Chinese on Thanksgiving
So my aunt and uncle are coming in from out of town for thanksgiving and want to recreate what went on in the film a christmas story but on thanksgiving. So what they want is a great cantonese joint, no sushi, for thanksgiving dinner. Uncle does not eat meat or chicken but plenty of seafood. The aunt and three kids are up for anything, the kids are 7, 6, and 2, they are well behaved so can go almost anywhere. Price is not a matter. Dont want a super high end place like a mr chow, philipe because we all know the food at those places arent king, more a place with great food and character. I know ill probly get a "search is your friend response", but some suggestions of places would be nice. They will be staying at the Palace, but are willing to travel to any part of manhattan, no flushing. Thanks for the help!
By beer4brkfest
on Nov 15, 2009 03:47 PM
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A search turned up this single, paltry topic:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/205570
I am in the Chinese restaurant business. Years ago, only the Chinatown restaurants were open on Thanksgiving. Many suburban and "American-Chinese" places actually *closed* on Thanksgiving -- the one day of the year they close!
If your relatives are staying at the Palace, I'm sure the hotel's concierge can make some suggestions.
If you decide to go to Chinatown for dinner I hope you can abide crowds! All the Chinese restaurant workers who have the day off will be at one of two places: a restaurant in Chinatown, or a casino. Who knows, if you *do* decide to all go to a Chinatown restaurant, there's a good chance you'll be one of the few non-Chinese tables in the place. It's a festive time, so there's no down side to being non-Chinese but for perhaps not being privvy to what's on the "specials" menu if it's printed only in Chinese.
I dig where you're coming from regarding doing something decidedly different -- and interesting -- for the Thanksgiving holiday. I do hope you post here what you decide to do, and what happens!
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Sadly there are no old fashioned traditonal Cantonese places left in the city. Only the tired and greasy Hop Shing badly stabs at the genre. If food is important to you and you want a treat. Take Metro North to Mamaroneck and visit Lum Yen. The spareribs are stupendous and the old school Cantonese sizzling seafood Wor Bar will keep your dad talking for a long time.
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In Chinatown, Oriental Garden (address = 14 Elizabeth Street in Manhattan Chinatown) has a lot of seafood dishes and the atmosphere is a little nicer than other Chinatown restaurants. Also, some folks here like Amazing 66 (at 66 Mott Street in Manhattan Chinatown), which has a big seafood menu.
If you prefer to stay in midtown, you can check out Chin Chin (address = 216 E 49th St, in midtown)... I have been there only once and I think it's kind of "Americanized" but the food tastes good and it is Cantonese-style and they do have seafood entrees. It's not cheap but definitely less expensive than Mr. Chow.
I think Oriental Garden (btw, they take only AMEX and min charge is ~ USD$60) and Amazing 66 should be open on Thanksgiving day but you may want to double check with Chin Chin in case you wanted to try it.... given it's non-Chinatown location.
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If you want to stay midtown, also consider Szechuan Gourmet on West 39th and West 56th. Great food with lots of seafood options.
I also like the peking duck at Peking Duck House on East 53rd, though I haven't tried the rest of their menu.
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Neither of these are Cantonese, which is what the OP wants.
Szechuan Gourmet is excellent but not as strong on the seafood dishes as the chicken and pork ones.
I also imagine that if the uncle doesn't eat chicken, he will also not eat duck at Peking Duck House. The duck is the only noteworthy item on the menu (the rest of the dishes are only OK).
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Ha.. I was going to recommend Peking Duck House too but like Kathryn said it's not necessarily Cantonese + the original poster's uncle doesn't eat meat (but their specialty is Peking Duck!) so I didn't mention it. I do like their food a lot though! Maybe the uncle can work around the menu and get seafood entrees (for himself) and the rest of the family can get try the Peking Duck to mix things up a bit.
p.s. I had their Grand Marnier Prawn once as part of the Peking Duck Banquet menu it's pretty good! Peking Duck House has a location in Chinatown (that's the one I visited) as well as E53rd.
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Just for kicks do a search on Mr Chow. The reviews are good comedy... and don't even consider ti for a meal
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ive read the reports on mr chow and they are entertaining, its sad to see a place like that do well and so many good, local places shut there doors ,esp right now, bc lindsey lohan sits at a table there between cig breaks and jay z recently just mentioned in his new hit, the two of them wouldn't even know what a peeking duck was if you smacked them across the face with one.
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Frankly I doubt if many (any) Chinese restaurants will be open outside of Chinatown. I don't think anybody wants Chinese food on Thanksgiving except Chinese. I think your best shot might be going early (meaning before 5pm) to one of the large Cantonese restaurants, such as Jing Fong or Golden Unicorn. Hopefully they won't be full up by then, and you'll have an extremely festive meal as the restaurant does fill up.
18 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013
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FWIW, Chin Chin is open, as are Chinatown Brasserie and Mr. K's. Tse Yang and Shun Lee West are closed. (I had to do some research for visiting in-laws.)
34 E 51st St, New York, NY 10022
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What type of Chinese do you prefer? Would you be willing to go to Elmhurst for a better TW food as long as it is close to subway? Please let us know! I believeone can have a pretty satisfying Cantonese, Fujian, or Sichuan meal in the city (while the best Chinese food is found usually in Flushing). Anyways, IMHO:
(i) Cantonese hotpot and anything non-seafood (chicken, sand pot. etc): Amazing 66 @ 66 Mott St,
(ii) Cantonese seafood: Cantoon Garden (spelling!) @22 Elisabeth St,
(iii) dim sum: Dim Sum Go-Go @ 5 East B'way (somewhat dicey but is very rewarding with a little bit of luck), Chatham Sq restaurant (#9).
(iv) Chuan: Duo Yi (aka Sichuan Gourmet, @39th and 5th).
22 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013
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Some other threads:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/654127
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/570452
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5764...
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Hop Kee in Chinatown (21 Mott) will probablt have the old school Cantonese dishes you are looking for.
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Either of the Congee Village places http://www.congeevillagerestaurants.com/ would be great, as would Cantoon Garden, already recommended on this thread. We've recently been to Congee Bowery and it was exactly as described.
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Great new midtown Sichuan - Lan Sheng, 60 W 39 St
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