Chinatown Dinner on Thanksgiving

[MMRuth]

We have non-U.S. relatives in town for Thanksgiving and, for various reasons, were thinking of doing something different for Thanksgiving dinner, and I thought of going to Chinatown. My experiences are limited to shopping there, banh mi, Chinatown ice cream place, and a dim sum place. In searching the boards, I came up with Amazing 66 and Fuloon - both are open, but the former only takes reservations for 8, and we're 7, and the seafood emphasis at Fuloon might not make it the best option for our relatives. I also saw references to Peking Duck House (I've been to the midtown one) but that the dishes other than the Peking Duck (which we all love) aren't so interesting.

So, I'm wondering, any places that I've missed in my search that I should consider? And, if so, any particular dishes that you would recommend? The group includes three children - 7 to 12 or so, by the way - and probably would be more comfortable with a more upscale place, if possible.

Thanks!

[MMRuth]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I got out voted on going to Chinatown though, so we're going to Chin Chin instead. Another time ....

Happy Thanksgiving!

[vacantlook]

My husband wants to do chinatown for Thanksgiving, but can anyone recommend a place where we can sit at a table for 2? He really hates being seated with other people. Thanks!

Also, I'm assuming that earlier at like 5 or 6 is better than later in the day to get a table by ourselves?

[small h]

I've eaten at a table for two at Oriental Garden, which has excellent seafood. But we were downstairs, & it was a little depressing. Not sure if they have smaller tables upstairs in the more attractive room.

[alc]

Mr. Tang at Mott and Bayard.

[Stuffed Monkey]

Two tops are possible at Joe's Shanghi and Peking Duck House.

[kobetobiko]

Hi MMRuth,

Not sure how many times you will be eating out with your relatives, but in addition to Chinese TG dinner, you may also consider having the Bo Ssam at Momofuku pre- or post TG. Since there are kids there are like to be leftovers, but the pork butt is great even the next day or after.

The bo ssam is also available for delivery with other condiments! Just an idea for you :D

[foodwhisperer]

If you want upscale, i do not recommend NY Noodletown or Big Wong, they are a far cry from upscale. I like Golden Unicorn, I was pleasantly suprised how it is as good as it was years ago, it went downhill for awhile but its good now, the dim sum is excellent also,,and I like that its not on street level and you take an elevator to get to it. Nice added touch.

[KTinNYC]

Oriental Garden is more upscale then most of the other CT restaurants. The room is nice and there are white tablecloths. The staff all speak English and the food is very good especially the seafood.

Here is a recent thread, http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/541171

I have never had any issues with the service but other posters disagree. There has been, on occasion, times where the staff tries to clear plates too quickly but I just tell them we are not done and they are fine with that and leave the plates.

[kobetobiko]

Hi KTinNYC,

Agree that OG can be an option, but similar to Fuleen, OG excels in seafood and is only so-so in other dishes. I would rather go to Fuleen instead of OG in that case as it is less expensive and better (slightly..) service.

[KTinNYC]

I think the non-seafood options are very good. For example, the dou miao is some of the best I've ever had. OG is very strong on the sea food but the Cantonese dishes are good as well.

[foodwhisperer]

Perhaps Buddakan on 9th ave ( meat packing) is a good choice for upscale chinese food. Its a nice place ( 12 million dollar renovation of the Nabisco factory), and the library room is gives a smaller homier atmosphere. Their edamame dumplings are great.
Since Canton closed, I dont think there are any upscale restaurants in chinatown. Maybe Golden Unicorn on East Bway , they do have white table cloths

[kobetobiko]

Hi MMRuth,

While Amazing 66 doesn't allow reservation for less than 8 people, one way to get around it is to reserve one of their "pre-order" dishes to guarantee a seating. I actually think that one of their pre-ordered dishes, the House Special crispy chick stuffed with sticky rice will be perfect for your occasion! It is literally what it said, a big chicken, bone removed, stuffed with sticky rice (similar to the sticky rice you get for dim sum) and then deep fry into golden crispy goodness. Not only is it delicoius, what could have better fitted with the Thanksgiving theme than a big bird with stuffing? :D

Try calling them and see if you reserve the dish whether they will let you secure the table!

[Simon]

damn, that crispy sticky-rice-stuffed fried chicken sounds good!...(and i just ate a ton of marcona almonds, goat cheese, blueberries, and red wine and i'm not even remotely hungry, but i still want to eat it)...

what's the deal on the pre-order?...one day in advance?...a few hours?...how big is the dish?...

i've never been to Amazing 66, but that description of the chicken moves it right onto my to-try list...

[kobetobiko]

HI Simon,

You just have to order it one day in advance, but since MMRuth wants to secure a table, I will suggest ordering it well in advance when you try to secure the table at the same time.

It is a big dish. Sticky rice, as you know, is very filling. So I will suggest cutting back on one dish at least when ordering (and probably no need for any rice dishes).

I searched online and someone actually had a picture of the dish on their blog. There is also the other famous dish, the beef in pumpkin.

http://saltysavorysweet.blogspot.com/...

Their crab dishes are also very nice.

[Simon]

thanks for the blog link...i actually think the pic of the roast chicken w/ pickled vegetables looks even tastier than the crispy chicken...

i also found a rec for the sticky-rice/chicken dish in NY Mag, but was somewhat concerned when they described the rice as "multi-colored"...does this just mean there are some grains of brown or wild rice or some pork in it, or do they use some food-coloring for decorative purposes? (i have an extreme aversion to artificial color and if that was the case, i would be very disappointed)...the rice i could see in the blog photo looked normal though...

[kobetobiko]

Multi-colored? I am not sure what it meant, but as you know, sticky rice isn't pure white but sort of light brown, and perhaps the colors refered to the chinese sausage with the rice?

I have had the chicken with preserved vegetabes, and the flavor was actually very good. But I thought the chicken meat was sort of dry. I am pretty picky about Chinese style chicken, and I always want my chicken meat silky and tender inside out, like the white boiled chicken at Big Wong.

[Simon]

cool...it was prob just poor wording in the NY Mag article...

i've never been to Big Wong either, so i'll add that to my list too, along w/ New Malaysia, which i've been thinking about going to for years (but whenever i'm down there, i usually find myself drawn into old fav NY Noodletown for salt-baked squid, bbq pork, and fish w/ flowering chives...

[kobetobiko]

At Big Wong, the best thing is definitely the congee. Nothing like the watery version at Congee Village or those Hong Kong bistro-styled cafe. This is the old-school congee whether you can still taste the fragrance of rice in the congee in the right texture. Their BBQ meat is good too, like soy sauce chicken or white boiled chicken, duck and BBQ pork (char siu). Those items are where they excel. Their fried cullers are terrible, so don't bother. For stir-fry like salt-baked squid or rice, NY Noodletown is better.

[scoopG]

I agree. The BBQ pork at Big Wong is more tender and tastier than NY Noodletown. You can tell it is made with lots of TLC. NY Noodletown cuts their BBQ pork slices too large for my liking, unlike Big Wong.

[Melanie Wong]

Has anyone alerted Jim Leff about this chicken? I introduced him to it in San Francisco nearly 10 years ago ( http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1627... ), and at that time he couldn't find anyone in NYC to make it for him closer to home.

[scoopG]

M - Please consider Yogee Restaurant at 85 Chrystie Street - a bit off the beaten track in Chinatown, but quiet, clean and bright and plenty of good eats. Also Fu Zhou Restaurant at 84 Forsyth - really a Cantonese joint but not the usual crowded tourist joint. Brian S discovered this spot last year around holiday time. Shanghai Cafe would be another rec (Soup Dumplings and Dong Po Rou) and Amazing 66 would still fit the bill. They only take reservations for larger groups since their tables are set up family style for 8 or two tops.