need quick advice for last minute trip

[jtnippon1985]

Hey everyone, need some quick help. Being called away on a "business" trip on Tuesday and will be there till Saturday. I plan on making Chinatown and Little Italy part of the down time I'll get so I would like just a couple of recommendations on where to go. Prices don't matter but obviously taste does. Thanks.

[Sneakeater]

Not knowing what you like, I'll recommend Oriental Garden as a safe (and excellent!) bet in Chinatown.

(Here's a thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=13515&hl=)

Skip Little Italy. Much better Italian elsewhere. (If you don't mind going a bit upmarket, try A Voce. Thread here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=84744&hl=voce )

Edited September 25, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[LPShanet]

I'm with Sneakeater on both counts. Oriental Garden is a good, consistent Chinatown option. I think Ping's Seafood on Mott is another one. If you go Chinatown crazy, you might also check out Kam Chueh or Fulleen Seafood. The group (myself included) can provide you with a bunch of dim sum options as well.

And avoiding Little Italy entirely is definitely the only Little Italy Option. There are so many good Italian places in NYC (Lupa, A Voce, L'Impero, Alto, Babbo, Scalini Fedeli, etc.) that there's never a reason to subject yourself to the Little Italy experience/disappointment. And if you want consistently good but old-school "red sauce" Italian, I've always enjoyed Piccolo Angolo in the West Village.

Not knowing what you like, I'll recommend Oriental Garden as a safe (and excellent!) bet in Chinatown.

(Here's a thread:  http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=13515&hl=)

Skip Little Italy.  Much better Italian elsewhere.  (If you don't mind going a bit upmarket, try A Voce.  Thread here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=84744&hl=voce )

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Edited September 25, 2006 by LPShanet (log)

[Sneakeater]

Re: Italian.

People don't talk about Jonathan Waxman's Barbuto much (Washington St. at W. 12th St.), but I've enjoyed it everytime I've eaten there.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Nathan]

If you want decent Italian near the compost pile known as "Little Italy"...eat at Peasant on Elizabeth between Spring and Prince.

echo the Chinatown suggestions.

[LPShanet]

I second Peasant...it's been very good each of the few times I've been.

If you want decent Italian near the compost pile known as "Little Italy"...eat at Peasant on Elizabeth between Spring and Prince.

echo the Chinatown suggestions.

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[Sneakeater]

Since, by mentioning Little Italy, the original poster signaled he's probably looking for "unique" "authentic" New York experiences (which Little Italy no longer provides), what would we recommend instead?

Katz's? (Delicatessen on Lower East Side, corner of Houston & Ludlow)

[Sneakeater]

(To me, the "unique" "authentic" New York experience is really something like Daniel.)

[Nathan]

or even LB....or Luger's

[Pan]

My favorite Chinese restaurants in Manhattan are Grand Sichuan International's Hell's Kitchen location and Congee Village, a Cantonese restaurant on Allen St. just south of Delancey, arguably barely on the fringes of Chinatown.

If you'd consider Malaysian in Chinatown, have a look at the thread on Skyway.