Chinatown offal lunch?

[adorno]

Looking for lunch places in C-town that serve offal -- specifically tripe or stomach or intestine. One restriction is that I am on a low-carb diet so noodle soups are low priority.

I've already tried (and really enjoyed) Amazing 66 (fried intestine, intestine with sour cabbage)
Bo Ky (intestine with sour cabbage)
Best Fuzhou (the amazing pork blood and intestine dish)

and a few others. But I'd love to know any other special places that people really like.

Thanks!!

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New Bo Ky
80 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

Amazing 66
66 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Best Fuzhou
71 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002

[swannee]

Have you tried Yuen Yuen (Ren Ren in Mandarine) on Bayard St.? They have stewed deer "whip" (penis) on the Chinese menu, as well as the usual tripe dishes.

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Yuen Yuen
61 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

[Lau]

im going to write a bit review on them soon, they're more known for their desserts, but they've got a bunch of weird stuff....although i like weird stuff

[swannee]

I can't wait for your review of Yuen Yuen. I used to go for almond milk and look longingly at the Chinese only menu (they have an English one, too, as of recently, but it is incomplete---I think because of the questionable legality of some of their offerings). But since I learned to read and write Chinese, I go for lunch--I love the fish belly with ginger, the steamed pork patty with salt fish, the frog with bitter melon. But I have never had the deer penis, venison, rattlesnake, various turtle dishes, fox (!?!), even owl, that I have seen advertised on the wall. For one thing, they are probably expensive.
It is worth noting that many of the customers at Yuen Yuen come straight from the Chinese doctor with a "prescription" for a meal: I have often witnessed passionate and even angry arguments about what the owner insisted that they need, and what the customers want! My Cantonese is terrible, but I remember one guy who wanted sausage with his frog, and the owner kept insisting that he shouldn't eat anything salty. The owner won.

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Yuen Yuen
61 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

[Lau]

im not even sure the owner understands mandarin, the guy does, but the owner only sort of understands me hwen when i talk

im pretty sure she speaks toison with some people, i only speak a little cantonese, but when she speaks with some people her cantonese sounds weird

[Lau]

i agree with what the other posters have said, but i will put another rec out there

Poon Kee: i'm a big fan of the offal (tripe) at poon kee
http://www.lauhound.com/2011/03/poon-kee-%E2%80%93-delicious-hong-kong-snacks-in-chinatown/

Old Sichuan: I'm a big fan of sichuan and hunan preparations of offal dishes, I liked old sichuan when I went, so you might want to give that a try
http://www.lauhound.com/2010/12/old-s...

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Old Sichuan
65 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

Poon Kee
39 Monroe St, New York, NY 10002

[DannM]

I second Poon Kee's tripe. I have a container of it in the refrigerator. Saving it for the weekend for a little dim sum at home.

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Poon Kee
39 Monroe St, New York, NY 10002

[scoopG]

Big Wong, Famous Sichuan, Food Sing 88 Corp., Henan Flavor, Mei Lai Wah, Old Sichuan, Yummy Noodles and more all have offal dishes.

[sgordon]

There's quite a bit around, though not all of it is going to be good. I'd stick to places that have overall good reputations - for Cantonese, that'd be Amazing 66, Ping's Seafood, and South China Garden.

Oriental Garden and Fuleen are also excellent, but I'm not sure they have much in the way of offal. They're the places to go for amazing fresh seafood, mostly - Fuleen also does some nice things with preserved meats. Their taro & preserved duck casserole is among my favorite cold winter night dishes. But the three above (well, you've already been to A66) are going to have a few dishes, at least.

All have solid chefs. Been particularly high on Ping's of late. He does a dish of pork stomach w/ dried squid & shallots, and another of stomach with scallops in XO sauce. Ping is a seafood specialist, but his menu is a bit more varied than OG or Fuleen - one of the few Chinatown chefs who embraces (in small doses) world culinary influences, as well. There's bits of Thai, Caribbean, Portuguese, and other flavors / techniques dotted conservatively around his menu.

And of course, Congee Village (and Congee Bowery) with their legendary 800-some-odd item menu. Duck blood, goose intestine, pig stomach and liver, fish intestines... and not just one dish each, but multiple preparations. You could eat there every night and have something different each time.

For Sichuan, I'd say go with Grand Sichuan - there's a sauteed pig tripe dish, and something mysterious called "Sour Mustard Intestine Hot Pot" that I haven't yet braved. You can give us a full report - ;)

For Fujian, there's a lot of innards floating around. Min Jiang on East Broadway I've noticed has quite a bit on the menu - mostly duck and pork.

There's a bit of guts to be found on Malaysian menus as well. Overseas Taste and Skyway both have fried intestine.

For Western Chinese, there's the "Lamb Face" salad at Xi'an Famous Foods which has shreds of soft palate and various other things in it. Some people have claimed to see chunks of eye, but I've never seen such. They also do a couple soups a lamb offal and another called "Mr. Lamb's Treasures" - make of that what you will. They also recently added a "Spicy Pig Pudding Salad" which I haven't tried.

And for a break from Asian flavors, you can also take a short walk to Despana for some of their fantastic Morcilla (blood sausage) - the best in town, for my money.

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Despana
408 Broome St, New York, NY 10013

South China Garden
22 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013

Skyway
11 Allen St, New York, NY 10002

Amazing 66
66 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Congee Bowery
207 Bowery, New York, NY 10002

Congee Village
100 Allen St, New York, NY 10002

Fuleen
11 Division St, New York, NY 10002

Grand Sichuan
125 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

Overseas Taste
49 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

Oriental Garden
14 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013

Ping's
22 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Xi'an Famous Foods
81 St. Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003

Xi'an Famous Foods
88 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Xi'an Famous Foods
67 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

Min Jiang
95 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

[adorno]

This is terrifically helpful. Thanks!

[Chandavkl]

I think you nailed it with your Fujian reference. OP should just start down East Broadway and check out each place since they're almost all Fujian style. For example Happy Garden Palace, which replaced American East Fuzhou at 54 E. Broadway, has multiple lamb intestine, goose intestine and pork intestine dishes

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Happy Garden Palace
54 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

[AubWah]

do they have an english menu?

[scoopG]

Yes.

[AubWah]

wow multiple lamb, goose, and pork intestine dishes? crazy

[AubWah]

has anyone had the courage to try any of these exotic offal dishes?

[Chandavkl]

Lamb intestines come with XO sauce, celery, hot pepper. Goose intestines are offered with ginger and scallions, king mushroom, and celery. Pork intestine dishes are scattered all over the menu.

[sgordon]

How's their XO? I find there's a wide range in Chinatown, from excellent and bold, heavy on the dried seafood, to near-flavorless & textureless corn-starch sludge.