If you’re looking for cheap eats in NYC, head directly to Chinatown. The neighborhood is packed with food stalls and restaurants dishing out delicious eats for absurdly low prices. I’ve spent many a hour wandering around the streets, scouring the menus for cheap eats. Because no matter how many times I go, there’s always something else to try.
I was feeling particularly peckish for Chinese food last week, so I called up my friend Kate to meet me at Canal Street for a foodie adventure.
Let’s dive into my latest NYC Chinatown food crawl!
(Check out one of my first Chinatown food crawls HERE as well as my Chinatown $10 Challenge.)
Stop 1: Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles, $5.75 for a Medium
The story of Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles starts with Lai Sheng Zhang, an immigrant from the Guangdong province. After a few years as a taxi driver, he decided to open up a street cart in Chinatown specializing in Hong Kong rice noodles (Cheung Fun) with fishballs. Food was the perfect way to share his culture with the community. Plus, it was a way to connect with people despite a language barrier.
Chang Lai Cheong Fun Cart was so popular that he and his wife were able to open up a brick and mortar store in 2023. We pulled into the hole-in-the-wall spot for the first stop on our Chinatown food crawl.
While the menu had a few types of rice rolls and fish balls, we opted for their famous curry fish balls rice noodles “smothered in everything”. “Everything” being soy sauce, hoisin, sesame, peanut sauce, and sriracha. Some rice noodles are delicately thin, but these were thick and chewy, making for a nice mouth feel and satisfying bite. The fish balls were slightly spongey without tasting overwhelming fishy. What made each bite spectacular was the combination of sauces. The blend of savory peanut sauce with salty soy and a kick of sriracha was flavor bliss.
I will certainly be returning to Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles again!
Stop 2: Deluxe Green Bo, $15.50
We walked across the street to stop 2 of our Chinatown food crawl: Deluxe Green Bo. This is a casual sit down spot with a menu boasting nearly a hundred different dishes.
The goal was an order of soup dumplings, which are called “Steamed Pork & Crab Meat & Pork Tiny Buns” on the menu ($8.95). They had a nice crab and pork flavor, and the dumpling itself had a decently chewy texture. There wasn’t quite as much soup as some other soup dumplings in the city. And the dumpling dough was on the thicker side, meaning the pleats were so-so. I enjoyed eating them, but I can’t say they are my favorite soup dumplings in the area.
We also ended up with an order of scallion pancakes to meet the dine-in order minimum of $10 (I think… I didn’t take a note and my memory is average at best.) They were deep fried, greasy, and fairly bland. Certainly not worth $5.25
Stop 3: Kong Sihk Tong, $20.14
The third and final stop on our Chinatown food crawl was Kong Sihk Tong. This is spot serves up classic Hong Kong style dishes with a menu featuring baked rices, pan fried noodles, pastas, noodle soups, and toasts.
We ordered the pork chop with baked fried rice in tomato sauce ($10.25) and the Golden Lava French Toast, ($8.25). The French toast came first, and it was exceptional. The toast was fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and the golden lava filling was rich, thick and sweet. I’m obsessed with Hong Kong style filled toasts, and this experience reminded me that I need to eat the dish more often.
The serving of pork chop with baked fried rice was humongous. The pork chop and baked rice were fairly simple, but what made the dish special was the tomato sauce. It was rich and thick with a slight sweetness. While I enjoyed it, between you and me, I wouldn’t get it again because I can make tasty baked rice dishes at home.
This NYC Chinatown food crawl was a success!
Plus, it didn’t totally break the bank.
Cheers to another NYC foodie adventure!
