Lower Manhattan

[Pandora Harper]

First off, I was in the Little Italy/Chinatown district this last Friday, and had some great chinese food, and some awesome italian cookies. Since I'll be in the same area off and on in the coming months, looking for good eats is something I want to do before my next visit.

Here's the deal:

Leave Western Mass around 6 am. Hope to arrive in Lower Manhattan around 9 or 10 am. (We made it in 3.5 hours list last Friday).

Leave Lower Manhattan between 2 and 3 pm. Arrive in Western Mass around 7 pm.

While in Lower Manhattan, those of us (usually will just be myself and the guy driving, while my poor co-worker will be stuck in some office) will be staying pretty close to the NYC Court House, which is right around the corner from Little Italy and Chinatown.

Since our time to walk, eat and snack is limited, we don't want to drive much farther out, try to find parking, etc. We are also on a budget, because these trips from Western Mass cost us $115+ round trip. We were lucky this last time to easily find metered parking, though next time we might use a garage.

I've read elsewhere that good eats are generally not found in these so-called touristy areas, but I knew of great eats in the San Francisco Chinatown years ago, so surely there are exceptions to that rule in NYC.

Difficulties include my lack of knowledge of asian foods (I'm always being forced to eat cheap chinese delivery and that has really turned me off asian food in general). I did really enjoy the simple meal I had during the last trip however. My companion is not a foodie like me, has little concept of how "extreme" he will find food in authentic asian resturants, and rarely knows the difference from mediocre food to great food.

So I'm looking for some good, non-scary asian places, and if there are ANY good italian places, I'm all ears. Though frankly, mediocre italian food is not what I'm after, as I have to eat that often enough in Western Mass.

Any other food in the general region (say 8 blocks in any direction around the NYC Courthouse area) is also cool.

Budgets constrain us to keep under $15 bucks for entrees. I'm not scared of street food, but my companion is. Time is also important, as we must be able to return to the NYC Courthouse within 15 minutes of getting a phone call.

I know I haven't indicated a specific interest in say, asian food, but I'm open to trying new things, while at the same time allowing my companion to order something that is more "familiar" to him.

[stealw]

My brain's kind of fuzzy, quite late. But two places I would personally recommend, I have been going with my parents since I was little is 1st, Dim Sum and 2nd Viet.

Now there are quite a large handful of each in nyc, let alone chinatown. But once again I keep going back to these out of tradition. Dim Sum place is right off of of Elizabeth street (if your going down Canal heading toward to the Manhattan bridge/brooklyn its on your right). I believe it's 20 Elizabeth, but Real distinct way of knowing your there is there are 2, maybe mid chest level golden lion statues on either side of the door way. (only way i memorize where it is) Anyways, so it should be pair of glass doors with a glass window, you have to take the escalator or elevator up to the 2nd floor. This place is quite massive, traditional hong kong push kart style.

2nd place is Viet, right off of Baxter. Nha Trang - very good Pho and also curried beef/squid over rice. You'll see a green tarp over the restaurant, it's the one Right next door. Should be a step or two down their stoop. (though i heard the green tarp'd place is quite good as well, though never been myself)

Both places are perhaps within 500 feet of turning off of Canal.

One tip for dim sum if you're not too familiar; I suggest you take your tab and literally walk around the restaurant to different kart's and stands to look for food rather than sitting there waiting forever.

Oh yes, and also icecream factory

http://www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com/

Also, a lot of bakeries all along Canal st. Could stop in buy some snacks on the road or just to snack. Egg tarts are quite delicious.

I'm guessing you're going on..a Friday/weekend from your post? These would work perfectly, esp dim sum.

P.S I know some fairly reasonable priced parking garages if you need, pm me.

Jim

[Pan]

Pandora, there's not much Italian in Little Italy, overall. Click these results for threads with "Chinatown" in the title, though. (Note, by the way, that Chinatown Brasserie is not in Chinatown, but in or near the East Village, depending on what definitions you're using.)

[kathryn]

20 Elizabeth Street = Jing Fong, it's pretty well known for its dim sum. I'm not sure if your co-worker has been exposed to dim sum before. The dishes like chicken feet and turnip cake and tripe and congee can look intimidating. Hopefully he'll be fine with the dumpling like dishes.

[raji]

Any other food in the general region (say 8 blocks in any direction around the NYC Courthouse area) is also cool.

Budgets constrain us to keep under $15 bucks for entrees. I'm not scared of street food, but my companion is. Time is also important, as we must be able to return to the NYC Courthouse within 15 minutes of getting a phone call.

I know I haven't indicated a specific interest in say, asian food, but I'm open to trying new things, while at the same time allowing my companion to order something that is more "familiar" to him.

Yah you are echoing the standard "jury duty" request that comes up every few months.

IMO The problem with NYC's chinatown is that the more upmarket side of Chinese and SE Asian food is just not well represented. Most of the kitchen workers are Fukienese migrants and a lot of the places are cheap with cheap ingredients for people who don't want to spend a lot of money. Which is why you can find consistently better in Vancouver and even the 'burbs. It's kind of the same situation with NY's Indian food - the best and worst are represented, the worst being 6th street Bangladeshi row, but if you go out to Edison you find a huge well-off Indian population who built an oasis out there.

There's also a lot of incredible deals to find among that mess, but it's almost mind-numbing for a NYer over the years to keep track of which dive is good when. Which is why we have Pan!

Non-scary places you might try -

Ping's Seafood - This is as close to a pre-97 HK restaurant as you'll find http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/pings-seafood/

Look who wrote the review!

Dim Sum Go Go - I'm not a fan cuz you can piece together better cheaper around Chinatown, so it's a luxury item

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/dim-sum-gogo/

X.O. Kitchen - It's no Chinatown Brasserie but if you go and see what other people are ordering, you can do quite well there - everything there is for the most part freshly made which is a big plus

[Pan]

Raji, where do you like to go for dim sum items? The 5 dumplings for $1 places?

Pandora, my favorite place for food that the uninitiated would probably consider non-scary is Banh Mi Saigon Bakery, on the east side of Mott St. just south of Grand. I usually get their spicy chicken sandwich, but they have non-spicy sandwiches, too, and are best known for their Banh Mi Saigon (Saigon-style roast pork sandwich). No place to sit there, but if the weather is nice, just carry the sandwiches out and sit in a park.

[Batard]

These are from my own notes:

Sun Hop Shing Tea House

Known for serving delicious jasmine tea (bypass the option of Lipton tea), this smaller dim sum house features carts without the chaos of some of the larger halls. Although the selection is smaller, the service tends to be better, which brings a lot of customers back.

* Address: 21 Mott St

* Phone: 212-267-2729

Dim Sum Go Go

5 E Broadway (Cross Street: Chatham Square)

New York, NY 10038

(212) 732-0796

If you order the right things here, this place can be a knockout. The service can be terrible, but you can say that about a lot of places in Chinatown. On the plus side, you can get Dim Sum made to order any time of day. Some recommendations:

Shark fin dumplings

Jícama-and-lotus-root dumplings

Fresh-corn-crunchy white sea fungus

Shrimp dumplings

Duck dumplings!

Bamboo heart

Abbot's delight

Snow pea Leaf

Peashoot dumplings

Parsley dumplings filled with jícama

Miscellaneous:

Try the turnip cakes at the little kiosk on east side of Mott St. just south of Bayard, if it's still there.

Good egg custards at either bakery on west side of Mott street just south of Canal.

Edited April 28, 2008 by Batard (log)

[Pan]

Batard, how old are your notes? I'm sorry to inform you that both Sweet 'n Tart locations on Mott St. have been closed for at least a couple of years, maybe 3. [Edit: I did a search and found a post by docsconz on August 9, 2006 quoting Florence Fabricant as mentioning that those Sweet 'n Tart locations had lost their lease. So less than 2 years ago.]

Edited April 28, 2008 by Pan (log)

[Batard]

Thanks Pan, I guess it has been a while. I'll update my post accordingly.

[Pandora Harper]

Thank you all for your responses . As the only foodie on these frequent trips, I'm determined to try to eat food thats better then the crap I can usually get in my hometown. Due to the 3 hour window I expect to have when in Lower Manhattan, I really appreciate all your tips. And next time I'm there, I'll keep track of where I visit and what I eat. Thanks all!

[LPShanet]

Thank you all for your responses . As the only foodie on these frequent  trips, I'm determined to try to eat food thats better then the crap I can usually get in my hometown. Due to the 3 hour window I expect to have when in Lower Manhattan, I really appreciate all your tips. And next time I'm there, I'll keep track of where I visit and what I eat. Thanks all!

←

In addition to the places mentioned above, one of the best Thai restaurants in town, named appropriately Thailand Restaurant, is in Chinatown. It's at the corner of Bayer and Baxter, right behind the courthouses.

Also, there are a number of decent Vietnamese places. In addition to Nha Trang, which was already mentioned, Doyers Vietnamese is quite good, as is the pho at Cong Ly.

I also second the suggestion of bahn mi made above. A second place for this is Bahn Mi So. 1 on Broome.

As for Italian, I'd skip most of Little Italy. Bad and expensive for what you get. However, if you want to buy stuff for home, check out the cheese selection at DiPalo, which is great. There's a really decent Italian place adjacent to Little Italy called Peasant, but it may be marginally more expensive than you're looking for.

Edited April 29, 2008 by LPShanet (log)