Good chinese food in Chinatown?

[krunkymunky]

Anyone have any recommendations for the best restaurants in Boston's Chinatown? I'm just visiting for the weekend with my family. The only caveats are: 1. we stuffed ourselves with lobster last night already, and 2. my mom's a big time clean freak, so the cleaner the place is, the better. Thanks all! :D

[Tir_na_nOg]

My favs are Taiwan Cafe and Peach Farm (later specifically for seafood), but neither has much spit and polish. Penang would be a good choice. Also, it's on the edge of Chinatown, so your Mom won't be freaked out by all the unusual aromas wafting out of store fronts on the walk there (Moms: gotta love them!). East Ocean City has the nicest dining room I've been too in Chinatown, although I haven't been there in a couple of years.

[mwk]

Although Peach Farm is my favorite restaurant in Chinatown, it's absolutely NOT germaphobe approved. It's probably the opposite of that, whatever that may be.

For those friends of mine who are put off by dingy surroundings, but want to eat in Chinatown, I usually go to New Jumbo or my latest is the Gourmet Dumpling House on Beach St. In relative terms, those are fairly neat and presentable locations.

[Guinness02122]

Others not mentioned that I like Winsor Dim Sum and Peach Farm on Tyler Street. The Wai Wai restaurant on Oxford Street is great also, but might be too seedy.

[drbangha]

I'll throw out one that isn't in Chinatown but otherwise fits the bill. Search for Fuloon on this board and see what happens. I won't repeat all the praise, but it is pretty incredible and it is perfectly germaphobe friendly, although it is not at all glamourous to look at.

You can get to it very easily from Chinatown as well: You just get on the Orange Line (which you can pick up in Chinatown) and ride it for 15 minutes north to Malden Center. Fuloon is maybe a 3-4 minute walk from there. The T that direction is perfectly safe at all hours as is the walk.

Highly recommended.

[Aznmask]

If you like spicy food then you might like Fuloon. Most of the chef is specialist making spicy food. So dont go to that place if you want some cantonese style of food, cause they not good on it.

Highly recommended for New Jumbo, Golden Gate

Penang (Malay food) i love their service, and food is delicious...

[finlero]

I'll enthusiastically second Winsor Dim Sum.

Made-to-order dim sum (you mark your order on sushi-bar-style paper slips), the quality of which, IMHO, trounces any of the pushcart places. The room is spare, but significantly cleaner than average for Chinatown.

[The Chowhound Team]

Folks, if you have a restaurant with good food that you'd consider germaphobe approved, please go ahead and recommend it. But debating other people's standards of cleanliness is off topic and personal, and those types of comments will be removed.

[ghostcat]

I think the food at the New Jumbo is about as good as you can get in Chinatown, but if you are looking for a spotless bathroom, head for either of the two P.F.Chang's locations, one in the theater district and the other one at the Pru in the Back Bay.

[jylze]

i disagree pretty strongly with the folks who say chinatown is a hard place for germaphobes. i think most places are as clean as the average pizza parlor if not better. many bathrooms are admittedly not that nice, but you don't eat in the bathroom.

that having been said - search the board for chinatown recommendations. the places that come to mind when trying to think of pristine restaurants that are also pretty good: new shanghai, new jumbo, dumpling house, grand chow chau, wing's kitchen. penang is also good but not the place for chinese food.

[bachslunch]

Grand Chow Chau and New Shanghai are both closed. Have been to New Jumbo and would not take the germophobes I know there. But then again, the germophobes I know would also not consider a number of pizza parlors acceptable.

I very clearly did *not* suggest Penang as a place for Chinese food -- it serves Malay cuisine. I very much did suggest it as the Chinatown place where I would most readily take a germophobe.

[limster]

I know it's confusing....but Penang serves Malaysian cuisine which is the food in malay that draws from several ethnic groups, including the native Malays and the immigrant Chinese and Indians.

Malay food OTOH, is just the food of the ethnic Malays, which is a subset of Malaysian food.

Quite a bit of Penang's menu is drawn from food made by various Chinese groups in Malaysia e.g. char kuay teow, stir fries etc...

[bachslunch]

Chinatown is definitely not a place for seriously germophobic diners, and that qualification alone eliminates almost all your options.

Penang (a Malay place) is probably your best choice given this limitation. Maybe Pho Pasteur or Pho Hoa (both Vietnamese) -- maybe.

[sheila]

IMO, the best Chinese food in Chinatown is Best Little Restaurant on Hudson Street. You can literally just order whatever you see on other peoples' tables. But in term of cleaniness, it is hard for me to pinpoint any restaurants in Chinatown that any clean freaks will absolutly feel comfortable with.

[heathermb]

I strongly second this recommendation - I love BLR. Also, my mom - who can be slightly germophobic, has eaten there with me and was perfectly comfortable and very happily full at the end of our meal.