The Archives
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Bite vs. Bite, East Village, Small Shops
Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger at Xi’an Famous – NYC
Not exactly a burger but more of a Chinese pancake sandwich, the Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger ($3) at Xi’an Famous Foods has been a long time favorite of mine since I first had it in the basement of Golden Mall in Flushing four years ago. Since that time, the little stall has done amazingly well — thanks to the likes of Bourdain and Zimmern — with four more locations in the New York area. One even in Midtown! God bless America. Still, in recent years, because of its proximity to the B/D line than anything else, I’ve been cheating on Xi’an with the pork pancakes at Henan Flavor (now Spicy Village). So yesterday, after a dry spell, I decided to revisit the the lamb burger at Xi’an. This time, at its East Village outpost. MORE »
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Chinatown, Restaurants
More Dim Sum at Golden Unicorn – NYC
05.03.13 | Permalink | 3 Comments
With the warmer weather, sharing a table at Golden Unicorn is inevitable, but dim sum is always good regardless. Especially on the weekend when the roving carts have more to offer than har gow (shrimp dumplings) and cheung fun (steamed rice rolls). Here are a few highlights from dim sum a few weeks ago. MORE »
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Chinatown, Restaurants
Getting Lucky at Lucky Plaza – NYC
04.04.13 | Permalink | 2 Comments
It’s hard to recommend Lucky Plaza. It’s divey, but not as bad as some other places in Chinatown. It can be inconsistent, but so are many restaurants in Chinatown. It has to do with service. Yes, it’s a common problem in Chinatown, and Lucky Plaza is no exception. At Lucky Plaza, no one is downright rude, but there’s a certain indifference in the air. It’s like, ‘Why are you asking me a million times for something when I rather stand here looking off into space listlessly?’ MORE »
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Chinatown, Restaurants
Dining Recs at Yee Li – NYC
Similar to a lot of restaurants in Chinatown, not everything on the menu is good at Yee Li, but one thing the restaurant excels at is roast duck. MORE »
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Small Shops, Sunset Park
Rice Noodles at Yun Nan Flavour Snack – NYC
(The Pujol post in the Mexico City series is coming soon, but first a Brooklyn post for my NYC peeps.)
Many people in New York, myself included, didn’t know much about Yunnan food — a cuisine from the southwestern province of China heavily influenced by Sichuan, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos — until last year when two hip Yunnan-influenced restaurants (Yunnan Kitchen and Lotus Blue) opened in Manhattan. (I’ve been to Yunnan Kitchen and enjoyed it immensely.) It’s a shame, because the food is quite good, and there’s a small shop in Sunset Park called Yun Nan Flavour Snack run by a couple from Kunming (the capital of Yunnan) that has been churning out slippery rice noodle dishes from the region since 2007. MORE »
