What's new in Chinatown

[dbylaska]

What's new in Chinatown? I am looking for a fine dining experience. Anyone had one there recently?

[MC Slim JB]

Maybe the OP meant a Fine dining experience, not a fine-dining experience. Newish, i.e. opened in the past year or two: Jade Garden Seafood (sort of a Peach Farm knockoff), Bubor Cha Cha (Malaysian), Great Taste Bakery (Cantonese), Gourmet Dumpling House (Taiwanese chefs doing a range of coastal Southeast Chinese).

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Gourmet Dumpling House
52 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

Great Taste Bakery & Restaurant
63 Beach St, Boston, MA

Bubor Cha Cha
45 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

[y2000k]

How about the shabu shabu places? I wonder how "new" the OP has in mind?

[ipsofatso]

Yah, I went to a 'fine dining' joint near SF chinatown and the only thing fine about it was the gold dust I needed a ton of to pay for way-over-rated chow. Stick to the basics in Boston's Chinatown and just imagine white linen and you'll be fine. Peach Farm, Best Little Restaurant (smells like smoke but... you get used to it...there was a fire next door) are great.

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Peach Farm
4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

[barleywino]

i think Yank Sing in SF elevates dimsum to fine dining levels...maybe not fine dining like you would find in Shanghai but quite respectable...Boston has a ways to go though in this category

[lipoff]

I hope you don't mean Jai Yun, which is an excellent but expensive and authentic Chinese restaurant near S.F.'s Chinatown.

But I agree that there's nothing resembling "Fine Dining" in Boston's Chinatown, unless you want to arrange a wedding banquet at a place like Hei La Moon. A big difference between most Western and Chinese restaurants is this --- you can get $6.25 rice plates during the day, but you can also pay and have abalone, geoduck clam, shark's fin soup, bird's nest, at $150+ per person if arranged in advance. Try getting McDonald's to serve Filet Mingon for your wedding, or getting a $7 lunch from L'Espalier! =)

But if the OP's question was where to get a good meal in Chinatown, not an expensive one . . . Taiwan Cafe is old news, but it's still my top pick. For something different I'd try New Shanghai for Sichuan food. Many people seem to like Gourmet Dumpling House, which is relatively new, but I didn't think it was anything special. The Juice Bar is also fairly new and is a good choice for a refreshing drink.

If you want the best Chinese food (and usually a nicer setting!) I'd head outside of Chinatown. Shanghai Gate is probably the prettiest authentic Chinese restaurant. Jo Jo Taipei and Fuloon are nicely decorated too. All three are excellent. Sichuan Garden II in Woburn is set in a handsome historical house and has white tables. An analogy to the old L'Espalier is not completely without merit, although Sichuan Gourmet could use a touch-up job on the paint!

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Hei La Moon
88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

New Shanghai Restaurant
21 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

Shanghai Gate
204 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134

Gourmet Dumpling House
52 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

Sichuan Garden II
2 Alfred St, Woburn, MA 01801

JoJo Tai Pei Restaurant
103 Brighton Ave, Boston, MA 02134

[StriperGuy]

I would not say there is anything resembling "Fine Dining" in Boston's Chinatown, or New York's, or San Francisco's for that matter. Just sorta not the Chinatown thing.