Top 10 Chinatown #CashOnly Dumplings (Manhattan) | Guides
So we’ve lived in NYC for 2 years and have eaten our fair share of restaurant dumplings. If we’re taking visitors around town — we love heading down to Chinatown with a nice bottle of bodega bottle wine, which pairs elegantly with a $3 plate of dumplings. There are definitely other dumpling lists out there, but I can’t say with confidence that i’d rely on them to take my dad or Jeromy’s parents around town. Y’all know Asian parents the most judgemental about food, so that’s why we put together this list of our top 10 dumpling spots in Manhattan! These are in no particular order. When visiting these spots, make sure to have cash on you because CTown def wants to avoid them credit card fees. We linked each restaurant name to a Google Maps list since a lot of these places don’t have their own website (and you can see how close you are to one right now). Also, let’s take a moment to fondly remember one of my favorite dumpling places which closed recently (RIP East Dumpling).
88 Lan zhou handmade noodle [Now Closed]
One of the OGs on this list, Lam Zhou opened as a tiny cubby on Broadway in 2007. They’ve now moved to a larger location with group sized tables on Bowery, which also serves beer + wine now. This is a great place if you have a large group of your brother’s (cheap) friends from college visiting. The menu isn’t fussy; dumplings are 8 for $4 and you can choose pan-fried or boiled. Pro tip is to smother them with generous amounts of black rice vinegar and chili oil. Their soups are also legit if you wanna slurp some noodles. For Jeromy’s 30th birthday party, I ordered 75 of these (shout out to the Lams for picking them up), so I guess you can also do catering carry-out here if you ask nice enough.
*Cash only.
**Asian parent approved.
2. Deluxe Green bo
If you go to Deluxe Green Bo, you must get the hot + spicy wontons ($6). They’re a mix of chili oil and peanut butter which may sound like a funky mix; but Fujianese and Cantonese cuisine dabbles with combining sweet, spicy and savory flavors. They also have tiny fried pork buns with a thicker dough and pan-fried bottoms. The scallion pancakes and other dishes here are delicious, but can be a bit on the oilier side. Sometimes you can spot a giant bottle of Hennessy in their fridge amongst the other drinks, which is hilarious. I hope that either customers are ordering them or the employees are having a good ass time. We have not ordered the Henny here (yet).
*Cash only.
3. Super taste
On the other side of Chinatown on Elridge street is Super Taste. A true hole-in-the-wall spot featuring pork and chive dumplings (steamed or fried) and soups. You can even BYOB wine inside — or they just didn’t give a fuck when Emily + I asked them if we could one time. Styrofoam cups, cheap wine and $3.50 for 10 dumplings; if that’s not a perfect double date to you than you are seriously missing out. They also have great zhajiangmian (noodles with soy bean paste + ground beef) to pair along with your meal.
*Cash only. Also it’s really fucking cold in there during the winter, so wear a giant coat if you plan to dine in.
When I’m craving Taiwanese food and don’t feel like cooking, Taiwan Pork Chop House hits the spot. Their salt + pepper chicken rice, fried pork chop with pickled mustard rice and Taiwanese fried chicken dishes all satisfy my craving for home (even the shouting over each other to order food). Their giant wontons are not to be missed. These plump pork and vegetable wontons are served in chili oil and garnished with cilantro + minced garlic. They also serve traditional Taiwanese desserts such as Taiwanese shaved ice with taro and grass jelly. It’s a one stop shop if you want to grab all your snacks + dessert in one place for a great price.
*Cash only.
5. Noodle Village
This is our hangover cure. If you have a headache the size of Texas, a paper cut, a broken heart, whatever — this place can heal your ailment. Cantonese noodle soup with shrimp and pork wontons, a dash of red vinegar and white pepper is fucking magic. A small bowl will only run you $5.25. If you want xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) in Chinatown, we would recommend here. You’ll bypass the usual long tourist line at Joe’s. These XLBs are the right size for the human mouth (not like some terrifying ones out there that are head size). Remember, most XLB are filled with a fatty meat soup that steams out into the dumpling. Do you really want to be drinking a vat of that from a giant bun? But I digress… At Noodle Village, the XLB wrapper is thin, but stays intact when you lift the dumpling. The filling is rich, a little oily but not overly fatty. We also recommend getting congee, scallion pancakes and Chinese broccoli with hoisin sauce. We took Jeromy’s parents here and they loved it so much, they went back again without us.
*Actually takes credit card…. But you know they prefer cash.
**Asian parent approved.
If you’re over near the Essex area, this is an easy place to swing by. Grab yourself a plate of pork (or vegetable) dumplings and a steamed bun with vermicelli noodle + veg. Only $4.75 for all of the above, it’s easy to see why Chinatown locals frequent this spot. The dumplings have a thinner and chewier shell and you should top them with black rice vinegar + soy sauce. There are two small counters to eat at or you can grab a bag of their frozen dumplings to go at $5 for 25.
*Cash only.
7. Shu jiao fu zhou
My bb, Emily first showed me this spot closer to LES, which is well-known for their simple Fujianese cuisine. Try the wheat noodles with peanut butter sauce and scallions or get some boiled pork + chive dumplings ($2.50 for 6 or $3.50 for 10). They have black rice vinegar and soy sauce, but if you want chili oil you’ll have to BYOC. If you fux wit sriracha, they have that here. But TBH, we prefer the dumplings with just black rice vinegar. They’re juicy + flavorful enough without needing the spice.
*Cash only.
How does this place makes a profit? I’m not entirely sure, but it’s managed to exist for the entire 2 years that we’ve lived here. It is SO cheap. You can get 5 pork + chive dumplings for $1.50. The auntie at the counter is all business and hurries you along to get to the next customer, but if you’re in the mood for some crispy fried (or steamed) dumplings for cheap and no frills and some cold soy milk, this is the place for you. There’s only 1 small counter, but you could eat in the nearby park or wolf them down on the sidewalk outside. It’s also a great spot to pick up a shit ton of frozen dumplings for a party. For just $12(!!) we got a bag of 60 for a #CrazyRichAsians party we threw to celebrate the movie (although in our case it was more like #CrazyFrugalAsians party). Every single dumpling was eaten. We also frequently get requested to serve these dumplings at our parties, so it’s a pretty good party trick.
*Lol of course this place is cash only.
9. Tasty Hand-PulleD Noodles
This family has probably patented their dumpling pleats because they are precise and perfect in every fold. They also have great noodle dishes (hence the name). Their knife-cut is my favorite since they are thicker, wider and more chewy. My favorite story about this place is when Emily (@foodloversdiary), after having a few drinks and without wallet, wandered into Tasty and offered an IOU in exchange for some food. The best part is that they agreed, because she’s such a regular there. So yes, this place is amazing. Unfortunately, they don’t normally do IOUs so I would not recommend trying. $4.50 for 10 dumplings (pork + veg, chicken + veg or just veg).
*Cash only.
I like to purchase my produce from street vendors in Chinatown whenever possible, to support the aunties and uncles but also to practice my rapidly floundering Mandarin (Wo YaO zHi gE…). One day while perusing the vendors, I stumbled upon this Fujianese food stall in the basement of the East Broadway Mall. There’s not much inside the mall except the tiny food court, which is slammed around lunch time. You’ll mainly find Chinatown locals eating dumplings ($3 for 8), steamed buns ($4 for 8) and bamboo shoot encrusted sesame cakes ($2).
*Cash only.