I love Kopitiam!
Gotta get the kaya toast with the soft boiled eggs to dip in. Some white coffee. The char kway teow is probably my favorite char kway teow but I never been to Malaysia and Singapore. There is very few Malaysian/Singaporean coffee shops in the US. Kopitiam is probably the best in the country for food and drinks for this style. Only thing missing is the old retired uncles hanging out lol
I would like to attend a group meal at Noodletown. Just about anytime of day works for me…
I used to bring jars of kaya home from Malaysia; but I also bought it somewhere in NYC area…freshly made, not jarred. Where can I find it now…?
I’d love to try Kopitam!
Kopitiam will sell their kaya if they have it on hand; you’d have to ask at the counter. Rasa, on West 8th St., used to sell pints of a more caramelized version of kaya; as I recall, the owner recommended that you call in advance. Moon Man, a vendor at the Queens Night Market (Nigel is his name; he’s Indonesian), sells his own NYC-made kaya, too, although by the time it’s in your hands, it will be in a jar. New Belacan, in Sunset Park, sells kaya in a brownish “natural” shade, the counterwoman called it.
After returning to New York from my first visit to Singapore, I began to stop in at every Malaysian restaurant and market I passed to see if kaya, kueh, or anything else freshly made was on offer. That’s a good practice for all sorts of cuisines. Sometimes local home cooks will consign their wares to a point-of-purchase display, though I’ve never found that to be the case with kaya.
living where we did in westchester, there was one good dim sum restaurant in the county, zero good chinese restaurants and zero malaysian restaurants so I tried this recipe upon our return from singapore:
and it was pretty good, give it a try!
Grabbed dinner at Noodletown last night, and honestly felt it was very meh! The soft shell crab, despite warnings of my fellow HOers, was as they described. Very fresh critters, but not enhanced by the preparation. A lot of what I would describe as “gunk” on them that wasn’t pure salt (which is what I thought at first), but also was not crispy like some batter might be. It was unappealing looking, and didn’t taste good either. And, yeah, heavy on the salt.
Pea shoots were also as described. Delicious. Seriously good. We had some soup with shrimp dumplings (these were curiously hard, and the broth just not tasty either) and a pan fried noodle dish that was okay, but have also had better. So, all in all, disappointing, as soft shelled crab is a favorite ingredient of mine.
Im still sorry to miss the meal! It seems to me that “salt baked” dishes as I first experienced them in the late 70s-early 80s have morphed into more of a battered seafood preparation maybe because they became popular with westerners. I would like to see where the old style salt baked dishes are still cooked, if anywhere. And, I guess look for a different soft shell preparation. 
The “gunk” is typically just cornstarch with seasonings, not batter (at least when I looked it up during the pandemic to replicate at home).
I though the soft shells were plump and delicious, but that salt was overdone. However the other salt-baked dish was definitely crisper, though later I wondered if the differing nature of the seafood type itself didn’t result in different outcomes.
That said, we have noted in the past at Wu’s and elsewhere that the spicing of the topping added on top has been lacking — it struck me later that it was virtually non-existent at Noodletown .
@ninkat I don’t know which pan-fried noodles you had, but my earlier trip to Noodletown the server suggested the mixed seafood noodles, which came in a white sauce and were definitely Meh (soggy seafood, gloppy sauce). This time I advocated for the mixed meat and seafood ones (that I was steered away from the first time) and I enjoyed them much more.
Totally agree on the soup. The wontons are much better at Wu’s.
I think we went with prawns on the pan-fried noodles, and yes gloppy describes it. Tasted alright, though. I’ve only been to Wu’s that one time last year, but much preferred my meal there, FWIW!
I’m getting a bit old for the cramped, rushed style that dining there necessitates. I get that, given their popularity and small space, they need to turn tables and manage the logistics, but I greatly prefer eating at Wu’s (even with their own rushed style). That being said, the prices at both places are low given the quality and the trade off is fine when I want above average food of this type.
I really liked almost everything we ate at Great NY Noodletown. I think the pictures above do it justice so folks can judge for themselves (as much as one can from no “smell-o-vision” or “taste-o-vision”). The roast meats were tasty and meaty, the seafood not overcooked and the flavors solid. I even liked the soft shell crabs, “gunk” included, and nothing was too salty for me except one or two pieces of the fried eggplant/tofu dish… Not gourmet versions of this cooking style but, in my opinion, very credible. Maybe a step above Wu’s on the meats, but pretty equivalent on most other dishes. From what I saw on other tables (& what ninkat experienced), I’d guess that Wu’s dumplings/wontons are much better.
Bottom line, however, is that as happy as I was with the food, I probably won’t be back anytime soon due to the non-food environmental issues.
after hong kong i went down a bit of a nyc wonton soup rabbit hole and realized nynt, depending on visit, were somewhere between meh and dnpim. havent been since before the pandemic but noodle village was my favorite in manhattan. their wonton soup and soup/fried dumplings were reliably good. sifu chio in flushing was my fav in nyc, I believe charles yu, who went down an absolutely epic wonton soup rabbit hole, thought it as good as anything he’s eaten in hong kong. still havent tried maxis…
as for the roast meat dishes, I thought the duck very good but was a little disappointed with the soy sauce chicken. i’ll probably rotate back to big wong for roast meat takeout. before the meal I had promised to take my wife to nynt for ssc but I’m sure she’d find them too salty.
so the search begins for a new ssc place in ctown, any recommendations? unfortunately, gone are the days of taking a couple of client meetings in fidi, heading to ctown for lunch or dinner.
ps i ate these at tasty noodles before our dinner, pretty good but since lan zhou closed, havent been able to find anything quite
Very well said.
I dunno @vinouspleasure – I have been wondering if the size of our order had something to with what was wrong with it (the crabs themselves were great, and plumper than most places I’ve eaten them). The same issues weren’t in evidence with the normally-sized salt-baked mixed seafood, for example. If it’s a single order (which I think was 2 vs the 6 we got?) maybe you don’t have those issues anymore (also you can ask them to go easy on the salt).
Aside from that, you could call Wu’s and see if they’re serving ssc, good chance that they are.
Non-Chinatown / Chinese, I saw Madam Vo has them on the menu (also salt-baked though they’re a Viet spot) and I’d wager they do a good job. @small_h said she had a good ssc banh mi at Saigon Social, and they also serve them on garlic noodles. I’d guess that some of the Thai places on 9th (or near you) have them as a special (maybe Wondee or Pure), but call to check. Momofuku noodle bar has had them as a special in the past, as has Toloache (which would also suggest El Fish Shack might have them).
Too bad Aquagrill shut down, they did a fabulous version.
perhaps you’re right and we should give them another try. stay tuned!
Speaking of Big Wong
Those look closer to Lan Zhou’s (ie neat pleating, thinner skin) than most of the bulk-dumpling places.
In the latter category, I’ve gotten a good quick bite at Tasty Dumpling, Fried Dumpling (the og cheapie hole on Mosco), and North Dumpling (pretty far east, but probably my favorite of the lot).
Did you notice there’s a Vanessa’s not far from you now? I find their skins too thick, but there’s something to be said for proximity (we got dumplings from there last weekend as apps before mains from Hui).
As it happens, I went to Panda Express for lunch yesterday, because I’ve never had it. And now I have. I’ve had worse. My “sizzling shrimp” and “super greens” were inoffensive. My chow mein was lo mein, which was odd.
Don’t get me wrong: Panda Express has been a core part of my airport consumption over the past decades. However, it does not qualify as a reason to tag a neighborhood as “Chinatown” lol.
Oh, no argument here! Has to be a PF Chang’s, at least. 
I’ve never been to one of those, either.
how was hui?
i had a bad experience at Fried Dumpling during the pandemic, they forced one to purchase…I dunno, 24 or 36 dumplings at a time. I walked over to the park, opened the container to find they’d congealed into one room temp, sticky, very greasy ball of dumplings. Probably had been sitting for an hour or two, tossed into garbage after one bite.
we used to take the kids to vanessas before it became a tourist attraction, gave them each $5 and let them (over)fill their bellies with hot peking ducking sesame bread sandwiches and dumplings. Now that prices have been UpperEastSided, not all too interested but thinking about it, not sure we can find better dumplings in the neighborhood. edit: actually I think Xian UES serves their Spicy & Sour Lamb Dumplings in that location.
best,
