Friend just took me here, had half of her eel roll.... And omggg, Legit BLOWN AWAY with how…read moredelicious this roll is!!! Savory, sweet, citrusy, perfect mix of fresh veggies, sauce and meat ratios... can't rec thus roll enough!

Vibe/ambiance: quick eat, casual grab and go Service: quick…read moreReservation: no Items ordered: Pork belly w preserved veggie: big rice roll, filling

After washing down a plethora of masochistically spicy skewers with $3 beers, a dish that looked…read morelike a plate of seasoned bones hit the table. I looked to my Chinese homie and asked "What is that...?" One thing my late 20s taught me is that you NEED some Chinese homies. They will put you on the real spots where only boots on the ground knowledge can take you. "BRO. This is actually a super popular dish in Northeast China. It's a chicken carcass. You're gonna LOVE it." I looked him in the eye for a sec to see if he was being totally serious. He likes to make me look dumb sometimes. My unspoken question was answered with "I'm being totally serious." I took one piece of bone, and reluctantly scraped it clean. After a few seconds, an amalgamation of flavors landed on my palate that forced me into a slow head nod. "OH WOW." It was one of the most flavorful things I've ever put in my mouth. I got a rush of Szechuan peppercorn that numbed my cheeks along with tender, savory blasts of flavor from the meat being still attached to the bone. My Chinese homie triumphantly said "See.... I told you." He did. He really did tell me. I could NOT stop going at this chicken carcass. It was getting mauled. Herb Dean had to pull me off this thing. In conclusion, I think you know where this is going. The importance of a real Chinese homie in the friend group cannot be overstated. You will never find the Shaji BBQ's of the world without the Chinese homie. God bless America, and God bless the Chinese homies. IG @johnny.novo Tiktok @jnov__ Substack @johnnynovo

One of my go-to places for late night PROTEIN packed snacks and dinners! This restaurant feels so…read moreauthentic and the servers are super sweet and efficient. My mandarin is not amazing but it's enough to get by with the servers. The seats are also soooo comfortable, I want these chairs for myself. Even if you don't speak any Mandarin, you can come in and have a seat. Let them know how many people are in your party and they will bring you water, but the ordering process is via QR code in English, WITH PHOTOS! There are maybe 8-9 tables for 4, and seats near the window for 2, and then 1 long table in the middle. It's very bright and lively. Once you place submit your order via your phone, they start to bring out the skewers, made to order. They season them very well and can be a tad spicy. I love the 10 piece snow beef for $10.99, the beef wrapped enoki 2 for $4.99, the pork belly 2 for 4.99. Truly you can't go wrong - they have a huge variety, including GLUTEN haha. I also really like the cucumber salad - this is unique from all the spicy cucumber salads. It's fresh and had woodear and peanuts and is a great serving size. You can get napkins and utensils from the little wooden box, and they have tissues in packets on top, just like in China. Dispose of your skewer sticks in the little tin, and ask them for the check. They take Apple Pay, you just have to walk up to the front to pay. Totally recommend! Once they were closed on a Saturday at night - so I always have that fear now, but that was only once out of the 5-6 times I've visited.

learned yunnan food has lots of potatoes n who doesn't like potatoes?! not much…read morechinese food in greenwich village and good prices ($10-20/dish) :)

Overall ok, had the signature crossing road soup and ingredients were fine. While I love pepper in…read moreall my dishes, the broth had way too much. Service was ok, they serve but yoy order qith QR code, they leave a bug bottle of water and thats all.

I passed this place while in the Lower East Side in July so it was on my list to try when I went…read moreback in August. We had the Steamed Lamb Shumai, the Xianjing Big Plate Chicken without bone, Baked Buns with Stewed Lamb Ribs, and the House Special Lamb Kebab; we wanted the Lamb Scorpion but the server wasn't convinced we would enjoy it. We definitely ordered too much food...which the server said...but we wanted to try as much as we could. Everything was bursting with flavor and I'll definitely try the Lamb Scorpian the next time I'm in the area.

very busy on a weekday evening! they only had two employees working the front so they were running…read morearound accommodating all the tables. we ordered a few different dishes and everything was incredibly delicious. the big plate chicken was amazing- perfectly spiced, the chicken was succulent. the salt and pepper shrimp was also delicious and juicy. we also got the hand pulled noodles with spicy minced beef and that was also DELICIOUS. perfect noodle texture and the minced beef sauce was once again perfectly spiced. i would love to come back here! maybe ill come when it's less busy, but honestly, the two employees did an amazing job hustling and getting people in and out. amazing food!!

A small storefront with baos and prepared foods. We walked by this place a few times and wondered…read morewhat the fuss was about and thus we were roped in. The prices are cheaper than in the regular restaurants and everything seems pretty fresh. The pork baos were tasty and moist inside. Try it out if you're in the area and looking for some good quick bites!

Fried Chinese dumplings and snacks served by the sweetheart of the block- a very pleasant woman who…read moregave an extra treat with each order. The place is an open air shop with a small covering for the rain you you just step right up. The lighting caught my eye and I doubled back like wait what's that on my way to the train which is about a block away. The prices were like 8 for $4 and I believe they had items for $2.50. I opted for the scallion pancake and some other random treats they were not to salty but oily and hit thee spot. 5/5 I highly recommend.

My favorite chicken pho spot! No frills. The food comes quick and it's always tasty. The broth is…read morenever too heavy and it is perfect for a comfort meal. This place definitely deserves more recognition.

Lemongrass chicken is still so delicious! Sadly the pho has kind of changed to a msg broth and the…read morenoodles were soggy! Such a shame. We loved it here

As authentic and hole in the wall as it gets, and as tasty as it gets. My friend took me here…read moretwice, once in 2018 and once in 2023, and I am so happy to have witnessed this establishment survive through the pandemic because it absolutely deserves it. The place barely had spaces so we had to wait until someone left, but luckily people would be in and out anyway, just like they would back in China. Once again, the vibes were screaming China in all manners not only from the store, but also from the customers. Every dish I have had was a hit. The chicken with chili sauce had very authentic chili sauce and lots of pieces of chicken and was just amazing. I don't really have any words to describe it because it was just authentically good, if that makes sense. The noodles were great as well with a lot of flavor, and tasted just like what I would have when I was in China. Again, I don't know how else to describe how good it was. One really needs to try it to know what I mean. With so many restaurants in New York, I may still choose to come back here because it's economical and has quality food, both of which probably factors allowing this establishment to survive through the pandemic. Highly recommend!

This was a great spot to celebrate the opening week of cold noodle season. Spicy chicken noodles…read morehad a captivating sauce, to the point where i almost forgot to add chili oil. The soup pictures look great so I may return despite my history of soup-derived shirt damage.

Came here with my husband on a weekend night. We didn't make any reservation and waited for around…read more30min before getting seated. We ordered the sukiyaki with USDA prime. We wanted more meat so we also added an order of beef tongue at the end as well. Both the food and service were great here! They were short staffed that day but we didn't really wait too long for our food! There was quite a lot of food since the set came with salad, meat, veggie platter, noodle and rice. The beef was good quality but I do wish they would give more! The taste of the sukiyaki tasted very authentic and we enjoyed the dinner overall! Highly recommend and definitely will come back in the future!

The overall cooking method is actually quite simple: they start by greasing the pan with beef…read moretallow. Then, they add a mixture of kombu stock and sukiyaki broth; the liquid level is kept quite low--it generally doesn't fully submerge the ingredients. Next, they add the beef and vegetables. The accompaniments include shiitake mushrooms, Napa cabbage, konjac noodles, and a specific type of leafy green vegetable. That particular green has a rather unique flavor--it's surprisingly addictive--and it seems you can ask for refills if you run out. We ordered two different cuts of beef; the marbled variety was definitely the tastier option, offering a richer flavor and a more tender texture. Dipping the meat in beaten raw egg added a wonderful touch, making it incredibly smooth and silky. We also ordered snow crab claws, which turned out to be the most disappointing part of the meal. They had a distinct, unpleasant fishy odor that didn't improve at all, even after cooking them for an extended period. The service started off reasonably well--they would cook just two or three slices of meat at a time, which meant we finished eating them quite quickly. However, later on, we waited for a long time without anyone coming over to assist us, so we eventually had to take matters into our own hands. It was also quite difficult to track down a staff member when we needed one. By the end of the meal, the broth had nearly boiled away, yet no one proactively came over to top it up. Overall, the food itself was still up to par, but the service aspect definitely let the experience down.