Besides Calvin Trillin and maybe Jenny 8 Lee there are few writers in New York who write about and obsess over Chinese food the way Voice critic Robert Sietsema does. He knows him his Chinatowns and has been exploring the dumpling shops and Fujianese noodle holes in Manhattan, the mall food courts of Queens, the dim sum parlors of Brooklyn, and everything in between for decades. And lucky for us, he agreed to take Eater on a Sunday afternoon tour of Manhattan's Chinatown, where he singled out some of his favorite off the beaten track and/or cheap Chinese picks, from obscure food vendors to food hall dim sum spots and dirt cheap vegetable markets.
The following guide doesn't exhaust the options of the neighborhood, but perhaps it offers some surprises for those who have already tried to obvious go-tos.
Read More