Manhattan’s Chinatown has it all — but where do you start? Going on a food crawl through the iconic neighborhood is a quintessential New York City experience, but also a daunting one.
After a substantial scroll through our social media feeds, we chose six of Chinatown’s most hyped-up spots to put to the test. Whether you’re a Chinatown newcomer or a seasoned professional, this list has something for everyone. Grab your cash, put on your walking shoes and embark on this tasty trek.
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou
118 Eldridge St.
Just two blocks from Grand St. Station, Shu Jiao Fu Zhou is the first spot on our crawl. Known for affordable dumplings, Shu Jiao Fu Zhou is a community staple, popular among locals and tourists alike.
Their pork and chive jiaozi, a Chinese classic, is juicy, flavorful and well-balanced, checking off all the boxes of what makes a great dumpling. The wrapper was not too thick nor gummy, serving as the ideal vessel for saucy ground pork. Too flavorful to be forgotten, the chives added a lively herbaceous taste that made these dumplings surprisingly refreshing. Round out your bite with a spoonful of chili oil for some heat or a drizzle of rice vinegar for some zing. The kicker? You can get six dumplings for just $3.
For a complete meal, try Shu Jiao Fu Zhou’s $3 wheat noodles with peanut butter sauce. The noodles were chewy and wonderfully stretchy. Make sure to give them a good mix — you’ll want to get lost in the peanut sauce.
Wah Fung No. 1 Fast Food
79 Chrystie St.
Our next stop always has a long line, and for good reason. Wah Fung No. 1 Fast Food attracts droves of customers with its freshly cut meats. The small-but-mighty shop works fast, handing you piping-hot takeout in mere minutes. When it’s time to dine, cross the street to Sara D. Roosevelt Park to enjoy your meal under the cherry blossom trees.
Wah Fung’s roasted pork over rice, which The New York Times deemed one of the city’s 25 essential dishes of 2021, is a Chinatown staple. For $5.50, its small container is packed with fluffy white rice and thick pieces of sweet, salty pork. While flavorful, the pork slices were slightly dry and lacked a distinctive wow factor.
But there is an unsung hero in this humble dish: the steamed napa cabbage. Not advertised on social media, the vibrant cabbage leaves were locked away under layers of pork. Tender but not soggy, they provided a freshness to this solid dish.
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers St.
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles sits on a lively pedestrian street that captures the essence of the neighborhood. The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating with an extensive menu, boasting eight different types of noodles, from knife-cut to potato starch.
Its $16 pan-fried house noodle is jam-packed with beef, chicken, shrimp and shredded veggies. Large enough to split with a fellow foodie friend, this dish fully satisfied our stir-fry cravings. We chose their fat hand-pulled noodle shape, whose thicker size and delightful doughiness were well-complemented by crisp bean sprouts and fresh shrimp.
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
65 Bayard St.
A short walk from our last stop, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory opened its doors in 1978. This shop has it all, from Asian flavors like ube and don tot to American staples like mint chocolate chip and vanilla fudge.
We ordered a single scoop with two of their most viral flavors, ube and pandan. This order costs a whopping $7.75 — expensive, especially by Chinatown standards. Nonetheless, the ice cream’s texture was outstanding: silky smooth and soft but not melty.
If you prefer your desserts not too sweet, we fear this spot isn’t for you. The ube flavor was strong, but the pandan was overly sweet and without a distinct taste.
Mei Lai Wah
62 Bayard St.
Across the street from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, you can find one of Chinatown’s most famous items: the pineapple roast pork buns at Mei Lai Wah. This bakery always has a line, and its famous treats seem to be included in almost every Chinatown eats video on TikTok.
The pineapple roast pork bun, which costs $2.30, was beautiful to look at — light and fluffy, topped with a bright yellow pineapple crumb coating. However, looks can be deceiving. Though the coating provided a crunchy contrast with the bun’s doughiness, the pineapple flavor was ultimately lost. The crumb’s sweetness distracted from the tasty pork filling, which was already slightly sweet on its own.
Fear not, there is an unexpected front-runner on the menu: the baked roast pork bun. This underrated item costs about half a dollar less than its counterpart, but is perhaps the stronger pick. Without the pineapple crumb coating, the pork filling gets to shine.
Joe’s Steam Rice Roll
261 Canal St.
The final stop on our crawl is Joe’s Steam Rice Roll. The restaurant, an extension of the original Flushing location, is located inside Canal Street Market. Its rice rolls, another New York Times essential, boast a traditional sticky texture. They offer a variety of toppings and fillings — the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure dish.
Think of your rice roll as a blank canvas: We opted for the $8 beef rice roll but didn’t stop there. For extra heartiness, we added an egg for $1.5, which was folded evenly throughout the roll. Take advantage of the free toppings — such as cilantro and scallions — and dress it up with chili crisp and a heavy helping of sweet soy sauce.
Contact Annie Emans and Lauren Ng at [email protected].
