhamaka left me feeling like I’d had an expensive meal of carbs., I thought it okay. Certainly not worthy of these “best restaurant” reviews. I liked Adda better. Neither Indian Accent nor Sona left me wanting to return. I thought both were too much presentation with too little substance. And I’m ashamed to say that we haven’t been to Saar. Devi was our favorite place for years & we liked Tulsi when Hemant first opened it. Not so much his subsequent adventures. I second the Pippali recommendation & we also seem to find our way back to Dhaba around the corner on Lex (although its been uneven for awhile now).
@SteveR apparently Bhatti now has the chef from Moti Mahal, which is promising. Though their food has always been consistent (Hemant Mathur used to consult there iirc when there were a bunch of places owned by the same folks and he was post-Devi but not at his own restaurant yet).
Indian Accent is in its own category to me — I would recommend it if someone was looking for a highly stylized meal. I enjoy it, but never feel compelled to return. Kind of like Tabla and Bread Bar - I was downstairs all the time, but never felt a desire to go upstairs unless someone was in search of that very specific notion.
Your memory is correct. Hemant “took over” all 6 places with the stated intent to make each a different regional cuisine. Dhaba was one of them as well. Went over like a lead balloon, with 2 folding completely within a year & Dhaba returning to a “we have a little of everything” concept. At least Malai Marke made E.6th St less of a disaster area.
Totally unresponsive to bcc’s request is a notable development in my area of Brooklyn. About 6-8 months ago, Eric McCarthy took over INDIAN TABLE in Cobble Hill and has made it interesting. Although not obvious from the name, he’s from Goa & has been the chef at Brick Lane Curry (when it opened), at Tulsi (when Hemant left) & at Tamarind. The Portuguese influences are obvious and I have found the seafood and fish dishes to be very good. We’ve been 3 times & have liked it each time, as have the friends we’ve gone with. Again, this is not high end but would stand out on Lex. Ave in that price range.
I’m glad you reminded me of this — I remember reading about it when it was opening, and telling my (equally always hungry) friend in brooklyn we had to try it 
a chow meet? I’m in…
