THE BEST: Chinatown Dim Sum

[Pan]

Gastro, have you tried the expensive dim sum at Chinatown Brasserie?

[Gastro888]

Is that an offer for you to treat?

I've not but I heard from some fellow culinary schoolmates that the dim sum is excellent. I don't really trust their opinion on dim sum so I'll have to try for myself. The idea of expensive and dim sum don't really mix for me - I think my ancestors would spin in their grave. But I shall put it on my list of things to try.

I heard the chef is being lured to open a big restaurant in Bklyn?

[Nathan]

just hit Dim Sum Go Go for the first time.

dumplings were of high quality. significantly better than Golden Unicorn. liked the shrimp rice rolls a lot. chicken feet were completely boring.

[weinoo]

Gastro, have you tried the expensive dim sum at Chinatown Brasserie?

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We had dim sum at CB late afternoon on Christmas Day - right when they opened at 4 PM.

Really excellent - they are obviously using ingredients of superior quality to most Ctown places, and the many different styles of dim sum, as well as the complexity of the presentation contributes to the expense compared to other dim sum restaurants.

[pups224]

I have to take 3 foodies from Chicago for dim sum over July 4th weekend.

They surely will want to go to chinatown. Love Go-go, but no atmosphere or carts.

Pings does not seem to be as good as it once was, although it is acceptable. Have not tried Chinatown Brasserie (do they have carts on wkends)? Is it any good?

Are there any updates?

Thanks!

[Sneakeater]

Chinatown Brasserie isn't in Chinatown. Also, no carts.

If you're willing to leave Chinatown (as you'd have to do to go to Chinatown Brasserie), World Tong in Brooklyn (the place where Chinatown Brasserie's genius dim sum chef came from -- and they've replaced him with someone nearly as good) remains superb.

[SobaAddict70]

Chinatown Brasserie isn't in Chinatown.  Also, no carts.

If you're willing to leave Chinatown (as you'd have to do to go to Chinatown Brasserie), World Tong in Brooklyn (the place where Chinatown Brasserie's genius dim sum chef came from -- and they've replaced him with someone nearly as good) remains superb.

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I second Sneakie's recommendation of World Tong.

Some pix for your viewing pleasure:

Eggplant with battered shrimp and peppers

Red-cooked pig's knuckle

Clockwise from top left: turnip cakes, the eggplant dish, scallion dumplings, conch with celery

Shrimp dumplings each topped with a piece of offal or duck's cartilage, atop cucumber slices

Top: stewed tripe, squash and curry sauce

Bottom: tripe in vinegar sauce with scallions and jalapeno peppers

Hmmm....I need to go there again soon.

[LPShanet]

I have to take 3 foodies from Chicago for dim sum over July 4th weekend.

They surely will want to go to chinatown. Love Go-go, but no atmosphere or carts.

Pings does not seem to be as good as it once was, although it is acceptable. Have not tried Chinatown Brasserie (do they have carts on wkends)? Is it any good?

Are there any updates?

Thanks!

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I also concur with World Tong. However, if you have to go to Manhattan's Chinatown, there are a few places that seem to be worth bothering with, though none is notably better than the others. Chinatown has plenty of B's and B-'s, but no A's. Ping's, as you noted, isn't quite as good as it once was, but is still one of the better ones. Golden Unicorn is crowded and quite inconsistent, but on a given day can be quite good if you luck out. (Saturday there is much less crowded than Sunday.) Finally, it seems like Oriental Garden has been a tad better than the others of late, though the differences are subtle, and each place does specific dishes better than the others. Good luck and give us a report!

[weinoo]

Leaving Chinatown to go to World Tong in Brooklyn is a little different than leaving Chinatown for Chinatown Brasserie, easily the best in Manhattan. No carts - doesn't matter.

And the cluster f*ck that is World Tong on the weekend should be fun.

[Sneakeater]

I actually agree no carts doesn't matter. But the guy asking the question said that "no carts" disqualified Dim Sum Go Go.

[pups224]

OOh, food porn. Thank you so much Soba.

Chinatown Brasserie isn't in Chinatown.  Also, no carts.

If you're willing to leave Chinatown (as you'd have to do to go to Chinatown Brasserie), World Tong in Brooklyn (the place where Chinatown Brasserie's genius dim sum chef came from -- and they've replaced him with someone nearly as good) remains superb.

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I second Sneakie's recommendation of World Tong.

Some pix for your viewing pleasure:

Eggplant with battered shrimp and peppers

Red-cooked pig's knuckle

Clockwise from top left: turnip cakes, the eggplant dish, scallion dumplings, conch with celery

Shrimp dumplings each topped with a piece of offal or duck's cartilage, atop cucumber slices

Top: stewed tripe, squash and curry sauce

Bottom: tripe in vinegar sauce with scallions and jalapeno peppers

Hmmm....I need to go there again soon.

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[Steve R.]

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Ginny and I accidentally found a place 6 months or so ago that was brand new (then) and showed great promise. Lots of fresh seafood. However, as it's now 6 months later, I have no idea if this will still be good or a complete bust so let the buyer beware. East Market Restaurant, with an official address of 75-85 East Broadway, but its actually upstairs, with an entrance from an internal alleyway between E.Bdway and Henry, Market St and Forsyth St. A block away from the E. Broadway Mall.

Soba: are those pictures from our dim sum together at World Tong? Nice shots. No durian.

[SobaAddict70]

Soba: are those pictures from our dim sum together at World Tong?  Nice shots.  No durian. 

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Yup. And you know I've been meaning to get back there again. Maybe we should conduct a dim sum marathon or something. Back to back weekend tastings.

[ned]

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here.  Ginny and I accidentally found a place 6 months or so ago that was brand new (then) and showed great promise.  Lots of fresh seafood.  However, as it's now 6 months later, I have no idea if this will still be good or a complete bust so let the buyer beware.  East Market Restaurant, with an official address of 75-85 East Broadway, but its actually upstairs, with an entrance from an internal alleyway between E.Bdway and Henry, Market St and Forsyth St.  A block away from the E. Broadway Mall.

Soba: are those pictures from our dim sum together at World Tong?  Nice shots.  No durian. 

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I love this place. There's a playground just outside the front door where the kids can get their wilds out. Also the market on the ground floor is one of the best in Chinatown. Try the tripe.

[pups224]

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here.  Ginny and I accidentally found a place 6 months or so ago that was brand new (then) and showed great promise.  Lots of fresh seafood.  However, as it's now 6 months later, I have no idea if this will still be good or a complete bust so let the buyer beware.  East Market Restaurant, with an official address of 75-85 East Broadway, but its actually upstairs, with an entrance from an internal alleyway between E.Bdway and Henry, Market St and Forsyth St.   A block away from the E. Broadway Mall.

Soba: are those pictures from our dim sum together at World Tong?  Nice shots.  No durian. 

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I love this place. There's a playground just outside the front door where the kids can get their wilds out. Also the market on the ground floor is one of the best in Chinatown. Try the tripe.

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So I went. It was very good. Unfortunately I was a guest and was not next to the carts as they arrived.

The pork with taro was excellent. The baby clams in brown sauce, not very deep.

Numerous items from the trolleys, again, very good, but I wished that I could have picked. Probobly on par with Go Go. We were the only caucasians there and they treated us extremely well. Next time, more sea food and larger people.

Just a small detour. I was at a place named Noodle Villiage at 13 Mott a few week ago. They specialize in HK noodle soups. It was very, very good. The wontons and shrimp dumplings were so fresh. The noodles were chewy and broth was quite decent. I am dying to go back with more than just me.

[LPShanet]

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here.  Ginny and I accidentally found a place 6 months or so ago that was brand new (then) and showed great promise.  Lots of fresh seafood.  However, as it's now 6 months later, I have no idea if this will still be good or a complete bust so let the buyer beware.  East Market Restaurant, with an official address of 75-85 East Broadway, but its actually upstairs, with an entrance from an internal alleyway between E.Bdway and Henry, Market St and Forsyth St.   A block away from the E. Broadway Mall.

Soba: are those pictures from our dim sum together at World Tong?  Nice shots.  No durian. 

←

I love this place. There's a playground just outside the front door where the kids can get their wilds out. Also the market on the ground floor is one of the best in Chinatown. Try the tripe.

←

So I went. It was very good. Unfortunately I was a guest and was not next to the carts as they arrived.

The pork with taro was excellent. The baby clams in brown sauce, not very deep.

Numerous items from the trolleys, again, very good, but I wished that I could have picked. Probobly on par with Go Go. We were the only caucasians there and they treated us extremely well. Next time, more sea food and larger people.

Just a small detour. I was at a place named Noodle Villiage at 13 Mott a few week ago. They specialize in HK noodle soups. It was very, very good. The wontons and shrimp dumplings were so fresh. The noodles were chewy and broth was quite decent. I am dying to go back with more than just me.

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Anyone else been to East Market? Sounds like it's worth a try!

[raji]

Anyone else been to East Market?  Sounds like it's worth a try!

I _tried_ to go. Walked down East Broadway. Checked numbers. Found the little internal alleyway. Found the playground, entered across from the playground. It was a Chinese mall!!! We walked further and hit the vegetable stands under the Manhattan bridge (which in and of itself was a scene. Especially the vegetable crates of what we thought was DVD porn closer to Canal). My gf and buddy were pretty starving and I looked like an ass, so we gave up.

Went to 88 Palace, which I hadn't been in about 5 years. It's not bad at all. The har kow and shumai were great. They've taken to the practice of having a manned station that offers a few things you can get from the cart and then a bunch of cauldrons of stuff you can't get from the carts. I got some chinese vegetable and chive dumplings from them. I don't dig on the stinky tofu and some of the brown-sauce cauldrons or the snails, but I'm sure they're good as they were going at a regular rate. But we arrived at 1pm so I think we missed the main rush.

When all else fails I end up at 88 Palace or Golden Unicorn...

[pups224]

Anyone else been to East Market?  Sounds like it's worth a try!

I _tried_ to go. Walked down East Broadway. Checked numbers. Found the little internal alleyway. Found the playground, entered across from the playground. It was a Chinese mall!!! We walked further and hit the vegetable stands under the Manhattan bridge (which in and of itself was a scene. Especially the vegetable crates of what we thought was DVD porn closer to Canal). My gf and buddy were pretty starving and I looked like an ass, so we gave up.

The entrance was right there at the playground. Had you looked up, you would have seen the sign for the place.

Went to 88 Palace, which I hadn't been in about 5 years. It's not bad at all. The har kow and shumai were great. They've taken to the practice of having a manned station that offers a few things you can get from the cart and then a bunch of cauldrons of stuff you can't get from the carts. I got some chinese vegetable and chive dumplings from them. I don't dig on the stinky tofu and some of the brown-sauce cauldrons or the snails, but I'm sure they're good as they were going at a regular rate. But we arrived at 1pm so I think we missed the main rush.

When all else fails I end up at 88 Palace or Golden Unicorn...

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[raji]

Honestly, I looked up knowing it was a 2nd floor place. Was it on the 2nd floor of the mall? or the other side of the street? if I was on my own, I would have taken a few more minutes to try to find it. All I was going on was 75-85

[pups224]

Honestly, I looked up knowing it was a 2nd floor place. Was it on the 2nd floor of the mall? or the other side of the street? if I was on my own, I would have taken a few more minutes to try to find it. All I was going on was 75-85

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It was very easy to miss. We were headed south on Market. It is on the east side of Market street, one block south of Division Street, under the Manhattan bridge, at the begining of the arcade. If you go to the play ground, face east and look up (do not enter the arcade), it is right there.

[BryanZ]

First visit to Jing Fong this weekend, and wow this place is intense. From the entrance to the banquet hall setting, this place is spectacle. I'm not dim sum novice, but I found the whole experience even a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, I was with a few zealous veterans who tracked down most everything we wanted.

All in all, I think this place is very solid. I've had dim sum of higher quality for sure, especially at a la carte restaurants, but this restaurant surely fills a nice. There's a good deal of diversity and despite its size most of the items are relatively fresh. We had a nice table right by the kitchen and the buffet so got most of our items on their first tour and saw when the buffet was being replenished.

Six of us ate substantial amounts of food for $14 each. Not bad at all.

[nicolekaplan]

we were thinking of going to oriental garden or pings but is there a better suggestion for dim sum not so much seafood

[weinoo]

I'm still of the thought that the best dim sum in Manhattan is at Chinatown Brasserie...just no comparison in the quality of ingredients used and comfort level versus the Chinatown palaces.

We had lunch at CB on Christmas Day, and the dim sum was outstanding.

There are also some new dim sum and lunch specials being offered after the new year, as well as those currently on the menu.

Insistence on Chinatown forces me to Dim Sum Go Go. I have a hard time fighting people to the carts at places like Jing Fong.

[Pan]

I agree with weinoo. Chinatown Brasserie is probably still the best, but it's so freakin expensive and has their weird pretentiousness, so I haven't been there in just over a year. Great cocktails, though. Dim Sum Go Go is my standby.

[weinoo]

I agree with weinoo. Chinatown Brasserie is probably still the best, but it's so freakin expensive and has their weird pretentiousness, so I haven't been there in just over a year. Great cocktails, though. Dim Sum Go Go is my standby.

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While I agree that CB is more expensive than any dim sum palace in Chinatown, I just don't agree that "it's so freakin (sic) expensive and has their weird pretentiousness." Well, okay, maybe that weird pretentiousness, but then again, Congee Village has a weird pretentiousness all its own, unless you happen to love dining under 1,000,000 lights and enjoy hearing the Happy Birthday song over and over.

And a great deal of the expense at CB goes to the higher quality ingredients being used, as well as to the number of service staff and the fact that they may actually know what they're doing. To alleviate some of that expense, try going for lunch during the week, when the specials are quite reasonable.