Cheap Eats: The Seven Best Restaurants in Chinatown, New York City
Looking for a tasty lunch for under $15 in Chinatown?
Chinatown is renowned for its plentiful, tasty cheap eats options. We narrowed it down and here are our cheap eats picks for the seven best restaurants in Chinatown, New York City. You can get a hearty lunch or dinner that won’t break the bank in any of these places.
Cafe Hong Kong – 51 Bayard St
P.C.: yelp, Chris E.
Like their name implies, this restaurant specializes in delicious Hong Kong style dishes. We especially love their beef chow fun and shrimp fried rice. Also this is a great option for a family style dinner since there so many tempting entrees to choose from like a whole steamed fish or stir fried beef and vegetables. One appetizer we definitely recommend is their crispy fried squid. It is wildly addictive!
Noodle Village – 70 Mott St
P.C.: yelp, Sandy L.
One of our favorite Chinese comfort foods is wonton noodle soup. It is perfect on a cold and chilly day and the wonton noodle soup from Noodle Village is always top notch. They recently moved to a new location, now conveniently located in the heart of Chinatown. They also have juicy fried dumplings which you can try (and so much more) on our food tour of Chinatown and Little Italy.
Thai Son – 89 Baxter St
P.C.: yelp, Patrick W.
Similarly, we absolutely love a gigantic bowl of pho too. Our go to place for this classic Vietnamese dish is Thai Son. It loaded with a bunch of different cuts of meat and the broth is full of flavor. A meal here is fast, cheap and delicious. What more can you ask for?
Tasty Dumpling – 42 Mulberry St
There are a lot of good dumpling shops in Chinatown but Tasty Dumpling is our pick for the best fried dumplings/ potstickers here. The filling is bursting with flavor and the skin has the perfect crunch with every bite. Tasty Dumpling has also a scrumptious pancake with beef sandwich that is great as a quick lunch on the go.
Taiwan Pork Chop House – 3 Doyers St
P.C.: yelp, Scott C.
Taiwan Pork Chop House is a no frills, cheap eats spot on one of the most interesting streets in New York City, Doyers Street. The star dish here is easily their juicy Taiwanese style pork chop which we usually get over rice or noodles but we find everything on their menu delicious.
New Kim Tuong Restaurant – 83 Chrystie St
We find that some of the best cheap eats options in Chinatown are a bit off the beaten path. There is often a long line for char siu (roast pork) at Wah Fung Fast Food (79 Chrystie St) and it is very good but we prefer to get our char siu just three storefronts down. The wait is usually much shorter, there are plenty of seats in their dining area and their char siu is just as tasty. It pairs well with just about anything (rice, noodles or even by itself as a snack).
Tasty Hand- Pulled Noodles – 1 Doyers St & 106 Bayard St
Finally, we highly recommend Tasty Hand- Pulled Noodles for their chewy hand- pulled or knife- cut noodles. Our go to here is their stir fried knife- cut noodles with seafood. They have a location on Doyers Street but if you want to avoid the crowds, their sister restaurant is nearby which often has no wait and plenty of seating.