Chatham Restaurant
9 Chatham Square
New York, NY

If you looking for cheap food, fast service, and don’t mind hanging with the old foggie studying OTB, Chatham Restaurant or Hop Shing is the place to go. The decor is out dated, there’s a brownish tint from the 60’s which I guess when business were booming. Now it’s mostly hangout for loyal morning seniors or occasional Gwai Lo that stops in for a bite. They make the typical dim sums such as, shrimp dumplings (ha gau), steamed dumplings, rice noodle rolls with soy sauce (cheong fun), chicken feet (fung zau), pork ball looking things (sui maai) and etc. Nothing surprising like the taste of the food. The chicken feet I ordered tasted dry, like it’s been left out for while. The sui maai was my favorite thing I ordered.

The check came out under $10, it feed two people AWESOME. Actually I wasn’t that hungry and it was late in the afternoon when there weren’t much dim sum cart being pushed out.

*People still spit the chicken bones onto the floor and their other trash too. Classic.

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Here are some my photos on my trip through the ever growing venders along side the Manhattan Bridge. The sidewalk is very busy, if you’re claustrophobic I don’t suggest you walk around here. You’re force between a pile of trash and the bridge wall, and in the summer heat this is more than you bargained for.

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Aside from the long standing Häagen-Dazs® ice cream place on the corner of Mott and Bayard Street and the famous Chinatown McDonald, I don’t remember any American franchise food establishment in Chinatown. Actually I remember there was a time when there was a Popeye chicken joint but I remember it lasting for more than a year. This Dunkin Donut and Baskin Robbins I think might fall into the same situation. Taking account to the bad location and high cost menu I don’t really see this place taking off. I hope we don’t see any more fast food joint coming to Chinatown ie: Wendys, Burger King that would really kill the authentic Chinatown feel.

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If you’re looking for a cheap, fast, and tasty snack, “Fried Dumpling” on Mosco Street across from Columbus Park is the place to go. Service is not grade A but you expect that in a small mom and pop joint. The menu is very basic, I don’t think the prices have changed ever since it opened a number of years ago. For $1.75 you get you 5 pieces of dumplings and a soy bean drink to wash it down. Seating is limited to 4 stools but it’s best to just take your food and sit at the park. Don’t forget the dumpling sauce and the hot sauce, I suspect they watered down the dumpling sauce (vinegar) but I guess they need to cut back on something.

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