Category: Chinese

Reviews of Chinese Restaurants in New York City

Grand Sichuan St. Marks

21 Saint Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues
212/529.4805
$25 each for three, with three beers, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

The Chipotle opened along St. Marks opened first and then the vending-machine store BAM! made headlines. When I saw the Grand Sichuan open, I only thought, Great, I don’t have to go to Chelsea for Sichuan Chinese food. The neighborhood is truly changing and now tattoo and piercing parlors co-exist with restaurants catering to both college students and punk kids. I wasn’t about to pass by the area without trying some spicy Chinese food. Because I am used to the Grand Sichuan menu, I also ordered the same dishes from the St. Marks branch.

The Dan Dan noodles is always good, almost swimming in oil and red, chili sauce. I don’t think I ever go to any Sichuan restaurant without ordering these noodles first. The double-cooked pork was a little bit cold and chewy served with scallions and green peppers but still a good dish with rice. My favorite is the kung pao chicken. Every person who insist on ordering Chinese food from the take-out stores should order the real Sichuan version of kung pao chicken so that they can change their minds about how hit-or-miss Chinese food can be. The smoked tofu with celery dish is also a choice of mine for its texture and earthy taste. The celery becomes a palate cleanser while the tofu tames my tongue from all the spicy taste it’s been getting. With all those dishes, we can’t say no to the vegetables. Peashoot leaves are always expensive but a big plate of them always finishes first. They’re sautéed in hot oil and garlic and balances out the whole array of plates on your table.

The St. Marks is sparkling new and it’s definitely less of a zoo than the Chelsea branch so if you’re craving Chinese food and don’t want to keep walking downtown, Grand Sichuan is the way to go.

Related post/s:
Grand Sichuan in Chelsea

Our Place Shanghai Tea Garden

141 East 55th Street between Third and Lexington
212/753.3900
$365 for eleven, with drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

It was a challenge to organize the Dr.’s second birthday celebration with his married friends but they all showed up for brunch with their children at Our Place. (Part one was at Le Bernardin and tapas with wine at Jadis the night before.) Once all the Bugaboos and BabyBjörns were all set aside, we sat down and enjoyed the dishes selected for us by the kitchen staff. We all started with a mixed plate of appetizers: a vegetable and shrimp egg roll, two soupy buns and two shrimp shumais. Then they passed around the main dishes: beef, chicken, baby bok choy and mushrooms, all in semi-sweet brown sauce.

They gave me the impression that they were extremely busy on weekends because they called twice to confirm my reservation for twelve people. We walked in at noon but we didn’t start eating until at least 1pm and we still had the space towards the back to ourselves. I appreciated that we were never given attitude even though it took us all three hours to eat and pay the bill, babies crying and all. Go to any of the restaurants in Chinatown for a more down-to-earth meal without the orchids, but stay in midtown if you want an English-speaking waitstaff with plenty of patience.

Chinese Mirch

120 Lexington Avenue corner of 28th Street
212/532.3663
$65 for two, without drinks, with tip
♥

Mirch is loosely translated as spicy in Hindi and the combination of Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines happily bring out the intense flavor of Indian cooking. The positive is that the dishes are lighter than what I am used to because pork and beef are not in the menu in honor of the Muslim and Hindi diets. The negative is that the distinctive flavor of all the cuisines combined may be too much for a diner with a less friendly stomach. Indeed, mine protested when I got home–three times.

We ordered the lime coriander soup which was deliciously sour for me. It was clear broth but a little gooey, perhaps a little cornstarch made it so. This is exactly what the Chinese Indian combination was like throughout our entire meal–saucy and spicy. We also had their notorious chicken lollipops, wing meat pulled back to form a ball at the other end of the bone. My brother makes them at home but the Mirch version has enough garlic to make them addicting. They’re deep-fried to crunchy perfection that I had to order one serving to go so that my father can taste them. The deep-fried okra were served in a container fit for Belgian fries and each okra sliver was coated in batter and peppered with paprika and other chili spices. The vegetarian meatballs were quite good, too, and even after eating one of the green chiles swimming in even more sauce, we were still craving for more. The chicken and garlic noodles were satisfying although the chicken bits were barely detectable. I loved pouring the vinegar that was on our table over them.

The waiters are friendly but the service is abrupt. Our waiter tried to take plates away twice even though we were still eating. He also tipped over the okra container to see if we were done with them that I was tempted to slap him on the arm so he would chill. We ordered a bowl of rice when the two main courses were served but it never came. When it was included in our bill and I alerted the cashier, they insisted that we ate the rice they brought to our table. Our waiter pointed to a small grain of rice on our table and asked, But what is this over here? as if we would really try to skip over paying $1.39. They let the bill stand, as I suggested, and I gave them $1.39 less on the tip. Can you blame me if I just didn’t want to pay for what wasn’t served? The waiters also let us leave without giving us the leftovers we asked to take home. It was a good thing we remembered half a block away. When we opened our bag, the new order of chicken lollipops were there (I ordered two but they only gave and charged me for one) but the leftover noodles weren’t. We were just too tired to correct another mistake that we just decided to walk away.

Province

305 Church Street corner of Walker
212/925.1205
$25 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

Update, 2008: Province has closed

Oh, mantou, where have you been all these years? Mantou, the steamed bun mainstay of northern Chinese street food stalls is finally in TriBeCa. And I hope it stays because the neighborhood could use a practical place to eat where good food is served without the frills and the bill. A mantou sandwich is $3.75 and you can choose between bulgogi with kimchi, spicy pork, grilled chicken or braised pork shoulder with pickled radish. Each mantou is freshly-baked and grilled so the sesame seeds on top get toasted for a nice smoky taste. They’re dense but spongy; doughy but not heavy. If two mantous are not enough for you, the bowl of cold sesame noodles with tofu, eggs, carrots and cucumber in soy-ginger sauce is substantial for less than $7. It’s a refreshing summer lunch.

Province calls itself the Chinese Canteen and frankly, I like that name better. I would even call it the Asian Canteen because you can practically sandwich anything with mantou. Its simple unfinished decor reminds me of Momofuku Noodle Bar, only less pretentious and less crowded.

Related post/s:
Momofuku Noodle Bar

Grand Sichuan International

229 Ninth Avenue at 24th Street
212/620.5200
about $60 for two, without drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

New York City has some great selection of Chinese food. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include Sichuan, the spicy kind. When I crave the flavor of numbing Sichuan peppers, I go to Grand Sichuan International in Chelsea. They have a few branches in the city, but I frequent the one in Chelsea. No matter what time you visit, it’s always crowded. The service is inconsistent, but their kung pao chicken is always right and the dan dan noodles always spicy.

It ain’t Monterey Park outside of Los Angeles, but it will have to do.