In the heart of Chinatown, a restaurant located at 69 Bayard Street, bearing the same name, is papered with dollar bills.  From wall to wall, dolla dolla bills, y’all, cover every square inch of the restaurant.  Customers, visiting tourists or local New Yorkers, leave their mark by plastering a George Washington (or Abe Lincoln) on the wall or the ceiling and write something, a declaration of love, a Greek affiliation, a gang motto, or a simple “________ was here.”

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Get ready, loosen up that belt and get ready for a feast, because East Boat Lobster Restaurant does the craziest 10 course “Chinese Style” lobster dinner for $100. It says its a dinner for 4 but the meal can easily feed about 6-8 people. Their specials are seasonal, so ask if they have any special deals.

East Boat Lobster Restaurant
72 Kenmare Street
(212) 226-8881

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If you are in Chinatown, especially if you work around this area sometimes you want anything but Chinese, well this is the spot! In the morning you can get breakfast sandwiches, hash brown, and coffee. They always have newspapers so you can relax a bit before your day starts. For lunch, they have all the standard cold cut and many choices of hot sandwiches like chicken parmesan, chicken cordon bleu, etc. They usually have specials or new items so you can’t get too bored from eating here regularly. This deli wouldn’t be so special anywhere else, but because it’s right in the heart of Chinatown I think it really deserves a mention.

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Greetings!

Shanghai Cafe, located on 100 Mott Street, is a good eat for several reasons. It is cheap, colorful, and tasty.

The ambiance of the place makes it a good restaurant to bring friends, especially those of the Caucasian Persuasion. You know, it is not easy sometimes when figuring out where to bring such friends because they may not be as comfortable or accepting of the level of hygiene or taste of decor as you. You may feel right at home at a place whose walls are covered in dollar bills, where there is poor lighting or where the waitress/waiter throws, literally throws, you the bill when you’ve only just begun eating. But when you plan on going to Shanghai Cafe, cast aside your anxieties. Pastel colored lights line the walls and ceilings and the chairs and tables are modern metal.

In terms of food, I highly recommend the steamed pork buns; they are either number 1 or 2 on the menu. Get the cheaper ones, don’t get the ones with crab meat, it’s fake anyway. Below you will find a tutorial on just how to devour a steamed pork bun. It is rather like an art. ALSO, order the scallion pancakes; it’s simply divine and everyone likes them. They’re akin to French fries or mozzarella sticks in that they have a universal appeal.

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The Cheapest ice coffee in town, can’t beat this bargain and yes it’s drinkable.

Don’t be scared off by the shabby storefront appearance. Inside all the pastry comes fresh out of the oven in the back room.  The regular ice coffee here is only $1.25, no joke. It’s comparable to a light McDonald ice coffee. Decent size too, 16 oz cup.

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The Cheapest “Hong Kong Mini Cakes” in Chinatown, $1 for 20 ping pong size cakes.  While other vendors sells theirs for $1 for 15 pieces, this cart never change their price after many years. You can find this cart on the corner of Grand and Bowery Street. A great cheap and lite snack on the go.

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Pronounced like you’re giving out a sneeze, “A Chau”, the only place in chinatown that just sells authentic Vietnamese sandwiches. A menu of 10 different sandwiches to choose from, each costing no more than $3.50, definitely a great place for a cheap tasty meal on the go. I typically prefer the classic Vietnamese Cold Cuts with Pate Sandwich which consist of Pâté(meat paste), Vietnamese ham, roasted ground pork, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and mayo on a toasted French baguette. The sandwich hit the spot and filled me up nicely.

A Chau Deli
82A Mulberry Street
(212) 766-3332
9am-7pm

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Big Wong

67 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

Well this can be considered in Chinatown a staple restaurant serving good quality food, and good service. Through the years restaurants have successfully imitated their style of service and appearance, but many have failed. I would firmly believe that it’s the quality of their food, it is not like the taste is so different and better but it is basically home cooked ingredients with a restaurant touch.

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After Tai Hong Lao(sp?) closed down (health inspection, sigh, a constant barrier to amazing food) on Mott, I couldn’t think of any place to eat dim sum. I hated Jing Fong (terrible service, watery food, expensive); Go Go Dimsum (too polished, much too expensive for poor college student me); Delight 28 (found a rat underneath the table many years ago, I’m still scarred. Although, the waiter from Tai Hong Lao works here and still remembers me =). Thus, I resorted to Mandarin Court (the lady at the counter has always been kind to me even when I was a young girl): it was relatively cheaper than the rest of the restaurants, and they were quick with your orders. The service was never great, and I still have a personal dislike towards one of the waiters.

Thus, when Kawai mentioned 9 Chatham Square, I had to check it out:

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Tasty Dumpling
54 Mulberry Street

Perfectly crispy bottom, well cooked pork inside, steaming hot, and amazingly cheap 5 for $1.25(they recently raised their prices) fried dumplings aka potstickers at Tasty Dumpling. Their name says it all, they have a small menu of items from noodles, tofu salads, scallion pancakes all OK, but the star is the DUMPLINGS! Don’t expect service, seating are limited about 10 people max, but hey what do expect its Chinatown. Make sure you properly season your dumplings with the provided dumpling sauce and sriracha hot sauce on the table, to gives it that extra little kick. If the weather permits, take it to go and enjoy people watching at the park right across.

Above: Pork and chive dumpling, so fresh it melted the styrofoam package.

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