The Archives

• Chinatown, Small Shops

  Roast Pork at Wah Fung #1 Fast Food – NYC

  06.29.09 | Permalink | 9 Comments

  

  1) Delicious? Check.
  2) Cheap? Check.
  3) Abdominal Distress? Check.

  Some things sound too good to be true. Like magic berries that make you lose weight without exercise, girl… you know it’s not going to happen. So when I first read about the $2.25 Roast Pork over Rice at Wah Fung on Serious Eats, I knew there had to be a catch. But I went anyway, and ordered the roast pork over rice, which by the way is now $2.50. If roast pork is not your thing, you can get chicken instead, but as you all know, pork is definitely my thing. Your protein of choice also comes with vegetables or noodles. Vegetables is either cabbage, broccoli, or yardlong beans, or some variation of whatever is available at the moment. When I ordered, a tray of broccoli was just brought out from the back, so I got broccoli and cabbage. MORE »

• Chinatown, Small Shops

  More Noodling at Sheng Wang – NYC

  06.04.09 | Permalink | 8 Comments

  With the weather so nice these days, David and I have been eating a lot of hand pulled noodles after work at Sheng Wang. It’s filling and delicious, but most importantly, it’s quick, so we still have enough time to enjoy the daylight when we’re done. Even corporate zombies need sunlight. MORE »

• Chinatown, Restaurants

  The Most Awesome Pineapple Bun in Chinatown…and Some Meat – NYC

  04.28.09 | Permalink | 12 Comments

  

  Exactly one month ago, I wrote about the godawful roast pork bun from Sun Say Kai. Well, I’m happy to report, Sun Say Kai has redeemed themselves with the most awesome pineapple buns (bo lo bao) in Chinatown! I kid you not, these buns are the real deal. The bread itself is soft, dense, and chewy, as Chinese pastries tend to be, but what really makes the pineapple buns at Sun Say Kai better than most, is the extra-thick crunchy topping. The sweet crumbly top is practically cookie-like, and is definitely addictive if you like thin crispy sugar cookies made with lard. MORE »

• Chinatown, Restaurants

  Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) at Pho So 1 – NYC

  04.13.09 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  

  My usual go-to banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) spot is Banh Mi Saigon on Mott Street. I used to prefer the other popular shop in Alphabet City, but then last summer, I got a severe case of food poisoning one day after eating a banh mi there. After that, I’ve been a bit wary of the place, and have been sticking to the Vietnamese sandwiches in Chinatown. Because trust me, if I got sick, something must have been terribly wrong.

  Last week, I got off the N train on Canal Street with a craving for a banh mi, but for some reason, I didn’t want to go above Canal Street. Instead, I ended up wandering down Mott Street when I saw the grand opening sign for Pho So 1 advertising a ten percent discount off all of their Vietnamese sandwiches (take-out only). Banh mis, usually in the $3-$4 range, are cheap as is, but a ten percent discount on top of that was pretty ridiculous. So where some people would be scared of a discount on food in Chinatown, I readily descended into the depths of Pho So 1. MORE »

• Chinatown, Food in Film/TV, Giveaway, Restaurants

  Feasting at Hop Kee & No Reservations Giveaway- NYC

  02.23.09 | Permalink | 28 Comments

  Yes, it’s another post about Chinese food, because as you may have noticed by now, I love Chinese food. My friend, Eunice, says sometimes I act like they are going to run out of food in Chinatown. They probably won’t, but why take the chance!!! Amazingly enough, I wasn’t crazy about Chinese food until I started dating my boyfriend. I mean I liked it, but not with this much fervor. Growing up, my brother would order Chinese take-out almost every day. In the summers, I would wake up to my brother holding two menus: Chinese in one hand, Italian in the other. As a result, Chinese food was nothing special, it was always around. Well that changed when I started living with David. My boyfriend, as I mentioned previously, does not like pork. In addition to that, he does not like Chinese food. Consequently, Chinese food is now another obsession of mine, and whenever an opportunity arises, I hit Chinatown with a vengeance. Two weeks ago I did just that, when my Chinese food-loving friends, Soo Hyun and Joo Hyun, came to visit me from Seoul. As usual, we did some damage at Hop Kee.

  Hop Kee is one of my long-time Cantonese favorites in Chinatown. In college, it used to be one of my go-to spots after clubbing, since they’re open until 4am on the weekends. The place hasn’t changed much since then. They still have the old red booths and the waiters still wear the thin grayish white jackets that make them look like shady back-alley dentists. But most importantly, the food is the same, delicious, cheap, and plentiful. MORE »