Oddly, we don’t seem to have a thread on this broad topic, although we’ve had subthreads on subtopics. I’ll try to link to these downstream, but here are my wanderings two days ago, blinded as I was by my eye-dilating drops at the nearby New England Eye.
As always, superb duck buns from Dumpling Cafe, and salted-fish + chicken fried rice.
Superb, again, fried shrimp&chive dumplings from Winsor (3 orders, anticipating greatness), fish cakes, and rice noodles with XO.
Great Portuguese egg tarts from Great Taste and coconut buns from Ho Yuen.
Thanks for starting the thread! I also recently visited Dumpling Cafe and will second the duck buns recommendation. Also will recommend the dry-fried string beans – theirs is one of the better versions of that dish that I’ve had, and includes some lotus root and tofu skin for a nice textural contrast.
I would really like to get some basic updated suggestions on the Chinatown staples of old:
Is there still, somewhere, a 24 hour call ahead/3 course Peking duck, or something similar? (Thinking e.g. King Fung Garden.) If not, where is the best version in any case these days?
What are the best places at this point for a plate of rice and meat? (Roast duck, soy sauce chicken, etc - e.g. in the style of Wai Wai, which I’m pretty sure is long gone at this point. Also bonus points for a place that’s maybe a touch cleaner than Wai Wai used to be.)
There is a review of Boston area dim sum restaurants in the Boston Globe today. Unfortunately the Globe doesn’t offer gift articles like the New York Times and the Washington Post do.
I read this piece as I check the Globe’s food section every Wednesday to see if there’s anything that piques my interest. IMO this dim sum review is worth reading. Yes, would be great if there was a gift policy, but as yet no such thing as Madrid points out. I so enjoy dim sum and would join in if others would enjoy an Onion outing. Fun to read Shirley Leung lean into her dim sum past with family in Hong Kong on summer trips.
I started my dim sum love affair years ago in Chinatown working at Tufts Medical School. Bo Shek’s roast pork buns were a mainstay of my weekly budget and lunch rotation. Went on to sample every dim sum offering falling for hargow, shrimp in rice noodles, sticky rice in lotus leaves, … . Patiently awaiting the reopening of China Pearl purportedly by the end of this summer. In the meantime I so enjoy Sun Kong in Malden. Been to Ming’s on Pleasant Street prefer Sun Kong. My experience has been better executed , better seasoning and I like the frenetic at sometimes pace yet kindness to customers. No carts, order from laminated menu with pictures.
In reply to Adam -Carts remain at Joyful Garden in the Watertown Mall as well as China Pearl in Quincy per today’s Globe article.
No carts any longer at Sun Kong post Covid. Order from the laminated menu with pictures! So, no need to eat and keep your eyes on the lookout for full carts coming into the dining area. It really is very good IMO.
