The 8 best Chinese restaurants in NYC

[Fat Guy]

That's the place I saw on Bayard, across from Nice/New Green Bo. I think it replaced Yeah Shanghai. There has also been one in the Flushing Mall for a while.

[weinoo]

I've gotten to a point where the cheap, hole-in-the-wall places (which I've written about fairly extensively in the past), from hand-pulled noodles to 5 for a dollar dumplings, to cheung fun carts, et.al. do my stomach more harm than good, so I bypass them 95% of the time. Whether it's the cheap as can be ingredients, overuse of oil, lack of any care in the kitchen or whatever, I just can't rate them that highly.

My last experience at Oriental Garden was less than stellar and less than cheap, so why bother?

When I want a decent, tasty meal IN CHINATOWN, Great NY Noodletown is still my go-to and still sits well with me. Simple, decent roasted meats, noodles and wontons. And for a crowd, if you order correctly, I still like Congee Village.

[Fat Guy]

I think the number of pitfalls on the Congee Village menu is so great as to make it hard to classify as a good restaurant. Then again, you can get a good meal there if you have all the information, so maybe that's all that matters. Jing Fong is like that too. Actually so are a lot of places.

I'm surprised you didn't do well at Oriental Garden. But I actually think the best meal I had in Manhattan Chinatown in the past year was at Cantoon Garden, right next door to Jing Fong on Elizabeth. I keep meaning to post about it.

I, on the other hand, have never really loved NY Noodle Town. I don't think the noodles are all that great, and for roast meats I've been using O.K. 218 on Grand Street with good results, especially when you factor in price.

[patrickamory]

Big fan of Congee Village here. You certainly can't go wrong if you order the namesake dish.

I was once there with a group of 10 and we ordered one of the banquet dinners at the front of the menu. Every dish was superb, and it was really well-balanced. Congee, crab, whole braised fish, a delicious dish of little lamb chops, and much more.

[weinoo]

I think the number of pitfalls on the Congee Village menu is so great as to make it hard to classify as a good restaurant. Then again, you can get a good meal there if you have all the information, so maybe that's all that matters. Jing Fong is like that too. Actually so are a lot of places.

I'm surprised you didn't do well at Oriental Garden. But I actually think the best meal I had in Manhattan Chinatown in the past year was at Cantoon Garden, right next door to Jing Fong on Elizabeth. I keep meaning to post about it.

I, on the other hand, have never really loved NY Noodle Town. I don't think the noodles are all that great, and for roast meats I've been using O.K. 218 on Grand Street with good results, especially when you factor in price.

I will definitely give Cantoon Garden a try. O.K. 218 is...O.K. but I think the suckling pig at Ny Noodletown is one of the best roasted meats in Chinatown. As far as the noodles are concerned, I really meant to say the shrimp/pork wontons are excellent...the noodles, not made in house, are just OK.

Big fan of Congee Village here. You certainly can't go wrong if you order the namesake dish.

I was once there with a group of 10 and we ordered one of the banquet dinners at the front of the menu. Every dish was superb, and it was really well-balanced. Congee, crab, whole braised fish, a delicious dish of little lamb chops, and much more.

There are some off-menu dishes that are wonderful; at least off ala carte menu, and those lamb chops are one of them. I basically try to stay away from the stir-fries. I was there recently and ordered for a party of 15 - everyone loved it and it was less than $20 a person. Both the fried squid and the fried shrimp were stellar as well. The whole Special chicken was juicy and delicious. Whoever was working the deep fryer than night knew what they were doing.

But, let's face it...the problem in Chinatown is consistency. I've had great and not great meals at Oriental Garden. Great and not great dishes at Congee Village. That's why it becomes so hard to recommend Chinatown in general.

[weinoo]

I do go to another place in Chinatown when I want a specific dish. That dish is Peking Duck, and Peking Duck House does it right.