Oldest, Continuously Operating Chinese Restaurant

[waves2ya]

As far as the Hop family places...

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Martial artist two cents - I've eaten in enough downstairs/basement restaurants to choke a horse; you had to be pretty good w/ chopsticks at the end of some of these affairs or - no food for you! (Hip Sing was/is right on the corner of Pell & Doyers...)

Hop Kee seems always capable, cheap & open late. Good fresh killed chicken, pork chops - simple things. Staff always knew the local teachers and guests. Not swanky but old fashioned NYC Chinatown...

Say Eng Look - great casseroles; ate at China 46 (NJ) other day and, thanks to eG'rs, was spot on.

[annoy_ken]

With all the restaurant closing/openings in NYC chinatown in the last few years. I think honorable mention has to go to some not so old but old lunch counter places that have been around since when I was growing up there.

Southwind for some great and unique Ha Cheong with dried shrimp and scallions.

Mei Lai Wah, where they serve a delicious Beef Cheong and fatty Roast Pork but that is all the rage in the Filipino community.

And a shout out to recently closed (9/11) Bamboo, where many an early morning before school was spent. Great Dai Bao (Big Bun) and Choy Yook Bao (pork and cabbage bun) and the chinese Hamburger...all will be missed. It was said that an underground passage led to the Hip Sing HQ accross the street for quick gettaways. There also used to be a place on Pell which served the best corned beef/rice and pastrami rice...That's for Perlow, who is Jewish-ese...

[Bux]

There also used to be a place on Pell which served the best corned beef/rice and pastrami rice...That's for Perlow, who is Jewish-ese...

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You don't have to be Jewish to love fusion cooking.

[menton1]

I went for over 20 years to a place on Bayard Sreet called Kam Bo. Quite similar to Wo Hop but on street level and a bit more pleasant. It was my first introduction to Chinatown, we went at 2AM in a "less than lucid state" and ate a copious amount of food for about $1.50 per dish-- I loved their "Iron Steak" and "sizzling rice" dishes, as well as the Clams in Black Bean Sauce. A simpler time.

To my dismay, several years ago we went to the place and it had been transformed into a completely different restaurant with new decor, new food, and new owners. I still fondly miss Kam Bo. (Anybody else remember Kam Bo?)

[ghostrider]

Kam Bo, yes. I think we tried them once or twice. As I remember it they were very similar to Lin's Garden. In the end, we stuck with Lin's, no particular reason other than it was OUR first intro to Chinatown, & with that came a certain sense of loyalty.

Lin's also had damn fine snails with black bean sauce, now that you've mentioned Kam Bo's clams. That was one garlicky black bean sauce, I loved that stuff.

We'd found Lin's via The Underground Gourmet, a kind of predecessor to Zagat's. I wonder how many other tastes that little yellow book shaped.

Edited March 3, 2005 by ghostrider (log)

[menton1]

Kam Bo, yes.  I think we tried them once  or twice.  As I remember it they were very similar to Lin's Garden.  In the end, we stuck with Lin's, no particular reason other than it was OUR  first intro to Chinatown, & with that came a certain sense of loyalty.

Lin's also had damn fine snails with black bean sauce, now that you've mentioned Kam Bo's clams.  That was one garlicky black bean sauce, I loved that stuff.

We'd found Lin's via The Underground  Gourmet, a kind of predecessor to Zagat's.  I wonder how many other tastes that little yellow book shaped.

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Sure! Lin's Garden was right next door to Kam Bo!! We only went there when the wait ws too long at Kam Bo-- Lin's was a little less comfortable, they had weird seating arrangements, and some community tables. I also remember the lobster sauce in these places was brown, and the hot and sour soup was red!

[ghostrider]

Sure!  Lin's Garden was right next door to Kam Bo!!  We only went there when the wait ws too long at Kam Bo--  Lin's was a little less comfortable, they had weird seating arrangements, and some community tables.  I also remember the lobster sauce in these places was brown, and the hot and sour soup was red!

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I thought that was the case (next door) but wasn't certain after all of these years.

I'd posted upthread about the "red" hot & sour soup. Addictive! Kam Bo had the same version? I always wondered if some of those kitchens were connected.

Has anyone encountered that variety of hot & sour anywhere in recent years?