ooh, jason lam so hungry in nyc
Yasmin took me to East Corner Wonton …not for their wontons, but for their duck. Yeah, the wonton noodle soup wasn’t anything special. The duck, however, was awesome. It didn’t look fatty, but tasted like the fat flavor melted into the meat. Cheap too.
East Corner Wonton – 70 E Broadway (btwn Catherine & Market St) New York, NY 10002
I finally tried Xi’an Famous Foods’ Spicy & Tingly Lamb Face Salad and Stewed Spine & Rib. Brought it to Columbus Park with Yasmin, who is probably the only person I know willing to eat lamb face and spine with me. I’m not sure what was tingly about the lamb face, but the roof mouth bits were crunchy and the meaty parts were tender and tasty. It’s the most expensive thing on the menu at $8.75. It’s a good dish, but I only ate it because there was lamb face in it.
We ordered the Stewed Spine & Rib with the noodles ($5). There wasn’t much meat on the bones, but whatever was there was very tender. I was looking back at my photos and thought there was a photo of me attacking the spine bone, but dang I realized it was Yasmin. The hand-pulled noodles are good as usual.
I practiced with my new camera and new lens (Canon 50mm f/1.4). Hard to shoot the food up close, but easy to shoot the old Chinese people in the park. Those umbrellas in the tree are for shade I think? An old man laughed at me when he saw me taking photos of food. Another man hocked up a mean loogie when we ate said food. No Senior Citizens Chinese Opera this time, but I still love this park. I still have crunchy mouth bits stuck in my teeth.
Xi’an Famous Foods (Manhattan Chinatown) – 88 East Broadway #106 (but really on the corner of Forsyth) New York, NY 10002
Tried out the St. Marks Xi’an Famous Foods location with Sam. Got there just before closing. The place is still small, but at least they have some seats, unlike the Manhattan Bridge location. If you’re wondering, the Stewed Pork Burger and Savory Cumin Lamb Burgers seem like the same tasty sandwiches.. Great deal at $2 and $2.50 respectively for the area.
They ran out of the Lamb Spine & Ribs and Tingly Lamb Face Salad. So I got the Pork “Zha Jiang” Hand-Pulled Noodles $6. The noodles seemed thick and stiffer than the ones in Flushing. Not as delicate. Possibly had to do with getting this order out and us out of the restaurant? The flavor was good though.
I was thinking this place would be great if you’re out and about late at night in the East Village, but they close early. 10pm on Sun-Thurs and 11pm Friday & Saturday 
Xi’an Famous Foods – 81 St Mark’s Pl (btwn 2nd & 1st Ave) New York, NY 10003
On the way to the train, Sam was offended by this sign. I was curious.
Sam and I went to try the very first Fresco Tortilla …the first of the Chinese Tex-Mex fast food take-out joints. Their special combination platters at $5.79 plus tax is only 10cents more than the Super Taco Express I had a week earlier and comes with a free soda! I chose root beer. I also paid for a side of jalapeño peppers which helped spice up the iffy food. I don’t think the tortillas were as mind blowing as the Super Taco Express, but it was cool watching them use the tortilla machine. I was excited. Had a mouth boner.
Sam’s Shrimp Quesadilla looked really disappointing.
Fresco Tortilla – 36 Lexington Ave (btwn 23rd & 24th St) New York 10010
I went out to the South Street Seaport last night to check out Best Coast. As you may know, the secret is to go to the food court in the mall to get a huge 32 oz beer (Bud at about $4.50) —at the Pizza or Seafood shop. I walked by all the other food counters. There were a number of them —Japanese, Chinese, Cajun, Seafood, American, but all of them were serving Chinese food with the same $6.99 pick two items over rice or lo mein noodles. Every one I pass, they were yelling at me to try their chicken sample on a toothpick. I felt scared with everyone yelling at me. I finally caved in for the bourbon chicken sample at Cajun Cafe. It was decent. I got that with shrimp and vegetables over lo mein. Yeah, tasted like Chinese-American Food Court food. I was wondering if I should’ve just gone to the Chinese place.
I watched a family go one-by-one tasting the chicken samples around the food court. They ended up getting their food at Cajun Cafe. That made me feel better about my decision …unless it was really all the same chicken and there was no reason to choose.
South Street Seaport Food Court – Fulton & South Streets, Pier 17. New York, New York 10038
Found the Wah Fung #1 Fast Food on the Yelp. At first I thought the Fung Wah Chinatown Bus got their own restaurant, but I don’t think they’re related. Everyone was talking about the $2.50 pork or chicken special. I went to check it out during my half day of work Friday. All the Yelpers were right about the line. Seems to move so slow, but I think I see why. The guy chops up the meats to each individual order, then has to walk back and forth each time to spoon up the juices. What’s in those juices? I could even do some juice over rice. That’d make me happy.
The $2.50 tray does look small at first, but the guy packs in the meat. He chops up the meat and puts it on and you’re satisfied. But then he takes another piece out to chop and put on your tray and you’re like what a nice guy! Then another piece and you’re like fuck.
Wah Fung No. 1 Fast Food – 79 Chrystie St (btwn Canal & Hester St) New York, NY 10002
Clay wrote about the time we ate a dish of cheese and gravy at Chinese Mirch. This is the same day I ate White Castle Sweet Potato Fries …and then a can of green peas for dessert.
Tomorrow (Sat. July 3rd) is the Grand Opening of the 2nd Manhattan Xi’an Famous Foods. According to Hideki K. on Yelp, the 1st 400 customers get a free burger. (UPDATE: You had to RSVP and it’s been filled to capacity. You can still buy food tomorrow though). I looked through the window just now and the menu prices seem about the same as the other locations ($2.50 for a Savory Cumin Lamb Burger). Now that these lamb burgers and cold noodles are so accessible, I wonder if people will still venture out to Flushing to the rad Golden Mall food stalls.
Xi’an Famous Foods – 81 St Mark’s Pl (btwn 2nd & 1st Ave) Manhattan, NY 10003
…Follow-up review
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