A brand new new york chapter!

Hopefully this time i will persevere...Tokyo Doorknob was somewhat half-aborted...

I have moved to New York for exactly 2 years, 1 month and 14 days...or 775 days. Minus about 75 days of travel, that's still 700 days or 1,400 lunches and dinners. Given that we eat out approximately 50% of the meals, that's a sample size of 700 meals from which I am drawing my food recommendations...

Dim Sum

Oriental Garden
14 Elizabeth St (btw Canal & Bayard)
Phone: 212.619.0085
Cash only for dim sum

Best quality we have found in Chinatown - go early on the weekends, otherwise be prepared to wait! They do not take reservations for dimsum. Favorites here: Char Siew Sou (sweet barbecued pork puff pastry), Lotus Leaf Wrapped Glutinous Rice, Char Siew Pau (steamed white buns with sweet barbecued pork filling), Har Gau (shrimp dumplings in translucent skin), Cheong Fun (flat rice noodles with shrimp, beef or scallop filling), Goon Tong Gau (giant dumpling in clear soup), Pan-fried Turnip Cake, Egg Tarts.

Dim Sum Go Go
5 E Broadway (btw Chatham Sq & St James Pl)
Phone: 212.732.0796

Very good quality as well - but always too crowded for my liking. Dumplings are super-fresh and delicious.

Singapore/Malaysian

Nyonya
194 Grand Street (btw Mott & Mulberry)
Cash only

Best place i have found to date - this is where i go for my homesick fix...roti canai is nice and crispy (Singaporeans may complain it's too crispy...but i like it better this way actually...) This place has been around forever...well, since my college days when we used to take SEPTA/NJ Transit for $13 from Philly to NY to eat at Nyonya...i think they have since opened one in Philly chinatown...

Other things i like there - nasi lemak, beef rendang, chicken rice, hokkien prawn mee (the soup kind), char kway teow (even though it is sans see-ham or cockles), and the desserts! the pulut hitam and bubur cha cha are very good.

Etymology geeks' corner: The word nyonya refers to the Straits-born Chinese women, or Peranakan women, who are well-known for their cuisine. The Straits here refers to the Straits of Malacca. Malacca was a former Portguese colony in the mid-16th century, and some think the word nyonya came from the Portuguese word dona which means lady.

Fatty Crab
643 Hudson St (btw Horatio & Gansevoort)
Phone: 212.352.3590

Great late-night supper joint if u're on the west side (open till 2am). Favorites include Chili Crab (of course!), Skate Panggang (Panggang means "grilled" in Malay, and typically wrapped with banana leaf) and Jalan Alor Chicken Wings (Jalan Alor is a lively hawker street in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

"Pork is their Specialty"

Saigon Banh Mi
138 Mott St (btw Grand St & Hester St)
Phone: 212.941.1541
Take-out only. Closed on Mondays.

At $3.75 for a foot-long baguette sandwich, this is hands-down the BEST value-for-money food option in all of New York City. Bread is freshly baked and sourced daily from the Parisi Bakery further up Mott Street. The #1 option is still the best I think - comes with 3 kinds of pork filling - pate, lunch meat and roast pork, and is stuffed also with a piquant pickled white radish and carrot salad, cucumbers and lots of coriander. The shopkeeper will ask if you want it spicy or mild or not spicy. The store shares its space with a jewellery store. Summer rolls there are also delicious ($5.00 for 3 rolls)! My hubby's favorite place in the city.

Porchetta
110 E 7th St (btw 1st Ave & Avenue A)
Phone: 212.777.2151
Practically take-out only (tiny storefront with 6 stools).

Momofuku Ssam
207 2nd Ave (btw 12th St & 13th St)
Phone: 212.254.3500
No reservations, unless for Bo Ssam.
Bo Ssam is available for take-out.