Where to eat on Christmas Day NYC

[SeanDirty]

So, my family is finally going to come visit me... tryin to figure out where to eat mainly for Christmas... i was thinking momofuku for xmas eve... But i hear they want to go somewhere that they can dress up... I can get reservations just about anywhere on almost no notice... so name away

[kathryn]

Two lists that may help:

http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=40&BLGID=16964

http://www.restaurantgirl.com/best_of/dini...ut_on_xmas.html

Did you check OpenTable at all?

[LizD518]

Bumping this up...

I'm going into the city from New Jersey on Christmas Day and the plan will probably be to walk around to Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave to see the shop windows and probably Chinatown for dinner, then a movie. While we are definitely looking for a more authentic Chinatown experience, we are generally pretty timid when it comes to asking for things like an "authentic" menu - we just want a place with high quality food where everything isn't dumbed-down American-style Chinese. I'd love to try soup dumplings, but it isn't must-have.

I also have an off-topic request...please feel free to PM rather than drag this off topic. We'll probably plan to go to the movies after dinner - can anyone recommend a good movie theater between Chinatown and Penn Station? Obviously, it will depend partly on what is showing, but if any particular theaters have a good or bad reputation, tat would be really helpful to know.

Many thanks!

[kathryn]

Your biggest issue will be the huge lines and crowds in Chinatown that day. It will be flooded with people on Christmas Day.

[LizD518]

Thanks Kathryn, That is very good to know - We'll make sure we won't wait until we are starving before going to eat.

[kathryn]

My current favorites are:

Great NY Noodletown for roast pork, suckling pig, duck

Noodle Village for wontons in soup, claypot rice

456 for sheng jian bao (pan-fried soup dumplings but with a more bready wrapper), soup dumplings

If you're worried about crowds, make a reservation at Peking Duck House (good peking duck) or Red Egg (dim sum).

And buy your movie tickets ahead of time/get to the theater a bit early (unlike other cities, I find that movies sell out hours before in Manhattan and the good seats go fast as well).

[LindaK]

My current favorites are:

Great NY Noodletown for roast pork, suckling pig, duck

No soup dumplings here but I love their shrimp dumplings in soup (with or without noodles). Followed by the suckling pig or duck, with baby bok choy.

[LizD518]

Great - I'll look up all these suggestions!