Canal Street Food Hall Slides Into Chinatown Monday With New Nom Wah

The newest food hall in town officially swings open on Monday — including with a brand spanking new fast-casual restaurant from Chinatown heavy-hitter Nom Wah Tea Parlor.

Canal Street Market at 265 Canal Street opened its retail portion in December, and the 12 vendor food hall next door is making its debut this week. Some vendors like wildly popular “artisan” bubble tea shop Boba Guys and East Village ice cream shop Davey’s had already been announced, but with the opening, several other vendors with promising resumes have been added, as well.

One of the most watched will likely be a spin-off from historic dim sum restaurant Nom Wah, which has been planning an expansion tear since opening counter service restaurant Nom Wah Nolita last fall. Owners Wilson Tang and chef Jonathan Wu (of Fung Tu) will have a stand called Nom Wah Kuai at the food hall, serving five kinds of dumplings, rice bowls, and sides like spicy tofu.

Dumpling options include pork siu mai, shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings, and chicken siu mai. Rice bowls come topped with pickles, tea egg, cabbage, and a sauce option, such as chili or beet vinaigrette. Here’s a look at the full menu:

Ramen shop Ippudo will also have a location of their takeaway ramen shop Kuro-Obi at the market, a version of the Japanese export that has also been available at food hall Urbanspace Vanderbilt. Here, Kuro-Obi offers four versions of its chicken soup ramen, the classic one accompanied by garlic oil and miso paste. All of them come with chashu pork.

Also opening in the market is chef Philippe Massoud’s market circuit restaurant Ilili Box, which will eventually offer a menu of Lebanese fare with Chinese accents like a vegan Sichuan falafel accompanied by bamboo shoots, cucumber kimchi, lemongrass, and a Sichuan peppper tahini sauce. It will offer a limited menu when the market opens on Monday.

Petee’s Pies will be in the market temporarily at a booth called CSM Lab, which will rotate the vendor seasonally.

And the tiny critical hit from the East Village Izakaya has teamed up with Japanese rice restaurant chain Samurice for a booth with a small menu of bento boxes and Japanese curry rice. They’re also offering miso soup in a cup and ochazuke, a Japanese dish with hot dashi soup over cooked rice balls. Owner Yudai Kanayama is making it the way baristas make drip coffee:

Photo via Izakaya

Most of the vendors have some tie with downtown Manhattan or Chinatown, says market owner Phil Chong, whose family has been in the neighborhood for more than three decades. He wanted the market to feel placed in the neighborhood.

The space used to house a flea market with about 60 vendors who primarily sold touristy gear, and with complaints that foot traffic is waning on the busy street, Chong wanted to use the space to help revitalize Canal. He brought on fashion industry veteran Dasha Faires to be the creative director for the retail portion and the food hall portion.

It looks far more in line with the trendy wood-lined and minimalist design-oriented food courts that are popping up across the city than old-school Chinatown food courts. But Chong says although the word gentrification might get mentioned, he sees Canal Street Market as structurally similar to the vendors that already exist in the neighborhood. “It’s just in a completely new light,” he says.

Take a look at the full vendor list below, and let us know what you think if you stop by.

• Boba Guys — SF-based bubble tea shop with locations on the Lower East Side and in Greenwich Village
• Billy’s Bakery — Chelsea bakery offering cupcakes, cakes, and pies
• Davey’s Ice Cream — David Yoo’s East Village favorite, serving flavors like black sesame and brown butter rosemary
• CSM Lab — will rotate every three months, starting with Petee’s Pies
• fresh&co — the salad chain
• ilili Box — the casual off-shoot of Philippe Massoud’s Mediterranean restaurant
• Kuro-Obi by Ippudo — takeaway ramen
• Izakaya/Samurice — miso soup in a cup and more
• Lulu — in-house smoothie bar
• Nom Wah Kuai — fast-casual dumplings from the Nom Wah team
• Oppa — bibimbap, Korean burritos, and Korean tacos from the vendor that’s also in Gansevoort Market
• Uma Temakeria — sushi burritos

Credit: Maggie Shannon for Canal Street