5 best restaurants in china town

[bookpleasures]

If you had to chose the 5 best restaurants in China Town NYC from point of view of food, price, service, cleanliness, etc. which ones would you chose?

[sgordon]

Tough to narrow down, but my own 5:

Oriental Garden
Ping's Seafood
Fuleen
Xi'an Famous Foods
...and probably Famous or Old Sichuan, just to mix it up (three Cantonese already, don't want to add another...)
...and what the heck, Ah Ping Snack Bar to make it six and balance it out some more.

I'd probably skip most Shanghainese places, or maybe just go for dumplings. Caveat being that I find Shanghainese food inherently less interesting than most other Chinese regional cuisines.

[AubWah]

I like Great NY Noodetown, Shanghai Cafe, Pho Grand, maybe the Henan snack shop? I don't eat in Chinatown as much as I used to

[foodwhisperer]

I will find out the name of the Shanghai restaurant that I frequent on Elizabeth St. ,with a friend who is from Shanghai. he says it is very authentic , and I enjoy several of their dishes including the dumplings.

[nmprisons]

Oriental Garden is a favorite of mine as well.

[PHREDDY]

Don't bothe unless you are willing to accept less than an B from the NYC DOH...they are all old and filthy...woHop....cocaroach city...66 ech....

[Pan]

Why even mention Wo-Hop? And no, I don't think you'll find that all restaurants in Chinatown, let alone all good ones, get less than a B from DOH.

[uwsister]

I give you credit for actually understanding that.

[foodwhisperer]

Actually, Wo Hop ( downstairs) has good lo mein and chow fun. Deot of Health ratings are very biased. They give multipoint violations for ridiculous things that can't be fixed so easily. Best thing is to look up what the violations were . If you see rat droppings on food don't eat there. If you see chipped paint you can eat without a problem. Improperly stored food is a biggie. Many sushi places get that one. You have to just look in the kitchen and decide . 30 Pell St used to have good food, I haven't been there lately. the new 456 is not bad. I like Golden Unicorn for dim sum.

[Simon]

i agree DOH rating can be very biased...but unfortunately, if you look up what the violations are for, many/most places have rats and/or mice...

[Pan]

Cleanliness eliminates Great NY Noodletown right away, since their bathrooms are notably filthy. Very good food and price, though.

scoopG gave good recommendations, as usual.

[scoopG]

Amazing 66:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/340879

Big Wong:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/big-wong-king-new-york

Noodle Village:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/493604

Fuleen:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/816585

Henan Flavor:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/774685

Famous Sichuan:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/753398

Old Sichuan:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/742493?tag=search_results;results_list#6143259
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/753976

456:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/770707

Shanghai Deluxe Café
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/769840
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/704166
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/583263

Xian Famous Foods has two Chinatown locations. The one near the Manhattan Bridge does not qualify as a restaurant. No seats and no bathrooms - standing room only for 2-3 folks. Try their Bayard Street location.
http://www.xianfoods.com/

[nmprisons]

I think this is a pretty good list. I would say:

The food is consistently better at the Xi'an Famous one under the bridge. Get it to go and eat in the park.

I have found Old Sichuan to be on a downward slope (or at least did during last year when I ate there some-what regularly).

I prefer Nice (New) Green Bo to Big Wong

[scoopG]

Have not been to Old Sichuan in a long time but Famous Sichuan is excellent. What do you like at New Green Bo? Big Wong I reserve for my Cantonese BBQ Roast Pork fix.

[nmprisons]

I'm with you on famous sichuan and agree that Big Wong has stuff on the menu that is good. i use to go to NGB with groups from work and we would order pretty widely on the menu. i think it is a reasonable choice for people trying to experience accessible chinatown treats without the over-sugared gloop often served elsewhere. We treated Big Wong the same way, but ended up going to NGB more often.

[kurtt]

I stopped going to NGB after having a terrible meal. The food was greasy and the stir fried items had no wok hei.

[nmprisons]

xi'an famous (one under bridge) is my chinatown go-to place.