I was window shopping on a full stomach and didn't step inside to ask about this fish, much less order it. It sure looks like a species that's flown on the shuttle but that's usually tossed back by anglers (not much meat, word has it). Is this an oyster toadfish? Ever tried one?
Jing Star Seafood Restaurant
27 Division St. (Market-Catherine Sts.)
212-219-8498
"Pulled noodles" was my first thought, but no, this didn't seem like a noodle cart being trundled up Elizabeth St.
My dining brief on this small Chinatown restaurant, and on the Hong Kong-style claypot rice called bo zai fan, appears in the July 21, 2010 edition of The New York Times. For additional photos (leave room for dessert!), see my slideshow.
The current ground-floor tenant is a Taoist temple, but according to anecdotal accounts, more than a century ago the building hosted McKeon's Saloon, where a young Irving Berlin worked as a singing waiter. The only newspaper article I can find on the saloon, from 1894 ("These Were Strong Knockout Drops"), gives it an address on "Christie St.," but it's very possible there was more than one McKeon's. It's certain that the demographics of the neighborhood were far different than today: A name such as "Oriental" would have been added to the roofline only long before Chinatown was Chinatown.
The "Oriental" building
20 Bowery (at Pell St.)
Better from the icebox than not at all.
Fresh jackfruit is bliss.
On matters of taste regarding favorite tipples, national boundaries often blur.
(This venue is closed.) Today these premises house an Asian enterprise that doesn't dispense cigarettes, candy, or school supplies.
Can you identify this bright orange seafood? I finally did, but only with help from several sources.
Seen on Grand St. between Forsyth and Eldridge, headed east
Maybe it's an American Chinese thing.
The "tea" sweetens itself.
Close by the Manhattan Bridge overpass, Yi Mei is one of twin (unrelated) Fujianese eateries that serve your choice of four hot items, plus white rice and pale broth, for $3.50.
The facade of the 43 Club, which houses a Fujianese organization, is decorated by tiles that hearken to another heritage.
This is one of several print shops in the immediate neighborhood (others can be found on Allen St. north of Canal) that specialize in Chinese menus. Despite the sound-alike, of course, "Sino" has nothing to do with signs; it's a Latin-derived prefix pertaining to China. To my knowledge, Sino Graphic doesn't devise neon, awnings, or other large displays; for those you'll need to look elsewhere, friend-o.
Sino Graphic
120 Madison St. (Catherine-Market Sts.)
212-374-1848
It's always been known as a messy fuel.
Is this the city's most exciting roast pork fried rice?
It has an adventurously oozy texture.
Try a little tenderness.
This mornings-only cart sells beef noodles ($1.25) so lissome they might almost be called soft-serve. The cart is virtually unmarked; the surest way to distinguish it is by the sight, through a fogged side window, of several racks of eggs at the ready. I've yet to see them cracked.
Noodle cart
Hester St. near the northeast corner with Elizabeth St.
Closes by early afternoon
Thank you!
