I have continued to explore the food scene in New York and ready to release the sequel to my favorite Asian Food Spots in New York (/2014/01/14/local-guide-favorite-asian-food-spots-new-york/). I am going to break it down slightly different this time. Most of my 2016 recommendations are in Manhattan. First, I will list great eats in the moderately priced range (i.e. the casual dining type places such as Outback Steakhouse) in Manhattan. However, I prefer hole in the wall type places for authentic, ethnic places. In my opinion, they often have the better food and are much cheaper. Décor and aesthetics mean very little to me when I just want to eat. Accordingly, the second Manhattan category I have are for the cheaper eats that offer great food. Next, I will comment on the New York Ramen scene. Finally, I will head to Elmhurst which is a hidden gem for awesome Asian food in Queens.
Manhattan
Moderately Priced
1. Saigon Market (93 University Pl, New York, NY 10003)
Website: saigonmarketnyc.com
Saigon Market is an awesome Vietnamese restaurant located near NYU in Union Square. The lemongrass pork chop is a must try. It is a staple Vietnamese dish. In my opinion, it is the best pork chop in New York City. It is extremely tender and the lemongrass juice gives it a great flavor. If you are sharing the dish, you can ask the waiter to cut it up in the back before he brings it to the table. The bo luc lac may be even better. It is a steak cube dish with taro chips and baby green salad. Like the pork chop, the steak is ridiculously tender with awesome flavor. I also love the taro chips. Once you eat one, you will not be able to stop. The dau ve xao, string beans with shallot basil and garlic sauce, is another must try dish at Saigon Market. The sauce really makes the dish. If you like shrimp [unlike me], the shrimp summer rolls are popular too. The pad thai and fried rice dishes are also good. All the dishes are perfect for sharing so I would just order for the table if you are with a group.
Not all the dishes are equal. Pho [noodle soup dish] is a very popular Vietnamese dish. It is very average here. Again, I always order the lemongrass pork chop, bo luc lac, and green beans when I eat at Saigon Market.
- Flor de Mayo (484 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024)
Website: flordemayo.com/
Cannot decide between Chinese or Latino food? Why choose? Flor de Mayo is a fusion of Chinese and Peruvian food in the Upper West side. The portions are generous. If you have been to Pio Pio, you know it has an amazing rotisserie chicken. Flor de Mayo may have a better one. Unfortunately, it does not have the epic green sauce that Pio Pio does. In fact, it has no green sauce at all. I always have to side with the chicken with the green sauce. If Flor de Mayo had a comparable green sauce, I think its rotisserie chicken would be my favorite in New York. Another great entrée is the Bistec de Palomilla, beef steak tenderloin. It is a thin slice of beef with onions on top. It is also a good option if you want a dish that is a smaller portion. The pork chop is also very good but the chicken and beef steak are better. Its squid ink fried rice is another excellent dish. However, the regular fried rice is one of the better ones I have eaten and fine if you do not want to pay the premium for the squid ink version.
- Hometown Hotpot and BBQ (194 Grand St, New York, NY 10013)
Website: http://hometownhotpot.com/
It is a great spot for unlimited hotpot and Korean barbecue. You can choose to eat unlimited hotpot and/ or barbecue. I enjoy both so I get both for $30.99. I also like that each guest gets his own individual pot instead of the usual communal pot. Accordingly, you can put whatever you want in it without worrying about others. The waiter takes your order on a tablet. As such, food started arriving at the table as soon as he finished taking our order in the first time I tried this restaurant. There are different types of broth you can choose to cook the food with in your pot. I personally like the Chinese herbal. One of my friends tried the curry and really enjoyed it. In terms of the hotpot, the menu features most of the items you would expect. If it is your first hotpot experience, the thin beef slices are a staple and very good. Hometown also features thin lamb slices that are very good. I personally like the beef tripe but it is not for everyone. There are various types of vegetables (corn, spinach, etc.). Mushrooms and enoki mushrooms are great. I absolutely love the fish filet. It is very smooth after it is cooked in the pot. In addition, there is a good selection of tofu, fried and not fried. Although I do not like fish balls, my friends really enjoyed them here. In regards to the Korean barbecue, it is good but not great which is what you should expect from unlimited barbecue. Some of the meats are bland. The ones I enjoy are pork belly, spare rib cubes, steak ribs, and steak with satay sauce.
It is a very popular spot. Like the other unlimited hotpot and barbecue spot, 99 Favors, a few blocks down, it could be a long wait for dinner especially on the weekend. A reservation can be made but it needs to be at least six people. If you check in on Yelp, there is a voucher to get a complementary scoop of ice cream. The matcha green tea is a bit strong and bitter. I went with the vanilla ice cream when I ate here my second time.
- Ootoya (141 W 41st St, New York, NY 10036)
Website: http://ootoya.us/menu/
Ooytoya has multiple locations in Manhattan. I have been to the one in Times Square. It is an excellent spot for Japanese food. Of course, they have plenty of sushi and cooked fish dishes. Their fish is always fresh. Their dishes have great flavor. They also have a lot of set meals. My favorite is the mini kaisen don which comes with blue fin tuna, amberjack, scallops, Scottish salmon, simmered shrimp and salmon roe served atop of sushi rice. The set comes with miso soup and an egg custard. The custard is an acquired taste and hit or miss whether you will enjoy it. I grew up eating egg custard tarts at Chinese bakeries so I love it. If you want a cooked dish, I highly recommend the mackerel. I have also tried one of the beef appetizers, Washu beef. It is decent but the fish dishes are definitely the best part of Ootoya.
- Joe’s Shanghai (9 Pell Street, New York, NY 10013)
Website: http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/
Many believe that Joe’s Shanghai has the best soup dumplings in New York City. Personally, I like the soup dumplings at Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (38-12 Prince St, Flushing, NY 11354) in Flushing slightly more. Nevertheless, I would not argue with anyone that goes with Joe’s. Their soup dumplings are legitimately that good. While the dumplings are definitely the star dishes, the other dishes are very solid too. I really enjoy the cold cut meats and jelly fish as another appetizer. The rice cake entrée dishes are excellent. The pan fried noodles are very good too.
Joe’s has two more locations: one in midtown Manhattan and the other in Flushing. I have been to the midtown location many times. Of course, it is more expensive because it is midtown. In addition, the Pell Street location has the better food. It is usually packed and there I usually a wait. Joe’s Ginger is on the same block. It is not affiliated and the food is not comparable. As a result, I would either wait for Joe’s Shanghai’s soup dumplings or abstain from soup dumplings. From personal experience, I have eaten at Joe’s Ginger, confused it for Joe’s Shanghai, and sullied the good name of Joe’s Shanghai by saying it was overrated.
- Room Service (690 9th Ave, New York, NY)
Website: http://www.roomservicerestaurant.com/menu.pdf
Room Service is an excellent Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. It has a nice décor with chandeliers and mirrors. Everything I have tried here is very good. My personal favorite is the pad see euw with beef, which is the Thai version of beef chow fun at a Chinese restaurant. You can also order the lunch special, which comes with an appetizer with the pad see euw, until 3:30. As an appetizer, the sesame tofu and spring rolls are very good. I also really like their Tom Yum soup. It is loaded with mushrooms and I love mushrooms. Room Service is also generous with the chicken in the soup.
- Barkogi (957 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022)
Website: http://www.barkogi.com/
Barkogi features Korean fried chicken. It is comparable but not as good as Bon Chon. While the chicken is good, the tater tots are awesome. I always get a side of them. I also come here to watch sporting matches that occur during lunchtime because it has HD TVs at the bar.
- Cup & Cup (15 E 31st St, New York, NY 10016)
It is a solid lunch spot in Koreatown. It is only open on the weekdays and till 4 PM. I like the unique idea of food and coffee coming in cups. The food menu features standard Korean selections such as Kimchi fries, bibimbop, bulgogi, etc. While the food is good, it is also a coffee shop. I am a fan of its green tea lattes. Like other high end coffee shops, it features latte art. If you ask and the barista has time, you can request a bear to be drawn in your latte.
Cheaper Eats
- XO Kitchen (148 Hester St New York, NY 10013)
Website: xokitchen.com/
XO Kitchen has great Chinese food and a huge selection. It has plenty of rice and noodle dishes. Specifically, their cheese dishes (e.g. cheese rice) are very popular. From my perspective, the selection is too big. Not all their dishes are equally good so I think it could cut some items out and focus on the better ones. XO also has dim sum. It is good but not great. For example, I usually love beef rice noodle [sometimes called rice crepes]. There is way too much noodle. In the only time I ordered it, it looked like one big sheet of flat noodle over the beef when the rice noodle should wrap around the beef. It is supposed to look like a meat crepe. I was not a fan of it and have not ordered it since.
Nevertheless, I love the dishes I usually order here. What do I order? I almost always go with the spare ribs over rice. The sauce is awesome and I love the choy sum that comes with it. Turnip cakes are another one of my favorite dim sum dishes. It is excellent here. The beef stew rice noodle casserole is also fantastic. It comes in a small pot and comes out red hot. Honestly, most of the rice and noodle dishes should be really good.
- Xi’an Famous Food (67 Bayard Street New York, NY 10013)
Website: http://xianfoods.com/
There are multiple locations that are in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. I have eaten at two in Manhattan: Chinatown and East Village. It is a great spot for hot, noodle dishes. The noodles are amazing. They are hand pulled so they are very soft. I also like that the chefs cook the noodles so they have a little crisp to them. I order the pork “zha jiang” hand-ripped noodles. The pork meat sauce is awesome. There is usually line for the locations particularly at lunch time. I have never eaten in the location in midtown but I see the line out the door every time I pass by when it is lunch time. For this reason, I only go during off hours. On the other hand, they cook the dishes quickly. It has a little bit of fast food vibe to it but with better food.
- Lam Zhou Handmade Noodles (144 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002)
It is a hole in the wall place that is great for a quick, cheap bite and handmade noodles in soup. You can hear and feel the workers in the back pounding the dough to make the noodles. As a result, the noodles are very soft. I have tried the beef brisket and oxtail noodle soups. I prefer the brisket. This place also has excellent pork dumplings, either fried or boiled. I am always stuffed with an order of the noodle soup and ten boiled dumplings. It is a lot of food for $9.
- Grand Bo Ky (216 Grand St, New York, NY 10013)
It is a Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant that has excellent noodle soups, rice dishes, and barbecue meats. It is quick and cheap. The beef stew with flat noodle in soup is awesome. The soup has a good kick to it. Soy sauce chicken in noodle soup is another solid choice. My friends and I usually get a side order of duck and yu choy too. The duck also goes well in the noodle soup. The pork chop over rice is another solid dish. The original Bo Ky is on Bayard Street. Apparently, it has the better food. However, it also has a wait. As such, Grand Bo Ky is more than fine with me. If it is not broken, there is no reason to fix it.
- H.K. Wonton Garden (79 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013)
Website: http://www.hkwontongarden.com/
It is another good spot to get a quick meal in Chinatown. They have noodle soups, rice and noodle dishes, and barbecue meats. I come here for the noodle soups. The soup is one of the best and distinguishes H.K. Wonton Garden. Duck is a solid option in the noodle soup. The beef stew in noodle soup is among the best beef stew dishes I have tried.
- Mee Noodle (922 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10017)
Website: http://meenoodlenyc.com/
It is a good option in Midtown East for Americanized, Chinese fast food. They have a lunch special that includes an entrée and hot and sour soup or an egg roll. I always order the hot and sour soup. It is the best I have tasted. It is the item at Mee that makes me keep coming back. For the entrée, I rotate between the chicken chow mein, pepper steak, and General Tso’s chicken. The portions are not large but enough for lunch. If you are very hungry, I would go with the General Tso’s chicken which has plenty of chicken. Mee Noodle is also popular for its noodle soups. The pickled cabbage with pork in noodle soup is very good. I also notice a lot of guests order the noodle soups with wontons and spinach dumplings. However, I have only ordered it once. I come here for the hot and sour soup so I always go with one of the lunch specials.
Mee has multiple locations around the city. I only go the one on 2nd Avenue. It is currently moving locations across the street on the north side of 49th street.
Ramen
Ramen has become very popular recently. I enjoy it when I eat it but I do not crave it. It is also much more expensive than other Asian noodle soup dishes. Since there are a lot of different types of noodle soups out there that I love, price is another reason Ramen is an infrequent treat for me. The two key elements for a great ramen bowl are the noodles and the broth. Of course, the noodles should be handmade or at least taste handmade. The noodles will soak up the broth so it adds the taste.
- Totto Ramen (248 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022)
Totto Ramen has multiple locations. The one on 52nd Street in Midtown West is the best. I have Totto ranked as my top Ramen spot in New York. The noodles are solid. The broth differentiates it above other Ramen places. It is thick and full of flavor. I highly recommend getting the Spicy Paitan with char siu [pork]. The broth has a kick but it is not extreme on spiciness. I had the regular broth my first time at Totto and thought Totto was overrated. I changed my opinion once I tried the spicy broth. In my opinion, adding a poached egg and corn are musts. It costs more but really upgrades the dish. This Totto location also offers a sashimi don add on for lunch for a few more dollars if you order a Ramen bowl. The spicy tuna don is great. The fish is fresh and full of flavor. The sushi rice is really good too. Another good appetizer is the pork buns. It gets really busy so my coworkers and I try to get there as soon as it opens to avoid the lines.
- Mu Ramen (1209 Jackson Avenue, LIC, NY 11101)
Website: http://ramennyc.wix.com/popup
Mu Ramen is on par with every other top Ramen spot I have tried. It has my favorite Ramen noodles in New York. They are thicker than most and I prefer the noodles that way. I like the tonkatsu which includes char siu pork and a pork based broth. As always, I add corn and an egg [soft boiled egg in Mu’s case].
- Tamashi Blue (47-36 Vernon Blvd Long Island City, NY 11101)
Website: http://www.tamashiiny.com/menu
My co-workers and I were going to Mu Ramen to get our Ramen fix one day. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations. We refused to be denied Ramen so we found Tamashi Ramen on Vernon Boulevard. I ordered the Kara Miso Ramen which features a spicy noodle soup with miso broth. The pork in this Ramen dish is excellent. In addition, the Ramen dishes at Tamashi are cheaper than other top Ramen spots. In addition, it includes corn and eggs at no extra cost unlike most places.
- Momofuku Noodle Bar (171 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003)
Website: http://noodlebar-ny.momofuku.com/noodle-bar/menu/
I have the Momofuku Noodle Bar’s Ramen ranked slightly below the other top Ramen bowl. It is also the most expensive. The equalizer for the Noodle Bar is the epic pork of Momofuku. Once you put that succulent pork shoulder meat in the Ramen, it levels the playing field. As such, I also recommend ordering pork buns as an appetizer.
Elmhurst
In Queens, most people know Flushing as a great place for Asian food because it has its own Chinatown and Koreatown. Much less known is the awesome Chinese food in Elmhurst because it is a lot smaller. You can get to Elmhurst by taking the E or F to Roosevelt Avenue then switching and taking the local M or R train one stop.
- Shun Wang (81-25 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373)
For anyone familiar with Big Wong in Chinatown, Shun Wang is the Big Wong of Elmhurst. It is great for congee, barbecue meats, noodle dishes, and rice dishes. I love congee and Shun Wang is now at the top of my list for it. I always order the pork with thousand year egg congee. In addition, it features a limited selection of dim sum. The beef rice roll and fried dough rice roll complement the congee very well. In regards to the beef rice roll, it is a Chinese dim sum dish I always crave. Shun Wang has an awesome one. I like that the beef and the rice noodles are very smooth. In my opinion, it also has the best Chinese barbecue meats. The soy sauce chicken, roast pig [crispy, fried skin], and roast pork are so good. They come with a very good scallion, ginger sauce.
Although I do not get the noodle entrée dishes as often, they are good. The sliced duck & pickled cabbage mei fun tastes great. I do wish a little more duck is put in it but you can still really taste the duck flavor in the noodles. Another dish I love is chicken pan fried noodle. There is a solid one here. The beef chow fun is also decent. However, it does not come out sizzling hot from the kitchen as I would expect.
- Pho Bang (8290 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373)
Pho is popular Vietnamese noodle in soup dish. Pho Bang has multiple locations. The one in Elmhurst has the best Pho I have tried anywhere. It uses excellent Pho noodles. More importantly, the broth is second to none and differentiates Pho Bang from any other Pho. My friend and I always order an extra large bowl of Chin Nam Gau Gan Sach which is a combination rice noodles beef soup with fresh eye of round, well done brisket, tendon, and omosa. The bowl comes with a plate of raw bean sprouts that you put in the soup to cook. The bowl is also a perfect dish to carb up if you need to do so to play a sport.
- Five Loaves & 2 Fishes (82-72 Broadway Elmhurst, NY 11373)
I come here for one thing and one thing only, the lunch combination box. There is a great selection of cooked food. You can choose 3 items for $5.25 or 4 items for $5.95 after tax. I usually go with the four items. It also comes with a very good soup. The items in my rotation are the curry chicken, pork chops, fish filet, tripe, bok choy, and choy sum. In terms of Chinese food, the combination boxes are the best deal for lunch in New York. You get an incredible amount of food for your money. This place also has dim sum and barbecue meats. You can also order noodle dishes and noodle soups. The dim sum is average. I tried some of the dishes once to experience it but was not moved to deviate from the combination boxes again. The barbecue meats look good but I have another spot in Elmhurst I go to for it. It is also difficult to pass up the lunch box deal and try something else when I go there.
- Paet Rio (81-10 Broadway, Queens, NY 11373)
Paet Rio is a small, solid Thai restaurant in the Elmhurst. I always order its lunch special and go with its Tom Yum soup and pad see euw, the Thai version of beef chow fun. The soup has a good kick to it. The pad see euw has very smooth noodles and great taste.