Linguine with manila clams cooked in sake and garlic. Omuraisu with butter rice and miso ketchup. Grilled teriyaki chicken burger with fries. Yes, this restaurant is in the heart Chinatown. And no, it is not a result of gentrifying forces.

Cutting Board takes on the Hong Style cafe, where Chinese styles of Western food reigns, and ups the ante. Instead of baked pork chop with tomato sauce, you’ll find Pork Katsu Spaghetti and Rock Shrimp Scampi. This melding of Italian and Japanese with a spattering of American flavor is what sets its apart from other restaurants in Chinatown.

Seafood is one of their strong suits. On a recent visit, their soup of the day ($3) was a creamy and hearty seafood soup with sweet corn. Other items include the mussels cooked in sake, cream, and saffron and fried crispy calamari that comes with three sauces. They even take note of New York’s relatively recent obsession with lobster rolls ($8).

And who could pass up the opportunity to have their uni (sea urchin roe) pasta. For $9 you get a generous portion of spagetti in a rich creamy sauce with nuggets of uni. The uni’s nutty sweetness leaves a subtle smoothness to an already decadent dish. Another star choice is their big plate of Japanese Pork Katsu Curry, a sweeter and milder curry option than that of Thai, Malaysian, and Chinese versions already found in Chinatown. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, the deep-fried pork cutlet over rice hits that carb and protein fill for only $6.

The restaurant’s modern decor is rustic with its brick walls, wooden tables, and stark black chairs. Bar seating lets you peer through the open kitchen where you’ll find the chefs chopping and grilling away. It’s easy to have a casual lunch in the front area or dine with bigger groups in the back room.

As food choices in Chinatown goes, Cutting Board fulfills a unique market. With their Italian and Japanese offerings, they’re staking claim on a taste you wouldn’t normally have in the neighborhood. They hit an upscale note without the sort of posturing you might find in restaurants serving the same food. Ingredients like miso butter, truffle soy vinagrette, and market veggies aren’t just $10 foodie words. They’re honest attempts to make good food and get you excited about what you’re eating.

Cutting Board, 53 Bayard St., 212.528.0188

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Wen Hao Wang is a contributing writer at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

Congee Village. Photo by Max Falkowitz

“You can’t talk about congee without talking about Congee Village, which has two locations a little North of Chinatown. It’s the only one we recommend that’s both on the thin side and relatively mild. There’s a notable creaminess from the broken down starch in the rice, with hits of fragrant ginger and, in our chicken and mushroom congee, dark fungal funk.”

Great NY Noodletown – A True New York Institution Speaking of congee, Great NY Noodletown makes a rather scrumptious version close to what you can find in Hong Kong. Food blogger Randy Lau reviews one of the most well-known restaurants in Chinatown.

Meanwhile, Chichi Wang slurps and reviews their e-fu noodles (also known as yi mein, yee-fu, yi noodles) here.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab. Photo by Randy Lau.

“It’s a soft shell crab battered and fried in a typical Cantonese style salt and pepper batter. It’s nicely crispy on the outside and the salt and pepper batter goes really well with the soft shell crab. It’s well deserving of its reputation and definitely a really tasty dish assuming you like soft shell crab.”

Wide Noodles in Cantonese Style at Great NY Noodletown. Photo by Robyn Lee/For Serious Eats

Best of New York: Dim Sum NY Daily News lists Dim Sum Go Go as having the best dim sum if you don’t want the banquet hall and push cart feel. I’d argue that experience is quintessential to dim sum.

56th Street Round Table: Lucky Peach’s Chinatown Issue An upcoming panel featuring Lucky Peach editors Chris Ying and Peter Meehan joined by Gideon Lewis-Kraus and Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese Food) will discuss “chinatown’s perceived place in culinary and cultural history, as well as related themes and topics like exclusivity, opium dens, crated pandas, food snobbery, dim sum, roast duck, and commercialization.”

Eddie Huang Gets His Own Show The man who created Baohaus, who took on Tiger Mom and David Chang, stereotypes and immigration, and raved about Jeremy Lin, is having his own show called “Fresh Off the Boat.” Trailer below. Episode 1 part 1 here

“If I had to explain ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ I’d say that it’s a cultural show told through the lens of food, putting on the voices that have long gone ignored.” – Eddie Huang

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Mooncake Festival, is upon us!

AsianInNY 4th Annual Moon Festival & Fashion Show

Saturday, Sept 22, 2012

6:30-9:30pm

Chinese Community Center (62 Mott St)

Diverse entertainment ranging from comedy, belly dance, and music will be accompanied by a fashion runway show. Check out the full line-up here. And of course  mooncake will be served. Buy tickets ahead of time to save money.

10th Autumn Moon Cultural Festival and Children Lantern Parade

Sunday, Sept 23, 2012

11am – 5pm

What better way to celebrate the festival than with cultural performances, arts and crafts, and food.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Family Day 

Sunday, Sept 23, 2012

10am-5pm

Museum of Chinese in America (215 Centre St)

$10 ; Free for MOCA members and children under 1 year of age.

A great day of events for family and children to learn about the story behind mooncakes, make shadow puppets, and celebrate Chinatown with Kam Mak, children’s book illustrator and author of My Chinatown: One Year in Poems.

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Wen Hao Wang is a contributor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

Plenty of opening events to keep you occupied through the week into the weekend.

Locating the Sacred 

Sept 12-23, 2012

Coordinated by the Asian American Arts Alliance, Locating the Sacred is a city-wide arts festival celebrating the community and movement that brought Asian American artists together as a collective voice. This year’s theme is inspired by the controversy brought forth by the “Ground Zero mosque.” With this in mind, the Alliance’s goal is to create a public forum for Asian Americans to contribute to the critical conversation of what is considered sacred.

Opening for the festival Wednesday from 8-10pm  is a concert featuring two young groups that express their spirituality through music. Other events include Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai’s “Say You Heard My Echo,” on Friday 7-8:30pm and Saturday 2-3.30pm; 7-8.30pm.  Performed by Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, YaliniDream, and Adeeba Rana, the spoken word poetry theater project tells the story of three Asian American women navigating New York City 10 years after 9/11.

See the calendar of events here.

Feast of San Gennaro

Sept 13-23, 2012

Mulberry St., Little Italy

A period of remembrance and faith for Italians, the Feast of San Gennaro will also be a time for festive merriment. On opening day Thurs 2-3pm contestants will scarf down as many cannolis as possible in six minutes. Play games to win stuffed bears, eat zeppoles, and enjoy the carnival-esque atmosphere.

Lowline Preview Exhibit

Sept 15-27 @ 12-6pm

Essex Street Warehouse, entrance on Essex and Broome Streets

Free

The Lowline project seeks to transform abandoned underground trolley terminal in the Lower East Side into the world’s first underground park. How can an underground park exist? Find out at the Lowline exhibit which previews the technology that will allow sunlight for plant growth. A calendar of events, including days of street fairs, here.

Gathering the Grassroots: The Frontline of Asian American Mobilization

Saturday, Sept 15 @ 12noon-8pm

Museum of Chinese in Americas

215 Centre Street

Free

In this day-long event held at MOCA, Asian American and Pacific Islander grassroots organization will be gathering to encourage dialogue between groups and the public. Participating will be East Asian, Pacific Islander, and South and Southeast Asian organizations. Learn about the issues surrounding these communities and the actions they are taking for social justice. Speakers will include Dennis Chin, Helen Gym, and Vijay Prashad.

Dumpling Eating Contest

Saturday, Sept. 15 @ 1pm

Smorgasburg

Williamsburg waterfront between North 6th and North 7th St., at the East River 

Registration may be closed to compete, but watch as 24 men and 24 women eat as many dumplings as they can in two minutes. Will they beat last year’s record of 69 dumplings in two-minutes for the male division and 37 in two minutes for the women’s? Then enjoy some dumplings yourself and other foods while you’re at Smorgasburg.

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Wen Hao Wang is a contributor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

By Wen Hao Wang

Vendy Finalist Grilling up Xinjiang Style Kebabs in Chinatown: Chef/Owner Pang Gil Hwa of Xinjiang Prosperity Kebabs talks about her street cart underneath the Manhattan Bridge in Chinatown. She grills tender lamb, juicy chicken wings, and other goodies over smoky charcoal. Cheer her on for the 2012 Vendy Awards, happening Saturday Sept., 15th!

John Liu Tours Asia: Amid a fund raising investigation, New York City Comptroller John Liu still receives warm welcomes in Seoul and Taipei, Taiwan. (New York Times)

The Best of Chinatown Food Markets: Yunnan Kitchen’s Erika Chou and chef Travis Post reveal their favorite places to buy fresh ingredients and tips for cooking. (NY Daily News)

Jeremy Lin in Taipei: Find out how Lin escapes the paparazzi to play pick up with the locals.

Gigi Li, chair of Community Board 3, Takes Questions: Gigi Li recalls her favorite memories and places to eat in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. (The Lo-Down)

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Wen Hao Wang is a contributor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

By Ren Hsieh

This Saturday, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is offering a walking tour of notable Chinatown eateries old and new: “Beyond Takeout: A Culinary History of Chinatown.” A MOCA guide will lead guests on a tour through the streets of Chinatown to learn about the neighborhood’s rich and celebrated restaurant culture. Restaurants on the tour include Hong Kong Station, Red Egg, Nom Wah Tea Parlor and more. The tour is topped off with a Museum reception featuring the food and wine at the very restaurants that were just explored.

Tours begin at 2 p.m., 2:10 p.m. and 2:20 p.m.
Maximum number of guests per tour: 20

Admission: $30/non-MOCA member; $25/MOCA member.
Advanced tickets can be purchased here.

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Ren Hsieh is a contributing writer. You can find him on Twitter at @TheRealRenHsieh. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

Fresh durian was available at $2.49 a pound on the corner of Hester and Bowery Streets on a cool March afternoon.

Buying a durian from this vendor includes a nice deal. He’ll cut your durian for free! Getting to the heart of this spiky fruit is labor intensive. The vendor uses a sharp knife to cut through the thick spiky skin. His movements resemble shucking a very large oyster.

Durian is a tropical fruit that is known to have a pungent smell. I’ve heard the taste of it might be hard to bear for some – but don’t tell that to the woman in line. Even so, the durian was selling like hot cakes.

I’ve never tried durian and would have liked a sample, but the vendor had already told a tourist, “No samples.”

If you’re curious about the fruit or if durian straight-up is not for you, head over to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street. They’ll offer a sample of their durian ice cream.

Tell us about your first time eating durian. How did it taste?

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Shirley Lew is a contributing reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @ShirleyNLew. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

Peking Duck House. Photo credit: Julie Huang

By Michelle Jiang

Save your appetite and mark your calendar for the first ever Chinatown Restaurant Week. Starting on March 9, the 10-day chow fest will include all-time favorite eateries across Chinatown to satiate the pickiest Chinese food aficionados.

For $18.88, an auspicious number sequence symbolizing infinite fortune, diners can enjoy a multi-course meal at participating restaurants. Food in Chinatown already is famously cheap, but the promotional pricing could encourage patrons to sample a broader range of dishes from traditional menus.

Though similar to the concept of seasonal citywide restaurant weeks, Chinatown’s version will also offer deals at a handful of businesses, from New Foot Ling Live (massages) to MyPRGenie (social networking tools).

In an effort to boost local business in the area and raise awareness of Chinese culture and cuisine, the event, produced by Kaimen Co., has garnered strong support from many community groups and leaders.

MSG Networks, who recently partnered up with Kaimen to hold a Knicks viewing party at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, is an official sponsor. Kaimen’s executive producer Julie Huang said the major network’s involvement “is an acknowledgement to Chinatown” and “meant to congratulate the community.”

“I look forward to welcoming visitors here to sample the diverse array of dining options, shopping and cultural attractions that Chinatown has to offer,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Registration for restaurants and businesses is still open.

For more information or to register, click here. Check out some of the participants below:

Asia Roma (40 Mulberry St)
Delight 28 (28 Pell St)
Golden Unicorn (18 E Broadway)
Grand Bo Ky Restaurant (216 Grand St)
Emperor Japanese Tapas Shabu Restaurant (96 Bowery St)
HK Wonton Garden (79 Mulberry St and originally from 56 Mott St)
Lobster Boat (11 Mott St)
Lucky Plaza Restaurant (81 Chrystie St)
Mika Japanese Cuisine & Bar (150 Centre Street)
Nha Trang One (87 Baxter St)
Nom Wah Tea Parlor (13 Doyer St)
Peking Duck House (28 Mott St)
Pho Grand (277c Grand St)
Red Egg (@redeggnyc, 202 Centre St)
Shanghai Gourmet (23 Pell St)
Xe Lua Vietnamese Restaurant (86 Mulberry St)

You know you got it good when you bite into a cha sui bow, otherwise known as the roast pork bun. You know you got it even better if it’s right out of the oven from Hop Shing Restaurant on 9 Chatham Square.

Hop Shing and their roast pork buns are synonymous. For more than three decades, it’s been a known claim among many locals and out-of-towners that these roast pork buns are the best. Although this is an unofficial claim, it’s no exaggeration.

Its simple ingredients can only explain the phenomenon of Hop Shing’s roast pork bun. (I dare not ask for the recipe.) Their popular bow is made of chopped roast pork, spices, a smidgen of gravy and other undisclosed ingredients baked right into a perfectly soft bread bun—and it works. Have it as a breakfast, snack or lunch item. There really isn’t a wrong time to eat one. Add a cup of their 90-cent coffee and you’re good to go. Two or three of the delectable palm-size buns can also double as dinner.

Bakers continuously roll out a little over 500 roast pork buns every weekday morning, but the weekend demand is much more ferocious.

“We make close to 2000 in one weekend day,” explains Don Chin. His uncle, Kwon Fong Chin manages the restaurant and the books, but no longer cooks.

During the weekdays, Don works full time in the finance industry, but manages the chaos at the take-out counter. He’s busy taking customers’ orders that most likely include a roast pork bun or two, all the while spinning around and around from the steamers to the customers. He resembles a stock trader shouting amidst the din on a trading floor, but he seems happy. I find his weekend gig frenetic, but it’s probably therapeutic for him to be with his uncle in a place he knows so well.

“My uncle wanted my siblings and I to come to the restaurant after school so we wouldn’t get into trouble,” Don tells me. “We helped out around the restaurant. There were gangs in Chinatown during the 1970s.”

Chin opened Hop Shing with a gentleman named Hung Yeh. Chin started out as a baker at one of Yeh’s other restaurants. Prior to Hop Shing, Yeh owned a family of Hop restaurants, namely Hop Lee and Hop Kee, both still located on Mott Street. He eventually opened Hop Shing in the early 1970s with Chin as his partner.

Yeh frequented Hop Shing almost daily until his death just last year. He had already retired from the restaurant business years prior.

Throughout the years Hop Shing has gone by Hop Sing, 9 Chatham Restaurant and Chatham Restaurant. Recently, Chin returned the restaurant to its original name.

“Why all the name changes?” I ask Don.

“The name changes are for good luck,” Don explains.

“Good luck indeed!” I reply. Don agrees.

Along with name changes, there have been staff changes and some renovations, but what has thankfully remained the same is their iconic roast pork bun. The bits of onion I learned were added years later for an added “edge,” Don tells me.

Roast pork buns may require a long wait, especially on weekend mornings, so be sure to pack a lot of patience. Lines may literally spill out the door and will seem longer if you’re in a rush. (I experienced an upset one time by a gentleman in line before me. He decided to purchase the entire tray of 28 roast pork buns! I sadly could not wait for the next tray as I had to be somewhere on time.)

But on a recent February morning, I snagged a bun and sat at the counter between two elderly Chinese men. The kitchen staff carried out trays of buns over their heads to avoid injuring hungry patrons’ heads as they made their way to the steamers. The roast pork buns wouldn’t be in there for long. Trust me on this one.

When I told my friends that my next post was about this old neighborhood restaurant, I received some unsolicited comments.

On my Facebook wall, Laurie Wong wrote, “It’s my family’s favorite restaurant and the best roast pork buns anywhere!”

“My dad used to take us to Hop Shing every Monday afternoon after school. They have the best cha sui bows,” Richard Kwan exclaimed.

Another friend had a nostalgic response. “It was the first restaurant I went to when I got off the boat,” says Howard Chan.

And last, some advice from Don for the new visitors: The buttery coconut cream filled bun known as the guy may bow and the steamed bun filled with meat are a close second to the roast pork bun, he says.

I like those two buns too, I thought to myself, but I “heart” their cha sui bow. Ah, so good.

Do you have a story to share about Hop Shing Restaurant and/or their roast pork buns?

This is an edited version that was originally posted on March 6, 2012. An earlier version incorrectly identified the steamed bun with the meat, which is called the “guy jie bow.”

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Shirley Lew is a contributing reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @ShirleyNLew. Continue the conversation by posting a comment here, on OurChinatown’s Facebook page, or on Twitter at @ourchinatown.

A Chinatown family in support of the ban. Photo: Patrick Kwan, The Humane Society of the United States

By Michelle Jiang

New York State assembly members and animal advocacy groups joined forces last week to propose a draft law banning the trade, possession and sale of shark fins. If legislated, New York would join California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii as states outlawing a practice that many say involves the slaughtering and decimation of ocean predators for the purpose of serving up shark fin soup, a Chinese banquet dish.

With a history reaching far back into Imperial China, shark fin soup is an expensive and luxurious dish that boasts status. Shark fin itself is virtually flavorless and can easily be mistaken for a chewy fungus vegetable, but texture is the sought-after trait of this sea delicacy. That, along with magical healing powers, according to shark fin enthusiasts.

Still, many in Chinatown are unfazed by the possible ban, according to New York Times interviews with shop and restaurant owners. The coveted shark fin might soon be permanently out of stock, but proprietors expressed little sentiment over the pending loss. They recognize that unlike many of the other centuries-old edible rarities they carry, shark fin is more of a traditional novelty than it is medicinal.

“It’s only the elderly who want it,” said Vincent Yu, a waiter at Grand Harmony Palace, where the soup sells for $30 to more than $100 a bowl. “When their grandkids get married, they want the most expensive stuff, like an emperor.” And as any guest of a Chinese banquet wedding can attest, shark fin soup, or yú chì, is the most lauded quintessential celebratory appetizer.

Lauded yet increasingly controversial.

Shark finning is a trade described by Patrick Kwan of The Humane Society as “cruel, wasteful and unsustainable.” The ocean’s mightiest predator is hunted solely for its dorsal parts, then tossed back into the water because shark meat contains levels of mercury too high for consumption.

Since the proposal was announced last week, no responses from the Chinatown community denouncing the ban have been publicly heard. A long-standing cultural custom may be in jeopardy, but it appears even those who might suffer a revenue fall from the ban are willing to adjust out of environmental concerns, if not for other reasons.

But until a ban is signed, profits are being made. The price for shark fin has reportedly soared past $500 per pound.

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Michelle Jiang is a reporter for OurChinatown.