Hello, Vendy Friends! Today we have another great guest blog post about the latest Vendy Scouting Adventure! As you may know, many of our final Vendy Award contenders are selected based on popular vote. (Anyone can nominate their favorite food truck here.)
This week, we’ll turn it over to Blondie and Brownie, who ate their way through Chinatown so you don’t have to.
Just kidding. We know you’re totally jealous you didn’t tag along.
The winding streets and blind alleys of Chinatown hold much promise for adventurous and bargain-conscious eaters, but the street food options in Manhattan’s Chinatown are more limited than one might expect. With narrow sidewalks, the side streets are off limits to vendors, leaving carts to congregate on stretches of the larger thoroughfares like Canal, Grand, or Centre Street. In addition to the limited real estate for vending, carts have to compete with bargain priced (think under $5) brick and mortar joints; by offering super cheap snacks from $1 and up that, when cobbled together, can make a satisfying meal. On our scouting mission we hit five carts in search of Chinatown’s best.
At the intersection of Forsyth & Division Street, directly under the Manhattan Bridge ramp, is a small cart serving up tender $1 kebabs grilled over hot coals. Don’t let a language barrier get the best of you, choose from tender chicken and beef, fish balls, fish tofu or deliciously fatty lamb and say yes to a brushing of their spicy chili paste concoction.
But buyer beware, the “pork sausage” on the menu is of the Oscar Meyer variety, so unless you’re craving a grilled hot dog on a stick, you’ll want to go for the other kebab options
A short walk up Forsyth through relaxing Sara D. Roosevelt Park will take you to Grand Street, where two blocks to the west is the misleading “Chicken & Rice Cart.” This is a bona fide Chinatown food cart: there is no chicken & rice. “Tripe and Noodles” would be a more apt title. The owners of this cart speak very little English and the menu is only written in Chinese, but the vendors will gladly show you their offerings which include fish balls, rice noodles, lo mein, rice noodle rolls (har cheung/cheong fan), tripe, and sticky rice.
At $1.50, the sticky rice or zongzi is quite the bargain. The glutinous rice is mixed with roasted peanuts and wrapped around a center filling of pork, before being encased in bamboo leaves, tied, and steamed. One portion is filling enough for any meal, but be sure to ask for a fork. Though you can eat it on the run, it’s a little easier to use the leaves as plate. If you’re just in need of a snack, get a helping of the curry fish balls at eight for $1. Chili peppers spice up the savory curry sauce that smothers any overwhelming fish flavors.
Next it is time to head downtown two blocks to the epicenter of modern Chinatown, Canal Street. Amid the bag and souvenir vendors and the crowds they attract, are a number of food vendors selling everything from exotic fruit to not-so-exotic fried chicken. On the south side of Canal at Mott Street, there are two of the most common carts in Chinatown, the hot mini or Hong Kong cakes cart. Legend has it that the first shop selling these was located at Mosco and Mott Street.
If you weren’t too busy eating back at Grand and Bowery, you might have noticed another mini cakes cart across the street from “Chicken & Rice” where the man is selling them for a steal at 20 for $1. Hong Kong cakes are light, fluffy miniature pancakes made using a special griddle.
Since it takes all of five minutes to make a batch, it’s entirely possible to get a bag of 15 ($1) still warm. The cakes are so delicious plain that there’s really no need for any toppings, and are ideal for the more timid eaters.
Across the street between Mulberry and Baxter is the Xing Wang cart, one of the most plentiful carts around and one of the best for anyone who’s a fan of food on a stick. The cart includes everything from lo mein and fried chicken to fried octopus on a stick.
We’re big fans of her fried chicken. Unlike a few other carts, the breading here is thick and stays put during the frying. Afterwards, you’re handed a big drumstick, crunchy and juicy. At a $1 a drumstick, you can’t beat that at any food chain.
But it’s in the “food on a stick” category that the cart really stands out. For the less adventurous, there’s banana, tofu, even a hot dog that can be thrown in the hot oil for your afternoon snack. But the adventurous eaters can try the seafood and meats. We went out on a shaky limb and tried her octopus on a stick. The thin meat is pulled out of a cooler, already skewered and ready for frying. A few seconds later we had the Chinatown street meat equivalent of Japanese takoyaki (batter dumplings filled with octopus). Crunchy bites yield fresh, not too fishy octopus. Anyone who’s a big fan of calamari would definitely be pleased with this.
One of the true delights of our mission was our lunch at the “Mai Cart” directly outside the JMZ subway exit on Centre Street at Canal. The cart’s owner was friendly and engaging and has operated her cart in that spot for more than fifteen years. She told us of one regular customer–an out of town businessman who makes her cart his first stop when he blows into town and it’s easy to see why. There are two carts on this block, both of which serve fish balls, but the more uptown “Mai cart” also specializes in congee, tea eggs, tripe, and fresh steamed rice noodles topped with a mixture of peanut sauce, hoisin, and soy sauce, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The curried fish balls, in a slightly thick and spicy sauce were standout. For $2.75 you could get a pint of rice noodles topped with eight fish balls, a satisfying meal that demands a return visit.
From here a stuffed visitor should start exploring the fruit and vegetable carts, the majority of the carts in the area and the last vestiges of a time when most downtown New Yorkers regularly shopped at pushcarts for their meals. Any out-of-towner would be impressed by the prickly looking durian and pink dragon fruit, though we would recommend neither as a good dessert option. As a meal capper, lychees, sold by the bunch, or bubble tea from one of the many neighboring bakeries can’t be beat.
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Make sure you follow @VendyAwards on Twitter for updates and other food truck news. We’re also on Facebook: Facebook.com/VendyAwards. The awards take place in NYC September 24th! Vote for your favorite!
Vendy volunteers and their friends also go out on scouting trips to find new, fun or under-the-radar vendors to make sure we have the best of the best represented by the time September 24th rolls around. Read about our other scouting trips here on the blog.
