recent manhattan chinatown bites

Regional Dining Discussions New York City
1

about once every three months I purchase carry out roast meat for a family feast.

golden steamer - picked up a six pack of egg yolk buns and pork buns, steamed for 14 minutes at home, at $1.50 or so, the egg yolk bun has to be one of the best bargains in nyc, soft, gooey, tastes much closer to custard than egg yolks, pork buns were excellent too.

mei lai wah - I refuse to wait on the long lines that have formed at mei lai wah over the course of the pandemic, end of day just 3 people on line, the baked pork buns had a lot more filling than usual, the dough on one of the buns wasn’t fully cooked, overall, not as good as usual, perhaps quality has dipped as they deal with constant demand.

new york deluxe market - picked up a pound of roast pork ($10), half a roast chicken ($12.50) and half a pound of roast pig $10 I think). Their rendition of roast pork is a little sweeter than I like but still wonderful, roast pig was correctly made but personally I find the cut too fatty. Everyone loved the roast chicken, succulent, meaty and fragrant.

nb big wong - the triple roast meat combo with fried egg at new wing wong on mott used to be one of my favorite dishes in Chinatown, not sure if this restaurant is related but have generally liked their roast duck. Arrived late in the day, duck was a little dry and not much meat. Will probably head back to ny noodle town next time for this meat.

tasty dumplings - solid, basic dumplings, five for $2, not destination worthy but good for a quick snack. My favorite dumplings of the moment are from noodle village but that’s a sit down affair.

best,

9 Likes
2

We made a point of having lunch there, several years back. In fact, it’s the only place in NYC’s Chinatown where we have eaten.

I was a big fan o f the Kinky Friedman novels and the restaurant regularly featured, with Kinky always ordering roast pork - and so did I.

4 Likes
3

I think you mean big wing wong, some people believe it’s where chinese roast pork was first to be found in the U.S…at least that’s what one of my Chinese ex-colleagues believed. However, I was referring to NB wing wong, a different place altogether. big wing wong, nb wing wong, new wing wong, far too man wing wongs to keep track of!

1 Like
4

I only recall the name as being “Big Wong”, as the books also had it.

2 Likes
5

big wong still there and going strong!

2 Likes
6

What kind of dumplings?

Agree with your assessments. I like their counter / hot food station dim sum takeaway earlier in the day too.

1 Like
7

I was specifically referring to noodle village’s pan fried pork and chive dumpling but I also like their soup dumplings. otoh, my d doesn’t care for their soup dumplings. Overall, I like the restaurant.

back in the day on chowhound, lau threw out an offhand comment about how hard it was to find good won ton soup. sent me down a decade-long rabbit hole which led from manhattan to asia to a) figure out what constituted good won ton soup and b) where to find it. turns out I could have saved a lot of time and money (but missed out on a lot of fun!) by heading to sifu chio in flushing but on a good day, noodle village’s rendition is excellent.

4 Likes
8

The best wonton soup I have had in recent memory (or perhaps ever) was when I was stuck in CA for the pandemic and ordered specialty frozen dumplings from someone who was employing out of work restaurant workers in an industrial kitchen specifically to make different types of dumplings. Their Hong Kong style wontons in homemade chicken broth were heaven. The wontons were stuffed and delicious with a thin, silky wrapper.

Wish there was a similar quality bulk dumpling home-delivery option in nyc.

2 Likes
9

Went to Hwa Yuan for lunch on Boxing Day. Have not had Peking duck since early 2020 so had a massive craving for it. We ordered the duck as we were being seated. Was phenomenal. Still one of the best in the city IMO. Love the hand made crepes. A bit more substantial then elsewhere but they have a great flavor. The sesame noodles are the best. Paid a lot more than $2 for the dumplings but I expect the dumplings we had were better. Very thin wrapper with a light flavorful filling. On the way out, Shorty came by shake my hand and to thank us for coming.

10

If we ever make it to NYC again …

2 Likes
11

You can get those same noodles at Shorty Tang’s in Chelsea for $4 cheaper. I like Hwa Yuan, but I always feel like I’m paying 30% more than I need to.

12

haven’t been yet, the dry sautéed string beans was a favorite at the original, anyone tried them at the new place?

13

Yeah, I’ve enjoyed Noodle Village in the past. I am mostly low-carb now, so their menu is difficult for me, but my experience was that pretty much everything they serve was dependable and in particular, they served very good wonton soup, duck, and if I’m not very much mistaken, also curried oxtail on rice that’s spicy and good.

1 Like
14

What do you think of the roast baby pig at New York Noodletown? I tend to like it, though I order their roast duck more often.

15

I just went to Grand Master 95, I’ll start a new thread.

16

i like all the roast meat at ny noodletown and on any given day, imo, it’s probably best in chinatown. at some point, i noticed they were microwaving the meat for us, perhaps because we were caucasian, once i put a stop to it, the texture was much improved. but you asked specifically about the roast pig, i like it if i can convince the waiter to ask for a lean cut.

unfortunately, they sat us under the dripping air conditioner one too many times so it’s hard to get my wife back in there. if i’m on my own and craving roast meat, it’s my go to.

4 Likes
17

I like the roast pork, but the roast baby pig is better. If you haven’t tried that, do. I’m not eating inside restaurants now, so now and then, I walk down there and get takeout.

2 Likes
18

i havent eaten there since the pandemic either. you know, i’m getting ild and dont have a perfect memory any more, it’s entirely possible we had this same discussion on chowhounds, it rings a bell…

anyhow we’ve tried all the roast meat there. big wong is also pretty good for roast pork. one of my friends knows the owner at big wong and got them to make an off-menu singapore beef chow fun, it was just incredible and i’ dont love Singapore mei fun.

best,

1 Like
19

I haven’t tried anything at Big Wong for ages. Anything else you like there?

20

I like the roast pork at big wong, chow fun, cantonese noodle soups with roast meat and a Youtiao. I know Youtiao is not traditionally paired with this kind of soup but my chinese colleagues started doing it and I followed suit.

anyhow, I’m almost never in big wong, prefer other spots though I will say now that I’ve stopped walking through ctown on the way home from the fidi, I’ve started to lose context around what’s happening there. for example, I was shocked when I saw all the new rice roll joints…I used to stop to eat at the small shops on the end of east broadway, now they’re all over chinatown…

which places do you like?

1 Like