Boston Hound needs ChinaTown help...

[ScubaSteve]

hello all!

my son and i will be spending four days near ChinaTown and would like a little help finding the Good Stuff. i did search the board a bit and after sifting through those posts i decided it would be more direct to just ask for advice based on what we are looking for.

we're very familiar with Boston's ChinaTown and are ager to start eating so here's what we're looking for:

Roast Meats, all kinds.
Offal, all kinds.
Dumplings.
Noodles.
Sichuan or other firey offerings.
Street Food vendors of note.
A good place with seafood tanks.

we'll be staying about two blocks away so we plan on walking but we'll also have a car.

thanks in advance,
Steve

[kobetobiko]

Big Wong on 67 Mott is going to be my pick for BBQ pork, boiled chicken and soy sauce chicken. If you like offals, Bo Ky (Chiu Chow styled) has amazing boiled pig's kidney's and pig's small intestines, and you can also order a platter of mix pig's offals (but it doesn't come with pig's kidneys)

[Ann900]

Definitely second the comment about Flushing's Chinatown. If you have the time and incl;ination take the number 7 subway to the end- Main Street in Queens. It's like a trip to Hong Kong - Chinese restaurants, food stores, bakeries, shops of all kinds as far as the eye can see. Great variety, great quality. My personal favs include Spicy and Tasty for authentic Sichuan and Hong Kong Supermarket for an immense variety of Asian food products. Sentosa for great Malyasian. But I love just walking the streets and trying new places, both to eat and buy food to bring home.

[shaogo]

If the OP really wants a cultural immersion experience, he can take one of the little vans that goes to Flushing from Chinatown Manhattan. They're cheap and get to Flushing in 20 minutes.

The vans leave from various locations in the middle of Chinatown, near East Broadway, I believe.

[Pan]

I liked Sentosa much better when they were on Allen St. in Chinatown. Have they served you anything really spicy since they've been on Prince St. in Flushing? (By the way, it's Malaysian cuisine, not Malyasian; I don't mean to be the Typo Police, but I'm just not sure whether that was just a typo.)

[Ann900]

yes, it was a typo and I absolutely agree that the food at Sentosa was much better when they were in Manhattan. I used to eat there at least once a week. The food does seem to be less spicy and not as carefully prepared in Flushing, but still very enjoyable. But then again, if I'm craving super spicy I just go next door to Spicy and Tasty.

[Pan]

Right, and there's also the Hunan place on Northern Boulevard. To my knowledge, there still isn't any Hunanese food to be had in Manhattan, except for some items at at least some branches of Grand Sichuan.

[Chandavkl]

Just a caution as to expectations. Chinese food in Manhattan Chinatown is fine, but does not compare to what you find in Flushing, which is much superior. Contrast this to Boston, where most of the best Chinese food is in Chinatown. Consequently, when you get to NY Chinatown, I think you'll find a variety that is wider that what you're used to, but there might not be an upgrade in quality if that's what you're expecting.

[windycity]

I think there is a slight upgrade in food quality in Manhattan Chinatown, and definitely better dim sum, though the lobster prices in Boston are hard to beat. Skip the pho though, Boston does it better.

Also check out the soup dumplings at New Yeah Shanghai or Joe's.

[Pan]

In addition to all of scoopG's help, Great NY Noodletown is notable for its barbecued items (I particularly like their roast duck), noodle soups, and congees, and I also like their dishes with yellow chives and pea shoots. Wing Shoon has the best Soy Sauce Chicken I've had in Manhattan, but is otherwise merely solidly good, not nearly up to the deliciousness of Cantoon Garden, so if you choose to go there, just get Soy Sauce Chicken and some other dish, such as a casserole. Another place that has good roast duck is the very cheap Wing Huang, which as I recall closes early (around 7 or 8 PM, I think).

For dumplings, consider going to Dim Sum Go Go for dim sum. At their best, they make very good, thin-wrapper dumplings with fine fillings.

Enjoy, and please report back on your adventures.

[kobetobiko]

Is the soy sauce chicken the kind that they hang up with the BBQ pork with no sauce?

I haven't tried the one at Wing Shoon but my favorite is Big Wong. The Best!

[Pan]

Yeah. Thanks for the Big Wong recommendation. I'll have to try theirs.

[scoopG]

Best Dumplings:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/525768

Lanzhou style Hand-Pulled Noodles:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/492376

Best Chinatown Restaurant:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/531040

Sichuan in Manhattan - not really a good Sichuan place in Chinatown:

Szechuan Gourmet - my favorite:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/459240
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/568761
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/591930
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/627314

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/reviews/23rest.html?scp=1&sq=szechuan%20gourmet&st=cse

Grand Sichuan
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/613951
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/584398
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/568111

Wu Liang Ye
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/453751

Big Wong King at 67 Mott Street, 10013 - Best Cantonese BBQ Pork.

Fuleen Seafood at 11 Division Street, 10002

[ScubaSteve]

nice!
TYVM!

[scoopG]

Here are some more threads. Good reports on Cantoon Garden.

Cantoon Garden:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/589457?tag=search_results;results_list

East Corner Wonton:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/611302?tag=boards;topic-611302

Two Best Fuzhou Restaurants:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/483902

Ah Ping Snack Bar:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/601922
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/612963