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Cheap Chinatown Meals
By Jennifer 8. Lee | July 19, 2009
Here is a list of places in Chinatown that I go to for cheap food. It is largely based on the tour I sometimes give (most recently to student at the French Culinary Institute, which is funny enough, located just like two blocks north). I am working on a Google map.
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
A family-run 30-year-old Chinatown institution sells offbeat flavors like lychee, almond cookie, and ginger at $3.75 for one generous scoop. 65 Bayard St between Elizabeth and Mott Sts (212-608-4170)East Corner Wonton
Show up for a breakfast (8am–1pm) of thick congee ($2–$4.25) and delicate rice crêpes ($1.75–$2.25). Later on, try entrées—like curry beef stew or roasted pork and scrambled eggs—that range from $4 to $5.50. 70 East Broadway between Market and Catherine Sts (212-343-9896)Lunch Box Buffet
At this Chinese-style buffet featuring vegetables, tofu and fried whole fish, a heaping five dishes—or four with rice—go for $4.25. The healthy options include seaweed “twists†and cold cucumber salad. 243 Grand St between Chrystie St and Bowery (646-541-0205)Mei Li Wah Bakery
This recently renovated old classic continues to offer some of the freshest roasted-pork buns in the city, each under $1. 64 Bayard St between Elizabeth and Mott Sts (212-966-7866)Prosperity Dumpling
Handmade dumplings, boiled or steamed, are five for a dollar. Other bargains include filling noodle dishes, which start as low as $1.75 for the cold sesame variety, and thinly sliced beef stuffed in a giant pancake with sweet pickled vegetables for $1.50. 46 Eldridge St between Hester and Canal (212-343-0683)Sau Voi Corp
Banh mi sandwich shops are everywhere, but there is something still authentically hole-in-the wall about paying $4 at a CD shop counter for a spicy BBQ chicken or BBQ pork sub stuffed with pickled radishes and carrots. 101 Lafayette St at Walker St (212-226-8184)Shanghai Kitchen
Eat in at this cash-only Shanghai-style restaurant and get eight juicy fried pork buns for $3.25. Also recommended: beef-topped cold, thin, flat noodles for $4.95. 7 Bayard St between Elizabeth and Mott Sts (212-513-1788)Steamed Food Cart
Don’t let the lack of English on the menu prevent you from trying rice crêpes covered with fish balls, tripe or small pork ribs at $2.50 for a medium and $5 for a (very) large. Northeast corner of Grand St and BowerySuper Taste Restaurant
Watch the cook hand pull your Lanzhou-style la mian, the Chinese relative of the famed Japanese ramen, which is served in soup with a choice of toppings that vary from beef tendon to eel ($4.50–$6.50 for a bowl). 26 Eldridge St between Canal and Division Sts (212-625-1198)Xinjiang-style BBQ skewers
Inspired by the kebab-heavy Uyghur Muslim cuisine in Western China, this cart sells slender lamb, chicken, seafood, veggie and tofu skewers for $1 apiece. Lamb, sprinkled with cumin and coriander, is our favorite. At Forsyth and Division Sts, under the Manhattan Bridge
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