A Popular Hong Kong Rice Bowl Takes Center Stage at New St. Mark’s Restaurant

A restaurant entirely dedicated to Hong Kong-style clay pot cooking — where crispy pieces of rice line the bowl — is now open in East Village. Literally named Clay Pot, the restaurant is having a buy-one-get-one deal this week in honor of the debut at 58 St. Mark’s Place between First and Second avenues. It’s open for dinner from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., with rice bowl toppings such as beef, eel, pork belly, and Chinese sausage.

Clay pots are filled with rice, ginger, scallion, soy sauce, and a protein and then cooked over a fire. As the restaurant explains it, clay pot cooking is particularly sought after for the edges of the rice bowl — which come out crispy due to the porous bowl.

So far, the menu here looks simple and almost fast-casual like: For $12, diners choose two main toppings, which is accompanied by egg, spinach, corn, and tofu. A limited small plate section includes prawns, whole squid, and a vegetable of the day. See the full version below. In line with its slim menu, Clay Pot also looks like a fairly small restaurant, too, with primarily counter seating.

Other Cantonese restaurants around town serve clay pot on their menu such as Kings Kitchen and Noodle Village, but it’s far from being ubiquitous in New York City. Owner Alexander Yip — who started working on the restaurant as a student at NYU — says in an announcement that he wants to “bridge generations and cultures” with the restaurant.

Eater has reached out to the restaurant for further information.