The newest dumpling shack is also a shade better than most, and their chive-and-pork dumplings (four for around $1) are magnificent: crisp on the bottom and soft on top, dripping with flavorful juices. Other standard classics are rendered with similar aplomb, including sweet-and-sour soup with a... More>>
Upscale frank joints have been elbowing their way into many nabes, challenging you to pay $3 or more for a mealy organic weenie with a roster of expensive toppings. Jumbo Hot Dogs is not of this ilk, offering a quarter-pound tube steak (made in Newark!) on a nice puffy bun for only a dollar.... More>>
For the past few years, Fujianese cafes have delivered the city's cheapest full meals. Currently foremost in the category is New Bai Wei Gourmet Foods, which piles almost three dozen tubs in the window, including shrimp, crabs, mussels, and whole fish, along with seasonal Asian vegetables, then... More>>
The cooking of Chinese expats in Southeast Asia is featured in area Chiu Chow restaurants, the best of which is that ancient Chinatown fixture New Chao Chow Restaurant. Experience the cuisine's delicacy and piquant flavors in the deconstructed version of pho known as "broth noodles," and in the... More>>
The name refers to a pale nutty mole of toasted pumpkin seeds poured over enchiladas stuffed with scrambled quail eggs. Papatzul is New York's only real cognate of Chicago's Frontera Grill, an informal place that specializes in well made regional Mexican fare at prices that fall short of wallet... More>>
At what may be the best Vietnamese in town beef shines, mainly in French-leaning preparations. Bo nuong vi is particularly tasty, thin slices of very red beef sauteed tableside in butter, then wrapped in rice paper sheets with mint leaves and pickled carrots and radishes. Squirt on the chile... More>>
Skip the legendary seven-course beef dinner that prefaces the menu at this restaurant decorated like a Southeast Asian village, and cherry-pick the constituent dishes that excel, including a warm salad of tender beef strips in a citrus dressing (goi bo), a delectable beef congee made with broken... More>>
Once ensconced in a stall under the Manhattan bridge, this distinguished Vietnamese institution was reinstalled in the rear of a jewelry store. One thing they do with the extra space is a lot of baking, including bright green mung bean cakes stuffed with coconut, chewy sweet beef jerky, and,... More>>
This Shanghai surprise has been largely overlooked. Its forte is dishes at the lower end of the menu, making this the perfect place to gorge on soup dumplings (a/k/a "tiny juicy buns") in three varieties. Pick the steamed ones with crab. Also sporting plenty of crustaceans are braised e-fu... More>>
It's not often that a new kind of noodle appears in town, but this modest spot on a block that's mainly employment agencies for Fujianese day laborers has introduced something called "peel noodles." These strips are shaved into boiling water from a loaf of dough when you order them, and the... More>>
This Fujianese noodle shop has presciently added northern and western Chinese fare to its repertoire, including the greasy pancake filled with pork and scallions called shar bing, heretofore unavailable in Manhattan's Chinatown. The plain scallion pancake is much bigger than usual, and so is the... More>>
The specialty of this narrow stall on the thronged last block of Eldridge is hand-pulled wheat noodles originating in Lanzhou, a city in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu. The preferred formulation features the noodles in a spicy red broth with slices of braised beef, but there are 16... More>>
The ambitious and expensive seafood restaurant strives to use only sustainable catch, which is a laudable goal. Via Chef Joe Isidori, who used to work in Vegas, the crudo starters are astonishingly tasty, little artistic compositions in which raw fish plays a co-equal role with other... More>>
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Critics' Pick (289)
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The newest dumpling shack is also a shade better than most, and their chive-and-pork dumplings (four for around $1) are magnificent: crisp on the bottom and soft on top, dripping with flavorful juices. Other standard classics are rendered with similar aplomb, including sweet-and-sour soup with a... More>> 
Upscale frank joints have been elbowing their way into many nabes, challenging you to pay $3 or more for a mealy organic weenie with a roster of expensive toppings. Jumbo Hot Dogs is not of this ilk, offering a quarter-pound tube steak (made in Newark!) on a nice puffy bun for only a dollar.... More>> 
For the past few years, Fujianese cafes have delivered the city's cheapest full meals. Currently foremost in the category is New Bai Wei Gourmet Foods, which piles almost three dozen tubs in the window, including shrimp, crabs, mussels, and whole fish, along with seasonal Asian vegetables, then... More>> 
The cooking of Chinese expats in Southeast Asia is featured in area Chiu Chow restaurants, the best of which is that ancient Chinatown fixture New Chao Chow Restaurant. Experience the cuisine's delicacy and piquant flavors in the deconstructed version of pho known as "broth noodles," and in the... More>> 
The name refers to a pale nutty mole of toasted pumpkin seeds poured over enchiladas stuffed with scrambled quail eggs. Papatzul is New York's only real cognate of Chicago's Frontera Grill, an informal place that specializes in well made regional Mexican fare at prices that fall short of wallet... More>> 
At what may be the best Vietnamese in town beef shines, mainly in French-leaning preparations. Bo nuong vi is particularly tasty, thin slices of very red beef sauteed tableside in butter, then wrapped in rice paper sheets with mint leaves and pickled carrots and radishes. Squirt on the chile... More>> 
Skip the legendary seven-course beef dinner that prefaces the menu at this restaurant decorated like a Southeast Asian village, and cherry-pick the constituent dishes that excel, including a warm salad of tender beef strips in a citrus dressing (goi bo), a delectable beef congee made with broken... More>> 
Once ensconced in a stall under the Manhattan bridge, this distinguished Vietnamese institution was reinstalled in the rear of a jewelry store. One thing they do with the extra space is a lot of baking, including bright green mung bean cakes stuffed with coconut, chewy sweet beef jerky, and,... More>> 
This Shanghai surprise has been largely overlooked. Its forte is dishes at the lower end of the menu, making this the perfect place to gorge on soup dumplings (a/k/a "tiny juicy buns") in three varieties. Pick the steamed ones with crab. Also sporting plenty of crustaceans are braised e-fu... More>> 
It's not often that a new kind of noodle appears in town, but this modest spot on a block that's mainly employment agencies for Fujianese day laborers has introduced something called "peel noodles." These strips are shaved into boiling water from a loaf of dough when you order them, and the... More>> 
This Fujianese noodle shop has presciently added northern and western Chinese fare to its repertoire, including the greasy pancake filled with pork and scallions called shar bing, heretofore unavailable in Manhattan's Chinatown. The plain scallion pancake is much bigger than usual, and so is the... More>> 
The specialty of this narrow stall on the thronged last block of Eldridge is hand-pulled wheat noodles originating in Lanzhou, a city in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu. The preferred formulation features the noodles in a spicy red broth with slices of braised beef, but there are 16... More>> 