The Best Chinese Food in Manhattan
December 16, 2022
No matter what neighborhood you’re in, NYC has no shortage of Chinese food establishments, serving up delicious soup dumplings, endless noodles and every soul-satisfying favorite inbetween. We know most New Yorkers have their local Chinese food joints for both ordering in and dining out, but we can’t help but share our favorite dim sum spots that will be worth cheating on your reliable go-to.
CHINATOWN
Joe’s Shanghai
46 Bowery Street between Canal Street + Bayard Street
“Joe’s Shanghai is a classic NYC establishment, you’re here for soup dumplings. Waiters pretty much assume you want these when you sit down, so don’t be intimidated by the shared tabletops. Just nod with a smile and say crab and pork please.” – The Infatuation
Chinese Tuxedo
5 Doyers Street between Pell Street + Bowery
“Set in an old community opera house on Doyers Street in Chinatown, Chinese Tuxedo pipes The Roots through the sound system, charges steep sums for hifalutin beef with broccoli and modernist eggplant fries, and occupies sufficient square footage to evoke a proper clubstaurant.” – Eater
Wo Hop
17 Mott Street near Mosco Street
“Old school is an understatement when it comes to Wo Hop known for tried-and-true Cantonese cooking at rock-bottom, cash-only rates; despite abrupt service and no-frills digs decorated with a zillion photos, long lines are the norm – especially late-night.” – Zagat
Jing Fong
202 Centre Street at Howard Street
“Founded in 1978 and seating over 800, Jing Fong is the largest restaurant in Chinatown, maybe in the entire city. It’s also well regarded for its dim sum that’s delivered to tables by rolling carts daytime only, seven days a week. Late in the afternoon the menu switches to semi-modern Cantonese, with an emphasis on seafood.” – Eater
EAST VILLAGE
Mala Project
122 1st Avenue between East 7th Avenue + Saint Marks Place
“At Mala Project, dry pots arrive in huge bamboo bowls, slick with oil, bathed in sesame seeds, and heaped with cilantro. Cumin, ginger, cardamom, licorice, and twenty other spices are tossed in, but all you’ll feel is that signature mouth-tingling that renders self-control futile and makes consumption an exercise in stamina.” – The New Yorker
Hunan Slurp
112 1st Avenue between East 6th + 7th Avenue
“Hunan Slurp’s narrow, wood-lined space looks like a subway tunnel redesigned by a Cirque du Soleil set director, with multi-colored orbs and unusual light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and there’s a fairly large kitchen visible through big windows in the dining room. We like all the food coming out of that kitchen, including the rice noodles, which come in bowls of broth topped with things like thin-sliced beef or oyster mushrooms – but our favorite dish is the stir-fried chicken.” – The Infatuation
Han Dynasty
90 3rd Avenue between East 12th + 13th Streets
“Hot in just the right way, Han Dynasty offers unapologetically spicy Sichuan dishes including knockout dan dan noodles; the Villager is always crowded while the UWS offshoot is much more spacious, and though both are no-frills, they’re priced for value; P.S. a third branch is set inside DeKalb Market Hall, complete with a bar and table service.” – Zagat
MIDTOWN
Peking Duck House
236 East 53rd between 2nd + 3rd Avenues
“New Yorkers come to Peking Duck House because prices are reasonable and it’s BYOB. The bird that emerges from the kitchen is exceptionally attractive, first presented whole and then carved nearby. An unsmiling cook wearing a big toque will cut large, even slices, but he will make no effort to remove the fat.” – GQ
Café China
59 West 37th Street between 5th + 6th Avenues
“Of all the Sichuan restaurants in the city, Café China is probably the chicest, outfitted with cool, vintage chinoiserie and pretty ceramics, old schoolroom-style chairs and blue-velvet-backed booths. And the food is very good, enough so to have earned a Michelin star — but the fact that it did is evidence that it’s also a bit reined-in, perhaps to please a milder palate, and some dishes leave you wishing they were spicier, saltier, and funkier.” – Adam Platt, New York Magazine
Nan Xian Long Bao
24 West 33rd Street between 5th + 6th Avenues
“Known for their “Lucky Six Soup Dumplings” in pretty pastels — which comes in the flavors of pork, crab meat & pork, chicken, scallop & pork, black truffle & pork, and gourd luffa with shrimp & pork — Nan Xiang is a beloved Flushing staple that now has an additional home in Midtown’s Koreatown, a block from the Empire State Building.” – Secret NYC
NOLITA
Nom Wah Nolita
10 Kenmare Street between Elizabeth Street + Bowery
“Nom Wah Tea Parlor has been around since 1920. Nom Wah Nolita has been around since 2016. And that says a lot about these two establishments. Nom Wah is one of Manhattan Chinatown’s classic dim sum spots, and it’s a place you arguably come for the atmosphere more than for the food. At Nom Wah Nolita, you arguably come for the food more than for the atmosphere.” – The Infatuation
WEST VILLAGE
Uncle Ted’s
163 Bleecker Street between Thompson + Sullivan Streets + 38 East 8th Street near Greene Street
“Forget the red dragons and paper lantern décor. Famed restaurant designer Alvarez Brock LLC has created a classy interior sporting crisp white walls decorated with chic textured stars.Tables turn over quickly at Uncle Ted’s during lunch and dinner. Local clientele — longtime Villagers, as well as a slew of N.Y.U. students (many of whom are from China, but still crave the American Asian cuisine) — are the regulars that keep the restaurant packed, requesting age-old menu items, like Suzie’s famous chicken wings, beef with broccoli, and Ted’s interpretation of a Chinese-American invention, General Tso’s Chicken.” – The Villager
Decoy
529-1/2 Hudson Street between Charles + West 10th Streets
“Eddie Schoenfeld and his partner in crime, chef Joe Ng, prepare only 25 birds every evening at Decoy, and all of them are hand-picked from local farms out on Long Island. The steamed pancakes with which these plump, tender birds are served are hand-rolled every day, which is rarely the case down in Chinatown, and hoisted to the table in steamy bamboo baskets” – New York Magazine
TRIBECA
Macao Trading Co.
311 Church Street between Walker + Lispendard Streets
“Channeling a 1940s Macao gambling parlor, Macao Trading Co. offers plentiful eye candy to go with its Chinese-Portuguese chow; late-night, it turns club-like – loud and crowded with uneven service – but most are having too much fun to care.” – Zagat
CHELSEA
Hao Noodle
343 West 14th Street between eight + ninth avenues
“There is skillful, contemporary Chinese food all over Hao Noodle’s menu, and color photographs to let you know what you’re in for. Most of the dishes are drawn from either Beijing, Shanghai or Chongqing. Peppers are not quite everywhere, but they are strongly represented in many dishes. So many fresh green chiles lurk in Madam Zhu’s Spicy Fish Stew that eating it is a contact sport. There is some shading to the cooking, too. I counted three distinct frying styles, and clearly need to return to finish the survey.” – New York Times
SOHO
Pinch
177 Prince Street between Thompson + Sullivan Streets
“Pinch features soup dumplings made by Charlie Chen, a former executive chef at famous Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung. There are three versions here, not only the classic pork but also chicken and a seafood variation fortified with pork fat.” – New York Magazine
UPPER EAST SIDE
Cafe Evergreen
1367 1st Avenue between East 73rd + East 74th Streets
“Upper Eastsiders who don’t want to schlep to Chinatown depend on Cafe Evergreen for tasty dim sum and other solid Chinese classics ferried by efficient servers; the decor gets mixed responses, but there’s always speedy delivery.” – Zagat
UPPER WEST SIDE
Red Farm
2170 Broadway between West 76th + 77th Streets
“They have plaintive black sesame-seed eyes, the dumplings at RedFarm, giving them the appearance of strange, adorable characters in a Miyazaki film. These flat-bellied duck and crab dumplings look like a school of wide-mouthed catfish; the pale-green ones, filled with shrimp and snow-pea leaves, like moon-faced tadpoles. In exchange, all the flavors have been turned up as high as they can go. The dishes can be salty, or sweet, or rich. Often they are all three at once. At RedFarm, the food goes to 11.” – New York Times
Tri Dim Shanghai
467 Columbus Avenue between West 82nd + 83rd Streets
“There’s no better prelude or conclusion to a Museum of Natural History visit or stroll in Central Park than Tri Dim Shanghai, where strong cocktails are part of the package. Though lion’s head meatballs, soup dumplings, West Lake beef soup, and other Shanghai regional delicacies are presented, the menu goes further afield with Sichuan, Cantonese (including lots of dim sum for convenient snacking), and even Teochew dishes.” – Eater
